How Do Business Applications Affect Your Business? The Human Aspect

We have talked a lot about how ERP or Enterprise Business Applications can make your business more effective, reduce errors, improve production, and impact the bottom line. The deployment of the right-fit ERP can affect every aspect of an organization positively and in numerous ways.  In this blog series, let us look at the three critical areas that ERP affects.

The three main areas that ERP can affect include:

• The human aspect
• The business aspect
• The technical aspect

While the last two aspects (business and technical) seem to be obvious, you would be surprised how deep the human impact can be. ERP can not only impact the lives of the organization in which it is deployed but also all the stakeholders (management, workers, shareholders, customers, etc.) down the line.

6 human aspects of the right ERP system

Here is a look at the many human aspects of the right ERP system:

1) Mitigate quality concerns

In industries like food manufacturing, one of the main concerns that customers have is around the quality of the product. The use of the right ERP can help mitigate these concerns to a large extent by playing a role in tracking lots for expiration dates, documenting the sourcing details, ensuring proper storage, labeling expiry dates, and managing wastes. Most industries would find that ERP can help them mitigate quality concerns by ensuring the right parameters are part of the system and ensuring that they are followed as a matter of process. However, ERP as a standalone is in the past. Today, there are many other business applications that connect to ERP and present a more detailed snapshot of what is going on. For example, edge computing allows machines to communicate to an IoT cloud which then interfaces with the transaction data. Doing so helps organizations to leverage ERP to help drive better quality from production.

2) Logistical improvement

Humans feel better about their work when they know that they can focus on their core work and their concerns about the logistical movement of their work is taken care of. With the right deployment of ERP, many logistical improvements can be made to ensure that the flow of work is unaffected. Even those people working on the logistics aspect of the business can only benefit from having updated and current data from features like mobility solutions from the ERP.  When we start to see embed Artificial Intelligence (AI) into ERP systems then this is taken to the next level.  Now workers can just perform their work while the systems are crunching through data, optimizing and reducing waste all at the same time.  This is the true power of leveraging technologies to help people perform at levels not possible in the past.

3) Removal of safety issues

Safety is not only a compliance requirement but also a considerable concern for those humans that work on sites and the end buyers. In industries like manufacturing, construction, energy production, and equipment leasing, the safety of the production process and the safety of the asset in use is vital. The use of ERP can be made to add specific steps and measures in place as part of the process to act as an assurance that the safety aspect is addressed at the right stage. For instance, in construction, it could be the use of the right mix of cement that needs to be addressed. This can be made as a condition in the ERP before proceeding to the next step in the ERP.  Another example is the execution of field services where assets are managed proactively to prevent safety issues later.  This is also an area which is very hot for the integration of IoT. Click here to read about how industrial equipment manufacturers use IoT to drive profitability

4) Better communication

The mobility solutions aspect of ERP has ensured that companies can provide employees with the means to update and communicate with each other even while on the field. Moreover, most advanced ERP systems, provide organizations with the wherewithal to restrict system access as per the role requirement ensuring that data security is also maintained. What is more, information communications can go beyond data entry. Smarter machinery can communicate the problem better ensuring the human benefit of timely and correct action being implemented. ERP can go beyond structured data to help in communication and mitigating waste.  But it can all start with something as simple as access to the right data at the right time. Too often this simple aspect is taken for granted but with the right ERP, people can have timely information to speed up the communication gaps that can be crucial for decision making.

5) Empowerment and motivation

When employees know the role, they play in the organization and are aware of how this contributes to the overall goal and strategy of the company, they are better motivated. They feel empowered with the knowledge that their contribution is essential and are motivated to perform better. Even when you consider the human impact of ERP on outside stakeholders, you will find that ERP empowers them with the knowledge of the production and quality processes and that can also motivate them.  Employees and customers make decisions every day all day long.  If they are empowered with current and accurate data, for example, that will drive greater satisfaction levels and greater results.

6) Priority and progress of goals

Last but not least, knowing tasks that are a priority and would affect the work of others help people become more cognizant of their work. Sharing this information along with the progress of goals helps all stakeholders map their roles to the goals resulting in improved performance and overall morale.  One thing is knowing what you must do but if you are able to prioritize it and track progress than there is real value created.

As you can see, ERP has a profound impact on all the stakeholders adding to the human effect. Whether it is a safer working atmosphere or a quality product or overall motivation or improved communication, ERP touches on many human aspects.

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