How AI and ML Will Enhance ERP and Its Impact

Scenarios in which the entire production cycle is managed with just a few clicks and taps and are not limited to science fiction movies anymore. As per a study by Gartner, 37% of organizations have implemented Artificial Intelligence (AI) solutions in one form or another.

Digital disruption has led companies to change their workflows. Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (ML) have a lot to share when it comes to revolutionizing the way software operates and functions within organizations. Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems available in the market today are quite different from their legacy counterparts used even five years back.

Below we describe how AI and ML have enhanced ERP systems and manufacturing operations.

• 1. Making Sense of Immense Data

One of the biggest challenges we see with the increasing amount of data is making sense of it. With all the information about customers, their behavior, and the organization’s processes, it is challenging to keep pace with the data and draw useful insights from it.

With AI and ML integrated within your cloud ERP software, you will be able to feed data to powerful AI algorithms. This, in turn, will help you identify patterns in your workflow and operations that are not visible otherwise.

For example, with AI embedded in your manufacturing software, you will come to know the relationship between various processes in the product lifecycle. This information can be used to streamline your production models to meet demands based on real-time data.

• 2. Automation of Repetitive Tasks

In every organization, certain tasks take place regularly and repetitively. These tasks can be streamlined and automated with machine learning rather than training a person to do so.

With machine learning, you can automate such processes that are carried out routinely. This also saves you a lot on resources used, like time, money, and people.

With AI and ML embedded with your ERP and manufacturing software, you can have your human resources focus on more sensitive and high-priority tasks.

• 3. Proactive Problem Solving

“Prevention is better than the cure.”

– Desiderius Erasmus

The same applies to business too. When your ERP system has embedded AI, not only can it identify the problems that exist in the workflow but also help predict the problem before it occurs.

Machine learning helps you pinpoint manufacturing units that might turn out to be faulty after a few production cycles. This information can be used to channelize your processes and schedule manufacturing tasks such that your production is not compromised.

Therefore, AI with ERP manufacturing software helps proactively solve the problems before they harm your existing business operations.

• 4. Providing an Unparalleled User Experience

When your cloud ERP solution is powered by AI, you get useful information about customer interactions. With ample customer data at hand, you can identify their buying patterns. You will also gain insights like the products that are high in demand, the times during which your customers interact the most, and the session times and frequencies of your customers.

This information can be used to streamline your production units and resources to meet the demand at a more accurate and finite level to the delight of your customers and bottom line. AI helps in forecasting the demand so that you can fulfill the orders without putting your customers on hold.

This enhances the user experience, thereby building more trust with your customers. With an improved experience of interacting with your brand, customers will surely stay loyal and come back.

• 5. Enhanced Marketing Solutions

Powerful AI and ML solutions have a lot in store when it comes to identifying untapped business opportunities. You can derive useful customer insights like buying behavior, demographics, age, gender, etc. This data helps you in serving your customers with what they need even before they buy.

But what is fascinating is how AI enables businesses to discover the market opportunities and customer segments that can be your prospective target audience. You can find out potential markets that may have been overlooked until now with the help of data insights provided by ML.

This will help your marketing and sales team open up opportunities in new markets and improve the company’s visibility and revenue.

• 6. Cater to Superior Customer Service

One of the most significant changes in recent years due to AI integration in ERP software is the way companies respond to customer service and support. Isn’t it better to have AI tools and virtual assistants rather than routing a customer to a FAQ on your website or a delayed follow-up with one of your customer service representatives?

Certain requests and questions can be taken care of without much assistance, for instance, restarting a device when it is not working. So for such issues, you don’t even have to bother your customer service representatives.

With virtual assistants, you can have your ERP software provide a human-like interaction with customers before their issue escalates. This also helps serve customers more quickly, providing them with better service.

• 7. Department Integration Within the Organization

There are a lot of software programs that operate to ensure that an organization functions seamlessly. For instance, there are software solutions to look after human resources, payroll processing, training and onboarding, and manufacturing and supply chain management.

But what matters most is having the information about everything within an organization in a centralized system and location. For this to happen, all your software solutions must be connected and synced.

With AI in your ERP software, you can streamline all your critical data in one place. AI eases the integration of various departments operating in an organization.

A Window to the Future

By 2025,  per market research, the AI industry is expected to grow to a whopping $190 billion. Companies are already ahead of the curve and it might be time to upgrade your processes, operations, existing ERP, and manufacturing software to get the latest technology, like AI and ML. Particularly in today’s environment, automation and innovation will be essential to get ready for the future and to come out ahead of the competition.

Ready for an intelligent ERP solution that will help you be able to do more with less and drive operational efficiencies? Read more about OptiProERP’s intelligent ERP solution.

Author Bio:

Kiran Bajpai works as a Marketing Associate at SoftwareSuggest. Her expertise lies in Accounting Software. Reading books is something that she can never get bored of, especially those related to politics and history.