Page 60 - MetalForming September 2015

Manufacturing ERP Experience
Using an
ERP System to Improve Sales
ERP data can be employed in new ways to drive bottom-line success.
BY TYLER BISHOP
For many, ERP suites serve as a costing tool configured to mine for operational efficiencies and assign costs to revolving tasks. When configured around business processes, ERP systems can eliminate unnecessary waste
and improve compliance report- ing.
Yet, while these results are solid for continued operations, such efficien- cies do not necessarily directly subsi- dize revenue. Innovative companies will take a different approach to digital configuration, by mapping ERP sys- tems to become more collaborative with other business functions. Enter- prises now have begun to use their ERP systems strategically to improve sales and pricing strategies.
Using ERP Data to Improve Sales and Marketing
Modern ERP software can be a pri- mary data source for sales and mar- keting strategies (primarily pricing and customer service). However, not all manufacturers view the software with these strategies in mind. Purchases made from inbound channels drive lit-
Tyler Bishop is marketing director for Datix, St. Louis, MO: www.datixinc.com.
tle profit. Instead of waiting for demand to happen, many innovative compa- nies will ask how their ERP system can create new business opportunities using their end-customer information.
Consider this example: A manufac- turer surveys the system to find pur- chase orders placed by a returning cus- tomer every three months for the last year. It’s nearing that time when the manufacturer should assume another order will be placed, along with many others. So, it plans the required changes
to scheduling and capacity.
However, the current customer has
yet to place the order. With access to this information, the sales department could already have docketed order his- tory and seized the opportunity. More importantly, it can decrease the likeli- hood of a buyer making a purchase elsewhere. Sales then can structure attractive pricing to teeter the buyer’s
decision in its favor. This is just one simple way ERP software, and its stat- ic data, can improve sales.
Make it Happen
Unfortunately, many enterprises have yet to structure a plan to use an ERP system to benefit their front-office systems. In some cases, sales and mar- keting users do not have access to ERP data remotely, or are subjected to work with a limited data capacity on a cur- rent legacy system.
In any case, some firms see these hurdles as justifiable, but should expect to see a string of latent issues challenge a modern sales and market- ing force. What’s worse, sales execu- tives tend to focus the scope of their strategy on market share; but the real proof is internal. Sales leaders should look to ERP account history and improve relationships between the
58 MetalForming/September 2015
www.metalformingmagazine.com