SAP Business One for Animal Feed: Automating Manual Processes
This is the first blog in our series, “Top Four Reasons for Choosing SAP Business One in Animal Feed”. In this series, we focus on four key reasons why manufacturers and wholesalers within the agribusiness sector choose SAP Business One as their ERP system to support business growth, improve control and manage sector-specific challenges.
Automating Manual Processes in Animal Feed Sector
In our experience, automation is a feature of every ERP implementation. Each sector has its own reasons for pursuing automation but there are some common themes, and perhaps key amongst them is reporting.
For animal feed manufacturers and wholesalers, traceability, ingredient visibility and regulatory compliance are already part of everyday operations but managing them efficiently across disconnected systems can be a challenge. There is also a pressing demand for transparency of environmental and social impact. And in a sector where margins are tight due to volatile raw materials prices, supply disruption and competition for sales, reporting has a key role to play in the management of costs.
Automation is also an important weapon in the battle to improve efficiency. Many UK feed suppliers still operate with separate systems for Production, Inventory, Quality, and Financial Management. This inevitably results in inefficiency: there may be duplication of data entry; there may be lags due to batch processing.
Manual processes are another common source of inefficiency. Production scheduling based on whiteboards or Excel spreadsheets, handwritten forms to record quality checks, and so on.
How SAP Business One from LAKE can help Animal Feed Manufacturers and Wholesalers
Reporting and process improvement are two of the key ways in which LAKE solutions based on SAP Business One can help.
Firstly, reporting.
SAP Business One is an integrated and real-time ERP system. Changes relating to purchasing, sales, inventory, and production, are immediately reflected in other areas of the system. For instance, when a sales order is received, stock can be immediately allocated to fulfil that order. With SAP Business One, you know what stock you have, where it is, and you have full traceability from order to cash. No more unpleasant surprises.
But what good is all that excellent information if it is hard to get at? Dashboards have become a must-have component for any company looking to invest in ERP. Fortunately, this is an area in which SAP Business One excels. Take a look at the examples in our Blog on role-based dashboards.
Secondly, process improvement.
A couple of examples:
MRP streamlines purchasing to optimise stock levels and increase margins. It checks availability of ingredients, lead times and demand forecasts to ensure you always have the right level of stock in your warehouse.
With SAP Business One, information flows seamlessly from orders to planning, production, inventory, through to delivery. The issue of production orders can be automated. Scheduling can be managed using a simple Gantt-style chart with drag and drop capability, while shop floor tasks can be managed through integrated mobile devices.
Take the next step
In the next blog in this series, we focus on integration with systems for process control, weighbridge automation, transport and delivery.
To find out how SAP Business One from LAKE could help your business, download one of our Guides to SAP Business One, take a virtual tour, or contact us to discuss your requirements.
By Paul Barns