How to Build Your Own ERP System: Five Steps to Follow While Development

As a company grows, its reliance on Excel spreadsheets may not suffice, spurring the adoption of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software. This software has become a business solution that can effectively gather and systematize vital business data to facilitate streamlined operations, especially in the face of expansion. This guide aims to clarify what an ERP system entails, how to create one, and the benefits it can offer your organization. Let’s delve into it without delay!

What is Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)? 

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) refers to software that enables organizations to manage various business processes from a single platform, such as inventory management, logistics, accounting, and healthcare. The software’s primary objective is to optimize and automate these processes to enhance operational efficiency and increase profitability. Modern ERP systems employ advanced technologies like artificial intelligence and machine learning to offer intelligence, visibility, and efficiency across all business units.

According to Statista, global revenue for enterprise application software reached 212.1 billion U.S. dollars in 2020. According to statistics, more than 53% of businesses view ERP as a priority area for investment, with 35% aiming to improve efficiency and 29% to reduce costs. The growth of the ERP market is fueled by factors such as the need for operational efficiency, the use of cloud and mobile apps in enterprise, and increased demand for data-driven decision-making. 

Why Do Companies Need an ERP System?

ERP systems can also modernize legacy systems and make businesses more adaptable to customer needs, resulting in a better customer experience.

Here are a few critical benefits of ERP systems that contribute to your organization’s overall success:

Increased Efficiency

By automating manual tasks and processes, ERP can save your business significant time and eliminate errors and duplication. This, in turn, can improve employee productivity, allowing them to complete more tasks in less time. Integrating ERP systems can also allow employees to focus on revenue-generating tasks instead of repetitive work.

Enhanced Teamwork

With all business-related data in one unified system, collaboration between enterprise branches or departments is improved. ERP software can reduce communication delays across the entire organization, especially if your organization has affiliates in different locations.

Helps To Make Quality Decisions

Real-time data and easy-to-use reporting and analysis in ERP can lead to faster decision-making. For instance, an ERP system can show you which workflows are efficient and which are causing financial losses.

Enhanced Customer Service

ERP is beneficial for offering better customer service. With a centralized data storage system, sales managers and customer support staff can easily access all necessary information on sales and clients. This leads to improved communication with customers and faster service delivery.

ERP also provides faster access to customer histories, which allows businesses to analyze customer behavior patterns and predict demand accurately. By satisfying demand promptly, businesses can improve customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Built-in compliances

Maintaining regulatory compliance is crucial for any business. ERP systems help in compliance by keeping track of industry regulations and changes. This ensures that businesses stay ahead and comply with relevant laws and guidelines.

Extensibility

ERP software is scalable and flexible, quickly adjusting to the company’s current needs and situations. It can handle changes such as increased production, an extension of inventory, the addition of new functions or services, and new users. ERP systems are essential for enterprise digital transformation.

Step-by-Step Guide on How To Build ERP

Creating an ERP from the ground up is an attractive investment for many businesses. Ready-made software cannot offer every feature necessary for a company to conduct business efficiently. Developing an ERP program in-house can save much money in the long run.

Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to build an ERP system:

Step #1: Define Your Company’s Objectives and Needs

You must convey your goals and requirements to the development team to obtain a quality and valuable product. Speaking with employees from different departments can help identify issues and devise ways to solve them with the ERP.

An effective custom ERP system should be capable of managing data flows from various activities, such as sales and planning, and automating repetitive tasks. While some enterprises may have unique requirements, most will want to include business activities such as sales, finance, HR, distribution, or delivery.

Step #2: Delve into UI/UX Design 

Design plays a critical role in any project; the same goes for ERP systems. The UI/UX design should be user-friendly and easy to navigate. ERP systems have multiple user roles, navigation buttons and other elements. Creating wireframes and establishing the user flow before jumping into UI design is wise. Once you’re ready, focus on fonts, buttons, and other details. Your design team should keep the ERP software simple and avoid cluttering it with unnecessary details.

Step #3: Choose the Right Tech Stack 

How do you create a stable ERP system? You need to select a robust tech stack that suits your chosen platform. If you’re creating an ERP for desktop platforms, developers may use C++ or C# for Windows and Swift or Objective-C for macOS. Software engineers typically use Angular, Bootstrap, JavaScript, and Node.js for the web version. Additionally, during development, integrating various third-party services is common. Developers can incorporate services like G Suite, Office 365, and other APIs into your ERP system to access and display data.

Step #4: Integrate ERP Modules 

By integrating established business modules into your ERP, you can interconnect all your business tools to make it centralized which also avoids data loss. Some popular third-party services to integrate into ERP include G Suite, Office 365, FreshBooks, Jira, Salesforce, and SAP.

Step #5: Review the Final Product 

When creating an ERP from scratch, testing every aspect of your product is crucial. The development team should have several QA engineers to test the system and identify and fix any bugs. It’s smart to involve your employees in testing the ERP software. They’re the best beta testers who can identify any weaknesses in the system.

Challenges In Building An ERP System

Although implementing ERP software brings numerous benefits, businesses may face challenges. However, planning thoroughly and partnering with the right tech company can effectively avoid or manage these challenges.

Training staff is essential to maximize the benefits of ERP software, but it requires a significant amount of time and effort. Also, when experienced users leave the company, new employees must spend considerable time learning the system from scratch.

Deploying and maintaining ERP systems can be expensive, requiring additional tech staff and regular updates. However, these investments are worth it in the long run.

Successful ERP software implementation requires precise customization and fine-tuning of the company’s structure on all management levels.

ERP solutions are complex, and developing them requires an experienced team with a high level of expertise, such as the team at ultroNeous. We can help you build an effective ERP system that enhances staff productivity, enables easy scalability, and saves time and financial resources. We will guide you through the process and help take your business to the next level.

Build Your Own ERP With ultroNeous

ultroNeous is an experienced IT company with a team of skilled professionals, including designers, developers, QA engineers, and project managers. We specialize in developing custom digital products for various business domains, such as healthcare, retail, financial services, and logistics.

When you work with us, you can expect the following:

• A personalized approach to your project, with expertise in multiple domains
• End-to-end service development, including enterprise app development, database development, cloud app development, software consulting, and maintenance
• An expert IT team that is certified, agile-oriented, and goal-driven
• The latest tools and software development methods
• Comprehensive testing, QA consulting, and automation services to ensure your product meets all requirements and security standards.

Frequently Asked Questions