How chemical producers turn ERP into a competitive advantage

Chemical producers and distributors live in a fast-paced world.  The market is ever more competitive and European regulations are getting much harder to comply with.  A standard off the shelf ERP system simply has too many gaps for the needs of this industry.

Being competitive means that all operations need to be streamlined: warehousing, production, front and back office working together on one platform, with access to the resources they need to do their job efficiently: from any place, on any device, at any time. Being competitive also means that the opportunity-to-cash process has to be managed with tight margin control.  You want to know with confidence that for all orders that are placed, the margin you have estimated will ultimately show up in your P&L.

Being compliant means that:

• Your customers need correct Material Safety Data Sheets for the products purchased, before they actually receive the goods
• Dangerous Goods declarations are integrated in your ERP system
• REACH and CLP Information is stored within the system so it can be printed on internal and customer facing documents
• You as a company want to be able to track and trace lot number information throughout the supply chain

Reaching these compliance requirements goes hand in hand with the operational and IT goals of an organization. For companies that have selected or are considering Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2015 as the primary system for supporting statutory requirements in one or more countries, it is important to have a plan for not only deploying the standard capabilities, but how to meet your industry-specific needs.

In this article we will explore the competitiveness component.  In a future article we will focus on the compliance considerations.