Globalization has obviously had a tremendous impact on the way we live, as well as the way we do business. The world is steadily becoming smaller and more interconnected, and this transformation has not been missed by the Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) industry. In fact, it has probably been one of the most impacted industries given consumers’ never-ending appetite for the latest and greatest gadgets, apparel, footwear, cosmetics, and housewares.

With high volumes, low margins, evolving distribution networks, and high product turnover, CPG companies are realizing that there’s little room for error and all areas of their businesses need to be optimized and operating at the most efficient level possible. These challenges have forced CPG companies to adapt and change the way they do and manage their business, especially when it comes to enterprise technology solutions, like ERP and CRM. Many companies are realizing they can no longer operate successfully with disparate technology solutions and siloed data across eCommerce, Retail, Wholesale, Catalog, and Call Centers--and maybe even across global regions and legal entities with different currency and local regulation requirements.

CPG companies looking to compete on a global scale are standardizing business applications across the enterprise and doing so through a more robust unified cloud platform for ERP and CRM with built-in analytics like Microsoft Dynamics 365 that’s tailored for global manufacturing, retail, and distribution businesses. One huge advantage of the solution is that it can support global business processes and requirements from a single instance of the software. This means multiple currencies, time zones, languages, and compliance with multiple banking and reporting standards can all be managed from one solution, helping to provide consistency and standardization across various business entities around the world.

There is a lot to consider when evaluating solutions and not everyone requires a global ERP, but here are some compelling benefits for choosing a single instance ERP solution:

  • Financial data will live in one application and will originate from one source, eliminating consolidation errors and greatly reducing the time it takes to close the books.
     
  • Stronger supply chain visibility and ability to create new revenue opportunities while cutting costs (i.e. companies can run reports that show cross-promotion opportunities, places where they could redeploy inventory or leverage purchasing power).
     
  • Centralization of resources across organization improving efficiency and reducing duplication of efforts (i.e. centralizing procurement for the entire business vs. individual staffing in each location).
     
  • Reduction in information technology support costs including IT staff, infrastructure, applications, and elimination of legacy systems.
     
  • Ability to create a stronger organizational foundation for growth and scalability (i.e. acquire or scale new businesses quickly by leveraging standard ERP platform and processes).
     

Are you interested in learning more about what a global single-instance ERP solution can do for your business? Check out these additional resources: