If you are a company that has grown over the years it is high time to have a proper system in place. What are the indicators or factors to be considered deciding the time has come to have an ERP system.

Well the majority of the companies in Sri Lanka are falling into the category of SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises and this means the companies who are in the middle layer of the company pyramid.

You may have started your business years ago with few employees and if you have grown into a company where you feel the current accounting system do not provide the support required for future planning it is high time to go for an ERP.

When it comes to accounting software’s they are lacking with analytics which will help your business by analyzing the data you have. These analytics are required when it comes to planning and decision making. Ex:

  • Last 5 years sales by the areas
  • Last 6 months most sold top 10 items
  • Most profitable products of the company
  • Most profitable customers of the company
  • The average number of days to dispatch a sales order
  • What is the wastage values in manufacturing for the last 6 months?
  • Debtors cycle from invoice to collection

Also, the trend now is to set your KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) for each critical area of the business. Ex:

  • No of Days to collect a payment
  • No of days to carry out a quality check of a manufacturing Order
  • Net Profit Ratio

If your operations are grown into a scale where a basic accounting system cannot support the decision-making process, then it is the time you have to look for an ERP system.

With the current competitive environment, it is very important that you need to be on par with your competitor as you might lose the edge otherwise.

When it comes to ERP Software, how would you choose what is the most suitable ERP solution for your company? There are areas you need to consider before looking for an ERP.

What are your unique industry requirements and look for an ERP solution which can fulfill these requirements?

Ex: You may be in an industry where there are MUST HAVE features like LOT Tracking, Expiry Date Tracking, WIP Tracking, Wastage Tracking, Serial Number Tracking, Production Planning, Import Costing, Bar Code Printing, etc

Discuss with the key stakeholders of the company and understand the current pain points they have If you need specific vertical solutions, look for an ERP system or a Partner for ERP Systems who has those solutions under their wings

Construction Vertical, Advanced Job Costing, Service Manager or Workshop Management, Institute or School Management System, etc

Can the solution support the growth of your company for the next 10-15 years because ERP solutions are for lifetime?

Does the ERP system support the volume handling

Is the ERP system is capable in integrating with 3rd party solutions such as POS (Point of Sales) solutions, Sales Force Automation (SFA) Solutions, Bank Integrations, Payment integrations, SMS Gateway integrations, etc

What is the investment range of the solution and can you afford

What is the time period it takes to implement the system and can you accommodate that time?

Who are the Partner and the track record of them in implementing similar systems

The reputation of the ERP brand in the world

Anjana Wijesinghe
CEO – PBSS Group
anjana@perfectbss.com