Category: ERP/Business Solution

Thousands of Brands are Using Sage X3 — Here’s Why

Regularly listed as one of the top 20 enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions worldwide, Sage X3 continues to make market inroads as more companies make the move to this agile, cloud-based solution.

But what really sets it apart from the pack? Why are thousands of brands seeing better ROI thanks to Sage X3, and why are thousands more making the switch? Let’s find out.

Embracing the Need for ERP

90 percent of organizations now consider their successful ERP implementations a success, but fully half of all implementation efforts fail the first time.

The result? While brands know that ERP systems deliver value for operations, bridging the gap between knowledge and action often proves difficult. Here’s why: As the market diversifies, there are a host of ERP options available to companies. From massive, industry-leading providers to small startup solutions, organizations have a wealth of choices.

But this choice comes with a challenge — not all ERP systems are created equal. Some are purpose-built for specific industries, while others rely on proprietary technology that doesn’t play well with other systems. Still, others leverage more flexible architecture but can make it difficult to connect with legacy data sources and tools.

Sage X3 ERP offers the best of both worlds: Advanced architecture backed by industry-leading agility for easy implementation.

Sage X3 ERP

Where Sage X3 Excels

For businesses looking to improve their ERP process, Sage X3 offers five key benefits:

  • End-to-end visibility

The more you see, the better. From materials purchasing to supply chain logistics and sales data, more visibility means more control over your business. With streamlined dashboards that help your team quickly access all aspects of inventory and warehouse operations, you’re better prepared to make strategic decisions that maximize profitability while reducing potential waste.

  • Intuitive design

The Sage X3 experience starts with intuitive design. Unlike older ERP systems, Sage was built from the ground up with speed and simplicity in mind. This makes both deployments and uses straightforward and seamless. Your teams can get up and running ASAP, and since Sage X3 is built for maximum usability, businesses are in a better position to deliver successful first-time ERP deployments, rather than wasting time and effort with second, third, or even fourth choices.

  • Intelligent analytics

How much are you spending? When? Where? Which processes are meeting performance goals, and which need improvement? Sage X3 delivers intelligent analytics that makes it possible to understand performance and costs in real-time across your organization, in turn allowing you to pinpoint areas that aren’t living up to expectations. Consider a production line process that’s reducing total efficiency. Without the visibility afforded by Sage X3, your business sees the outcome — decreased productivity — but may not be able to pinpoint the root cause. Intelligent analytics make it possible to discover what’s not going to plan — and more importantly, why.

  • Adaptable operations

Sage X3 doesn’t just deliver improved ERP outcomes for a single industry. Instead, adaptable operations support industries including food and beverage producers, pharmaceutical organizations, agriculture companies, and discrete manufacturing firms. Support for multiple currencies, languages, and regulations, meanwhile, makes Sage X3 a great choice for multinational brands that require differing ERP functions depending on where factories, offices, and warehouses are located.

  • Reliable ROI

When it comes to ROI, the numbers speak for themselves. Using Sage X3, professional services organizations saw 197% ROI with a 5-month payback period for their X3 spend. Manufacturing companies saw 218% ROI with a 4-month payback period and distribution enterprises captured 237% ROI with a 4-month payback.

Put simply? Sage X3 helps companies deliver sustainable ROI that quickly pays off initial ERP investments.

Making the Switch

Sage X3 is helping thousands of brands worldwide improve efficiencies, streamline operations and increase ROI. And making the switch is simple: Companies can easily connect with Sage-authorized partners — such as IWI Consulting Group — to find the best-fit deployment for their business needs and strategic goals.

Designed to quickly integrate across current systems and operations, it’s quick and easy to get started with Sage X3 to help drive consistency, quality, and agility across your organization. Ready to make the most of your ERP with Sage X3? See how IWI Consulting Group can help.

Read More

Are You Going Through The Start-up Blues?

Start-ups come with their own set of excitements and vexing issues. New ventures arise from innovative or passionate ideas but need diligence and dedication to transform them into a business to reckon about. Many such innovative start-ups have already set a mark on the global market.

Do you wonder what were the parameters through which they could keep track of their own rate of growth? As objectives can differ from business to business the indicators of performance levels also differ correspondingly.

Accounting is the backbone of any business and vital for any estimation, planning, implementation, or strategizing. But, this one word is not as easy as it sounds. Accounting always involves complex financial management of all the aspects of transactions incurred in a business setup. 

But, thanks to the consultants and solution developers, accounting and reporting have become an easy experience even for startups, through cloud software like Sage X3.

A proper accounting system is required to analyze the bookkeeping records to generate the estimation reports on a monthly basis. Similarly, small businesses also rely on these estimations to review their curve of growth. 

There are some metrics that are specific to particular types of businesses to estimate their performance ratings. But, let us discuss briefly, some of the metrics or the key performance indicators (KPI) which are common in the estimation process of any business to resolve your start-up blues.

IWI Consulting Group Sage X3 ERP SMB Image

Businesses run on the quality of services provided to the demands of customers. In other words, customer satisfaction is the foundation for any business to grow. So, increasing monthly recurring revenue is an indicator of retained customers who have the potential to become loyal customers or achieve their patronage.

The common objective of every enterprise, big or small is to retain customers and prevent loss of their orders or churn. So, an increase in repetitive revenue through particular customers instead of one-time sales is one of the common metrics of good performance. 

It helps to plan on adding new employees to the team or encourage good performers with incentives. 

 KPI 1: Total Sales Revenue Generated

Monthly accounting of total revenue generated through sales of products through each customer is the critical metric to gauge the performance levels. The revenue generated has to be deducted by the number of orders returned or canceled. 

The resultant indicates –

  • quality of service on orders placed, 
  • performances of each employee, 
  • quality of a product which could retain customer satisfaction or lost orders etc

The objective is to assess the rate of growth in sales revenue or resolve the issues for any decrease in revenue generation.

KPI 2: Investment in Customer Procurement (CAC)

Every business thrives on a steady increase in the number of potentially loyal customers. The number of new customer acquisitions can grow through strategy tips of analyzing customer interests and promoting products accordingly through social media or other consultation sessions or cold emails etc.

The objective is to keep Customer Acquisition Cost or CAC minimum as much as possible through simple yet effective intelligent strategies while maintaining a steady growth in the procured customers.

KPI 3: Profit Margin

Revenue generated each month is not the metric of your Net profit. Total monthly revenue has to be deducted by all the debits like –

  • Cost of delivery, transportation, packaging, etc of sold goods
  • Cost of promoting products, CAC, etc
  • Expenses of insurance, repayment of dues, wages, etc

The resultant figure gives the Net Income or Bottom line. The objective is to architect your business infrastructure such as to keep a steady rise in the graph of Net Profit while the total debits have to be kept stable. 

The percentage of growth in the Net profit out of the revenue generated gives the Net Margin. It indicates the consistent stability and potential to grow or expand further. A low-Profit Margin demands change in the marketing strategy or overall assessment of quality services.

KPI 4: Gross Margin

Gross margin gives an estimate of the productivity of your business and is dependent on the gross profits. It also indicates the revenue generated through some products when compared to others which in turn indexes the quality of each.

Gross profits are the figures calculated after deducting only the cost of sold goods out of the sales revenue. The objective is to again keep the Gross margin on a steady rise.

While there are other KPIs that are specific to each type of business, the above metrics fairly measure the growth of your start-up. It helps in cost-effective strategizing and expansion or reassessment of employee performances or individual products. 

On the other hand, integrating all the bookkeeping to accounting for the KPIs is quite time-consuming and may result in missed opportunities for productive implementation of all your planning. Time is of the essence in every business growth.
Keeping pace with the fast digital world is another key to the growth of any business. So, to reduce the time consumed in financials and be at par with digitalization, optimize your accounting through automated Enterprise Resource Planning software, like Sage X3. To know more get a consultation @IWI Group.

Read More

How do you minimize waste in the food and beverage business?

Food and beverage business is one of a kind industry that makes more profit but with a lot of effort involved when compared to other industries. However, the most crucial part of management is all about handling wastes associated within the process. The food supply chain becomes more sustainable when the waste management is done right. It is normally considered as an overhead cost by the decision makers and seems to be low in fraction. But the truth is, waste unnoticed has a greater impact on the bottom line of the business. Once these get traction in the decision making process, it can make a heavy movement towards upward growth. 

It is always easy to advise but to say how to do it, needs a master in that industry. Because, the operational actions to reduce wastage involves right planning and orderliness. Having said this, we are here to help you to understand the ground reality with the right key to solve the issue. The first step all you need to improve efficiency is that you need to find where the lag is. We are discussing the problem areas and the management tips to solve them.

Overstocking

The Food and Beverage Industry does not see a steady supply and demand, it usually faces violent fluctuations. It’s always been a problem to ensure appropriate stock levels. Maybe we cannot increase manufacturing speed that ends up in raw material spoilage or sales might cause your finished product to remain at the warehouse. 

The ability to foresee consumer demand with high precision reduces overstocking thereby reducing waste. Therefore making use of good business intelligence software to accurately forecast the demand can actually be an immediate solution to reduce wastage. Sage X3 comes with that kind of robust technology with business intelligence to help you reduce overstocking. 

Click here for demo

Cross Contamination

During manufacturing or logistics, cross-contamination may happen through mishandling. There may be allergens or microscopic particle leaks out to the ingredients. This is the most important factor to consider because even a small leakage may have an adverse effect on bulk stocks. The problem is being addressed in every manufacturing unit and a solution is still under development.

It can be a warehouse or the process units, unless the protocols and SOP are set at high standards, cross-contaminations are unavoidable. The commitment to safe food handling relies on actively tracking the operations and distribution. Sage X3 has it all! The tracking functions in sage, for e.g. allergen tracking system makes it to track and warn to move out before they get spoiled.

Production Loss

These are inevitable losses which would need awareness but cannot be 100% eliminated. It may be the residues on equipment, or spill outs that are considered to be negligible. Practically, these wastes are  not negligible but tracking this right will have a considerable impact on loss reduction. 

Production losses are always unavoidable but in that case, having a clear picture of where exactly the losses are, help to innovate better or to take necessary actions. Henceforth, awareness about food waste is more important. Sage X3 tracks the entire process and enlightens about the losses occurred during the process. This insight is yet another seed to reduce wastage 

When it comes to wastage or loss, it is because of non consideration. Moreover, it is not negligible, it is because of a lack of systematic approach towards tracking. When a timely forecast is made, overstocking can be traced, the most unknown production loss identifying where the loss actually occurs is exactly traced. Even though the production losses are non-mitigatable, enlightenment about the system to the decision makers, allows them to strategically approach further losses. Sage X3 built with robust technology has traceability tools which are user friendly with high precision. 

Sage X3 is a tailored fit software offering unique advantages in the food and beverage businesses. Expiration management, bulk stock management and process information are few important features of Sage X3 that allows you to automate and process without you in place to manage everyday. The data and the insights that are available at one fingertip makes it a user friendly option to resolve waste management challenges. 

To have a practical experience, visit the https://iwigroup.ca/software/sage-x3/ and get a free demo. 

Read More

3 ways to enhance your inventory management in the Food & Beverage Manufacturing industry.

Why do Businesses Choose Sage Intacct?

One of the most important business decisions for any organization is deciding which business management solution to adopt. Sage Intacct is a leading cloud ERP solution and is particularly popular with small to medium-sized businesses.

As a solutions partner, IWI Consulting Group helps growing businesses implement ERP solutions every day. By employing an effective discovery process, IWI Consulting Group is perfectly positioned to uncover crucial insights into an organization’s unique requirements based on its growth strategies, challenges, markets, and information management. The choice of ERP solution is so important because choosing the right solution directly impacts whether the business will climb the ladder to ultimate success and mastery.

Why is Sage Intacct so popular with burgeoning small to medium-sized businesses? Here are four of the most common reasons businesses choose Sage Intacct:

Reason1: Licensing Flexibility

One of the most important features cited by businesses about Sage Intacct lies in its licensing flexibility. Not all users in an organization require the same level of access to Sage Intacct.  Sage Intacct offers licensing options that range from users requiring full access to casual uses that don’t require full access. What this means is that an organization needn’t pay the same licensing fee for a user that only requires access on an infrequent or limited basis as a user that incorporates Sage Intacct in every aspect of their workflow. Essentially, with Sage Intacct, the organization only pays for what it uses!

Food Manufacturing

Reason2: Cloud-Native Implementation For Food Manufacturing

A cloud-native solution has many benefits. With a cloud-native solution, there is no need to install software on servers locally and then maintain those servers and software. It is a fully-managed service and thus Sage takes care of all the underlying infrastructure, so you don’t have to. With a cloud-native solution then, hardware maintenance is a thing of the past. So there is the ease of maintenance, and your organization is assured of a highly available, reliable, and scalable solution.

Reason3: Partner Integrations

Sage Intacct’s flexibility extends to its integration capabilities. Sage Intacct Marketplace integrates with over 200 partners for a comprehensive and extensible solution that meets the various requirements of every business and helps future-proof your business as your business requirements change and grow over time. Sage Intacct integrates with partners that help with payroll, point of sale, tax management, time and expense, CRM, e-commerce, inventory management, finance and admin, and business management. Over 75% of Sage Intacct customers have seamlessly integrated multiple Marketplace solutions!

Reason4: Flexible and Powerful Chart of Accounts

Most solutions implement a hardcoded structure for an organization’s chart of accounts. Consider, to track 4 locations, 5 departments, and 5 projects, an organization would require 100 account code combinations! The result is an overly complicated and unwieldy set of codes. Furthermore, if a new location or department needs to be added, it could wind up forcing the business to add hundreds of accounts. Instead, Sage Intacct helps simplify your organization’s chart of accounts. All that is required is that your business configure a set of primary account codes. Sage Intacct supports tagging transactions and operational data using dimensions, offering a unique and flexible way to track and report data, while simultaneously simplifying the organization’s chart of account. By tagging with dimensions rather than using hardcoded accounts Sage Intacct supports adding metadata and context to your business’s data. Once created, a dimension may be used for any transaction.

Read More

Why are Businesses choosing Sage Intacct over other Solutions?

Why do Businesses Choose Sage Intacct?

One of the most important business decisions for any organization is deciding which business management solution to adopt. Sage Intacct is a leading cloud ERP solution and is particularly popular with small to medium-sized businesses.

As a solutions partner, IWI Consulting Group helps growing businesses implement ERP solutions every day. By employing an effective discovery process, IWI Consulting Group is perfectly positioned to uncover crucial insights into an organization’s unique requirements based on its growth strategies, challenges, markets, and information management. The choice of ERP solution is so important because choosing the right solution directly impacts whether the business will climb the ladder to ultimate success and mastery.

Why is Sage Intacct so popular with burgeoning small to medium-sized businesses? Here are four of the most common reasons businesses choose Sage Intacct:

Reason1: Licensing Flexibility

One of the most important features cited by businesses about Sage Intacct lies in its licensing flexibility. Not all users in an organization require the same level of access to Sage Intacct.  Sage Intacct offers licensing options that range from users requiring full access to casual uses that don’t require full access. What this means is that an organization needn’t pay the same licensing fee for a user that only requires access on an infrequent or limited basis as a user that incorporates Sage Intacct in every aspect of their workflow. Essentially, with Sage Intacct, the organization only pays for what it uses!

Reason2: Cloud-Native Implementation

A cloud-native solution has many benefits. With a cloud-native solution, there is no need to install software on servers locally and then maintain those servers and software. It is a fully-managed service and thus Sage takes care of all the underlying infrastructure, so you don’t have to. With a cloud-native solution then, hardware maintenance is a thing of the past. So there is the ease of maintenance, and your organization is assured of a highly available, reliable, and scalable solution.

Reason3: Partner Integrations

Sage Intacct’s flexibility extends to its integration capabilities. Sage Intacct Marketplace integrates with over 200 partners for a comprehensive and extensible solution that meets the various requirements of every business and helps future-proof your business as your business requirements change and grow over time. Sage Intacct integrates with partners that help with payroll, point of sale, tax management, time and expense, CRM, e-commerce, inventory management, finance and admin, and business management. Over 75% of Sage Intacct customers have seamlessly integrated multiple Marketplace solutions!

Reason4: Flexible and Powerful Chart of Accounts

Most solutions implement a hardcoded structure for an organization’s chart of accounts. Consider, to track 4 locations, 5 departments, and 5 projects, an organization would require 100 account code combinations! The result is an overly complicated and unwieldy set of codes. Furthermore, if a new location or department needs to be added, it could wind up forcing the business to add hundreds of accounts. Instead, Sage Intacct helps simplify your organization’s chart of accounts. All that is required is that your business configure a set of primary account codes. Sage Intacct supports tagging transactions and operational data using dimensions, offering a unique and flexible way to track and report data, while simultaneously simplifying the organization’s chart of account. By tagging with dimensions rather than using hardcoded accounts Sage Intacct supports adding metadata and context to your business’s data. Once created, a dimension may be used for any transaction.

Read More

Appetite for Success: The Complete Guide to Food and Beverage Manufacturing ERP

Food and beverage manufacturing ERP helps drive sustained success and improve operations. Not sure where to start? Our complete F&B ERP guide has you covered.

Read More

Switching to Cloud Accounting Software

More firms are now switching to cloud accounting software. Here’s the list of benefits, why to make the move and how to make it successful.

Read More

ERP Best Practice for Manufacturing Industry

Boost your current business management software’s performance and get most out of it with these proven ERP best practices for manufacturing industry.

Read More

Overcoming Operational Challenges with Manufacturing ERP

Canadian manufacturing firms have made significant market strides both at home and abroad, but many still face familiar operation challenges.

Read More

Food ERP and Traceability: Key Ingredients for Enterprise Success

The combination of food traceability and food ERP is now essential to maximize ROI for Canadian food producers and manufacturers.

Read More
#zikzag_button_6605e400566f6 { color: rgba(255,255,255,1); }#zikzag_button_6605e400566f6:hover { color: rgba(49,49,49, 1); }#zikzag_button_6605e400566f6 { border-color: rgba(49,49,49, 1); background-color: rgba(87,143,68,1); }#zikzag_button_6605e400566f6:hover { border-color: rgba(49,49,49, 1); background-color: rgba(255,255,255,1); }#zikzag_button_6605e40056746 { color: rgba(255,255,255,1); }#zikzag_button_6605e40056746:hover { color: rgba(49,49,49, 1); }#zikzag_button_6605e40056746 { border-color: rgba(49,49,49, 1); background-color: rgba(2,122,192,1); }#zikzag_button_6605e40056746:hover { border-color: rgba(49,49,49, 1); background-color: rgba(255,255,255,1); }