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ERP & CRM
FAQs
High-Speed has always believed in transparency. We provide our prospects and customers with accurate information related to all proponents of our ERP solutions. Whether it is deployment, configuration, or costs and services, we ensure our clients have clarity and all the data at their disposal to assist them in decision making.
As one of the best ERP solutions providers in India, we believe in building relationships based on trust, mutual respect and complete understanding of each other’s capabilities.
In the following FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions), we have attempted to cover all the basic questions related to ERP and CRM software and have responded to them in detail.
ERP
FAQs
What is ERP? ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) software integrates all departments and functions across a company into a single computer system that serves each department’s unique needs. Building a unified software program that serves the needs of employees in multiple departments such as finance, human resources and warehouse is a challenging task. Usually, each of these departments have its own processes and computer systems optimized for its unique operations. An ERP solution combines them all into a single, standardized platform that runs on a centralized database so that different departments could share data and communicate with ease and efficiency. This integrated approach provides critical information in real time, which helps businesses maximize productivity and increase profitability. Take a customer order as an example. Usually, when a customer places an order, it begins as a paper-based journey from desk to desk throughout the company, frequently being entered and re-entered into different departments’ own computer systems along the way. All this lounging about at the desks causes delays and lost orders, and all the keying into different computer systems invites errors and duplication. Meanwhile, at any given point, no one in the company truly knows the status of the order. There is no way the finance department could get into the warehouse department’s computer to check if the item has been shipped and if the order is fulfilled. Customers end up listening to the frustrating response “please call the warehouse” when they connect to know the order status. An ERP solution eliminates the need for old standalone computer systems in all departments and replaces them with a single unified software divided into modules that operate in the place of old standalone systems. Departments such as Finance, Manufacturing and the Warehouse would still have their own software, except for the fact that the said software would be completely integrated with other departments. In other words, any department would be in a position to check the status of orders and would be up to date regarding relevant information. ERP software allows traceability of an order from the point it is entered to the point it is shipped, by anyone from any department, therefore, enhancing customer service. Focus Softnet provides ERP both as a complete pack as well as individual modules. For example, clients could acquire only an ERP finance or HR module and leave the rest of the modules for when they scale up.
How could ERP improve a company’s business performance? An ERP software improves the way businesses take orders, manufacture goods, ship products and bill customers for goods. An ERP system is often referred to as a back-office software. From an operations’ perspective, it takes a customer order and provides a software road map for automating the different steps along the path to fulfilling that order, with minimal manual efforts. When a customer service representative enters an order into the ERP system, he/she has all the information necessary to complete the order, such as the customer’s credit rating and order history from the finance module, the company’s inventory levels from the warehouse module and the shipping dock’s trucking schedule from the logistics module. Users in these different departments could also view the same information and update it as necessary. When the order is processed in one department, it is automatically routed via the ERP system to the next department. To find out where the order is at any given point, users simply need to log into the ERP system and track it. The order process moves through the organization in an organized way and customers get their orders faster. An ERP software applies this same process to the other major business processes as well, such as managing employee benefits in HR, generating financial reports and customer’s credit rating in finance and monitoring product inventory levels at the warehouse. In other words, it would help you make decisions by answering questions such as: Did the customer pay for the last order yet? Could the new order be shipped on time? And so on.
How long does it take to deploy Value's ERP? An ERP deployment project depends on the number of modules to be implemented and requirements to be fulfilled. ERP implementations typically get delayed due to failure in understanding two factors, “Must have” and “Nice to have” aspects. Companies that aim to deploy an ERP software often struggle between identifying and prioritizing the “Must have” and “Nice to have” aspects. Implementation time is reduced if a company is decisive in what they want implemented. Focus Softnet has been successful in implementing an ERP application within 90 days with the help of proven best practices, clarity in requirements and expert teams.
Would Value ERP fix my integration problems? Yes. Value has been successful in providing integrations with 3rd party applications as well as through external modules (customer specific business interface). It is a fact that the integration requirements are not uniform as the solution and the architecture of each product that is to be integrated varies. Focus Softnet performs in-depth business process study of the application to be integrated and designs the connectors that enable the flow of data. We have technical know-how and expertise to handle simple to complex integrations.
What would Value ERP software achieve for my business? 1. Integrate financial information: As the CEO tries to understand the company’s overall performance, he/she may need to look at reports from various departments to get the true picture, and the information may vary from each department, giving conflicting results. Finance has its own set of revenue numbers, Sales have their own version; different business units may each have their own versions of how much they contributed to revenue. FOCUS ERP creates a single version of actual data from each department that cannot be questioned because everyone is using the same system. 2. Integrate customer order information: An ERP system tracks customer orders from start to end, right from the time a customer service representative receives the order, to the loading dock from where the merchandise is shipped, covering financial transactions and invoices as well. By having access to this critical information in a single software, companies could track orders more easily and manage manufacturing, inventory and shipping operations across different locations simultaneously. 3. Standardize and speed up manufacturing processes: — ERP systems are equipped with standard features to automate manufacturing processes. Standardizing these processes and using a single, integrated computer system saves time, increases productivity and reduces headcount. Focus Softnet’s ERP solutions are designed to be used by both discrete as well as process manufacturing companies. 4. Reduce inventory: an ERP software helps manufacturing operations run more smoothly and improves visibility of the order fulfilment process within the company. This leads to reduced inventories of raw material (work-in-progress inventory) and helps users to better plan deliveries to customers, reducing the finished good inventory at the warehouses and shipping docks. 5. Standardize HR Information - In companies with multiple business units, the HR department may not have a unified, simple method to track employees time and to communicate with them about benefits and services. With Focus Softnet’s ERP solution, all the standard and client specific HR issues could be addressed as it could implement any complex/customized procedures and induct multiple business validations.
Would the ERP I choose be a 100% fit for my business? To put it honestly, no ERP could be a fit 100% for a any business or company. Nevertheless, the customizations available through external modules integration called Application Programming interfaces (APIs) enable Value ERP systems to fit snugly into your business operations. Focus Softnet conducts a detailed study of client requirements to determine the necessary customizations to be deployed within our ERP system. We perform these reviews to offer a complete solution which would enable our clients to run their business without having to drastically change their standard operating procedures.
When can I expect an ROI after implementing ERP? ROI normally varies from client to client with reference to their business activities and implementation success. However, from the study of the current scenario of our client base, the typical ROI period is twelve to eighteen months.
What are the hidden costs of ERP? ERP software implementation is complex, multifaceted undertakings. So, even the best of deployment plans is bound to encounter some unexpected expenses along the way. Following are the most common latent costs associated with ERP implementation and how Value addresses these concerns: 1. Training: Employee training is a costly affair for businesses as employees or users require to spend a lot of time learning how to handle a set of processes using the new software system. Focus Softnet addresses this concern in a unique way. We include the training cost in the Project Cost, thereby avoiding surprises for our clients. We utilize Business Process Study methodology, which provides a bird’s eye view of the business requirements, licenses, training, customizations and time needed for implementation. Thereby removing training from list of hidden cost list. 2. Integration: ERP testing and integration with a 3rd-party application is not part of the ERP implementation cost. It is always considered an additional expense as there is no standard/generic procedure for integrating a 3rd-party application since the database structure and the ERP software designing is unique for every business. We offer connectors specially designed as per the clients’ needs to link the ERP system with the existing 3rd-party applications and achieve integration between them. 3. Customization: Deploying business-specific features requires customization. This process needs to be accomplished through detailed analysis and dedicated resources. With us, the customization process is handled efficiently by the on-site implementation team, using GUI TOOLS. Our highly experienced technical staff take care of complex customizations without charging exorbitantly high fees. 4. Data conversion: Moving corporate information related to customers, suppliers, product designs and other data from old systems to the new ERP database require financial implications. Focus Softnet takes this as an additional requirement and the costs incurred are calculated on a case-by-case basis. The cost depends on the number of years’ data to be imported and the volume of information. Our data conversion fee is highly competitive, perhaps the lowest in the industry. 5. Implementation:Implementation is sometimes a continuous process due to improper ERP requirement planning or lack of built-in utilities in the system or upfront requirement for adding/customizing features. In these instances, clients are charged with additional costs for the extra time consumed to complete the implementation process. Focus Softnet ensures on-time implementation and prevents burdening the clients with unnecessary expenses. Also, our ERP systems have a built-in-tool, which helps implementation consultants to do real-time customizations after understanding the requirements. 6. Others:You need to ensure that the ERP technology you want to get implemented is scalable and easily supports multiple dealership locations, else it would lead you to spend extra shortly. Also request that on-going maintenance charges, support fees and license expenses do not increase during the initial term of the agreement.
Why do ERP projects fail so often? An ideal ERP system has the potential to instill a set of best practices for performing various duties across all the departments of your company, including finance, sales, manufacturing, warehouse and others. But to get the most, you need people inside your company to adopt the work methods outlined in the software. When people from different departments, using ERP system, do not agree that the work methods embedded in the new software are better than the ones they currently use, they tend to resist using the software or would want the IT department to change it to match the ways they currently do things. This is where ERP projects break down. Sometimes, when the vendor is not provided with complete information and they are unable to understand the business process of the client, they fail to replicate the same in the ERP. Missing information from clients related to their business requirements is responsible for the failure. Proper coordination, requirements gathering, scrutiny of requirements by the clients’ top/decision making management team and planning of the projects prevent misunderstandings and failures.
How does Value+ or ValurEasy organize their ERP projects? Stage 1 - Proposal: The responsibility of Value starts from the time when our prospective customer is interested in implementing our software and willing to receive a commercial proposal. To achieve this, we conduct a bird’s eye view study of the business requirements and other factors, which would affect the cost of the project. The proposal is then submitted for review with all the indications where the cost might go up due to defined reasons. Stage 2 - Business Process Study: We conduct a detailed study by interviewing users from different departments indicated by the customers (users interviewed include both decision-makers and non-decision makers). A standard input questionnaire is shared with all users for understanding their requirements. We also collect information related to the reports that these users frequently need to generate and the attributes used for creating them. After interviewing, our consultants collect all the relevant documents, which are used in the process to understand the business operations and requirements of each department. Our team summarizes the collected information and prepares a detailed report that includes documentation flow, authorization flow, requirements by each module, reporting criteria for each department and business rules. This collated document gives an overview of the proposed implementation. Implementation Planning: Once the BPS (Business Process Study) is reviewed and authorized by the ERP steering committee, the implementation schedule is designed. A detailed implementation plan is created, which includes the number of hours and days required to accomplish the whole project bifurcated by each module. Customizations: Upon the approval of BPS, Focus Softnet would submit a document detailing the necessary customizations specified by the authorized users of the client. A special report including customization requirement and the reason for it would be presented to the client. Once this is accepted, our development team would submit the time frame they need for development, testing/debugging and integrating the ERP. Deliverables Report: Before starting the implementation, Focus Softnet would submit the deliverables report indicating the things to be delivered to the client to accomplish the project. It includes software applications, licenses, training, customization, integration and data import. Requirements Report: Before starting the implementation, we would also submit the requirements reports indicating the things which are required from the client to accomplish the task. This includes department-wise identification of decision-making users, list of users, payments, IT support, functional support and resources. Stage 3 - Implementation: •Implementation execution as per schedule •Delivery of customizations as per the plan •Integrations as per plan •Configuration of authorization flow •Stage-wise approvals •Stage 4 testing •User configuration •Training •Going live
How difficult is it to upgrade ERP software? When you sign SLA, Value offers all the software updates free of cost, which can be easily updated. Our clients get complete instructions about the updates and things-to-do online, through email or by electronic format. Apart from releasing updates, we also release new versions of ERP software with advanced functionalities. Our ERP software is available in both earlier and latest version at a differential cost. We assure data compatibility between versions.
How does ERP fit with e-commerce? Value ERP software is not an e-commerce application in itself. But the system provides access to its database for both reporting and accepting orders from the website through its API. It supports suppliers by providing inventory and order lists and customers by acceptance and reporting of Sales Order Status.
Can I use ERP to manage a network of foreign suppliers? Yes. Our ERP solutions are equipped with the multi-location facilities and these systems work on WAN or LAN, or they can be partly on LAN and partly on WAN. Please request for a technical fact sheet to know more about multi-locations and technologies used/required.