Article provided by SYSPRO
There’s no denying the fact that customer service is important to a small or mid-sized business. The quality of that service will either enhance or degrade customer loyalty to your brand and your business. When customers purchase products, they expect quality from the product that they have chosen, or your business reputation will suffer.
When it comes to running a successful business operation there are many challenges: managing inventory, customer demands, complying with regulations and safety are all vital. Within the food and beverage industry these challenges require additional thought and attention while still ensuring the taste and quality of the goods that customers demand.
With an effective ERP system, companies gain the framework needed to effectively manage every aspect of their food and beverage operation with ease.
Importance of ERP
SYSPRO ERP is a powerful tool to help food and beverage businesses manage many aspects of their operations. Companies using ERP can react rapidly to changes in customer demand through access to real-time supply chain information. An integrated enterprise business solution provides customer relationship management, planning and scheduling, business analytics and e-commerce.
ERP solutions should not be generalised according to the size of a company, but rather according to the complexity of the business and the nature of the industry in which it operates. The future success of a food and beverage business is closely linked to the success of the ERP system it uses. Companies need to invest in holistic ERP solutions rather than packaged products.
These solutions can improve customer service levels with real-time visibility across the entire enterprise, on-time deliveries and quick response to change-orders. Flexible pricing options, plus the ability to manage promotions and deductions allows profit margins to be optimised. Other functions give the ability to plan truck loads and routes, further improving service and efficiency.
Traceability
Food safety regulations begin with expiration dates and packaging, but extend to traceability of product throughout the entire supply chain. With an ERP solution, both tracking (farm-to-fork) and tracing (fork-to-farm) is automatic and easily retrieved.
Traceability requires the ability to interrogate the business system, analyse the results and promptly execute a plan to mitigate the risk to the consumer. This is exactly what the ERP solution should offer – seamlessly integrated systems spanning the entire supply chain, offering an unbroken backward-forwards data stream. Leveraging traceability systems in lean manufacturing processes can help drive significant qualitative and quantitative improvements that impact profitability.
More importantly, customers are assured of product quality as they can see where products are sourced, how they are processed and how they are delivered. Traceability increases visibility along the supply chain, which can be leveraged to ensure food freshness and quality, improve customer service, streamline schedules and generally reduce the costs of business.
ERP gives companies a broad scope, deep functionality and configurability to ensure that they can meet the needs of the food and beverage market today.
Building customer loyalty
By educating consumers to understand the critical information, you convert them to make the correct decisions. By giving them the correct information, you can allow them to make the informed decisions and become your long-term customers. The correct information should underscore the authenticity of your brand and with full traceability functionality, add a compelling back story that highlights what your brand stands for.
ERP removes the guesswork from food production, processing and distribution, allowing you to be more agile as a company, whilst delighting your customers and satisfying regulators.
Excellent customer service is one of the primary drivers of success in the food and beverage industry. To stay ahead of your competitors and satisfy your customers with the products they love, you need an effective ERP system to streamline and optimise your processes.