An Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system is a useful, all-around tool for mid-market businesses looking to streamline their processes and scale their operations. It integrates different aspects of the business, from finances to human resources to customer service. Among different mid-market ERP systems, SAP Business ByDesign and SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition are the top choices, beloved by many growth-focused and medium enterprises (SMEs) for their complete, uncomplicated, and cost-effective packages.
What Is an ERP System?
An ERP system is software that harmonizes all departments of a business into one program. It acts as a central hub for workflows and data, allowing users to track all relevant projects and processes. It enables transparency and, in turn, encourages better performance and drives more substantial business insights—two factors that mid-market businesses need to improve, expand, or scale.
ERP systems can run on computer software, cloud-based software, or both. You can tailor its functions to match what you need; you may even choose to use only certain products or modules (instead of employing the whole suite) to create a unique ERP system for your business.
Do I Need an ERP System?
An ERP system is particularly handy for manufacturing, distribution, construction, healthcare, and retail businesses. But if you’re still considering if it’s the right time to implement ERP for your company, ask yourself the following questions:
- Do I want to improve my business’s day-to-day workflows?
- Could I benefit from better control over my company’s data?
- Will I scale my business soon?
If your answer to all these questions is “Yes,” you need an ERP system.
What Can a Mid-Market ERP System Do for My Business?
A mid-market ERP system gives you control over your entire business, allowing you to increase efficiency and discover new ways to improve your workflows and scalability. Here are some ways ERP helps to achieve efficiency and scalability:
Finance
An ERP system lets you track and manage your financial operations. You can access financial information in real time, automate financial tasks, process transactions, and build reports all in the same software.
Sales and Customer Management
Oversee and manage your entire customer life cycle. With an ERP system, you can assess marketing activities, monitor leads, synchronize customer data, and respond to customer service inquiries.
Human Resources
An ERP system allows you to manage all your employee data (including outsourced hires), track employee activity, and process payments, all while remaining compliant with government, state, and local employment regulations.
Inventory Management
Get complete control over your inventory with end-to-end real-time tracking, detailed automated reporting, and other tools that can enable you to make smarter inventory decisions and reduce issues and wastage.
Production
Manage and estimate production prices, execute quality control tests, track order and lead times, and oversee projects with an ERP system.
Business Intelligence
With an ERP system, you can make better sense of your company’s data and align them with market trends, improving your overall business decision-making.
Analytics
Streamline reporting and view insights more easily with an ERP system’s analytics. You get intuitive tools that let you track, automate, and analyze data in real-time across different devices.
The Best Mid-Market ERP System
SAP Business ByDesign and SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition are two of the best mid-market ERP systems. It’s designed for fast-growing SMEs and subsidiaries of larger companies, so it comes with all the relevant tools out of the box to be the all-in-one integrated solution that a scaling company needs. SAP Cloud ERP's offers affordable, easy-to-use, and customizable solutions making it the ideal choice for mid-market businesses.
Contact Navigator Business Solutions to learn more about SAP ERP and how it can help your company.
