Do you feel like your legacy ERP is slowing your food and beverage business development? You could be right. All the software solutions come with a shelf life. This means, for any business to remain dynamic, and agile, it must embrace regular software upgrades.
Many businesses lag when it comes to ERP replacement; in fact, most of them are two or more versions behind the current releases. When this gap widens up, it becomes challenging to run a business. Therefore, businesses in this field demand ERP solutions with great mobility and integration to yield perceptive data to help them keep pace with the customer changing tastes, preferences, and trends.
Now, how will you tell it’s time to upgrade? Watch out for the following signs:
1.When the System Is No Longer Cost-Effective
When the maintenance becomes an overhaul that causes financial and time constraints, it’s a sign you need to upgrade. The costs of the ERP should match or overdo the benefits it offers.
As your business continues evolving, legacy ERP keeps dropping some of the critically required functionalities, forcing the professionals to work with what it offers. This means, your business will slow down due to failure to meet the required customer relationship management needs, and their diversified trends, and also the suppliers’ needs.
In this situation, you should consider cloud-based ERP solutions, which may cost way cheaper compared with time to time maintaining the legacy ERP. As said, given the complexity within which food and beverage industries undergo to manage the daily running, the last thing they should struggle with is a slow or unresponsive ERP system.
2. When Your ERP Doesn’t Integrate With Other Technologies
Modern businesses are conducted with various technological forms that work together to bring out the best business experiences. If your ERP doesn’t play well with other present technologies, it means the employees will have to tackle some workloads manually, consuming a lot of time and risking inaccuracies.
When the phrase ‘together we stand’ applies in TV shows and movies, it’s not an exception with dynamic business ERP systems. A successful food and beverage business automates almost all processes to meet the short schedule needed and increase revenue.
Technologies that should be integrated include CRM, Human resources, Business Intelligence, project management, among others. This integration is critical in allowing centralized data, workflow visualization, and more time for labor-intensive processes.
With outdated systems, the company’s IT team will spend most of their time and resources creating custom integration, which will again disintegrate with changes in other software.
When your legacy ERP fails to facilitate the integration with these other technologies, it’s an indication that you need an upgrade, preferably to the modern cloud-based software. This could be cheaper compared with the hassle that accompanies the outdated software.
3. When Cloud-Based Computing Proficiency is not Achieved
Cloud computing is the way to go for modern-day food and beverage businesses. The cloud-based system is changing the mode of operation to many business setups yielding countless benefits. With your legacy ERP system, you’ll be missing out on several cloud-based functions, making your business lose its glory with time.
Legacy ERP solution requires a license and also installation of different software for the system to function. With the cloud-based ERP, you only need an internet connection to run your business.
When the ERP system does not provide on-demand computing services, it signifies a need for a change to salvage your food and beverage sinking business.
Learn more in 5 Reasons That Food & Beverage Companies Are Moving to Cloud ERP.
4. If the System Has Lasted Long Without a Significant Update
Technology changes every other day. New features and services are being created daily. With the changing technology, your ERP needs to be upgraded regularly to accommodate diversified functions.
If it has taken more than three years without receiving any major upgrade, you should not wait for unnecessary difficulties to enthrall you. Instead, you should make arrangements to upgrade to the cloud-based ERP system.
5. If the Employees Are Opting Out of the System
When the business employees begin to complain that they cannot perform a given task using the system, it’s high time to start figuring out how to migrate to a better ERP system.
In some occasions, some employees might find it easier to perform some tasks manually. Now, this is a real red flag, you need to act.
ERP system is meant to facilitate the employees to deliver as per the business expectations. Your workers might not manage to figure out the root of the problem or provide any solution but their complaints are a good sign for you to plan to invest in a better ERP system.
Considering the nature of food and beverage business, any delays have immense impact on the smooth flow of business process and may affect customers’ satisfaction. If you are in the food and beverage industry, your businesses needs a perfect ERP for an efficient operation and coordination of processes. Therefore listen to your workers and act on the system to eliminate human errors and improve your stagnating business.
Get the Full Guide: Signs Legacy ERP is Holding Your Business Back
Faced with outsized risk, cost and resource requirements for what may seem like an incremental upgrade, your company can be effectively forced into keeping the same version. For businesses who need extensive customization to a legacy product (i.e. food and beverage), a small upgrade could end up being nearly as complex as the initial implementation. So how does it hurt today’s food and beverage business? Find out in our whitepaper: Signs Legacy ERP is Holding Your Food and Beverage Business Back.
Webinar: Leading Wine Omnichannel Retailer Uncorks Mega-Success with New Cloud System
We invite food and beverage executives looking to efficiently manage the complexities of their business to join us for an informative webinar featuring Crush Wine & Spirits. Attendees will learn about Crush’s digital transformation journey, including how they leveraged NetSuite to stay ahead of the competition and future-proof their business by replacing an obsolete legacy, on-premise system and more.
In Conclusion
Legacy ERP can be the reason your business is going down daily. Watch out for the indications above so you can act when still daytime. Upgrading your ERP might be more costly than getting a modern cloud-based system. In case you need any assistance in finding the ideal ERP system for your food and beverage business, you should find experts like MIBAR who understand your business needs and are ready to give you solutions that will see you thrive locally or globally. Contact MIBAR today!
Additional Food & Beverage Resources
How Better Inventory Management Can Help Minimize Food Waste
How Supply Chain Visibility Can Help Manage Price Fluctuations in the Food & Beverage Industry
5 Reasons That Food & Beverage Companies Are Moving to Cloud ERP
