Benefits of ERP in Logistics
Logistics forms a vital part of any company regularly dealing with the global supply chain. The right logistics system can manage transportation operations, track vehicle maintenance, determine optimized routes and maps for shipping, and organize warehouse workflows.
ERP is one useful tool for better managing your logistics when dealing with wholesale or distribution trades. This integrated suite of business applications automates day-to-day operations such as accounting, human resources and customer relationship management. Additionally it can also improve your company’s logistics through inventory and supply chain management.
Benefits of ERP Software in the Logistics Industry:
ERP is capable of being seamlessly integrated into several industry domains with different applications. This helps to bring all the important aspects of a business on a unified dashboard, making monitoring easy and facilitating informed decision-making.
1. Reduced Expenses
ERP solutions provide precise data in real-time, enabling organizations to take better, more accurate decisions to curtail their monthly expenditure. Decision-makers no longer have to wait to get important information or feedback, allowing them to resolve issues and take corrective actions wherever required. This can be done as soon as it is required so that the problem does not blow up into a huge expense for the company.
2. Customer Portal
A robust ERP for the logistics industry includes a customer or vendor portal to enable easy login and prompt and effective monitoring of all aligned processes. Communication is integrated via email or secure SMS so that the user gets updates directly in their profiles. Portals with secure logins for registered users allow stakeholders to know the status of logistics, among other things.
3. Inventory Control and Stock Visibility
It is crucial that you have absolute control over inventory to ensure that there is operational efficiency in logistics and transportation. The sales, stocks, current requests, and deliveries on the route are the most important elements of your inventory that you need to keep track of.
4. Financial Reporting
This is one of the most important advantages of implementing ERP systems in logistics. The accounting tools help to keep track of revenue and expenses so that you can balance your accounts receivables and accounts payables. It also generates automated reports, categorized by location, employee, profit center, or whatever parameters or KPIs you select.
5. Easy Maintenance
The biggest assets in the logistics and transport field are the vehicles used for transport, and next, the individuals in charge of the vehicles. With the logistics networks becoming more complex, the maintenance and planning of transit schedules become bothersome. In time, these complexities can negatively impact the logistics business significantly.
6. Improved Distribution Management
ERP software for the logistics industry ensures improved channels of distribution and faster distribution times. It can be configured to extract data from historical data stored in the company’s systems, customer reviews, or from social media so that the delivery process can be improved.
7. Governance With Real-Time Tracking
Tracking shipments in transit can be pretty challenging. However, GPS integration can be used to track vehicles that are in transit, in real-time, and you can see where the vehicle is located at any given time.
8. Enhanced Staff Management
Logging and managing the number of hours, leaves, breaks, overtime, accident claims, payment bonuses, insurance, performance evaluations, and more of freight operators and other employees can be overwhelming with a manual system. However, with an efficient ERP solution, it can be easily automated and streamlined, making the task error-free as well.
