It goes without saying that ERP systems have greatly transformed the day to day performance of various sized organizations by helping employees carry out their duties seamlessly from one department or unit to the other. This has enabled organizations to work jointly as a unit to achieve common objectives that are shared by all organizational units or departments.

On the other hand GPS (global positioning Systems) have transformed how business is carried out by accurately providing information on remote components or employees to help managers make timely decisions or monitor work being carried out in the field. To integrate ERP GPS systems would bring with it more benefits in the organization as mentioned below. To begin with, ERP GPS integration would improve the ease with which data is collected.

This would make it easy for data collected from devices, vehicles or people in the field to be captured in the ERP system. This will eliminate delays that would occur if the data had to be transported physically or sent later by mail or email. GPS data can be tapped online which means that data is transmitted in real-time. Since time is very critical in business, this will be a very great asset for saving time.

The other benefit associated with ERP GPS integration is the use of mobile apps and mobile devices to improve mobility of employees. The employees who work in the field can easily move from one location to the other during their day to day activities without having to worry about connectivity to the office through a computer as their data would be automatically transmitted to the ERP system by the GPS system or managers can easily log into their mobile GPS devices and monitor their staff.

This will give employees ample time to concentrate on their duties as opposed to wasting some of their productive time sending in data collected over time or staying stationary in one location so as to access the ERP system.

The other benefit of integrating ERP GPS is improving efficiency of operations. This is achieved by cutting down the turnaround time of doing tasks as most of the tasks are automated e.g. data transmission and collection from the GPS systems to the ERP system can be automated such that the GPS systems can automatically send data to the ERP system which in turn will process the data, give an output and keep a record of the same for reference.

Improved efficiency will result in more output and revenue associated with the output. The other benefit associated with integrating ERP GPS is easy management of field employees. A good example is that fleet managers can easily track their drivers and company vehicles from the commencement of journey to arrival at the destination.

Any deviation from the planned routes can easily be detected from the GPS system and corrective measures taken. Stolen vehicles can easily be traced using the GPS system. The other benefit of integrating ERP GPS is improved or timely decision making. We all know that in business, the most important thing is the time with which key decisions are made that impact on the business in a positive way. When ERP and GPS systems are integrated, this means that data collected from the GPS devices can be tapped in real-time and transmitted to the ERP system for processing.

The managers can then access the information instantaneously and make a critical decision in a timely fashion that can help achieve business goals without losing time and competitive edge. Lastly but not least, integrating ERP GPS technologies would improve an organization’s ability to forecast and do better planning. This is because forecasting and business analytics largely relies on collected data and these two technologies will enhance data collection, analysis and storage. This data can be used to analyze the day to day operations of vehicles, devices and individuals and forecast the expected behavior of the components involved to help in proper planning.

You will all agree with me that proper planning of tasks, activities, inputs and expected outputs greatly impact on the eventual outcomes achieved at the end of a project. This is because each state of a process is closely monitored with expected results already visualized and necessary measures taken to prevent undesired results. It is therefore evident to say that integrating ERP and GPS systems has more benefits than harm to the modern day organization.