ERP: a boost to producers

ERP can support growth, not only in revenue terms, but also in broadening portfolios or entering new markets (63 per cent).

The study sponsored by IFS examined how senior decision makers of 100 Thai manufacturing companies from a diverse range of industries – from food processing, chemicals and automobile to printing and electronics – use their ERP system and highlighted the challenges experienced in the industry.

Many companies noted that industry-specific functionality was high on their list of priorities (87 per cent). However, many of those surveyed often employ more than one enterprise application to meet company requirements (71 per cent). 

About 51 per cent of companies experience partially or fully disparate systems from multiple enterprise applications. Typically companies will use third-party applications or Excel spreadsheets to address the functional gap, which results in a lack of transparency, visibility, multiple data entry and business intelligence required for making sound business decisions in real time.

User friendliness was also found to be a strong consideration in selecting an ERP system. Even today enterprise software can be complex and difficult to use, and this impacts on the end users’ ability to get the best out of the system. 

This can result in companies losing out on the benefits of deploying an ERP system, as business critical information may not be fully visible, affecting decision-making and opportunities for future growth.

“Thai businesses face many operational challenges at this time, with increased competition, AEC integration and rising operational costs creating different pressure points across the business. 

“The deployment of a completely integrated enterprise application can alleviate this pressure as well as add business value. Making a sound investment in the right ERP system can improve business fundamentals and operational output, helping keep businesses at the forefront of the competition and one step ahead of the game in a challenging market,” Sridharan Arumugam, vice president for Southeast Asia, said yesterday.

“With IFS Application, you get the agility to handle all your manufacturing requirements, regardless of what mode of manufacturing you require, whatever your needs are, and whatever direction your business takes in the future. 

“Component-based, IFS Applications is rich in industry functionality and is designed for increased usability and higher productivity in real time. Intuitive and task-oriented, it includes integrated enterprise applications search functionality, rich media notes and in-application viewing of common file types such as Microsoft Word and Excel.

Jerasakdi Sa-ngiamkittikul, CEO of Charoen Pokphand Engineering, said implementing IFS Applications is an important element of business development as it will help improve operations by ensuring each department works more collaboratively.

“This will boost growth and give us a competitive advantage as we are able to have better business analysis and improve decision-making,” he said.