ERP software, built around your processes.

Why bespoke ERP

Most off-the-shelf ERP packages are built for an average business that does not quite exist. You end up paying for modules you never use, fighting the ones you need, and running side spreadsheets to cover the gaps the software leaves behind. The trouble is a particular shape for a smaller business, you pay enterprise prices for a fraction of the platform, licensing the whole suite per user while using a corner of it, and configuring a heavyweight system to almost fit can cost more in consultants and lost months than the software itself, while the one thing that actually makes you money, how you price, pack, schedule or serve customers, is the exact thing the generic product cannot model, so it lives in a spreadsheet beside the ERP anyway. A bespoke ERP system is built the other way round, we start with how your finance, stock and operations teams actually work, then build software that fits that, rather than asking your business to fit the software. That does not mean building everything from zero every time, where an off-the-shelf tool already does a job well, we will say so. Bespoke ERP makes the most sense when your processes, product range or reporting needs are specific enough that a generic package keeps getting in the way.

What a bespoke ERP system can cover

Every ERP build is different, but the pieces we are typically asked to bring together include:

• Financial ledgers, invoicing and cost tracking, connected to live stock and order data
• Stock control across single or multiple sites, with accurate available-to-sell figures
• Purchasing and supplier management, including reorder points and lead times
• Production or job scheduling, where operations need visibility of what is coming next
• Management dashboards and reporting, built around the figures your business actually reviews
• Integration with existing accounting software, e-commerce platforms or courier systems

The point of an ERP system is that these pieces talk to each other automatically. Stock updates when an order is placed. Finance sees the cost of goods without a manual reconciliation. Management gets a report without someone spending a morning in a spreadsheet.

Find the ERP that matches your trade

“ERP” is not one thing, and the right shape of system changes enormously with what you do, so rather than force everyone through a generic template, we cover the common variants in their own right. A producer needs bills of materials, works orders, production scheduling and job costing joined up, that is manufacturing ERP, with food and drink manufacturers needing batch traceability, allergens and shelf-life on top. A wholesaler or importer lives on purchasing, multi-location stock, order fulfilment and margin, the ground covered by distribution ERP software. If the pain is knowing what you actually have and where, start with ERP for inventory management. A smaller office-based firm needing a general operational backbone, orders, jobs, customers, invoicing and reporting, is covered in business ERP software and, for the smallest teams, an ERP system for small businesses. And if you are still weighing up whether you need one at all, what an ERP system is walks through it without the jargon. If your trade does not map cleanly onto one of those, that is normal, bespoke exists precisely for the businesses a packaged category never anticipated.

Getting started

Businesses usually come to us for ERP software once the spreadsheet-and-email approach has started causing real problems, stock figures that do not match what is on the shelf, finance chasing operations for numbers that already exist somewhere else, or reports that take longer to compile than to act on. A connected ERP system removes the manual steps in between, so the same figures are used everywhere, updated once and trusted by everyone. We are not going to tell you a new ERP system will guarantee a particular saving or growth figure, because that depends on your business and how it is used, what we can do is build a system that matches your processes properly, so the tools work for your team instead of against them. We work with businesses across the UK from our base in Poole, Dorset, and have been building bespoke business software. If your finance, stock and operations data is currently held together with spreadsheets and good intentions, get in touch or call 01202 237027 for a free consultation and a fixed quote.