Did you know you might spend as much as 30 percent of your time each day just compensating for what your business management system does not do for you? Activities like double entry, Excel translation and manual reporting are just a few painful daily reminders that we could be more productive.
What about the time killers we do not think about … those little things that bug us, but don’t quite make it to the surface and become a conscious annoyance? One by one, these irritants are not consequential enough to prompt us to make change, but add them up, and they could mean a measurable loss to you and your business.
Well-designed business management software, such as Enterprise Management (formerly Sage X3), does not try to anticipate all the minor hitches we face on a daily basis; instead, it focuses on end-user ergonomics. With Enterprise Management, Business Enablers not only correct problems, but correct them “on the fly” without the user having to give it much thought. As a result, the software becomes a self-tuning tool for the enterprise.
In addition to manufacturing, distribution and accounting functions, Enterprise Management offers a set of core enterprise-wide features that help transform businesses into real-time, on-demand organizations – responsive to the needs of their customers.
Workflow
Like other technology buzz words, workflow is a term often used, rarely understood and only occasionally done right. Workflow enables companies to automate the flow of internal and external information based on company-specific work practices and procedures for handling important and exceptional events.
Unlike traditional systems that come with pre-defined workflow processes, the extensive parameterization available within Enterprise Management makes it possible for companies to define any business event and condition to initiate workflow messaging and/or trigger processing. As a result, it’s easier than ever to automate traditional paper-based and task-intensive processes, such as purchase requisition signatory approvals and credit manager reviews of orders placed on credit hold.
Automated workflow in Enterprise Management enables you to:
- Trigger an event (e.g., initiate processing, send e-mail) based on user actions, including printing, creating or editing records, deleting data, or the result of an inquiry.
- Trigger the dispatch of e-mails, including attachments, allowing the recipients to take action by simply clicking on the embedded option button. This includes approving or rejecting a purchase request, for example.
- Provide users with work schedules based on customized processes or workfow circuits.
- Trigger workflow circuits based on batch processes, including data imports or exports.
This is all done with an intuitive drag and drop interface that makes it really easy to define how you want the application to work for you.
At the end of the day, it becomes second nature for the end-user to refine processes. This is when a system like Enterprise Management really starts to pay off.