How AI is transforming ERP ?

1. What is AI integrated ERP ?

Britannica defines artificial intelligence (AI) as the “ability of a digital computer or computer-controlled robot to perform tasks commonly associated” with humans. Application of artificial intelligence software and techniques to ERP solutions is known as AI in ERP. Interactive chatbots, intelligent process automation, and AI-enhanced financial planning are all examples of AI tools utilised in ERP software. ERP systems with AI capabilities work to influence a company’s daily processes and operations. Companies can increase productivity while enhancing human capabilities by streamlining routine processes, eliminating human error, and cutting operating costs. A multitude of company functions, including accounting, analytics, data mining, sales automation, and warehouse management, can benefit from the application of AI in ERP systems.

2. How does AI and ML enhance ERP ?

In order to gain a competitive advantage, businesses are resorting to intelligent technologies and artificial intelligence. Intelligent manufacturing and machine learning are already assisting  businesses to increase productivity, for instance in terms of finance and customer management. Let’s examine how AI will affect ERP systems in these three areas.

1. Data handling and business intelligence: Making sense of the growing volume of data is one of the main problems we observe. With so much information about customers, their behaviour, and the organization’s processes, it’s difficult to stay up and derive relevant insights from it. With AI and ML integrated into your cloud ERP software, you will be able to input data to strong AI algorithms. You will then be able to spot trends in your process and operations that might not be apparent otherwise.
2. Process Automation: Automating business processes helps you to save both time and money. There are some duties that are performed often and repetitively in every business. Such routine processes can be automated using machine learning. Additionally, this helps you save a lot of time, money, and human resources. With AI and ML built in your ERP and manufacturing software, you can direct your human resources to more sensitive and high-priority jobs.
3. User experience: Channeling user interactions with customers is made easier by integrating AI or ML into any company’s ERP. Utilizing customer data gives insight into demand-supply chain dynamics and helps understand buying trends. Advanced AI algorithms combined with ERP aid in monitoring customer behaviours, measuring how frequently they visit websites, and assessing consumer spending power. It is clear that AI ERP streamlines the business processes that improve customer experience and consumer trust. Another advantage of this technique is that it can be used to keep an eye on the gaps, address problems, and quickly fix mistakes.
4. Better marketing solutions: ERP integration of AI and ML also aids in the exploration of unexplored business opportunities. It provides information to the clients about their purchasing patterns, gender, age, demography, and other factors. Thanks to ERP systems that support AI, businesses can now provide better customer service and engage with a variety of market groups. Many markets have been overlooked up to this point, but the introduction of AI has improved market visibility and allowed the company to explore other possibilities.

3. What are the benefits of AI integrated ERP to the businesses ?

There are other myriad benefits of AI-powered ERP software for business process improvement. Let us explore some of them in the following.

1.       Intelligent Data Processing : ERP software is a clever way to increase the productivity and efficiency of your business processes, but it can’t handle data at the same supersonic speed that an AI-enabled system does without any human intervention. With the use of an AI-integrated ERP system, you may access real-time data from many departments and make the appropriate deductions for precise and effective planning. Without any or very little human assistance, it generates thorough reports.

2.       Integrated and Advanced Analytics: AI technology has the capacity to process enormous volumes of data. A standard ERP system can produce detailed reports by evaluating the historical data it has on hand, but an AI-enabled system goes far further. You may use predictive analytics to increase the certainty of your decisions. This improves your business agility while enabling you to approach problems from every angle.

3.       Improved Accuracy in Forecasting: Artificial intelligence and machine learning are gaining appeal as promising technologies for improving forecast accuracy. ERP systems with AI capabilities aid companies in enhancing their forecasting procedures. These software solutions are made to close the gap between predicted and actual requirements, from evaluating business demands and staffing requirements to cash flow and other fundamental activities.

4.       Boosting Automation: Manual data entry can result in enormous workloads for your employees, costing you many man-hours and being prone to errors. By combining an ERP system with AI, you can automate workflows, save time by removing the need for human interaction when uploading data, and improve operational effectiveness.

5.       Maximizing Process Efficiency: The business operations are further enhanced by the addition of AI to your ERP system. This cutting-edge ERP solution examines your previous data to recommend the most productive processes or workflows. Business operations are optimized, and every work is completed quickly and without errors, resulting in significant time savings and greater efficiencies.

6.       Simplified Access to Data: As artificial intelligence became a part of ERP systems, businesses began to benefit from the ability to extract information from large data sets and transform it into useful information. This ultimately led to choices and activities that are advantageous to the expansion of the business.

7.       Ensuring Greater Agility: AI-enabled ERP adoption streamlines business processes and makes firms more agile. Thanks to AI integration, routine procedures that once consumed a significant portion of your employees’ productive time and caused inefficiencies are now automated.

8.       Generate Tailored Business Reports: The introduction of AI technology changes how reports are produced. The integrated ERP system can extract corporate data and produce insightful reports in the desired format for the users. This eliminates the need for manual data extraction, calculations, and report reconciliation. Finding specific information is considerably easier with automation, and most importantly, reporting quality is improved, adding more value to analytical decision-making for corporate growth and improving ROI.

4. What does Focus Softnet offer to bring innovations for these businesses? What is their USP?

We offer easily customizable and rapidly deployable industry-specific solutions such as Focus Warehouse Management System (Focus WMS), Focus Manufacturing Resource Planning (MRP) and Focus Point-of-Sale solution (Focus POS). Besides the industry-ready solutions, Focus Softnet offers 15 integrable ERP Modules for better, faster and simpler processes.

Focus solutions have grown over the years in functionality but one unique feature that remained consistently unique with Focus is the plug-&-play customization which allows any system admin to take up any new requirement, create a new data entry form or report output fully matching in content and layout as the user expects it. Apart from the plug & play customization, Focus solutions offer built-in BI, AI functionalities in core ERP as features.

5. What are the current technology trends, and what does the future hold for this digital transformation?

There are predictions that the AI ERP market would expand by about $190 billion by 2025, according to a market study. It’s time for businesses to update to the newest ERP system operations and processes because digital transformation is an emerging feature of a new era. While ML helps restructure the business environment by introducing innovation and automation, AI makes task management easier. The emergence of the newest ERP solutions exemplifies the operational efficiency that AI and ML will be required to achieve in the near future.

6. Please tell us about your revenue split and sector expertise?

Focus Softnet offers its solutions across a few industries, with 60% of sales accounting, primarily in the fields of electronics, pharmaceuticals, and produce. 20% contributes to real estate, computer-aided facilities management (CAFM), garage services, education, and 10% contributes to the manufacturing industry. The rest of the business comes from a wide range of small-scale industries in the retail segment in building material, hardware tools and food and beverages.

7. What are the future plans on the anvil?

Focus Softnet has been advancing with its R&D work for the past 30 years, developing new modules, features, and products for many verticals. Focus Softnet has also introduced AIFA (Artificially Intelligent Futuristic Applications) as a technique to integrate AI and machine learning technologies into their corporate infrastructure that significantly improves automation, further accelerating the advancement of technology, thereby saving time and cost for these SMEs. With a successfully growing business in India and Dubai, Focus Softnet is looking to further expand its operations to North America and South Africa soon with India playing a pivotal role in their growth trajectory.