Whether you’re using a basic accounting software package like QuickBooks or a custom/legacy software package the same age as your college student, there are a number of signs that indicate it’s time for your business to upgrade its business software. ERP software has come a long way in the past 15 years – you may not realize how much time your business can save by implementing a more technologically advanced and industry specific software, like that offered by Tribute, Inc.

Here are some significant indicators that your business is ready for an upgraded ERP solution:

1. You’re entering information and data multiple times into a number of systems and these systems are not tied together in one database. Are you recording quotes in spreadsheets and then re-entering the information into your system once it becomes an order?
   
   
2. You don’t have an effective Inventory and Bin Management system to keep accurate track of your biggest investment. Do you know your best sellers? How much dead stock you are carrying?
   
   
3. You don’t have major shipping vendors (like UPS and FedEx) completely integrated into your software. Just think of the time your staff would save not entering the same information twice.
   
   
4. Your accounting personnel spend hours reconciling month-end and year-end close, and your management team is unable to easily obtain key business performance metrics because you’re not on a real-time system.
   
   
5. You’re manually faxing information from your system to your customers and vendors.
   
   
6. Sales and customer service reps do not have real time visibility into order status and have to call the warehouse to find out whether an item is still in stock or out the door.
   
   
7. You’re a manufacturer’s rep and don’t have an easy way to separate your agency and distribution sales. TrulinX separates agency sales from distribution from step one, so you can keep accurate records and easily calculate vendor rebates.
   
   
8. Your major suppliers require online reporting and rebates and your system cannot accommodate these. Tribute works with your vendors (like Bosch Rexroth, Eaton, Flexco, Garlock, Gates, Gould, Pall, Parker Hannifin, Sun Hydraulics, Tuthill, among others) to give you the tools you need to maximize your supplier relationships.
   
   
9. You require sophisticated Bill of Materials, Hose Assembly, Belting, Lot Control/Serial Number Tracking or External Fabrication/Outsourcing capabilities and your software can’t handle it.
   
   
10. You need a Work Order Management system to separate your fabrication, service and repair orders from the distribution side of your business, and allocate and keep track of components, labor and burden.

Now that the economy is recovering, you’re doing a lot more work with less staff. Using an upgraded technology like TrulinX software will allow you to operate more efficiently, eliminating many manual processes and utilizing your current staff for more proactive functions, like selling and improving customer service.