Being a consumer products company is not easy today. From changing consumer patterns to
market uncertainty and volatility, brands are rethinking how to continue revenue growth and
add efficiency. For many brands, ERP for the consumer products industry is the path forward.
When polled, consumer product companies cite three key challenges today.
First, there’s global uncertainty and volatility. Consumer products firms need to shift
from a mindset of economies of scale and cost reductions to resiliency, agility, and speed.
Second, changing consumer behavior. Consumer products companies are looking to replace
traditional product category structures so they can adapt to consumers who seek outcomes
instead of just products.
Third, getting a grip on the rising number of consumer touch points. Businesses of all types,
including consumer products, are still shifting from brick-and-mortar sales to retail online
channels, marketplaces, and direct-to-consumer as potential customers have broadened where and how they shop.
Digital transformation is how most consumer products businesses expect to meet these
challenges, with roughly 81 percent of consumer products businesses making technological
innovation is their top priority, and 90 percent of consumer products businesses believe this will drive profitability and added competitiveness.
ERP for the consumer products industry makes this digital transformation possible.
How ERP for the Consumer Products Industry Enables Growth
and Efficiency
Enterprise resource planning software (ERP) is an end-to-end backend solutions that unify all of a company’s data and processes within a single system. ERP solutions serve as the central nerve center for a consumer products business, allowing a company to analyze data, deepen automation, and connect with retailers, marketplaces, and supply chain systems in real-time across company departments.
ERP for the consumer products industry enables growth first and foremost by bringing the
added visibility necessary for increased resiliency, agility, and speed. Consumer products firms can spot market trends and adjustments in consumer behavior faster when all the data related to the business is integrated and updated in real time. This extends to a consumer product firm’s supply chain and retail partners through electronic data interchange (EDI) and integration with third-party data stores, creating a complete picture.
The data related to the business is then made actionable with business intelligence dashboards easy-to-use analytics and artificial intelligence engines connected to the system. This helps consumer products firms spot trends and make adjustments more quickly.
With ERP for the consumer products industry, businesses also can shift from a product
mindset to an outcome-based methodology. Customer support, sales marketing, and usage data all combine in an ERP solution, enabling a more sophisticated understanding not just of
product sales but also of how various products meet the needs of consumers. By going beyond product with these additional signals, businesses can better track the needs and outcomes of a given product as it relates to real-world use.
With this holistic view of the usage and problems that consumers are looking to solve,
consumer products firms using an ERP can dynamically adjust offerings and introduce new
products or services more easily.
ERP for the consumer products industry also helps with the proliferation of consumer touch
points. The wide interconnectivity of ERP with cloud services, third-party marketplaces, and
retailer systems simplifies multichannel sales and distribution. ERP does this both through real-time connectivity with outside systems and by integrating these various touch points into a single system for easier management and coordination with production, logistics, sales, and financial activities.
By centralizing with a cloud-based ERP for the consumer products industry, firms also can more easily sell directly to consumers and have this sales activity integrated with other channels.
Learn More About ERP for the Consumer Products Industry
There was a time when ERP was reserved for only the largest consumer products firms because of cost and complexity. The emergence of cloud and ERP solutions for small to mid-market consumer products firms has changed all that.
ERP solutions such as SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition and SAP Business ByDesign make ERP accessible for startups and smaller consumer products firms through modularity, standard ERP implementations that can be rolled out in as little as 90 days, and scalable price points based on headcount and sales volume.
As an SAP Gold Partner that has worked with consumer products businesses for more than 30 years, we’ve taken this accessibility even further with a prepackaged ERP for the consumer products industry that makes ERP almost a turnkey solution. By using a pre-configuring system for consumer products that relies on industry best practices, businesses can digitally transform and boost both efficiency and growth without many of the headaches that made ERP rollout a challenge in the past.
With a prepackaged ERP industry solution, consumer products firms can stay focused on
customers and product innovation instead of having to worry about their backend systems.
To learn more about ERP for the consumer products industry or our prepackaged industry
solutions, contact one of our experienced ERP consultants at (801) 642-0123 or by writing us at info@nbs-us.com.
