Industry-Specific ERP Vs Generic ERP: Which One is Better for SMEs

Are you planning to integrate an ERP system into your business? Then, you must ensure the smooth procurement process considering all the necessary steps. It should meet your company’s needs for the current time along with the adaptability to face future problems.

However, you may get puzzled to decide which one is the best for your niche: Industry-Specific ERP or Generic ERP System. We are here to save your back.

In this article, we will discuss all the functionality of these two ERP systems elaborately. It will help you to invest in the right place with the assurance of maximum returns.

ERP System to Operate Your Business from One Platform

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) is a powerful tool to manage information. An optimized ERP system centralizes all the information in your organization. You can streamline the flow of information across the business processes.

By connecting all the parts of your business all together you can accelerate the foster growth of your business. It ties up all the parts of your company including financials, customer relationships, supply chain, reporting, manufacturing, human resource activities and so forth.

ERP implementation requires a handsome amount of investment, time and effort. So, you should be careful before integrating an automation system into your business. With endless advantages, you may get many pitfalls on the way of evaluation.

Hence, with so many options it becomes a daunting task to select the right ERP system. To overcome this situation, you have to understand your company’s needs first. Then, consider all the other necessary factors to deploy the ERP system accordingly.

Let explore the effective ERP selection process between specific ERP vs generic ERP ahead.

Generic ERP System – One Fits All

A Generic ERP system is usually designed to work with all kinds of business niche. It covers all the basic functionalities to automate a company’s workflow appropriately.

Moreover, this “one-size-fits-all” solution requires less implementation cost and time. It is easy to integrate and operate the program concurrently with your business management system.

In short, A Generic ERP system contains all the common features to connect all the business processes end-to-end. This system will require specialized customization to meet the requirements of an individual organization.

However, a Generic ERP system typically supports the following modules. It covers all the common features to run a business smoothly:

• Accounting and Finance
• Marketing and Sales
• Human Resource Management
• Customer Relations Management
• Supply Chain Management
• Inventory Management

A Generic ERP solution is easily adaptable to any type of business industry. But it offers a limited range of flexibility and modification options. Therefore, there is less scope for customization. So, you cant mold the features as per your company’s needs all the time. In order to do that, you may spend extra money and time on it.

Thus, Generic ERP System is suitable for you, if you need not a specific industry categorized ERP solution.

Industry-Specific ERP System- Specialized for One Industry

Industry-Specific ERP is designed specifically for one industry. This type of solution unified all the detailed functionality of a particular niche market. Also, it can easily incorporate all the critical metrics of your business process.

As a result, your company will immediately response well with the new integrated system. Moreover, you need no extra addons or customization as it is designed considering all the requirements of your business.

In short, industry-specific systems are developed to meet the unique needs of a specific business. It requires minimal customization to work seamlessly with an individual industry.

For instance, you can consider manufacturing ERP. It supports all the basic modules such as accounting and finance, CRM, HRM, Supply chain management, etc. Besides, a manufacturing ERP also covers some special functions like job costing, inventory tracking, delivery management, and so forth.

With an industry-Specific ERP system, you can adjust the characteristics according to your business needs. IFS Study states 67% of ERP Users want more Industry-Specific functionality.

However, it is more pricey and complex to integrate compared to Generic ERP. But it requires no further customization cost. As it is optimized with the functionality that solely focuses on a specific industry.

Specific ERP vs Generic ERP: A Quick Overview

You may wonder whether a specific ERP vs generic ERP system is the best fit for your business. It actually depends on your company’s preference, business goal, budget, and other requirements.

Topic	Generic ERP	Industry-Specific ERP
Customization	Generic ERP requires customization if you want to add any extra feature or function for any specific business niche.	Industry-Specific ERP requires no further customization as it is designed to serve a specific industry purpose.
Functionality and features	It offers all the common facilities to the companies regardless of any specific industry.	It comes with some extraordinary features for a particular industry.
Extra Addons and Future Development	If you need any extra function or modifications then you have to add some extra addons to perform further.	Usually, it does not need any extra add-ons. For further development, you have to contact your vendor.
Vendor’s industry knowledge	Vendors of Generic ERP works with the basic and most essential components of an ERP system. So, the system is capable to increase data visibility well.	Vendors of Specific ERP usually are knowledge in an individual industry. So, they understand the need for a specific business deeply.
Complexity	Easy integration and adaptability with the existing system	Comparatively hard to evaluate and educate the associated persons.
Cost	Comparatively cheap to implement.	Expensive to deploy.
Best for	Small-medium sized companies.	Large enterprises.

You should examine the above differences between these two systems specific ERP vs generic ERP. After that, you can proceed for the further ERP selection process.

Important Things to Consider in The ERP Selection Process

You have to ensure the fair distribution of your business assets concurrently. It will prevent all types of future disasters and loses. Integrating an ERP solution in your business is a significant investment. It has a long and sustains impact on your company’s productivity, branding, and achieving the goal as well.

It’s very natural to get overwhelmed while picking the best fit for your business from specific ERP vs generic ERP. You can consider the following tip before integrating a new system indeed.

1. Identify your business potentiality and gaps that the ERP system will fill and enhance.
2. Analyze and understand the characteristics of different ERP systems. Then decide which elements you need for your business
3. Determine the areas of your business you want to implement the ERP first.
4. Figure out the robustness of the system as your business will not be static all the time. With time and circumstances, the demand will be changed also. Your ERP system should support you for a long time period.
5. Consider the price of the system. This price includes the primary implementation cost and future customization. It must be capable to return the maximum revenue for your company.

However, it is important to check all the aspects before implementing an ERP system. Based on your company needs you can determine the type of your ERP system. You can contact with the vendors to get an affordable ERP for your business. Otherwise, you can build an optimized ERP system by your in-house development team.

WP ERP: Best WordPress ERP System

If you are operating a WordPress site then you can get a full-fledged ERP system by installing a plugin only. WP ERP is a reliable name to upgrade your business rapidly.

It offers your small to medium businesses with powerful HR Manager, CRM & Accounting tools. Moreover, its features are suitable for all types of industries with significant business improvements. Also, it will enhance collaboration and improve efficiency across the processes of your companies.

Furthermore, WP ERP will ensure the end-to-end process visibility from one platform. As a result, it will boost the profit margin at a lower cost indeed.

WP ERP is Growing – Here’s What We Have Done in Last Three Years

Make the Final Decision Carefully

Now, you have a clear idea over the attributes of specific ERP vs generic ERP. There is no concrete answer against what ERP System wins? It completely depends on the different aspects mentioned above.

In this competitive business world, the ERP system becomes a mandatory element to sustain long. It lets the company climb significantly ensuring modern security demands and technology trends. But confusions arise while you have to choose from a wide range of varieties.

However, the selection process varies with the business purpose, company niche and size, management procedures, business scalability and so on.

Generic ERP can be a better solution for startup companies or those who need a system with minimal customizations. Also, it is budget-friendly and easy to integrate. On the other hand, if you need a system to satisfy your company’s specific needs, then you better go for industry-specific ERP.

All of the above, you should take your final decision according to your business needs.