5 Things to Consider When Evaluating Your Food Industry Tech Stack
Industry reports indicated that 66% of businesses have automated at least one business process, and about 80% of businesses are speeding up process automation.
That’s not surprising given the impact of a limited workforce, combined with customer demands for visibility, timeliness, and accuracy being at an all-time high. Business leaders understand, now more than ever, the importance of agility, speed, and accuracy in their operations.
Getting started sounds easy. But what exactly is step one? A lot of times business leaders understand they need to scale, but resources to help find the right solutions are limited. And time spent to research solutions can be bogged down in a series of demos that can be costly to day-to-operations. At CAI, we understand that finding accounting and inventory software unique to your industry is paramount to success. It needs to be scalable for your business while fitting your immediate needs.
That’s why we’re sharing the first checklist we use when finding our food industry customers best-fit solutions:
- Your Specific Business Needs: Evaluate your business’s specific requirements and pain points before reaching out to vendors. Identify areas where automating processes can bring the most significant improvements, such as inventory management, accounting, supply chain, or customer relationship management. Document the key difference you need for your business. This is also a great opportunity to make sure you’ve discussed this across your business, and that you have all of your own requirements in place to easily and quickly rule out vendors who aren’t a good fit.
- Scalability and Flexibility: Ensure the system can grow alongside your business. Consider whether it’s flexible enough to adapt to changing needs, handle increased transactions, support additional users, and accommodate expansions into new markets or product lines.
- Integration Capabilities: Assess how well the system integrates with your existing software and systems. Look for seamless integration with essential tools like CRM software, accounting systems, e-commerce platforms, or manufacturing systems as well as experience helping other companies integrate key systems. Compatibility is crucial to avoid disruptions in operations.
- Customization and User-Friendliness: Determine the level of configuration the ERP system offers. It should align with your business processes without requiring extensive reconfiguration. Additionally, prioritize systems that are user-friendly and offer intuitive interfaces to ensure easier adoption by your team.
- Vendor Support and Reliability: Research the vendor’s track record, including their reputation, customer reviews, and support services. Consider factors like customer service responsiveness, ongoing system updates, maintenance, and training options. A reliable vendor can significantly impact the success of your ERP implementation.
More questions? We’ve got your back. Contact us and one of our Food Industry experts will point you in the right direction.
