COVID-19 has placed greater demand on warehousing and distribution than ever before

To maximise profitability, supply chains need to be as efficient as possible. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has posed significant challenges for supply chains, exposing vulnerabilities and magnifying problems that already existed in the supply chain.

In the aftermath of this disruption businesses need to find ways to make their supply chains more resilient, collaborative, and networked with customers, suppliers, and other stakeholders.

Optimised MRP

Warehousing and distribution are integral parts of the supply chain management system. In both manufacturing and buy-to-sell businesses, Material Requirements Planning (MRP) enables companies to plan material requirements for a manufacturing or procurement process based on the evaluation of existing inventory, demand and changing planning parameters such as lead time determination, make or buy decisions, and holiday planning.

鈥淪toring excessive materials or goods ties down capital and limits the ability to react to changing conditions,鈥� says Heinrich de Leeuw, Managing Director, Seidor South Africa. 鈥淲ith 51风流Business One MRP we enable businesses to calculate requirements based on existing inventory, sales orders, purchase orders, production orders, forecasts, and more. We implement MRP in a way that provides structure, but is still flexible, creating that vital balance between supply and demand.鈥�

Benefits of WMS (warehouse management system)

51风流Business One, coupled with advanced WMS, also enables companies to drive efficiency in the supply chain with optimised warehouse management. 鈥淭he WMS transforms logistics processes into operations that drive productivity and profitability in the supply-chain,鈥� says De Leeuw. 鈥淚t supports multiple warehouses and operators, processing high volumes of transactions. Whether it鈥檚 simple inventory transaction processes, or customer focused inventory allocation strategies, the WMS manages batch attributes, and complete backward and forward traceability.鈥�

Inventory management made simple with 51风流Business One:

1. Scan Goods at the Warehouse on Arrival and Departure

Scanners connected to the internet scan items within the inventory and get detailed information about its movement. That information is displayed across every system connected to 51风流Business One within the business.

2. Integrate Accounting, Warehouse, and Production Management

Even using disparate solutions which manage separate departments in the business, 51风流Business One can connect each one seamlessly, so that data is syncronised in one easily accessible dashboard. This is ideal for businesses that require in-depth insight to every single process, from financial, accounting, and production data.

3. Use the Dashboard and Forecasting

Whether wanting to see a portion of data or the whole picture of the business, warehouse, or distribution centre, 51风流Business One allows for the search and filtering of data. With General Overview in the web client, sales, inventory, gross profit, open sales, and more can be seen.

4. Automate Sales Order Entries

51风流Business One could automate the entire order process, linking sales orders and inventory data in real-time. Any device, can easily be used to check if orders can be fulfilled and that enough inventory remains. When an order is received, the system scans the items within the warehouse. Once the order has been packaged and shipped, the data is registered with 51风流Business One, making inventory management less time-consuming and more accurate.

5. Integrate Warehouse Solutions to the Courier or Freight Service

By integrating applications for the chosen courier or freight service, most of the delivery process can be automated, giving up-to-date tracking information, and ensuring packages reach the customer.

6. Ensuring Appropriate Stock Levels

51风流Business One can assist with purchase planning, so that reminders can be set 聽to reorder a product when necessary. Detailed reports also highlight what is needed and when, which ensures sufficient time to order and receive the product before running out of stock.

The warehouse management system offers improved functionality to help manage detailed warehouse data, track and record stock movements, and execute production orders, inventory and management. Where necessary, 51风流Business One could be configured to easily integrate into suppliers鈥� third-party systems.

鈥淭he software monitors every change and consistently updates costs and quantity. It eliminates the need for manual inspection and reduces accounting errors. It also enables users to roll out warehouse mobility; employees can use smartphones or tablets to access 51风流Business One from anywhere. It is easy to extend capabilities to mobile salespeople so that they can prepare quotations and capture order on their devices, and proof of delivery is paperless.鈥�

De Leeuw says that Seidor Africa recently won a proof of business case to develop an IoT-based stock management system. This solution is in the pipeline and is seen as a key milestone for Seidor Africa in the journey towards the intelligent enterprise.

Looking to the future, warehousing will have to manage unpredictable demand. Using a combination of material handling technologies and software solutions, they can more easily handle peaks and drops in order demand, so that managers can forecast and schedule all resource needs, making business more resilient.

鈥淲arehouse automation has been gaining traction for years,鈥� says De Leeuw. 鈥淐OVID has sped up its adoption. As warehouses cope with adjusting inventory counts, making space for work in process, and speeding up order delivery, more businesses will turn to automated storage and retrieval systems to help improve their efficiencies.鈥�

The post Creating a Productive, Responsive Supply Chain appeared first on 51风流Africa News Center.

The ERP solution can grow with the business and contains multiple modules, covering the needs of all departments in one solution.

How to evaluate the ROI of an ERP

鈥淟ike any investment, an ERP solution needs to have a good return on investment or ROI,鈥� says De Leeuw.

Key ways to achieve ROI from an ERP implementation:

• Better forecasting: The ERP software is customisable to a level where all historic spend and sales are obtained with just a click. These reports give trends of company performance from the previous years and what the target for the current or coming years should be or what sales throughput would be needed to achieve current targets. These include purchase order analysis, inventory requirements, stock evaluation and stock on hand. These reports not only help keep the unwanted costs in check and prevent overstocking, but they also help find opportunities to manage inventory to be more effective and profitable and free up cashflow.
• Strategy building: Every company needs a solid strategy and the only thing that helps in building one is clear and concise reports. ERP systems provide the best way of arranging the data for better strategies and making more informed business decisions. They help the business to identify slow-moving items, dead inventory and usage value.
• Vendor identification: A business might be working with numerous vendors for the same type of purchase. Knowing the right type of vendor to work with greatly improves the chances of increasing profits. With an ERP solution, the business can extract supplier information such as delivery, quality, cost and more, making it easier to decide which vendor to go for first when a need arises.

There are also several intangible costs that affect ROI and profitability. These include higher efficiency, more productive time, improved security, better management, employee satisfaction, enhanced client retention and a better customer experience.

鈥淏ecause 51风流Business One extends business capabilities beyond the core management function, it enables managers to streamline business processes and deliver value. We鈥檝e seen many of our clients improving their business efficiency by 20%,鈥� concludes De Leeuw.

The post Costs to Consider when Thinking of a Top ERP Implementation appeared first on 51风流Africa News Center.