ERP systems are made up of modules or components. What modules an organisation uses depends on the type of organisation and their requirements. The following are a list of some of the typical modules that may be required:
Sales
Helps staff deliver even better customer service, improve sales conversion rates, and spend less time doing administration. The sales module gives all employees quick and easy access to a complete view of all contacts, including records of previous conversations and correspondence, order and invoice history and other relevant documents.
Financials or Accounting Modules
These include sales and purchase ledgers, nominal or general ledger, cash management and fixed assets.
Supply Chain Management or Logistics
Stock or inventory control, order entry, purchasing, stock explosion, supply chain planning, supplier delivery and commission calculation.
Human Resources
Payroll, training, time & attendance, holidays, benefits and pensions
Self Service
This can be used to allow customers to place orders or for example, to see what products are in stock.
Business Intelligence
This enables users to generate detailed reports and analyse for example, how an individual team is performing not only in terms of turn-over but margins too. It may also be useful to see which product lines are the most profitable.
Job Costing
The job costing module will allow projects to be monitored for example to manage labour costs and materials required when building a house.
Integrated e-commerce
Many businesses use the internet as their route to market and a way to engage with customers, i.e. the main way in which they generate revenues and their income. This means that customers will order products and services via their website. By integrating websites with ERP systems means that companies can benefit from new and traditional methods of managing their business. For example, a customer ordering an item of clothing via the Internet will expect the product to be delivered and they will pay for the goods by whatever means employed by the supplier. Conversely, the supplier will still need to know that an item has been sold & paid for and as a result will have to arrange for dispatch, delivery and raising an invoice. Furthermore, the stock control records need to be updated so that a similar item can be re-ordered for inventory purposes. The benefits will be similar to traditional ERP systems; a far more efficient business, faster collection of cash and revenues, lower operating costs and ultimately satisfied customers.