Anonymised case study based on our founder's real work as an IT and ERP manager. The organisation is not named and no savings figures are claimed.
The situation
An established multi-unit business ran operations on an ERP plus a long tail of spreadsheets. The ERP held the records, but approvals, follow-ups and management reporting happened around it in email threads, phone calls and merged sheets. Reports reached leaders late, and teams quoted different numbers for the same thing.
What we did
Mapped the process first. Purchase requests, approvals, dispatch and billing follow-ups were mapped as they really ran, workarounds included. Many problems turned out to be unclear ownership, not missing software.
Fixed master data. Duplicate and inconsistent item, customer and vendor masters were cleaned and given owners, because no report is better than its source data.
Used the ERP already paid for. Approval levels, mandatory fields and standard reports were configured to replace side spreadsheets before anything new was bought.
Automated the hand-offs. Reminders for pending approvals, scheduled report extracts and exception lists were automated, so people handle exceptions instead of chasing routine items.
One MIS, agreed definitions. Management reports were rebuilt from a single source with a written definition for every KPI, so meetings discuss decisions instead of whose numbers are right.
Trained and documented. Every change shipped with a short SOP and a walkthrough.
The outcome
Approvals and follow-ups moved into the system of record, recurring reports arrive on schedule from one source, and teams work from shared definitions.
FAQ
Should we replace our ERP? Usually not first; map the workflow and use existing features before changing systems.
Where does automation help most? In hand-offs, reminders and exception lists.
Need your ERP and MIS to match how the business really works? Talk to Productive IT.