ERP for Logistics
ERP Software for Logistics industry
Logistics is one of the highly competitive sectors which include complex operations such as supply chain management, freight management, transportation, warehousing and storage and much other variety of functions. But this article focuses on the transportation aspect of the logistics industry. Implementation of ERP software in the logistic industry can align business operations such as Trip Management, Truck Maintenance and staff management with accounting and management systems for the logistics industry.
“Today’s leading real-world retailer, Walmart, uses software to power its logistics and distribution capabilities, which it has used to crush its competition.” ~Mark Andreesen
Transportation in logistics is concerned with the transfer of goods from one place to another, generally moving goods between warehouses of the same company or multiple companies. Implementing ERP software for the logistics industry with respect to transportation is all about providing real-time information of all indirect costs, related to manpower, documentation, truck maintenance and their impact on profitability.
It tracks all the functions of logistics in an efficient manner making it easy for the decision makers
Features of Logistics ERP Software
Customer Indent
ERP software for logistics industry also prepares a systematic database of customers and their orders. It allows you to create an indent for all the requirements with information of items, source location, destination and expected date of delivery for the required transport service.
Truck Allocation:
This feature allows the business to plan allocation for the trucks based company on expected delivery timings of the goods in client indent. Track the whereabouts of the available trucks, allocate driver and support staff to the fleet for optimal utilization of resources is most important for the transport industry. ERP also has the functionality to hire a truck from the market to allocate it against the indent
Trip Management
ERP software for Logistics allows you to plan the trip schedule. To convert indirect cost to direct it allows you to make payments to drivers and/or provide fuel against the trip. You can also track all your trucks if they are OnTrip, Idle or in maintenance. Allowing you to check actual utilization levels of any truck.
Integrated Paper-work
Logistics companies have to issue documents like Lorry Receipt (LR), Freight challan, and other receipts related to the delivery and procurement of goods. ERP software builds a common platform to generate all these documents. It also allows the team to be on the same page in terms of information of the time, cost, delivery of goods and everything else.
Truck documents management
An expired insurance or state permit can put your consignment on risk. We understand this, so we built a module to record documents such as insurance of truck, driver licenses, state permits and other registrations required in ERP software. This can also remind related personnel in the company for taking necessary steps for renewal in time.
Truck maintenance management
ERP helps in maintaining records of all the activities concerned with truck maintenance such as scheduling of oil changes, filter change, repairs, maintaining of inventory of spare parts of truck in case of emergency, and managing overall expenses of the truck.
What benefits does it offer?
ERP software for the logistics industry provides you the benefits of management from the very start i.e. the planning phase to the quality controls and monitoring of the whole process. It has changed the way how the distribution system used to work in the past which consisted of tedious tasks of paper-work, flaws in the tracking of the goods, and many more. Some of the primary benefits of ERP Software is as follows
Here are some of the benefits that ERP software provides in logistics:
Vendor management:
ERP helps in maintaining a complete supply chain process, adhering to standards, providing modules and procedures for each vendor on logistics procedures.
Efficient costs:
Cost is one of the key benefits delivered by ERP software in every sector because of the simplification of tasks, reduction in the redundancies and time-saving.
Reduction in failure:
Before ERP software, the system had too many failures in terms of damages in the truck, delay in deliveries, no track of drivers and their documents, which was totally eliminated by ERP software for the logistics industry.
Billing and accounting:
A growing business can easily manage bills of each order. Integrating accounting systems with service delivery software can generate insights into indirect expenses leading to clear visibility of profit margins.
Multiple locations:
ERP is an integrated system for full organization, which allows strong collaboration between multiple teams sitting at various locations. As communications gaps are removed you can ensure timely delivery of the orders.
The process followed by ERP software for the logistics industry
The simplified process followed by ERP software is as below:
Phase 1:
Requirements: Manage logistic requirements of clients, details of precautions, type of truck required, defining related activities and scheduling of dispatches.
Phase 2:
Execution: At this step, resources like trucks and drivers are allotted as per requirement and service orders are executed.
Phase 3:
Reporting: This consists of tracing the ability of fleet, drivers, time and completion of the process.
Phase 4:
Invoicing: Allows you to bill executed service orders to clients, and sent timely reminders for payments.
Phase 5 :
Damage Claims: If there are goods damaged or lost client can raise claims against damages, which will be deducted from the invoice amount as a credit note to the client.
“Eighty-five percent of the reasons for failure are deficiencies in the systems and process rather than the employee. The role of management is to change the process rather than badgering individuals to do better.” ~ W. Edwards Deming
ERP software for the logistics industry covers all the operations related to fleet and their maintenance in a very accurate and effective manner. The benefits that it provides are quite helpful in making strategic decisions of the business regarding the allocation of resources and training of the workforce to function in a more productive manner. ERP software combines all the departments including human resource, finance, and marketing over a single platform and gives them the flexibility of operations. It also reduces the documentation and allows tracking of many recurring tasks on a routine basis.
Other Modules of ERP
Account
Accounting is the language of Business - Warren Buffet.
Accounts module delivers insight into the key account needs of your organization and lets you manage the organizational expenses by delivering valuable insights. It allows you to automate financial and accounting activities such as Sales Invoice, Purchase Invoice and Payment Entries. You can also manage your assets with automated depreciation entries at selected period.
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Multi company accounting with possibility to get combined accounting reports.
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Automated payment reminders for your receivables.
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Easy Integration with CRM.
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Multi-currency accounting for export/import and hedging.
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Manage term loans with scheduled automated ECS accounting entries.
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Detail analytical reports on sales, purchase, gross profit.
CRM
If you are not taking care of your customer, your competitors will. - Bob Hooey
The CRM Module of ERP solutions allows you to optimally manage your relationship with the customers by providing you a broader range of functionalities that are specially designed to improve your customer service. Say no to searching multiple platforms like mails to accounting software to get 360 degree view of customer, you can get conversations, orders, invoices, deliveries and payment details all on single page.
Features:
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Manage full conversion cycle from Lead ->Inquiry ->customer management.
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Never forget to do follow-up calls on time through system reminders.
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Time line feature like Facebook for each customer/lead allows you to view all mail/phone conversations on single page.
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Make delegation and monitoring of tasks task more efficient through system generated escalation mails.
Inventory
Inventory is money sitting around in another form. - Rhonda Adams
Stock Inventory management is heart of any ERP. Here you can not only check the current stock levels with valuation, but you can also see projected quantity of stock based on purchase orders, sales orders and production orders in hand. The versatility of this ERP makes stock management module highly suitable for all forms of businesses.
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Manage exact location storage space though Tree structure of warehouse.
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Possibility of Serial No/Batchwise inventory management.
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Generate product bundles selling multiple items together.
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Create multiple price lists for each item, including multi-currency price list.
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Allow seasonal discounts or offer special pricing to loyal customers through Pricing rules based on customer, Customer Group, Territory or Season.
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Strong quality control based on predefined inspection criteria to be filled in quality check before receipt of delivery of item.
Purchase
You sell on Emotion, But you justify a Purchase with Logic. - Joseph Sugarman
Manage the purchase through workflow of material request. You can create request for quotation and send it in mail to multiple suppliers with the click of a button. Ensuring multiple quotation are received for the requirement and choosing the best quote for purchase order, you can improve efficiency of your purchase department. In fact, this can improve your bottom line by bringing down your cost of goods.
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Manage your sourcing activities by comparing quotes of multiple suppliers.
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Send request for quotation to multiple suppliers on click of a button.
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Item-wise or supplier-wise purchase price analytics.
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Rate suppliers based on various factors from delivery time to quality of product.
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Maintain buffer stock with automatic purchase requisition if available quantity in warehouse is below defined level.
Manufacturing
This is where the real work gets done.
The Manufacturing part of the ERP has been designed to serve businesses in diverse industry backgrounds. The versatility of the software allows SMEs to manage their manufacturing activities with minimal data entries. The system is capable of managing cost of manufactured goods based on raw materials consumed and operational cost based on manufacturing activity time.
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Manage workstations and standardize operations to be performed with benchmark timing.
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Allows Multiple Bill of Materials(BOM) for single item with variation in manufacturing formula.
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Manage not only inventory but also operational cost and workstation availability through BoM.
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Production planning tool for scheduling manufacturing activities along with sub-assemblies.
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Production analysis for each batch against the benchmark for getting possible areas of improvement.
Human Resource
You don't build a business. You build People and then people build the business. - Zig Ziglar
Human resource is most important for but ignored part of most of SMEs. The reduction in time wasted in non-core activities and goal-oriented approach increases the productivity of employees. Automation of attendance, payroll and expense claim allows better tracking and reduced redundancies.
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Manage Employee attendance.
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Automated Payroll Processing.
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Leave/holiday management.
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Expense claim management.
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Job openings and applicants.
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Professional Appraisal system.
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Training and feedback.
Support
Delivery Excellence for creating magical customer experience.
Poor customer service and support costs companies billions of dollars each year. According to Customer Engagement Index by almost half of consumers will stop buying from a company and move to a competitor within one day of having poor customer service. Best brands are known for their best in class service and support. ERP helps you create a system for tracking and resolving customer issues. You can also manage guarantee/warrantee of your products.
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Ticketing system for issue recording, where tickets can be automatically created through customer email.
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Possibility of assigning issues to relevant person for resolution.
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Automated email/sms to customer on resolution of issue.
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Manage invoicing for maintenance/repair service for items out of warrantee or AMC.
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Take customer feedback against service to maintain quality standards.
Exim
The Foreign Trade Should be Fair Rather than Free. - Lyn Nofziger
Given the complex nature of export import business we designed special module, which will allow you to manage your requirements more effectively. As you must deal with many regulations the accuracy of the documents is most important for the organization. There are also local lows providing special benefits to exports like Duty drawback, MEIS, etc which require special accounting treatment. Import / Export finance is also has multi-currency nature and many times it come with fixed repayment date.
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Generate all export documents like Draft BL, Shipping Invoice, Customer Invoice, Packing List, etc on single click.
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Manage export/import finance with maturity date.
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Letter of credit facility with drawn amount, conditions and maturity.
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Manage forward booking in system and check your hedging ratio.
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Calculate Duty drawback, MEIS and IGST on exports and make accounting entries for these receivables.
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Manage calculations of Export and Import against Advance Authorization license.
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