Objectives:
- To provide an understanding of enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems and their impact on the business processes.
- What makes a good ERP tool?
- To understand the importance of choosing the best ERP software template to meet your enterprise-wide requirements
The business landscape is tremendously influenced by the digital transformation in managing business processes. From mere spreadsheets, organizations are opting for sophisticated software solutions to derive insights from data, and streamline business functionalities efficiently. ERP software stands at the top of the priority solutions that can enhance the efficiency and productivity of a business.
ERP solutions have been helping several businesses ranging from small startups to large multinational companies to integrate core processes, make informed decisions while keeping all the stakeholders on the same page. Although purchasing a modern Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system might be the most powerful decision for growing a business, effectively implementing the software can be a daunting task. A customized ERP template might seem to be the most convenient option in this case.
Have you ever pondered over questions like What ERP would work best for my business? What is an ERP template? Will ERP templates ease the process of ERP system implementation? How to choose the right ERP templates for my business?
ERP failure statistics indicate that over 60% of ERP projects fail due to unclear strategies, unmatching budgets, wrong software implementations, and so on. Leveraging a powerful ERP template that fits your business needs can pay off, while the wrong ERP can create a pitfall for you. This article will take you through the concept of ERP templates, their benefits, and how you can choose the best ERP templates for your business.
Contents
What are ERP Templates?
ERP templates are pre-configured systems that may include a set of processes, modules, dashboards, and much more to simplify the implementation of the ERP system. These templates are designed keeping in mind the best practices for implementing a successful and efficient ERP system.
ERP templates can be beneficial for any business, irrespective of the scope and industry. ERP templates are modern solutions that can encompass data management, financial management, and other crucial business processes.
Why Are Businesses Opting for ERP Templates?
The success of an ERP implementation highly depends on the understanding of the pain points of the business and the solutions that the vendor offers. ERP templates can ensure that decision-makers can capture the problems that are faced by the business and estimate the solutions that can work for the problems.
ERP templates are a complete package for avoiding repetitive tasks in carrying out business processes. Backed by automation and modern technologies, ERP templates can be industry-specific and characterized by required modules, documentation, reports, data structures, and configuration settings.
Implementing ERP with a template can have several benefits:
Reduced Implementation Time and Cost
ERP deployment templates come with a pre-configured set of processes and best practices of a particular industry, leading to a reduced implementation time. Also, the use of templates for rolling out ERP systems across multiple business units and departments can be done while saving time and cost.
The reduced time required for implementing the ERP system and cost efficiency help obtain a quicker ROI.
Risk Mitigation
The use of template rollout is also advantageous in mitigating the risks involved in ERP implementation. ERP templates are generally industry-specific. They are designed with the best practices of your sector.
With the tested business use cases, ERP implementation with the template approach helps mitigate any risks involved in the implementation.
Possible Customizations
Although ERP templates are pre-configured with business processes and workflows, they are also characterized by the ease of customization to meet your requirements.
Specifically, the flexible template approach offers more options for customizing the system as per your requirements.
Allows Standardization and Uniformity
Industry-specific ERP templates are designed by considering the best practices of the specific industries. These templates help you in implementing a standard ERP system that is uniformly adopted by your competitors.
Moreover, implementing ERP systems with a template helps maintain standardization across the different geographical locations of the business, allowing the ease of ERP adoption.
Improved Project Management
Enterprise ERP implementation using an industry-specific template can help you streamline your business processes across several departments, subsidiaries, and business units. A standardized approach towards ERP deployment will also give access to accurate data that will be an aid for scaling the system.
With template-based ERP rollouts, you can also avoid potential budget overruns involved in the implementation process. It is also beneficial to meet any regulatory compliance. Furthermore, ERP templates are also powered by necessary training material to reduce the learning curve of employees.
With the necessary technical support from the vendor and timely upgrades, ERP template rollouts can help with effective project management.
Allows Scalability
ERP templates are designed to support the scalability of the system for a business. The customizations feasible with the use of ERP templates can ease the scalability of the system to ease the growth of the business.
The integrations supported by ERP templates are also supportive of the scalability offered by them.
Factors to Consider When Choosing the Right ERP Template
While implementing an ERP using a pre-configured template can ease the deployment process, it also poses several challenges for businesses. Since no two businesses are the same, a similar implementation approach may not suit the needs of the two organizations.
You must, therefore, consider a few factors when choosing the right ERP template for your business, which I have listed below:
Organizational Requirements
To assess an ERP template for your business, you first need to have a clear understanding of your organizational needs. Analyzing the business processes and addressing any complex workflows can help you identify the most suitable ERP template for your business.
Considering the business requirements, you can also decide if the template needs to be a centralized one or it should only be some of the business functions. It is only a good idea to opt for an ERP template when all your business requirements are being met without much complication.
It is also necessary to consider that the template is industry-specific to have all the standard processes covered.
Data Migration from the Legacy Systems
ERP systems are data-oriented and their successful implementation depends on the data that it uses. The data migration from legacy systems is critical for clean data and records for important processes, including financial management, inventory management, and future analytics.
The global rollout of ERP templates requires legacy data to be leveraged effectively to support business functions and help in BI-powered data analytics.
Possible Customizations
Although ERP templates are designed keeping in mind the industry’s best practices, there are unique business needs for any organization, irrespective of the industry and size of the business. It is better to opt for an ERP template that can accommodate the unique business requirements of your company.
The ERP template must be flexible enough to be customized as per your needs and ease the seamless functioning of the enterprise ERP. Not just the implementation but the right ERP template must also have a feasible change management capability to make the ERP template suitable for a business.
Moreover, you must also consider the compatibility of the ERP template to integrate with the existing systems and frameworks of your business.
Cost
While one of the major benefits of a template ERP rollout is realizing a great ROI, the cost of the template is an essential factor in making a difference for a business. Implementing an enterprise ERP process can be a hard and expensive process. However, the cost of the ERP template must be considered to obtain a quicker and relevant ROI for the business.
While considering the global implementation of the ERP template, you must consider the cost of ownership along with the costs needed for customizations, training, support, and maintenance to find the actual ROI for your business.
Availability of Resources
The implementation of an ERP system might be a lengthy process and require special expertise for the template rollout. It is crucial for the business to consider the availability of the necessary resources and infrastructure for the successful rollout of the ERP system.
The availability of an efficient team, including ERP consultants, IT personnel, business analysts, and the change management team, is all crucial for a successful ERP implementation. The requirement of the human resources, along with the required software solutions and data migration tools, must all be considered when choosing the ERP template for your business.
Scalability
Although ERP templates are standard for a specific industry and cover all the standard business processes, it is also critical to consider the scalability of the ERP template.
ERP systems are at the center of the digital environment of a business that streamlines the business functions. With the growth of the company, multiple changes should be addressed, including the addition of products, services, and employees, among others. The template ERP must be flexible enough to encompass this expansion of the business without affecting the efficiency of the system.
Vendor Support
ERP template rollouts can visibly ease the process of enterprise ERP implementation and have a smaller learning curve. However, training the resources is of utmost importance for effective and successful deployment of the ERP system.
Vendor support and ongoing maintenance are crucial factors when choosing the right ERP for your business. Issues arising after the implementation must be solved quickly for the system to serve its purpose. Vendor support and maintenance must, therefore, be a priority when making the decision on the ERP template for your organization.
Having a strong governance and handling the changes at the right time can help implement a successful ERP system for the business. Making the right decision on the ERP template is the first step for making the adoption of an enterprise ERP system a successful project.
Industry-Specific ERP Templates
Industry-specific ERP templates are designed to meet the specific requirements of a particular industry, keeping in mind the functions crucial for the industry. These ERP templates are curated to benefit businesses based on their niche.
Listed here are a few industry-specific template features and the advantages they can have for businesses.
#1 Manufacturing
The smooth functioning of a manufacturing company requires planning and streamlining a number of processes, including supply chain, inventory management, scheduling production runs, and projecting future production demand.
A tailored ERP solution for the manufacturing industry requires focusing on modules like production planning, inventory management, supply chain management, after-sales service, and shop floor control. An ERP template for the manufacturing industry must also contain reports like the bill of materials(BOM).
With accurate reporting and BI-powered analytics offered by the manufacturing ERP systems, manufacturing industries can gain control over production and avoid bottleneck situations when dealing with large-scale productions.
#2 Healthcare
The healthcare sector is an emerging field that requires ERP implementation templates to collate the medical history of patients, leverage data, and provide personalized solutions. With the digitization of healthcare services, ERP implementation can enhance the productivity and efficiency of providers.
Healthcare industry ERP templates are mainly focussed on modules including management of patient records, supply chain of medical supplies, appointment tracking and reminders, and billing. Implementation of the ERP templates for the healthcare sector can improve customer experience with personalized solutions and hassle-free services.
#3 Retail
The retail industry is more about focusing on customer experience and fulfilling product demands.
The ERP templates for the retail industry are focused on improving business functions like inventory management, order management, and customer relationship management and integrating systems like point-of-sale and online stores.
With proper reporting and dashboards for industry trends, seasonal demands, and high-performing products, ERP systems for the retail industry can help you enhance customer experience and improve sales with the help of analytics.
#4 Warehousing
The warehousing and logistics industry mostly depends on the timely transport of goods and the management of inventory. Focusing on the most important module, inventory management, ERP templates designed specifically for the warehousing and logistics industry are packed with tools that streamline the most essential functions of your business.
Warehousing ERP templates will help a business manage inventory, improve the warehouse layout, implement barcoding, and accelerate the shipping process. The automation of the logistics industry can significantly improve the customer experience with timely delivery and allow them to track shipments. It also nullifies the use of paper and reduces the carbon footprint of a business.
Warehousing is a crucial industry for keeping the supply chain uninterrupted. Although WMS systems have prevailed for a long time now, ERP systems have their own benefits.
#5 Real Estate and Construction
The real estate industry and construction industry have a lot of components that are required to be handled for the smooth functioning of the business. Right from vendor management to contractor management and construction supplies management, a number of business processes play a critical role for the business to function seamlessly.
Modules like project management, contractor management, financial management, equipment tracking, and construction supplies are crucial in the construction and real estate industry.
Can You Customize an ERP Template?
ERP templates are the standard ERP packages that are built with the industry’s best practices and generic industry requirements. A customizable ERP template can help you document your requirements. Such a template can be a go-to reference for the vendors as well to offer you appropriate solutions.
| Parameters | Considerations |
| Background Summary | This section must include a brief overview of your business. It must help the vendor understand your business operations, the industries you serve, market share, and the organizational structure. This adds value while creating a customized ERP template. |
| Requirements | Requirements are the most crucial section of an ERP template. Begin with the business processes you aim to improve with the ERP implementation. It is advisable to take inputs from various stakeholders to address the company wide process gaps and improve the efficiency of the implementation. |
| Timeline Specification | The timeline for a project needs to be considered to emphasize on the requirements. The timeline specifications can help convey the scope of the project. Timeline specifications are necessary to address the required customizations, training, maintenance, and support. |
| Budget Requirements | Budget requirements must be clear enough to avoid any cost overruns while implementing the project. The cost to customize an ERP template for your business majorly depends on your budget. |
| Features Specifications | ERP templates can be customized as per the features that fit your business requirements. Customization can be in terms of including or excluding the following features;
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Conclusion
Enterprise Resource Planning(ERP) systems are not a novel concept for businesses. These systems are globally adopted by a number of businesses to streamline their operations and improve efficiency of the business. While there are several vendors that offer ERP systems, the successful implementation of the ERP system and extracting the ROI is a tough job.
But, shockingly, several ERP projects face failure due to a number of factors, one of which is not understanding the business requirements and choosing the wrong ERP system. Template ERP rollouts have certainly gained traction because of the benefits they offer.
A customizable ERP template can help businesses implement ERP that are tailored to fit the unique requirements of an industry to improve their efficiency and realize ROI quickly.
It is crucial to understand the business requirements and choose the vendor based on parameters like the customization the template allows, cost, availability of resources to implement the ERP template, scalability it offers, and vendor support and ongoing maintenance provided.
Industry-specific ERP templates are available to address the unique functioning and requirements of a sector. These solutions are widely available, ranging from industries like manufacturing, retail, healthcare, education, warehousing, construction, and food and beverages to name a few. Choosing wisely an ERP template that fits your business.
