Employee Investment: Is It Worth It?

Posted on August 13, 2012 by Manny Buigas

A company is as good as its employees. We are used to talking about a company as if the organization itself is a person. But an organization does not generate ideas, does not give service, and by itself is neither efficient nor productive. People make all of those things happen.

Companies are accustomed to paying competitive wages and good benefits to attract talented managers and professionals. Yet often relatively little attention is paid to creating the best circumstances for each individual in the organization to perform at his or her best potential.

The effectiveness of HR-related technology or programs is regularly assessed in an isolated manner. Human Resource Management Systems (HRMS) are judged by how much more efficient the HR worker becomes and how the software helps the HR department accomplish daily tasks. The Return on Investment (ROI) is measured as a result of the total costs saved or efficiency gained, divided by the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO).

But this approach is old fashioned and doesn’t do justice to the real value modern human resource management brings to finding and retaining talented employees. From recruiting to on-boarding, from motivating and developing talent to supporting people managers and creating an engaged workforce, the effectiveness of employee management has a direct impact on business results and competitiveness.

The cost of employee management technology is actually an investment in employees. These investments will reward the company with a return that will impress any CFO.

Cost vs. Investment

Each and every employee costs money. Organizations pay their employees wages and benefits. There is also infrastructure cost, including office space, tools and equipment, administration, and other employee-related costs. Those are necessary costs, but are not always investments. An investment is a cost that creates future value and pays out over time. In other words, an investment in the workforce should help employees achieve their full potential, improve their motivation, and strengthen engagement.

When a carpenter needs a saw, he has the option to purchase the cheapest one. Or he can achieve better results and get more years of use out of a higher quality professional grade tool.

Similarly, the HR professional has his or her own “toolbox” when it comes to optimizing the company’s workforce. Strategic investments in the organization and its employees can make a huge contribution to the bottom line. The right investments can both prevent unnecessary expenses, such as high employee turnover, and boost the productivity of the workforce by better engaging the employees.

Learn more about investing in your employees by downloading this informative whitepaper, “ROEI: Return on Employee Investment”.

Posted in August 2012, Human Resources (HR), Newsletter | Tagged | Leave a comment

Properly Manage Your Assets with ERP Software

Posted on July 26, 2012 by Manny Buigas

While it is true that no Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system can fully protect cash, customer invoices, or hard assets, ERP provides process and reconciliation tools that reduce the risk of assets being mismanaged, lost, or stolen. Here are some examples of how ERP systems can protect your assets:

  • “Positive payment” exports to the bank as an external control to prevent altered or stolen checks from being paid
  • Bank reconciliations that track outstanding checks and deposits-in-transit
  • Accounts receivable aging and collection notes along with specific credit memo codes that identify the reasons for why invoices were discounted or written off
  • First-Expired, First-Out (FEFO) picking and potency management to reduce the risk of inventory write offs
  • Inventory transaction journals that provide a trail of all receipts and issues, including those related to unidentified physical count adjustments
  • Project accounting that allows construction costs to be accumulated before a new asset is completed and transferred to fixed assets for depreciation

System Security

Certain fundamental program logic and set-up parameters also provide control in the ERP environment. Restricted user access is an important function. User profiles can be developed to allow the user to create and/or edit master or transaction data based on defined roles. “View only” or authorization to generate certain reports may be granted to others on a “need to know” basis. For example, while the customer service representative must be able to review customer contacts and product pricing, the buyer often does not need access to that information.

ERP systems will not allow a document to be deleted once it is created. Although a transaction such as a purchase order, work order, sales order, or check could be cancelled or voided, it cannot be deleted or the serial number sequence would be broken.

Inventory records can be associated with lot and/or serial numbers and tracked by location and stock status, including quarantine. Through backward traceability, an enterprise can follow the history of a shipped product to in-house and subcontracted manufacturing operations, inspections and testing, and the origins of sub-assemblies and components. The document attachment feature can be used to store a digital copy of receiving paperwork such as a country of origin, heat treat, or sterilization certificate.

Finally, because of the integrated nature of ERP systems, different transaction records are tied to other records. One example is a return to vendor (RTV) shipment for non-conforming product that links to a debit memo, receiver, and the original PO. Another one is a customer return merchandise authorization (RMA) that links to the credit memo, shipment, and original sales order. Often the chain of record keeping can be accessed easily via a “drill-down.”

While there are numerous features in ERP systems that help companies protect their assets and keep them accountable, ultimately the integrity of an organization is in its people. Systems training, standard operating procedures (SOPs), codes of conduct, informative reporting, management by exception, and prompt action on auditors’ recommendations are all vital for the well-being and reputation of any company.

Contact us today to find out how ERP can protect your company while at the same time improve efficiency, visibility and collaboration.

Posted in August 2012, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Newsletter | Leave a comment

Tips, Tricks & Tutorials: Reversing G/L Entries & Field Security

Posted on July 17, 2012 by Tony Chiodo

Tips, Tricks & Tutorials:

Video tips, tricks and tutorials help you become more productive with your Sage 300 ERP (formerly Sage ERP Accpac) and Sage CRM systems. Featured this month:

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Reversing G/L Entries

The General Ledger in Sage 300 ERP has a Reverse Entry function that makes it easy to correct errors while maintaining an audit trail of all postings. In this tutorial, we demonstrate how to reverse a posted General Ledger transaction then we take a look at the resulting audit trail.
Duration: 4 min 1 sec

Field Security

Field security in Sage CRM allows your system administrator to define how users can access the fields on a screen. For example, it is possible to make a field invisible to some users, allow others to view the contents of the field, but not make changes, and to grant others both read and write access. In this tutorial, we take a look at this feature and run through an example to illustrate how it works.
Duration: 5 min 40 sec

Posted in CRM Videos, ERP Videos, July 2012, Newsletter, Tips & Tricks Videos | Leave a comment

Solve Your Inventory Accuracy Challenges

Posted on July 12, 2012 by Tony Chiodo

Lack of inventory accuracy is the top inventory issue for those in the distribution sector. Most often this means the quantity of inventory on the warehouse floor does not match the records in the Warehouse Management System (WMS).  Obviously this is very critical functionality that a WMS system can provide but the functionality requirements should not end here.

Other critical inventory accuracy functionality that should be expected from your WMS software are:

Inventory Value

  1. Obsolescence: What is the value of obsolete inventory? This reporting assists with the determination of how well an organization manages its inventory and how accurate the existing demand forecasts are. Perhaps product quality is poor. A WMS system should help make this type of assessment.
  2. Margin Analysis: What price are products being sold for and how much profit is made per sale, per item, per customer? Critical information in terms of evaluating sales teams and inventory.
  3. Value: What is the value of inventory at any point in time? How much of the companies resources are currently tied up in inventory?
  4. Landed Cost:  The true cost of any product in inventory includes the cost of the product plus other items like shipping, brokerage, duty and freight.  These costs should be allocated and calculated automatically when receiving inventory.

Customer Service

  1. Inventory Turns: The ratio between the annual cost of sales and average inventory value. Generally, the higher the number the better. This usually indicates the company has strong cash flow and minimal inventory obsolescence or shrinkage.
  2. CustomerShipment Date Tracking:  Customer satisfaction is the key to any company’s success and ensuring you meet the customers required shipping dates ensure this. A WMS system should allow the tracking of shipment dates made and missed and should include a way to remind the shipping department that an order is due for shipment.
  3. Shipment Return Tracking: What products are being returned and which customers return products and how often? Are returns due to shipping or pricing errors? This information is critical in terms of customer relationship management as well as shipping and purchasing management.
  4. Fill Rate for the Initial Shipments: Relates to item two, but what is measured is the company’s ability to fulfill shipments with the inventory on hand without back orders.  It is also important at this point to measure the shipment met all other quality criteria the customer has.
  5. Top Customers: Who are they? What itemsare they buying? Are they making repeat purchases? How often are they buying? This reporting can provide extremely valuable information to the sales and marketing departments.

Vendor Performance

  1. Supplier Shipment Dates/Fill Rates/Shipment Returns: See 2, 3, and 4 in the customer service section but now the reporting is evaluating suppliers and their ability to meet the company’s purchasing expectations.
  2. PO/Invoice Cost: Is the cost per the invoice from your supplier the same as the cost of the original purchase order. If there are differences a company should be able to make that analysis to allow follow ups with the supplier for explanation.

If your WMS does not provide this fundamental information it is not providing appropriate value and may need to be evaluated. Not sure where to start?  Download our free guide to Choosing a Warehouse Management System.

Fill out the form below to begin your download.
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Posted in July 2012, Newsletter, Warehouse Management Systems (WMS) | Leave a comment

CRM is a Business Strategy, Not Just a Technology

Posted on July 10, 2012 by Manny Buigas

People tend to think of CRM as a simple technology, but CRM can be many things to many different businesses.

Technology research company, Gartner, defines CRM as:“A business strategy whose outcomes optimize profitability, revenue and customer satisfaction… CRM technologies should enable greater customer insight, increased customer access, more effective customer interactions, and integration throughout all customer channels and back-office enterprise functions”.

Simply put, CRM is a business strategy…notjust a technology.

At the basic level it is good contact management, but if you extend the concept of CRM into your business it can be much more than managing who you contact, how you contact and when you contact. It becomes about the way you manage processes, from the way you sell your products or service a customer, to the way your run processes internally.

So we can’t think that utilizing CRM in your business is just a case of installing a new piece of software and watching it magically solve all your business problems. A successful deployment of CRM focuses around three key things.

1) Communicate.Now’s the time to identify and connect with key stakeholders and really think about your business issues – what are you trying to solve?  For example, are you trying to improve efficiency or better understand your customers?

Once you’ve recognized those challenges you can begin to think in terms of measurements and identifying targets. This helps you develop clear strategic objectives and understand where you want to be, essential to proving the return on investment from your CRM.

2) Collaboration.Interact with other areas of your business; you may discover things you’ve not thought of or get new ideas. Remember good collaboration can move CRM initiatives company-wide. Inquiring outside of your department can help you recognize where you can link up processes to provide the best value for your customers and share knowledge.

3) Compete.Of course you must spend time understanding the capabilities of CRM software packages but you must spend more time thinking about your own business. What are your core competencies compared to your competitors? How can your CRM make that competency even better? CRM can, of course, improve your marketing function or empower your sales force, but successful CRM could be a whole lot more.

Look long and hard at your products, your staff and particularly your processes. Where can you improve? Where can you add leverage? And can you use them as business drivers to make your CRM support you and go further?

Drive your Business Forward in Demanding Times by downloading our whitepaper. Fill out the form below to begin your download.

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Posted in Customer Relations Management (CRM), July 2012, Newsletter | Leave a comment

Gain Control of Big Data with Business Intelligence

Posted on July 3, 2012 by Tony Chiodo

Big data is just that; huge sets of data that are constantly changing, which means that it’s really difficult to cajole into any meaningful form of information.

Wikipedia describes big data as the “term applied to data sets whose size is beyond the ability of commonly used software tools to capture, manage, and process the data within a tolerable elapsed time. Big data sizes are a constantly moving target currently ranging from a few dozen terabytes to many petabytes of data in a single data set.”

Data warehouses
Big data is usually stored in a data warehouse – that is if you want to be able to analyze and interpret data for use in your everyday business. A data warehouse can incorporate Business Intelligence (BI) tools, which take extracts of data into a repository to allow you to access the key information you need without referring to the whole dataset. The thing is, not every data warehouse provides you with the capabilities you require, as many vendors are currently in the process of evolving their solutions from solely an information store to providing analysis tools for extracting more meaningful data.

Data warehouse platforms evolve from an information store supporting traditional business intelligence (BI) platforms to a broader analytics infrastructure supporting operational analytics, corporate performance management and other new applications and uses, such as operational BI and performance management. This indicates that the market is shifting from storage and access to delivery and comprehension. It’s predicted that by 2013 most data warehouse vendors will offer something that is based more around information management and focuses on getting data out.

Planning for the future
If you have large sets of regular data that are entered into your business systems and you don’t have the tools to manage your data effectively, you may end up with lots of data and no way to analyze trends. Modern businesses demand much more than just joining up common tasks within their organization and are now more concerned with getting meaningful information out. A recent study showed that over 80% of CIOs have visionary plans that include business intelligence and analytics, confirming that businesses really want to act on the huge amounts of data that they have at their disposal.

Understanding business data
Businesses want to gain a better understanding of their data to so they can plan for the future and make decisions made on knowledge and fact. Business intelligence, therefore, is a fundamental part of any business.

More and more businesses want to use the data they have accumulated over the years and be able to access it easily and interpret information. Business Intelligence allows businesses to have greater control and agility through better visibility of data and multi-dimensional analysis, so they can measure key metrics enabling them to spot things like underperformance and take action.

Informed decisions
In this economic climate, the ability to make informed decisions is key. Business Intelligence allows businesses to identify who their top customers are, which products are selling the most, what’s most profitable and what’s in stock/on order so they can plan effectively, ensuring that customers are kept happy and profits are maximized

Download our free whitepaper to learn how “Better Analytics Can Lead Your Business to Higher Profits.” Fill out the form below to begin your download.

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Posted in Business Intelligence (BI), July 2012, Newsletter | Leave a comment

ERP Evolving to Meet Business Demands

Posted on June 28, 2012 by Manny Buigas

The market for Enterprise Resource Planning(ERP) software changed significantly after the financial meltdown of 2008, since then businesses have witnessed a slow, fragile return to growth. Firms now want to see a faster return on investment, and products that are quicker and easier to install and integrate.

Deployment of ERP software can have a profound and positive impact on revenues. A sharp reduction in duplication of data and processes, improved cross departmental communication and better financial reporting are just a fraction of what ERP software can deliver, provided that the product is chosen carefully and the deployment and ongoing maintenance are managed well.

An emerging trend in the market is the need for quick to implement, international ERP solutions that support domestic locations, as well as offering strong international features, multiple languages and currency support, multiple charts of accounts, all delivered to multiple locations.

The benefits of ERP software

Although they can be hard to quantify, the financial benefits of ERP may be realized in many different ways. Some organizations use ERP software to make savings in departmental budgets; being able to compare cost savings with revenue gains leads to better decision making when setting targets.

ERP systems can also make it easier to identify non-productive areas of the business, allowing managers to move staff to where they can better benefit the company. Still more savings can be realized by speeding up the monthly close process, in which a firm’s books are temporarily closed and analyzed to produce a set of financial statements that indicate how well the company is performing.

A faster close process allows management information and analysis to be made available sooner, giving the company more time to analyze the figures before producing financial statements. Full or partial automation of this process by ERP can lead to significant reductions in the close cycle. The boost to business from these financial benefits is obvious. Better cash flow and liquidity is a critically important part of both riding out an economic downturn and taking maximum advantage of the recovery.

The question of compliance

The compliance landscape has become harder to navigate safely in recent years. The government has passed record amounts of regulatory legislation and, in the wake of the financial crisis the financial industry in particular has been subjected to further scrutiny.

The financial services industry serves as an ideal illustration of the importance of data governance. The crisis in 2008 ensured that the customers of financial institutions are more clear-eyed than ever about the risks they run in investing their money. Trust is imperative and potential customers insist on knowing that their confidential information is safe.

ERP software can help companies re-engineer their business processes to ensure compliance with government lead legislations.

Positioned for growth

As the economy emerges from recession, firms need to ensure they are positioned for growth and able to take full advantage of the changing conditions. It is clear that the advantages in terms of operational efficiency, financial flexibility and inter-departmental communications offered by ERP systems can provide a distinct competitive advantage to those firms with the foresight and capability to deploy them.

There can be no doubt that ERP software is evolving to meet the demands of businesses both now and in the future.

Learn more by downloading this informative whitepaper, “ERP: Building on the Basics”. Fill out the form below to begin your download.

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Posted in Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), July 2012, Newsletter | Leave a comment

Data and Decisions – How to Use One to Feed the Other

Posted on June 27, 2012 by Tony Chiodo

Are you suffering from information overload, or do you have all the information and don’t know how to make sense of it all?

In the small and medium marketplace, executives and business-owners need to have the tools to filter key information that could prove critical to making sound business decisions. That’s no different to the big corporations, except the stakes may be higher if the wrong path is taken. Competition is fierce and there are always bigger, better-funded businesses looking to beat out their smaller, leaner competitors.

Decision-making styles differ; some are entrepreneurs who always have an instinct for what their company needs to do to be competitive and to grow, but they will probably need solid evidence to mitigate their risk and gain the support of their business managers.

Others turn to the internet so they can see what the pundits and bloggers are saying; subscribing to hundreds of newsfeeds which ultimately provide as many opinions on a particular topic. A number turn to advisory firms and read report after report until they find one that matches their own opinion, or several that have a consensus about the direction their type of company should be taking.

Few are actually using their own business data, now being collected in vast quantities from multiple management systems, as it is often a slow, manual and sometimes complex process to get the correct overall view and metrics, so they continue to operate in a departmental silo.

For those who are experiencing growth in this tough economy, finding your way through the data jungle will definitely need an investment of time and money; what you need to understand is that they can both be of reasonable size with today’s technologies. Smart companies are starting to make sense of their data by implementing easy-to-use business intelligence solutions and realizing the value of their investment almost immediately.

So if you think you don’t want to be on the leading edge, because that’s for the big corporations, think again. Having an integrated, real-time view of your business means

  • Streamlined reporting
  • Consistent views of information for all departments
  • Collaboration, for example between sales and accounting
  • Better and faster decisions based on intelligence and not just data

Business Intelligence gives you the opportunity to view, understand, analyze, and act on all the information available, regardless of source or format. With today’s technologies, solutions have become cost-effective for businesses of all sizes. It’s all about empowering the decision maker, and getting the right data into the right hands.

Posted in Business Intelligence (BI), June 2012, Newsletter | Leave a comment

The Importance of Performance Management Solutions

Posted on June 14, 2012 by Manny Buigas

For many employers and employees, the annual performance review is one of the most dreaded days of the year. All too often, managers aren’t even sure how to assess employees when they are confronted with a blank performance evaluation form. Even employees who believe they are performing well will walk fearfully into the annual review because they aren’t sure on what basis they are being assessed. Everyone involved in the performance management process has wondered the same thing at least once: Why bother?

For companies in the mid-market segment, businesses with roughly 250 to 3,000 employees, performance management may seem like an unnecessary annual bureaucratic exercise.However, nothing could be further from the truth. According to Josh Bersin, a leading analyst in the human capital industry, the business impact of a consistent, companywide performance management process is significant. “Organizations with such processes have experienced less downsizing, have lower turnover among high performers, and have nearly twice the revenue per employee as organizations with no formal or consistent performance management practices.”

The impact of a solid performance management strategy is highlighted when we look back to the recent economic downturn. Many businesses were forced to make abrupt changes in strategy and found it difficult to align employee performance with corporate goals. Organizations that conducted layoffs let valuable employees go because of a lack of visibility into which employees were high or low performers. Performance management technology could have helped these organizations respond faster to economic changes and make better decisions.

While many enterprise-class organizations have already moved to adopt technology to support the performance management process, the mid-market sector is less likely to have done the same. However, these companies should consider how performance management technology can significantly enhance their performance processes through:

  • Improving efficiency and compliance: Automation helps managers to provide constructive feedback to employees on a more frequent basis, in less time. Manual processes are error-prone, and errors could lead to serious compliance issues.
  • Making performance reviews relevant: Technology can transform performance management from a once-a-year event into an ongoing process that also includes development plans and learning opportunities.
  • Maximizing productivity and paying for performance: Top-performing employees are valuable assets. Technology solutions can encourage better performance, focus individual efforts on key business strategies, and make it easier to recognize and reward your best employees.

If you would like to learn why creating a performance-oriented culture that is supported by technology is crucial for business growth, download our whitepaper: Performance Management Solutions for the Mid-Market Organization: Why Bother?

Posted in Human Resources (HR), June 2012, Newsletter | Leave a comment

Learn to Listen To Your Marketplace and Increase Your Sales

Posted on June 13, 2012 by Tony Chiodo

Reminder!  Register for tomorrow’s complimentary webinar and “Learn to Listen To Your Marketplace and Increase Your Sales”. Axis has teamed up with Leading Edge founder, Dan Kraus for our 29-minute Afternoon Break webinar series. Click here for more information and to register.

Posted in Customer Relations Management (CRM), June 2012, Newsletter | Leave a comment