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You’ve heard a lot about KPIs. 

You have your own, of course, and you track them, but maybe you’re not entirely happy with that process. 

Dynamic companies you read about monitor real-time KPIs to make more informed decisions so they can proactively manage the performance of their operations, whether manufacturing or other.

How do they do that?

Forward-thinking business leaders ask us these types of KPI-related questions all the time. They’re hungry for deeper insights that will empower them as they navigate their fast-changing business landscape.

So here are our answers to the most-asked questions about KPIs.

Like a movie director on a busy film set, you’re beset by a constant flow of information and questions. 

How can you get a handle on this data? Which questions should you and your team ask to grow sustainably? Where can you get the answers you need?

Moreover, without reliable, precise, and timely answers to these questions, you risk hobbling your growth — or worse.

That’s where Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) become vital. They allow you to react nimbly to rapidly evolving business situations. KPIs help you make better decisions faster that increase your profitability, reduce waste, and support your growth while reducing risk.

It was like switching from clay tablets to papyrus. 

The invention of Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) in the 1970s enabled businesses to take document exchange to a revolutionary level of speed, accuracy, and transparency. 

As the term EDI indicates, this exchange happens electronically between one computer and another. Through this technology, a wide range of documents that used to be exchanged physically, such as sales orders, invoices, shipping status statements, and payments, can be transmitted electronically, without human intervention to input or interpret the data.

CFOs everywhere are sitting in the hot seat.

Companies face price inflation that hasn’t been seen in four decades. Supply chains, still staggering from the pandemic, have been disrupted again by the Russia-Ukraine war. 

Meanwhile, on Main Street, business shutdowns and openings due to COVID-19 have provoked tidal shifts in customer demand. Amid this turmoil, the labour force is experiencing a reset of expectations about work. As a result, the cost of hiring and keeping the best talent has gone up. 

Running a business requires a lot of supervision. This is particularly true when you work with time-sensitive products such as food items, beverages, or pharmaceuticals. As with anything that humans ingest, you must be mindful of freshness and expiration dates, amongst many other factors. Batch management has been around for many years but, as production increases, so does the potential for human error. Using an ERP software for lot management maximizes your business’ control over day-to-day operations while allowing you to plan ahead efficiently.

How can your business do more with less? 

Less effort. Less waste. Less error. 

In the food and beverage sector, with its traditionally tight margins, that’s the recurring question a financial leader asks every workday. 

Fortunately, the right Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software can provide transformative answers to that question for small and medium-sized businesses.