Understanding the ERP
Evaluating the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution and integration capabilities is an important first step in defining a manufacturers eCommerce strategy. This is because the ERP is essentially the backbone of any manufacturing business and is the safe source for a significant portion of data and process automation. The ERP is also considered as the “heart” for the entirety of an organization’s financial information. From a technical perspective, the ERP is responsible for handling functions such as accounting, inventory management, order processing, customer and product information, merchandise management and forecasting, among other key functions. ERP’s are typically very robust systems within an organization and are typically the main source of record keeping for information regarding orders, customers, inventory, and products. Simply put, the ERP is the most logical and common integration to an eCommerce system. Analyzing the chosen ERP, determining how customized the solution is to meet the current demands of the business and evaluating the variations in use across multiple locations or brands within an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) is critical.
How to Evaluate Your ERP
It is not uncommon for large OEMs to have various ERP’s across the organization. GenAlpha performs a thorough analysis to understand these differences and any implications to the onboarding process or in developing the integration strategy. Ultimately, every manufacturer should want to leverage the capabilities of their ERP system to ensure real time access to product information like price and availability, quote and order creation, and purchase history details including shipment status. Each of these criteria form a large part of determining the preparedness of an OEMs current ERP and integration capabilities:
It All Starts With the ERP
An important step in any organization’s preparation for entering eCommerce should be the evaluation of the current use and capabilities of the ERP system. The ERP is the backbone for critical eCommerce data, such as product SKU, description, pricing, inventory, quotes, orders, invoices, etc. The way in which the ERP is used to handle and store this information is important in developing business processes that ensure the ERP and customer storefront are leveraging the same data. The eCommerce store will become representative of the manufacturer, and its level of quality will reflect the manufacturers reputation. Without conducting an eCommerce readiness assessment, a manufacturer risks overlooking criteria within their business that are essential to the successful implementation of an eCommerce store.