Cloud ERP: A Level-Up Moment Of Growth For Midsize Businesses
When it comes to technology, most companies are embroiled in an eternal question of three things: necessity, enablement, and cost.
Throughout my career at SAP, I have met business leaders who are focused on choosing the “right” technology. They want their investment to improve specific processes without a big price tag. But what can be missing from a singular focus on cost is the opportunity to build a strong foundation for the future in which they can compete with even the largest competitors.
Luckily, some midsize businesses are getting the message about the delicate balance between cost and the need for a future-oriented digital foundation. These growing companies are flexing their digital muscle to compete against direct rivals, while responding instantly to fluctuating customer demand, emerging revenue opportunities, and shifting operational risks.
Here’s a glimpse into four businesses that are taking the leap to realize their full growth potential.
Galpa: Propelling growth through better intelligence and process visualization
As a Venezuela-based HVAC/R parts and system distributor, Galpa Export Corp. services has achieved a worldwide presence. But to continue serving the needs of its customers all over the world, it required the reliable, timely information that comes from a fully integrated ERP system.
The growing company deployed a cloud-based ERP solution, explicitly designed for small and midsize businesses, to tap into a single source of reliable and timely information. Now, after acquiring complete intelligence and visibility into its distribution centers, the company is set to achieve 300% growth over three years – despite a crippling economic and financial crisis.
Baldinger Bakery: Streamlining responsive manufacturing and distribution
For Baldinger Bakery Inc., the adoption of a cloud-based ERP is a must-have investment to respond to the needs of its customers. For instance, the opportunity to serve some of the world’s premier food brands, such as McDonald’s Corporation, requires significant agility to deliver top-quality baked goods on time, even for last-minute orders.
Baldinger believed that this reality meant turning to the cloud to deploy an ERP solution integrated with intelligent add-ons that provide new capabilities immediately. As a result of this investment, the growing bakery is processing orders more quickly, filling them more accurately, and fulfilling them on time. And in the long run, it is enhancing a long-standing reputation for quality that attracts new business and keeps existing customers coming back for more.
Avocados from Mexico: Generating excitement with collective marketing insight
Responsible for developing consumer demand for avocado importers, growers, and pckers in Mexico, Avocados from Mexico (AFM) knows that its success depends on accurate visibility and the right information. But first, it needed to consolidate its applications and centralize and synchronize its data.
The midsize marketing business overcame its challenges with the help of an ERP solution deployed in the cloud. This technology has infused a wealth of insight to determine AFM’s real-time impact on the marketplace as well as adjust messaging to improve brand equity and increase consumption. As a result, the company is making sure every marketing dollar counts by making the right decisions at the right time – doubling avocado demand to 2.3 billion pounds a year.
FRANKA EMIKA: Improving lives with purpose-driven innovation
Fueled by a mission of providing robotics technology that is accessible for everyone on our planet, FRANKA EMIKA is experiencing rapid growth. But to maintain this level of success, the company needed to overcome considerable process and IT complexity to keep its operations as agile as possible.
By implementing a cloud ERP solution, FRANKA EMIKA was able to innovate very quickly and react to customer demands in a very flexible way. Furthermore, the technology allowed the company to automate a variety of processes to quickly create, manufacture, and deliver products that could potentially change people’s lives for the better.
Getting the most value throughout the life of a growing company
Most leaders of midsize businesses dream of the day of rapid, long-term growth. However, before jumping feet-first into the pool of revenue-generating opportunity, they must stop and assess what needs to change internally. As one executive once told me, growing too quickly can be just as dangerous as not growing at all.
As the experiences of Galpa, Baldinger, Avocados from Mexico, and FRANKA EMIKA remind us, a good starting point is the adoption of cloud ERP solutions. The up-front costs may be lower than traditional, on-premise implementation. But the most significant value is found in the speed of processing data, deriving insights, and sharing information on demand.