What ERP means, in short
ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) is the program where you keep the whole company: what you sell, what you buy, what you produce, who works and how much money comes in and goes out. Think of a notebook that fills itself in with everything that happens in the company.
What sets it apart from an invoicing program is the link between the parts. When you sell a product, the system takes it off the stock, prepares the delivery note and the invoice and sends the document on to accounting.
What the ERP software we build looks like
We do not start from zero with each client. We have our own platform, split into more than 30 modules, already in use at manufacturers, distributors, construction companies and groups of companies. We pick the modules you need and write from scratch only what is specific to your company.
A few things the ERP software we deliver does:
- Incoming invoices download themselves from SPV (the Romanian tax authority's online portal), for every company on the account.
- Bank statements arrive every 5 minutes and are matched to invoices.
- At 6 in the morning you get suggested orders to the cheapest supplier, for products below minimum stock.
- At 8 you get the list of invoices falling due.
- The owner sees orders, critical stock, unpaid invoices, the fleet and profit by cost centre on one screen.
7 types of ERP software
An ERP can focus on one area of the company or cover all of them. These are the types you meet most often, and the modules of ours that cover them:
- ERP for financial management. Transactions, cash flow, accounting and tax reporting. See Finance and accounting and Payments, banking and receivables.
- ERP for stock and purchasing. Stock, purchases, suppliers and the route of the goods to the customer. See Procurement and stock and Logistics and deliveries.
- ERP for human resources. Employees, timesheets, payroll and reviews. See HR, time tracking and payroll.
- ERP for production. Planning, work orders, machines and raw materials. See Production and Quality and traceability.
- ERP for sales and marketing. Customers, quotes, orders and results by sales agent. See Sales and commercial documents and CRM, marketing and leads.
- ERP for projects. Allocated resources, progress and costs for each project or building site. See Sites, projects and installation.
- ERP for reporting and analysis. Data from every department, gathered into reports for decisions. See Reports and KPIs.
What you gain with an ERP system
Data moves from one part to another on its own
You sell a product: the stock goes down, the sale shows up in accounting, the payment is linked to the invoice. Nobody copies the same number into three programs.
Fewer mistakes and less time lost
The application does the routine steps: it downloads invoices, matches payments, sends reminders. The team deals with customers, not with copying data.
You see what is happening in the company right away
On the same screen you find income, expenses, deliveries, stock, the vehicle fleet, project progress and team results, plus whatever else matters in your line of business.
It grows with the business
You add a new module, a new company in the group or a new location without changing the program. For groups we have the Group of companies and multi-location module.
Lower running costs
Fewer hours lost typing data by hand and fewer errors to fix at the end of the month.
You know your customers better
You see what each customer buys, how often and how quickly they pay. If customer relationships are your priority, read the CRM software development page as well.
A custom ERP, not an off-the-shelf program
The workflows follow the way you work: a PVC window maker measures at the customer's site from a phone, a road builder follows the asphalt made in its own plant all the way to the site. Same core program, different route.
The integrations we already use
An ERP is only useful if it connects to the rest of your programs. Our applications work with:
- ANAF (the Romanian tax authority): e-Factura, Romania's mandatory e-invoicing system (automatic download from SPV and sending), and company checks by tax ID (CUI).
- Accounting and invoicing: SAGA, NextUp (both ways), Nexus, SmartBill, FGO.
- Bank: bank statements fetched automatically and matched to invoices, daily BNR (National Bank of Romania) exchange rate.
- Couriers: FAN Courier, Sameday, DPD, with the AWB generated from the order.
- Fleet: GPS (TrackGPS, FM-Track, CargoTrack) and fuel cards.
- Online store: WooCommerce, Shopify, Gomag.
- Office: Gmail, Outlook, Google Sheets, Drive and Docs.
The details are on the Integrations and automation page.
ERP with artificial intelligence
AI fits into an ERP wherever someone reads documents and copies data. This is what it actually does in our applications:
- It reads supplier invoices. A scanned or PDF invoice is read automatically (header and lines) and prepared for goods receipt. A person confirms it before it goes into stock.
- It checks the goods receipt against the invoice. It compares what you ordered with what the e-Factura invoice says and flags missing or uncertain items.
- It reads cost estimates. A PDF estimate is split automatically into labour and materials, matched to your catalogue.
- It answers questions about the company. You ask in your own words about products, partners or invoices and get the answer with a link to the record.
- It finds the product from a photo. You photograph the label, and the application looks for the product in the catalogue and creates it, supplier included, if it does not exist.
Predictive analytics and machine learning come up often in presentations. In the ERPs delivered today, suggested orders follow rules you can see and change (minimum stock, maximum stock, best price), not a calculation you cannot check. Everything about AI in ERP is on the AI assistant in the ERP page.
The stages of an ERP implementation
Consulting
We learn how you work today, answer your questions and tell you which modules fit.
Project planning
We set out the work structure, the price and the deadline.
Development
We configure the modules and write what is missing. We stay in touch with you, so new requirements go in along the way.
Testing
We check the application with your real data and fix problems before you start using it.
Delivery and training
We switch the application on and train each person for their role.
Support after implementation
We follow how it runs, improve it and add the features you ask for.
How we get past the problems of an ERP implementation
People have to use it properly
The biggest problem is not technical: it is habit. We train the team by role, using your data, and the screens for the shop floor or the field have only the buttons that are needed.
Moving data out of the old programs
Customers, products, stock and balances have to be brought over from the old program or from Excel. We discuss this before development, not at the end. From SAGA, for example, the ERP takes over the chart of accounts, the stock locations and the items.
Choosing the right solution
Weigh the cost, what the program does today, how easily it grows and what features you can add later.
Choosing the right supplier
Look at their experience in your field, at the ERPs they have already put into operation, at support after launch and at how easily the program adapts to your company.
Companies we have built ERP software for
- a road builder with its own asphalt, concrete and aggregate plants;
- a steel structures factory that produces to order for an industrial group;
- a maker of PVC and aluminium windows and doors, with a dealer network;
- a building materials distributor, with a central warehouse and shops;
- a medical equipment distributor, with sales, rental and service;
- CROS GAS, with a network of petrol stations, and Tuagua, which delivers water to homes and businesses.
You will find more on the our projects page. If you want to see what the ERP would look like for your company, book a demo.