Get More from Your ERP

In a few days, thousands of Epicor customers as well as consultants will convene at Epicor Insights, an annual conference that provides learning and networking opportunities to help users unlock greater functionality from their ERP instances. Those in attendance aren’t strangers to ERP; they’ve taken the steps to implement enterprise software and are now looking to find out what’s coming down the Epicor pipeline and gain tips for reaping more benefits from their system.

Though we can’t see into the future to tell you what Epicor has planned for product improvements, we can give current users some advice for strengthening their ERP practices. Below is our guide for existing ERP users looking to get more from their enterprise technology.

User Training

There’s a good chance that your workplace has changed since your initial ERP deployment. Your new employees have likely learned just 80% of what the original users knew about the system. That means critical ERP tools are going unused, and employees are performing some functions incorrectly. Even if you’ve had no changes in your workforce, users probably forgot some functions or struggled to get acclimated to updates.

For all of the above reasons, it’s important to undergo regular ERP training. About once a year, retrain existing employees to improve their ERP usage. This also provides the opportunity to ensure new employees understand the system and teach users about updated features. If your company has undergone substantial turnover or a major upgrade, consider hiring an outside consultant to lead user training.

Data Cleaning

We’ve explained the importance of cleaning enterprise data before undergoing a software implementation or upgrade, but this activity is critical to perform regularly even if there are no projects scheduled in the near future. Companies tend to add reports or data without deleting information that is no longer being utilized. That can amount to a tremendous heap of information created monthly, weekly or even daily that not only clutters your system but slows down ERP performance over time.

Work with different departments to determine which datasets and reports are no longer being used. Then, carefully review what needs to be deleted forever and what needs to be archived. A regular data cleanse can add years to the lifetime of your ERP instance.

Regular Updates

You probably won’t like this next tip, but to expand the lifetime of your system and enjoy increased functionality, companies must undergo regular updates. Businesses tend to avoid updates out of fear that the process will take too long, cost too much money or result in errors. However, without updating your system, users will experience major inefficiencies, and the entire enterprise could be put at risk.

Epicor strives to make the update process as smooth as possible. The ERP vendor implemented a standardized upgrade path and offers resources and support to simplify your change. Expert consultants are also there to guide you to upgrade success. Keep in mind that cloud-hosted software makes the upgrade process far more manageable, as vendors perform automatic upgrades and migrate customizations into the newest version.

Systems Integration

Sure, Epicor ERP connects an array of modules such as financial management, supply chain management and production management into one cohesive system. However, ERP can’t do everything on its own. Software integration is the key to unlocking more power from your Epicor instance. When your ERP instance is connected with an array of solutions such as CRM, eCommerce and currency management software, your organization experiences greater productivity and accuracy.

Integrations create a single source of truth by coalescing enterprise data into a central hub. This improves transparency as departments have access to the same data, eradicating information silos and advancing collaboration. Rather than manually enter duplicate data, your users gain automatically updated data throughout the system. Lingering inefficiencies and inaccuracies disappear when you take advantage of integrations to become a connected enterprise.

Wrap Up

As you can see, there’s always room for improvement once you install your ERP instance. But we’ve left out one critical step: teaming up with ERP consultants. Consultants go beyond the initial implementation to help clients continuously improve their instance. In fact, Datix even has a Continuous Improvement Plan (CIP), our ongoing service plan that guarantees individualized attention to each client throughout their software journey. We work with you to optimize your system through configurations, customizations and other services all within your budget and timeline.

An Epicor Platinum Partner with 20 years of experience, Datix knows ERP. We understand the complexity of ERP software and enable existing users to access their data effortlessly through building custom dashboards and solutions. Unity, our premier integration application, makes your ERP instance more powerful than ever by connecting it with a number of software solutions to create a single source of truth.

Reach out to Datix today to learn more about our Epicor solutions! For those attending Epicor Insights, be sure to check us out at booth four of the Solutions Pavilion.

{{cta(‘770c1544-d87d-4acb-9fc4-7a25e1385094′,’justifycenter’)}}