NGR's Blog

For a business person, accounting is a backwards-looking activity. Looking forward, out the ‘front windscreen’ of your business, you see the next customers to win, to next orders to fulfill, the next payments to collect. By comparison, accounting is what you see in the rear-view mirror: a mundane recording of what has already gone by.

Depressing as it may be for the more sales-oriented types, accounting is still a critical ingredient for business success. Businesses who ignore it or screw it up don’t last very long.

So, getting accounting right is critical for a business, and this means that getting the accounting software right is critical too. And here is where things are now becoming tricky.

The manufacturing industries are constantly looking for ways to cut costs, increase revenue, efficiency, speed, and so on, and advancements in technology are key to furthering this cause. Today, there are several emerging technologies that are having a significant impact on how companies operate. And one that is being embraced with increasingly open arms is cloud manufacturing software.

Cloud, or software as a service (SaaS), based solutions offer many benefits to end users that are making it attractive to manufacturers. There are of course still the ever-present security concerns and the question of data ownership, as well as the more cut-and-dried issue of network connectivity. And it should be noted that one of the keys to making a cloud-based manufacturing operations solution viable is to ensure that that architecturally there is enough redundancy that production will not be affected if access to the cloud is interrupted.

Nonetheless, the rise in adoption rates shows that many manufacturers are seeing enough advancements in cloud technology and the associated quick ROI for implementing cloud-based software solutions today, along with an anticipation for even larger considerations for tomorrow.

Just because it’s in fashion and a young trend, does not mean you should jump and get that cool scar. Unless of course…….

ERP on Cloud! That could have sounded as outrageous as torn jeans or wrinkled shirts or tangerine hair streaks. Such uber-stylish stuff is better left for experimentation of teens, is what you would have thought, and rightly so.

But is some bottom-up adoption of SaaS variants crawling into your office? Is it poking and hinting that indeed a big young lot of developers, sales/marketing or IT folks in your organization have since long started using cloud with full frenzy and oblivion to what you prefer?

So are you already too late? Should you follow something just because it is in fashion?

To continue to achieve a return on investment in the years following ERP implementation, manufacturers and distributors should be sure to take advantage of future software enhancements and upgrades to their ERP application. All too often, the organization becomes bogged down in the company’s daily operations and puts software upgrades on the backburner. When this occurs year after year, the software that serves as the information and transactional backbone of the enterprise becomes outdated and puts the organization at a competitive disadvantage, as technology and the mechanisms in which businesses interact with customers is constantly evolving.

This article will explore the relative advantages of acquiring and implementing a fully-integrated ERP software system rather than buying application software based on a best-of-breed solution approach.

A typical manufacturing or distribution enterprise will need the following types of functionality:

• Financial management and reporting;
• Inventory management, purchasing, and order management;
• E-commerce;
• Customer relationship management;
• Manufacturing planning and execution;
• Warehouse management;
• Forecasting and planning; and
• Decision support and business intelligence.

ERP is all about control. An ERP system creates a clear picture of the flow of materials, labor and equipment utilization across the enterprise. This improved communication allows the organization to fine-tune processes, identify and eliminate waste, and streamline scheduling. Below are four specific places where effective use of ERP can capture real savings.

Manufacturing processes have evolved significantly over the last 40 to 50 years.  Gone are the days when it was common practice to produce items in bulk, only to be stored in inventory until they were needed.

The primary objectives of a production facility during that time were:

• To keep employees busy
• To keep production up
• To minimize variations in standard products
• The industry has changed quite a bit since then.  Today's environment of rapidly changing and variable products recognizes that excess inventory means reduced liquid capital and obsolete materials. Why have money tied up in products that aren't being used?

The industry has shifted towards dramatic reductions in work in process levels, avoiding the wasteful expenditure of resources and increasing manufacturing efficiency. A key feature in these improvements is the Multi-Level Bill of Material.

You can make faster, better business decisions to improve profits and cash flow with NGRERP. By integrating your accounts with your orders and inventory you can get real-time revenue and profit analysis. Our clear, easy-to-access reports show you where you're making money (and where you aren't) by SKU, channel and customer.

Accounts and bookkeeping tend not to be everyone's favourite aspect of running their own business. That's why we are bringing you the top five accounting mistakes which you can avoid.

When deciding to implement new ERP or Business Management software, a lot of consideration goes into selecting the correct solution.  Key factors would include:

• Ensuring all processes and requirements are fully catered for
• Verifying all critical information is easily accessible/retrievable from the system
• Determining the longevity of the system for the future of your business

In addressing and fulfilling these points, you will be in a significantly better place for making the right choice than if you were to rush into the "easiest option".

There is however another important factor that is often overlooked - the end-user. So, much time can go in to choosing the right solution that businesses often forget to consider the people who will be using the software on a daily basis.

In some cases, the end user's opinion and involvement in the decision are bypassed altogether. This can lead to the rejection of the new system in favor of outdated, but tried and tested options, such as the old reliable spreadsheet!

End user opinion should not be ignored or taken for granted but should be acknowledged from the outset.

One of the single biggest challenges dairy producers face is the set up and maintenance of how they pay their milk suppliers. As part of our ongoing commitment to the dairy industry, we are releasing new milk procurement functionality that is fully-integrated with the NGRERP platform.

As ERP systems continue to develop and modernise, today's businesses have become un-recognisable from those of twenty or thirty years ago. Paperless offices are commonplace, fully integrated systems are a prerequisite and access to real-time data is a necessity.

While traditional ERP applications have served us well, their built-in limitations, aging capabilities and difficulties linking to 3rd party applications have often seen them unable to evolve with changing business requirements.

Managing a business can be quite demanding so it is essential to have the right systems in place to help you run it as efficiently and effectively as possible. One way to ensure you do this is to have the right business management software in place.

Essentially what you need is a system that gives you access to accurate, real-time financial, accounting and business management data.  It should be flexible enough to enable you capitalise on the latest technological advancements. It must include some sort of customer relationship management to ensure you can offer superior customer service.  It needs to be adequately supported by your provider for when issues arise.  And finally, your system needs to be able to grow and adapt with your ever-changing business needs and processes.

Whether you've started, managed or worked in a small business, regardless of what market you're in, you'll be acutely aware of the long list of things to be done to turn a single sales lead into cash. Every step you take to move the prospect through each stage of the process of making the sale to banking the cash generates different types of information which most businesses want to store and organize in a system for immediate and future use. If this resonates with you then you probably need web based ERP software, here’s why…

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems have come a long way in accelerating business growth. ERP empowers organizations with real time access to information, and enables them to take quick decisions to boost growth. However, these applications are not routine software applications; they directly impact how the business conducts itself. In most cases, existing business processes have to be re-engineered and mapped to the business process as defined in the ERP system. This has many implications – the approach to crafting solutions, implementation and eventual system sustenance have to be carefully managed to reap the full potential of an ERP implementation.

While ERP implementations are successful, they have their share of failures as well - to minimize the chances of failure; organizations should adhere to a set of principles, beginning with a clear business case and an effective ERP software selection process.

We are a startup based in Rathnagiri, India. We are engaged in the manufacture of ayurvedic cosmetics. Though we were incorporated in 2004 a large part of the time was spent in product development, setting up of the manufacturing unit and getting the licence for the same. During this period we used to carry out the administration of the Company using Tally and primitive systems of administration if one could call it that. Initial trial marketing was started sometime in 2008 and it continued till early 2011 to help us gain an insight into the market and make necessary adjustments to the product for market acceptability. It was during this time we became aware, that if we had to go in for full fledged marketing, we cannot continue with our old ways of administration.

There is something called 'Life after Office' thought Sandhya. She resolved to change her lifestyle. She realised that she gets so engrossed in her work, that lately she had begun collecting payments in her dreams. To change the current scenario, Sandhya accepted the idea of trying out ERP to ease her workload.

With a stern resolve she opened the ERP's user manual. The manual said ERP is like Exercise. It is painful in the short run; but, will do wonders in the long run. Exercise! the word sent her in a tizzy. She remembered paying her gym fees and not being able to continue. The ERP manual had touched the wrong chord. She closed the manual.

A quality Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software package positively alters the way a company manages its back office, enabling it to enhance planning, execution, management, and control over a wide range of critical processes. It is this ability of ERP to organize and integrate core business areas such as manufacturing, distribution, financials and human resources that makes it popular among small and midsize manufacturers. ERP also boosts a company’s productivity and helps it meet business needs with appropriate levels of automation.

With an ERP solution, what was thus far a manual and error-prone process among distributed individuals and departments now gets connected into a collaborative process which enables greater real-time visibility.

Would your brain be as powerful in controlling your body’s different parts, if it had no information on their strengths, weaknesses, and abilities? The brain is powerful as it receives and interprets numerous signals that are sent to it from different parts of the body. An Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system is similar to the brain as it integrates different departments or functions across a company in a centralized manner.

An ERP software solution like NGRERP can maintain information and business processes for a variety of business functions such as Manufacturing, Supply Chain Management (SCM), Financials, Human Resources and Customer Relationship Management (CRM). Prior to the concept of ERP systems, every department within an organization had its own customized computer applications. For example, the human resources department, the payroll department, and the financial department all had their own computer applications. Typically, this resulted in silos of information and delayed decision-making, as information or data had to be integrated from different computer applications. As an ERP is based on a common database, it allows every department or function to store and access information in real time. A typical ERP can provide solutions related to accounting, production, materials management, quality, sales and distribution, HR and project management.

This is the story of a sales employee who refused to systematise her data on an ERP system. Her name was Sandhya. She was the star sales performer in her organisation. She always delivered her numbers, was extremely hardworking, and loved by everyone in office. Life was beautiful till two major casualties took place. One, she got a new boss. Two, that boss decided to install an ERP.

Here is what Sam Duarte told us after evaluating NGRERP thoroughly for a month: "I have tested the NGRERP platform. We had keyed in a lot of live data. I should say it is a good software. However I feel that there needs to be a lot of discipline in the organization to be able to implement this solution well which I feel we are not ready as yet.

We regret to inform you that we will be unable to go ahead in implementing this."