The past few years have brought more disruption to every industry than businesses have experienced for several decades. From the mass pause on productivity brought about by the covid pandemic, to the current situation in Ukraine, rising prices globally and material shortages worldwide, the only thing that has become constant in recent times is change itself.
There is no doubt that every organisation in every industry is currently operating during the Age of Change. And this period is not about to conclude any time soon. People are finding new ways to work, traditional global and geopolitical boundaries are being challenged, and critically, customers of every business are demanding more as they change the way they search for, and purchase goods. In addition, the topic of sustainability has never been higher on the business agenda, as organisations are continually pushed to move towards net zero emissions, facing strict legislation and global pressure.
The businesses that successfully navigate the Age of Change will be the organisations that are agile, responsive, flexible and evolutionary. Key to these traits are collaboration, efficiency and productivity tools. Once a desire of businesses, digital tools, and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solutions have now become key to Age of Change competitiveness.
Real-time understanding
To become agile and responsive, businesses need to understand what their current operational situation looks like, in real-time. Solutions such as SYSPRO enables businesses to view financial data on a rolling basis, rather than waiting for reports to be compiled. Furthermore, it offers flexible reporting options to help customise this data in any way necessary, with the ability to push information out to business intelligence tools to aid rapid and accurate decision-making.
SYSPRO also provides complete visibility of supply chain partners and processes which not only aids cost management but supports the sustainability agenda too. Take the issue of reducing scope three emissions as an example. Effective ERP systems such as SYSPRO provide constant visibility of all supply chain operations, enabling manufacturing businesses to more effectively balance supply and demand and therefore better track loss and waste to make reductions.
With the automation of supply chain management, materials planning, production planning, sales planning, and fleet management within centralised ERP systems, manufacturers can utilise new technologies such as artificial intelligence to plan for immediate change. For example, using digital twins or scenario planning to ensure production can quickly be pivoted, scaled, or reduced depending on materials type, availability, and behaviour.
New ways to collaborate
The past few years have taught us about the need to be flexible and for many businesses, this brought huge challenges. For example, many organisations had to immediately transition to hybrid work strategies in order to remain operational, while many retail businesses had to quickly launch eCommerce and delivery platforms to continue trading.
SYSPRO ERP was designed with this kind of flexibility in mind. When it comes to remote working, SYSPRO provides new ways to collaborate, access and share data and communicate from anywhere – it also supports manufacturing quality control via remote device management, keeping factory floors running around the clock. You could even say that ERP systems were enabling hybrid working, even before it became a business imperative!
In addition, through integrating SYSPRO ERP with a systems integration tool such as DataSwitch, it is possible to automate time consuming and complex business processes for greater efficiency. DataSwitch harnesses the Internet of Things to integrate front-office and back-office management and production systems, to help manufacturing businesses better manage, utilise, and analyse the data available to them.
In a manufacturing environment, the technology can be used intelligently to facilitate the creation of Bills of Materials by integrating SYSPRO to a CAD solution. It could even automate the issuing of works orders to machinery on the shop floor, streamlining processes and ensuring that machinery is working to maximum capacity at all times.
The Age of Change is more than just a short-term period; it is here to stay at least for the medium-term. With the world undergoing rapid transformation, successful businesses must do the same in order to thrive. With an effective, scalable, and agile ERP system operating as the bedrock of an organisation, businesses can power the agility they need to navigate any choppy waters.
