ERP integration that means each order is typed in once.
Your ERP should be the single record of what you sold, made and shipped. In most firms it is fed by hand, from emails, portals and spreadsheets. We connect it to the systems around it so an order is entered once and everything else follows.
What double keying costs
Every order typed twice is time, and a chance to get a code, a price or a quantity wrong. The mistakes surface later as stock that does not match, jobs built to the wrong spec and invoices that are disputed or never raised.
Then people stop trusting the ERP. They keep their own spreadsheets “just in case”, and before long there are several sets of figures that do not agree.
What we connect
Usually the ERP or job system on one side. On the other, the online shop, the accounts package, the warehouse, shop-floor machines, and the ordering systems your customers and suppliers use. That includes EDI for customers who insist on it.
We work with what you have. At Oldham we upgraded the link to the JobBOSS ERP and started one to Fastems shop-floor automation. We rarely recommend replacing an ERP just to get the data moving.
| Business | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Oldham Engineering | An old ERP link; business software slow and hard to change | JobBOSS link upgraded and a shop-floor link started. Business software updated. |
| Everything Boxed | Orders and invoices by email, spreadsheet, phone and PDF | Orders arrive electronically and invoices go back in the customer’s format |
| Miranda | Invoices raised days or weeks after the order | An invoice out within 24 hours of every order |
Source: Oldham Engineering, Everything Boxed and Miranda case studies.
Checked before anything is sent
A link between systems has to cope with bad data and dropped connections. We build the checks in from the start.
Everything Boxed
Every invoice is checked against its purchase order before it goes. If the connection is down, invoices wait in a queue instead of vanishing.
Miranda
Approved purchase orders are matched to internal orders by project, product line and contractor, with mismatches flagged for a person.
How an ERP integration runs
- 1
Map the flow
We follow a real order through every system and list each point where someone retypes it.
- 2
Connect the costliest gap first
Fixed price for the link that saves the most. You see it running on real orders before we start the next one.
- 3
Look after it
Links need watching whenever the ERP or the system at the other end is updated. We can do that for a monthly fee.
Questions
- Which ERPs do you integrate?
- We have worked with JobBOSS, SAP, Sage and bespoke systems. If your ERP can export or accept data, we can usually connect to it.
- Do we need a new ERP first?
- Usually not. Connecting what you have is faster and cheaper, and keeps your team on screens they know.
- How long does it take?
- A single, well-defined link can run within days. Connecting to a customer’s or supplier’s system takes longer, and we give you a date in the proposal.
- Who owns it afterwards?
- You do. We can look after it under a monthly support fee, or hand it to your own team.
Which order gets typed twice?
Describe it on a free call. We then write an integration scope with a fixed quote, including any admin beyond the ERP that software or AI could take off the team.
Max RevittFounder and Director
What needs to work better?
A sentence or two about the problem is enough to start. We will reply within one business day and work out the next step with you.
Prefer to talk? Book a free call.