Supply Chain Management is defined as the management of the flow of goods and services, involving the movement and storage of raw supplies, of work-in-process inventory, and of finished goods from point of origin to point of consumption. For manufacturers, managing the supply chain is extremely important and can even be a ‘make it or break it’ type of situation.
Implementing an endeavor Resource Planning (ERP) system can help companies achieve organizational growth and profitability. ERP’s can also enhance customer service and have many positive effects on a supply chain.
To begin, ERP systems that have an SCM integration benefit from having a comprehensive inventory tracking system to help business control and supervise their inventory/product stock. With integrated SCM/ERP, businesses can organize and categorize their inventory, better manage detailed warehouse data, and record various product movements. This provides supply chain managers through a greater understanding of what inventory is on hand, what has been shipped out, what hasn’t and where the inventory is at all times.
Having an ERP to provide a holistic, consolidated view of the entire supply chain allows companies to make better-informed decisions around ordering and purchasing. It also gives them the ease of talking to customers with greater confidence in their orders. Plus, managers and upper management executives have a greater oversight into every part of the supply chain with an integrated SCM/ERP resolution so they can identify issues and find solutions much faster.
Reporting manually always runs the risk of less frequency because of the labor-intensive and manual process required to gather data. This leads to poor decisions because they are made on out of date and/or inaccurate information. When you move to an integrated SCM/ERP system, however, you get access to relevant, real-time data about the company’s performance. This allows decision-makers to keep better track of the association of products/inventory, and the ability to use this streamlined data to improve operational efficiencies.