Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems bring a number of advantages to modern companies, including the ability to better track resources and reduce the level of complexity in projects. Though enterprise resource planning systems can control many of your business processes, utilizing a job scheduler in conjunction with ERP technology only increases the advantages of streamlining an organization's initiatives.
Art Herbert notes that a critical piece of managing ERP projects is to "implement, track, and control your project schedule." If the project schedule is not managed as a definitive piece of ERP strategy, "tasks that continue to come in behind schedule add significant cost to the [ERP] project." Herbert lists resignation or loss of a critical resource, loss of connectivity to instances/document storage, or poor issue tracking and resolution among things that delay successful completion of ERP projects. These are the types of tasks that an enterprise job scheduler can manage in tandem with the enterprise resource planning system.
In this way, an ERP initiative functions better with a job scheduler that can manage and monitor the daily or behidn the scenes business processes that make up the long-term plans of an ERP project. Let's examine the benefits of leveraging a job scheduler alongside an ERP system.
Planned scalability
Software provider Ramco notes that ERP systems provide streamlined scalability, which is especially helpful when a company wants to implement a new initiative or adjust their business plan. When this feature is utilized in conjunction with a proper scheduler, this scalability—and the tasks associated with it—can begin happening immediately. In this way, the organization is prepared to scale the system up or down as they see fit, and a job scheduler provides the necessary checkpoint for the organization's success in completing tasks.
Consistent reporting
In addition to ensuring that scalability happens on schedule, an ERP paired with a job scheduler also helps guarantee that reporting is consistent across the organization. This capability is especially important during large scale projects that require proper documentation to keep the initiative on track. What's more, supervisors can monitor results every step of the way. Here, a job scheduler supports the reporting process and prevents any lapse or improper documentation from taking place.
Improved visibility of all scheduled jobs and materials
Enterprise scheduling software also provides an overarching view of all the projects the company has on the table, notes Smartbridge contributor Srinivas Manthena. When this function is combined with the inventory and supply management of an ERP system, administrators can easily see what resources are being consumed by the different jobs the company is completing. Using a scheduler in conjunction with an ERP system becomes even more advantageous during the times when main supervisors are off the clock, but the business continues to complete projects. This way, when he or she returns, they can check the scheduler and the ERP system to see the progress made while they were gone.
Free up the IT team
Manthena also points out that, while scheduling is not necessarily a new concept for corporate IT departments, it does take many teams some time to get used to implementing a job scheduling strategy for enterprise resource management. Eventually, they find that using a scheduler alongside the company's ERP system allows the team to focus on other mission-critical aspects of the business rather than manual tasks. "[This approach] allows [the] IT department to focus on delivering value-added IT services, rather [than] deal with day-to-day automation/scheduling issues," Manthena writes.
Cost savings through better tracking
Overall, utilizing a job scheduler alongside an ERP system enables company leaders to keep a better eye on the projects beign completed by their employees and the resources they consume during these initiatives. Ramco notes that this approach can lead to cost savings for the business because they are better able to track where time and materials are beign spent adn therefore prevent wasting resources. "[The] system introduces fundamental inovations in managing resources while eliminating delays and thus reduces cost of operations," Ramco states.
While some organizations choose only to utilize an ERP system, the technology is much more beneficial when leveraged alongside a robust job scheduler like Automate Schedule. Automate Schedule can schedule and complete any tasks that fall outside of the ERP's established domain. Our application integrations, including Informatica and SAP, make it easy to use our job schedluing tool alongside your existing ERP. If the ERP's native scheduling tool is limited, an enterprise scheduler like Automate Schedule can automate tasks across different servers, systems, and applications to ensure that all business processes run smoothly. Integrating your ERP system is critical.