Inventory management is, arguably, at the heart of any Enterprise Resource Planning system design. That makes sense, given that inventory records and transactions are the most likely to be digitized. And while some CRM systems bolt on inventory considerations as an afterthought, the best ones offer truly seamless visibility from customer order inquiries though to product volumes in the warehouse. At the most basic level of functionality, ERP inventory management maintains a perpetual inventory record that updates the accounting modules. Fundamentally, the system accepts inventory movement reports (transactions) and maintains a continuous record of the various quantities. Modern ERP systems expand on this essential task by developing features that increase accuracy and efficiency in inventory management. Here are five tools can and should be integrated within any inventory management system to give you the control and visibility to support your larger business operations.

We started selling MAS 90 software in 1988 – when the manufacturer was State of The Art Software and before Sage Software acquired it. There was a DOS version and a Unix version, and you either purchased a single user license or a network license. We didn’t have "user licensing" in those days; you either had a network license or you didn’t. MAS 200 (which was a client/server version of MAS 90) was released in the mid-90’s, and that’s when the thought of licensing the software "by user" was introduced. And there were no annual maintenance agreements! If State of The Art came out with new features you were interested in using, you simply paid an upgrade fee to get that version.

Executive dashboards often add the "Wow!" factor to Enterprise Resource Planning systems. Those collections of colorful funnels and three-dimensional columns supposedly allow decision-makers to understand their company's key metrics in visual form. However, gorgeous graphs do not automatically equate to intelligent business decisions. True business intelligence (BI) capabilities must be thoughtfully designed and implemented, and the underlying technology must be versatile enough to make those pretty pictures come alive in dynamic and purposeful ways. Here is how smart businesses can leverage this incredible resource.