What is ERP ?

An ERP tool involves several modules having varied features customised for different business aspects. These modules go beyond finance and other major functions like customer interaction and supply chain management.

Let’s have a quick look at the widely used ERP Modules:

1 – Supply Chain Management
The supply chain management software helps businesses monitor the supply and goods movements throughout the supply chain. It also undertakes various other business operations like transportation, logistics, warehousing functions, real-time inventory management, etc. It makes the supply chain a completely transparent process and increases flexibility.

2 – Finance & Accounting
The finance and accounting module is one of the essential ERP modules which  helps companies to understand their financial status and build their future vision. The key functions of ERP accounting software include managing the General Ledger (GL), Accounts Receivables (AR), and Accounts Payable (AP). It creates and stores major financial documents, such as payment receipts, tax statements, balance sheets, and more.

AR Automation can quickly automate operations related to cash management, vendor payments, etc., aiding the accounting team to close their books on time and match with the present revenue recognition levels.

3 – Enterprise Asset Management
EAM module (enterprise asset management) helps asset-related businesses reduce downtime by maintaining their equipment and machinery to run at the highest productivity levels. This asset management software revolves around predictive maintenance, asset operations, health & safety, environment, scheduling, and more.

Asset management software offers the ability to monitor purchase and placement of assets, preventive maintenance functions, asset devaluation, and monitor assets. Some additional capacities of the module include offering complete support for inventory and warehouse management business functions.

4 – Project Management
The project management module of ERP helps industries in managing projects along with their details. It involves managing and organising the raw material, tracking project status, accounting for needs, etc. All details with respect to the project are saved in the records of this module.

5 – Production & Manufacturing

While the manufacturing process is going on, the  ERP software for manufacturing can easily upgrade the current status of all the goods that are in process while assisting organisations in monitoring the current output as compared to the predicted output.

This is among the major ERP components that can also offer an instant image of the shop floor while fetching data on items in progress and also of the finished products. It can also analyse the time required to generate an item and compare its supply with the predicted demand. This helps plan the production as per the market requirements.

6 – Quality Management
The quality management module of ERP system checks and maintains the quality of the manufactured goods as per the certification standards. It also helps to analyse various checkpoints to monitor the quality while preventing defects in manufactured products.

7 – Customer Relationship Management
The CRM software, one of the key ERP components, saves all customer and prospect information in the database. The data also includes all communication history with the customers along with the time, date, and emails. The CRM software can enhance customer service since the employees can easily access all data as and when needed.

8 – Inventory and procurement
The procurement software helps manage the purchase of finished goods or raw materials. It can automate PO (purchase orders) and quote requests. When it is linked with a demand planning feature, it can also reduce under-buying and over-buying situations.

The inventory management software can display various inventory levels below the SKU levels by updating the numbers in real-time. It also measures important metrics related to the inventory. It helps to optimise stock based on future and present demands.

9 – Service
The service module of an ERP system helps organisations deliver a customised and trustworthy service as per the customer expectations. It involves various tools for field service management, service-based revenue streams, spare parts, in-house repairs, etc.

10 – Human Resources Management
HRM (human resource management) module includes features of workforce management application and delivers some add-on capabilities. HRM acts just like a customer relationship management module for employees. It has precise records of every employee and can also store important documents like job descriptions, performance reviews, and more. It can effortlessly track leaves, hours worked, and paid time off, etc.

11 – R&D and Engineering

With this module, you can easily integrate with all departments that sell, service, and manufacture products with reduced cost and provide the highest quality.  It offers the ability to monitor purchase and placement of assets, preventive maintenance functions, asset devaluation, and monitor assets. Some additional capacities of the module include offering complete support for inventory and warehouse management business functions.