ERP Project Management: A Friendly Guide for Saf and Mel
Nxweb’s Project Management Software, With things looking up for their business, Saf and Mel have decided it’s time to expand Spindl’s catalog. This is a huge undertaking, involving third parties such as designers, suppliers, and more. Therefore, it comes down to juggling time, cost, and quality.
Given everything on their plate, it’s important for the duo to manage their resources well. Systematically planning this project will ensure it’s completed on time, stays under budget, and meets their quality standards. To aid in this process, Saf and Mel turn to Spindl’s ERP Project Champion, Lyn. Lyn introduces them to the Project Management module in their ERP system. Consequently, Saf and Mel can manage projects by breaking them into tasks that can be assigned to different team members.
Why Use ERP for Project Management?
Right from the inception of your business, effective project management has been (and will continue to be) a key factor for success. As your company grows, you’ll deal with more people, tasks, and teams. While collaborative effort still exists, diversification can make it challenging to properly track and manage projects. Thus, the risk of wasted resources and increasing overheads can be avoided with a streamlined project management process.
Let’s explore how you can leverage the project management module in your ERP system. This module allows you to create, manage, and monitor every single project from within the system. Furthermore, purchasing and selling can be tracked against projects, helping you manage budget, delivery, and profitability. It’s also useful for managing internal projects, manufacturing jobs, or service jobs.
Remember, the success of project management depends on the people involved. Merely setting up the system isn’t enough—team members must follow through and keep the project updated to ensure smooth progress.
Breaking Down the Workflow
Most of the terms below are fairly common. Let’s see how they work in the context of an ERP system.
Project A project record maintains the details of your project and milestones set for any undertaking. Moreover, it can be linked in quotations, sales orders, delivery notes, sales invoices, purchase requests, purchase orders, and purchase invoices, allowing you to track all activities around this project.
Task Every project is broken into tasks, each allocated to a resource. Some ERP software allows you to create and allocate tasks independently of a project. Tasks are powerful tools for organizing and breaking down your project into manageable missions for your team. Most ERP systems let you set priority, start and end dates, dependent tasks, assign departments and users, expense claims, and more.
Timesheet A timesheet is a consolidated document that helps your team track working hours, broken down by the time spent on each task. Consequently, these details can help gauge individual productivity, reduce overheads, and set the right expectations for tasks. Timesheets can track billable work for customers and be linked to projects and tasks, providing reports on time spent.
Project Cost Each project, comprising tasks, will cost a certain amount. Tracking project costs involves evaluating timesheets for the actual time spent on each task. Therefore, accurate timesheet tracking is crucial here. This helps monitor the project budget.
Project Profitability Projects are rarely linear. As new developments arise, they may require more investment in time, money, and materials. Based on income and expense entries, you can generate a profitability analysis report. Project profitability is the difference between the revenue generated and the associated costs, helping you stay on track and avoid overspending.
Setting Up a Workflow
With the project management module implemented, Saf and Mel assemble their team to discuss designing the summer clothing collection for Spindl. After preliminary meetings, they start using the ERP module to manage the project.
- Creating the Main Project: Enter details such as project name, status, type, completion progress, list of tasks, priorities, and assignments.
- Assigning Tasks: Allocate tasks to employees from various departments, providing clear direction on duties, deadlines, and expenses.
- Tracking Timesheets: Employees can enter details of activities, time spent, billable activities, and other notes in their timesheets.
- Monitoring Project Cost and Profitability: Consistently monitor project cost and profitability. Consequently, administrative employees can ensure optimal resource usage through these reports.
By following these steps, Saf and Mel can ensure their new project is managed efficiently, with everyone on the same page and working towards common goals. With Lyn’s guidance and the robust ERP Project Management module, Spindl’s summer clothing collection is sure to be a hit!