Is Your Software Keeping Pace with Your Needs?

By: Laura Erwin

Putting the right business management software to work in your company can play a vital role in your success. Before evaluating possible solutions, it is important to look at your critical business areas and ask some questions to help uncover areas that need improvement.

Customer relationship management

• 1. Do you have a manageable, enforceable, consistent sales process with the capability to easily track lead conversion and sales results by product or by rep?
• 2. Do you have an updated, easily accessible database of customer and prospect information?
• 3. Is it easy for sales managers to identify new sales opportunities and act on them?
• 4. Are sales forecasts based on customer behavior and transaction histories?

Financial management

• 1. Are data-entry processes efficient and reliable, resulting in correctly recorded transactions? And is it easy to reconcile balances?
• 2. Is it easy for employees to research financial records or generate reports, doing so in a brief timeframe?
• 3. Are general ledger accounts in balance? And is it a minor task to resolve the odd discrepancy?
• 4. Do month-end closings generally take little time and effort? And do invoices and payments happen quickly?

Distribution

• 1. Is your inventory data generally accurate, resulting in few, if any, out-of-stock situations?
• 2. Does your current forecasting process result in the right levels of inventory for critical items—no shortages, no overages?
• 3. Are shipping operations as dependable and flexible as needed? And are you satisfied with their cost-effectiveness?
• 4. Are staffing levels in the warehouse or the shipping department at optimal levels? Can workers perform all tasks efficiently in the time they have, without working costly overtime hours? And are workers always productively busy, without slow times or times with nothing to do?

Manufacturing

• 1. Does your materials-planning process help you keep your overhead at an optimal, low level?
• 2. Can you adjust your manufacturing process to satisfy customer requests for rapid changes in products?
• 3. Are you operating continuously, without shutdowns caused by late arrival of materials or other factors?
• 4. Does your quality assurance process consistently and efficiently succeed in ensuring optimal quality of both the products you make and the materials you receive from suppliers?

By analyzing your processes, you may find that you and your staff spend too much time administering as opposed to creating value, and that your current business solution is starting to impose too many restrictions. It may not accommodate more complex accounting processes or not offer the kind of reporting and insight that can help you manage the growth of your organization. Rapid growth and restrictive systems can lead to inefficient processes in any kind of business. If you answer "no" to questions like the ones listed above, you may want to take a closer look at your business management solutions.

Kraft Enterprise Systems, LLC is a full-service consulting firm that provides financial system selection, implementation and support services to mid-size and large companies. In addition to offering packages from three of the top mid-market accounting software publishers, including Microsoft, Epicor and Sage, we also offer solutions for budgeting/forecasting, customer relationship management (CRM), and document imaging and management. By providing several of the top software products on the market, Axis offers unbiased, objective recommendations based on client needs, not the capabilities of a single product.

Kraft Enterprise Systems has over 100 clients in a wide range of industries, including Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority, Tennessee Bun Company, Passport Health Communications and Black Box Network Services. Kraft Enterprise is a Microsoft Gold Partner.


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