Make a Great Business With Technology And Innovation

A
business organization excels when it undertakes planned strategies. For
all firms, it is important to follow certain structured ways to make
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The
company provides technology solutions which are a combination of
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Internet
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Choosing An Erp System For Freight Forwarding And Logistics Business

The complex nature of the shipping and logistics industry combined with the fierce competition that exists in this sector brings unique challenges to the small and medium-sized operators. This makes it imperative that freight forwarding firms, non-vessel operating common carriers (NVOCCs), custom house agents, international freight brokers, shipping agents and cargo agents streamline their multifarious business operations to remain competitive. Deploying the right ERP system dedicated to logistics and freight forwarding can help firms efficiently realign and scale up their activities whilst being adaptable to the rapidly changing regulatory environment.

Whilst an ERP framework can go a long way in helping you integrate diverse business and operational functions, choosing an ideal freight forwarding software that allows you to manage, access, and share information coming from and going into various departments is not easy. Before planning and deploying an ERP system, it is important that businesses analyse their potential keeping the following factors in mind:-

Integration of all operational and accounting elements within a single platform

The most important factor to consider is the degree of integration your ERP allows. For instance, a small and medium-sized freight forwarding agent who uses different applications to manage functions, including freight management, customs brokerage, documentation, container tracking, shipment tracking and compliance services would benefit more if all the applications are integrated into a single master application based on Tally ERP 9 platform. This customised Tally solution makes the operation more efficient, cost effective and provides the owner with real-time visibility of in-bound/out-bound shipments and their corresponding payables/receivables.

Avoiding duplication due to centralization of multi-branch tasks

The second parameter to consider is to what extent the ERP system allows the centralization of key multi-branch tasks. Consider each branch of a multi-location shipping agency using a separate business accounting application. This will result in disconnected pools of data independent to each other causing unnecessary delay, disruption and data re-keying whereas the business owner needs real-time business and operations data monitoring. On the other hand, if the same agency decides to partner with a Tally services provider and deploy a centralized software application, it has a greater predictability of its operations. Since this scenario allows the master application to read, write and edit data to and fro from each of the branch offices, it helps business owners track shipment-wise payment, performance, profitability and outstanding details.

Enhanced financial control and greater visibility

The ERP system that you choose to implement should provide a greater financial control by cross-integrating data from operational tasks and data from actual transactions. The system should allow the owner to calculate the expected profit per shipment and then compare it to the shipment’s actual cost and profit (using the data from transactions, receivables, payables and brokerage expenses). This helps the owner to track each jobs profitability which in turn can help them to focus on future shipments/jobs that have a greater profitability ratio.

Quick information access, report generation, and data archiving

Information reporting, data archiving and data storage are all important aspects of the logistics and shipping business. The ERP system should be able to generate and archive reports, including balance sheets, shipping-related MIS reports, packing lists, purchase orders and multiple invoices for different chain partners and quotations. Furthermore, cargo documents, including Cargo Arrival Advice (CAA), Cargo Arrival Notice (CAN), Delivery Order (DO) and House Bill of Lading (HBL) should be directly generated from the application. This helps business owners not only to retrieve but send these documents directly from the system to the logistical chain partners.

Inventory replenishment for better customer service

The key to the success of any business is the availability of the product when the customer desires for it. Once the business plan is made and the marketing takes off the next most important step is inventory forecast based on the market reaction and eventually inventory replenishment.

Inventory management was initially done manually that involved whole lot of manual calculation. The retail buyers too were experts in maximizing their sales while maintaining an inventory that was in line. There were many however, who struggled to maintain sales and inventory in line. These retail buyers turned their inventories at a very slow rate trapping in a lot of cash that would mean less profits and a whole lot of overstock every season. There were still others who sold at a certain rate without maintaining inventories. These retailers were unable to keep up the pace of sales due to less stocks loosing out in a long run.

The innumerable soft wares available today solve the problem of manual calculation. The availability of retail information system caters to the needs and the requirements of the retailer for inventories. Retailers in all the segments have utilized the advances made in retail information technology to maximize profits.

As the applications become more refined with exact details of demand forecast and inventory management models, it still depends a lot on the skill of the business person to interpret the data available in the right manner. The applications after all will not be able to do thinking for you. The thinking and interpretation needs to be done day in and out for profits. The applications will only facilitate the individual to take right decisions and make the inventory management work in the retailers favor. Sales planning and inventory replenishment modules too are usually incorporated in the sophisticated inventory planning packages.

ERP is an effective inventory management tool specifically aimed at the small retailers. These packages are however, not utilized to the fullest by the small retailers due to the limitations of the demand prediction and inventory management functions normally included in these soft wares. These tools capture the data provided and address the reporting in an amazing number of combinations. These soft wares have short comings that should be taken into account and not followed blindly. Demand forecasting should inventory management functions are just not sufficient to efficiently manage their stock.

The basic rules of inventory management and retailing remain unchanged. A successful business person has to understand the end customer well. Their needs, requirements and future expectation need to be taken into consideration. All this along with the data from past and the present day trend will help to formulate a basic successful inventory plan. The plan needs to be updated on a daily basis as the season progresses and specific trends have to be worked upon on urgent manner. Use the latest technology effectively for positive end results but do not solely depend on it.

Finding The Right Expense Management Solution For Your Company

In recent times, initiatives such as the Sarbannes Oxley Act in the US have dramatically raised the profile of compliance within the corporate world. As a key element of any corporate compliance policy, expense management has shared some of the limelight. As a result, an Expense Management Solution (EMS) is now critical to any business concerned with corporate compliance. But what is an Expense Management Solution (EMS)? Does your company need one? And where do you find a good one? Just as importantly, how do you successfully implement and integrate an Expense Management Solution (EMS) into your corporate environment. This article sheds some light on these issues.

What is an Expense Management Solution (EMS)?

The term expense management solution has been used to describe quite different commercial products and services. In the context of this article, an expense management solution is defined as a technology based system that processes:

(i) transaction records received from a credit card issuer (detailing employee use of corporate credit cards0; and

(ii) cash reimbursement claims originated by an employee.

In practice the target application is Travel and Entertainment expenditure. A robust Expense Management Solution (EMS) will also support procurement (pCard) activities as part of a broader strategy of effectively managing lower value, high volume business-to-business transactions.

The three core steps of any expense management process are:

1. the acceptance/input of validated source data;
2. the application of predetermined rules of handling expense records; and
3. the posting of transactions to a corporate repository such as an ERP system.

What is the purpose of an Expense Management Solution (EMS)?

The objectives of an expense management solution implementation should include the following:

1. to automate the preparation, submission, approval, and auditing of travel & entertainment claims, thus improving the productivity of account holders and reducing the time and cost of accounts staff;

2. to support the implementation of a standardized best practice method of managing high volume expenses through the use of corporate credit cards; and

3. to increase the transparency and enhance the governance of financial transactions conducted on behalf of the enterprise.

Sources of Expense Management Solutions

Australian and international organizations now have access to a range of quality expense management solutions which are well suited to driving down administration cost whilst meeting corporate compliance requirements. There are essentially three sources of expense management solutions:

1. ERP systems;
2. systems offered by card issuers; and
3. best-of-breed solutions.

Each will have their own merits and will suit organizations in different circumstances.

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Systems

ERP sourced expense management has the attraction of being fully integrated within the financial suite of software, therefore offering a standard look and feel to all users of the ERP. With ERP sourced expense management functionality, the ERP supplies the core software, and the enterprise needs to customize and configure the system to reflect its own structures and rules regarding the management of staff expenses. If you’re considering the option of using their ERP for expense management, you need to be conscious of a number of factors, including:

the actual functionality available within their specific installed ERP system;
the backlog of work on the ERP system accumulated for the IT department; and
the deployment time and the cost of the project (which will usually be substantial).
License costs can be an issue if an enterprise if your company has not paid a license fee that will cover all card account holders and cash claimants.

Card Issuer Systems

Some card issuers promote expense management solutions which can range from a computer generated report through to an online system with some embedded workflow concepts. The attraction of card issuer expense management solutions is that they are offered as part of a card deal, sometimes (apparently) for free. If you’re considering a card issuer expense management solution, you need to know:

will you be ‘locked in’ to the card issuer?; and
will you be able to configure the expense management solution to adequately reflect internal requirements?

Best-of-Breed Solutions

Best-of-breed expense management solutions from specialist providers can be relatively seamlessly interfaced to an organization’s internal systems such as HR and ERP, but will not present a common look and feel to the ERP system. You would usually choose a best-of-breed expense management solution if you want:

1. your company to be independent of a particular card issuer;
2. to achieve a fast implementation; and/or
3. to configure the solution to its own unique rules and policies of expense administration.

Best-of-breed expense management solutions are typically deployed as either an ASP (Application Service Provider) or self hosted solution. Although exceptions are common, small to medium enterprises tend to appreciate the lower up-front cost of an ASP expense management solution, and larger enterprises are attracted to the control available through a self-hosted expense management solution. ASP expense management solutions are typically paid for on a per statement per month basis, and self-hosted expense management solutions have a range of options available from up-front license fees to monthly license rentals.

Overcoming the Cultural Resistance to Expense Management Solutions

Some Finance Directors still have an aversion to corporate credit cards. It’s not uncommon to hear a finance director say if I give everyone a card, they’ll spend us broke!

However, the benefits of an Expense Management Solution are apparent as soon as the Finance Director considers the difficulties of controlling the expenditure behavior of thousands of employees using a manual system of reimbursements which is largely based around a set of uncoordinated spreadsheets. Basic activities such as enforcing travel policies, calculating tax implications, reconciling, posting to a chart of accounts at a detailed level and auditing, are so difficult as to be more honored in the breach than the observance…

Viewed from a different perspective, a company with revenues of $700m $50m in EBITDA, and $20m in annual employee business expenses, can make a dramatic impact on its bottom line using an expense management solution without increasing revenue. If automation reduces these expenses by only five per cent in the first year, the savings alone have the same impact on the bottom line as $14m in new revenue. It isnt surprising that the return on investment of an expense management project is often achieved within its first 12 months of operation.

Expense Management Solutions also play a vital role in Fraud Control. Fraud in this context takes many guises, not all of which are the sort that land perpetrators in court. Information taken from our own customer experience and from publications of the USA Association of Certified Fraud Examiners identify the top four categories of fraud:

1. Mischaracterized expenses
2. Overstated (exaggerated) payments
3. Fictitious expenses
4. Multiple reimbursements

Research in the USA has pointed to as much as 1% of company revenues being lost to employee expense mismanagement. Expense Management Systems will not, in their own right, eliminate this but they are a vital tool in creating an environment that drives down the level of mismanagement.

Conclusion

Over the past 18 months, our company has observed a change in motivation for expense management projects. Whereas formerly expense management solutions were an exercise solely in the reduction of administration costs, now governance is equally a driver to implement technology based controls around high volume expenditure. The Sarbannes Oxley (SOX) act in the USA has captured the attention of any enterprise active in the USA. However, inside or outside the USA, the senior executives must warrant that their company has implemented adequate financial controls that prevent fraud and give a true and correct record of the enterprises financial activities. As a result, the Corporate Travel Manager who pitches a proposal on expense management to the senior executive team currently finds a willing audience.

Erp A Key For Business Growth

The definition of ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) in 90s included finance, human resources, order management and manufacturing. Because of todays high level competition in businesses, customer satisfaction have gained top priority in everyones mind. However, today ERP is referred as a technology strategy that joins a set of business functions, such as finance, HR and purchasing, with operational aspects, such as manufacturing or distribution, through tight linkages from operational business transactions to financial records. Its a widespread idea that executing ERP improves efficiency and provides a transparent view on productivity and growth. An enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution checks your business software that has been designed to record and manage your enterprise data.

Advantages of a well-planned ERP

A good ERP strategy must include potential vendors, business processes, business requirements, business goals, deployment strategy, business and technical architecture. ERP is considered as the backbone of a businesss operations and the primary system-of-record.

1. Combination of all business processes

To understand a well implemented ERP system, it must combine all aspects of your business from customer, to planning and scheduling, till the production and distribution of the products that you make.

2. Increases overall performance

Applying an ERP solution will check that the routine reporting work of employees at all levels are reduced. It also helps your companys management to understand their workforce in a better manner from analyzing individual performance through different business sites to visualizing the overall performance of an entire operating zone. Hence, it helps organizations to take strategic decisions as well.

3. Operational efficiency

If your business is small with less than 50 employees, then it is easier for you to manage, control and track things. But, when the business multiplies and you have an employee strength of more than 1000 employees, it becomes difficult to maintain and control workforce, different processes and procedures. Implementing an ERP solution could help businesses update variety of processes, log them and track them on an hourly basis. In addition, it increases productivity and profitability thereby reducing operating and overhead expenses.

4. Improves accuracy and consistency

In organizations where different departments are not properly integrated, information is inconsistent and sometime inaccurate. The views of every department might vary and hence, the information that they provide the manager will also be different. This hints to confusions and wrong decisions being made. Implementing an ERP solution will make sure that all information is maintained and managed in a consistent manner across the departments.

5. Quality Reports and Performance Analysis

Analysis on ERP will allow you to produce financial and meeting room quality reports, as well as to conduct analysis on the performance of your organization. Overall, ERP solutions work as an excellent information tool especially for medium and large businesses, for better decision making and accomplishing required goals. Hence, its a must for every growing business.