COVID-19 challenges make an integrated ERP mobile app more valuable than ever
For countless companies around the world, the formal plans for 2020 went out the window sometime in March. The intervening months have been such a long succession of pivots, most of us are dizzy. At this point, it’s difficult to figure out which adaptations to pursue to help survive and thrive through COVID-19 and which strategic projects even make sense anymore.
Fortunately, if an ERP mobile app was already on your “to-do” list, there’s no reason to change. And if mobile ERP hadn’t yet made the radar—well, in the current environment, it probably should. Here are a few of the reasons why.
#1 Remote employees need secure, convenient, mobile ERP access
The trend toward remote work has accelerated since COVID-19 struck. The existing mix of outside sales representatives, field service technicians and telecommuting employees has been complicated by a burgeoning remote workforce.
The demand to securely access your ERP from home (or elsewhere) can present technical challenges, but Bezlio offers a simpler solution. Our integrated platform puts precisely the ERP and CRM data that employees need at their fingertips, in an intuitive interface tailored to their job function (we call them bezls).
There’s no VPN or SD-WAN required, proprietary data isn’t exposed to the internet and any PC, smartphone or tablet will do. Bezlio is a turnkey, easily supported answer for getting at-home and on-the-road employees back in touch with the ERP.
#2 Eliminating shared kiosks is safer
Bezlio isn’t just about off-site work, though. Mobile ERP capabilities are also critical in industries that can’t “phone it in.” That’s because ERP access on the job site—whether that’s a production floor, receiving dock, warehouse or service center—has generally been done through kiosks.
Waiting in line for and touching such shared terminals can be dangerous in the coronavirus era. And safeguarding employees has meant instituting time-consuming sanitation measures.
Bezlio is a better alternative because employees can interact with ERP data from their own individual devices. That alone cuts down on potential viral transmission. And social distancing is more effective because employees can do their jobs and access and record information from their designated spot, wherever that may be.
#3 Efficiencies are essential in uncertain times
If operational changes have been tough, COVID-19’s budget impacts might be more concerning going forward. The economic outlook is fuzzy at best into 2021, and many companies urgently need to save money, without cannibalizing the business and undermining their ability to serve customers and ultimately rebound.
Fortunately, there are numerous ways that Bezlio can enhance efficiencies and drive cost-savings. For example:
Tracking labor in realtime to help identify and eliminate process inefficiencies
Improving materials monitoring to target and reduce waste
Enabling barcode scanning to eliminate data entry
And these are just a few examples (here are some more!) of how Bezlio can help trim labor and materials costs and streamline operations in ways that improve—rather than impede—long-term success.
#4 Customers are demanding one-visit field service
Field service was on the rise before COVID-19, and even a pandemic cannot eliminate the need for on-site assistance for project quotes, product installation, repairs, etc. Customers are accommodating these visits, but today’s health and safety concerns have heightened expectations for first-time success, so technicians don’t need to come back.
Simply put, customers want “one and done” for any job. And once again, mobile ERP can help. With the right bezls, field technicians can get their assignments, view customer information, capture project details, cost-out jobs, access and manage job data and find the parts and other resources they need.
Bezlio empowers field service personnel to achieve their objectives and even answer customer questions about additional jobs and parts availability to fuel more revenue-generating activity. It’s fair to say that adding field service bezls is an upgrade that quickly pays for itself!
#5 Bezlio is so easy to implement, it’s done in an afternoon
All this sounds great, you might be saying, but I don’t have time for a technology transition. If that’s your only barrier, I have great news—a Bezlio implementation can be completed in a couple of hours. Check out the entire process (it won’t take long).
With so many advantages available for a de minimus time investment, Bezlio is the perfect tool for the present moment. In fact, the real question you should be asking isn’t whether to take your EPR mobile, but rather why you haven’t started your Bezlio transformation yet.
But don’t worry—we can rectify that, and fast. Just contact us to get started.