Maximising ROI on your ERP investment

20 March, 2025

ERP systems are a major investment, both in cost and time, so businesses need to ensure that they’re getting measurable returns. While industry-leading solutions like SYSPRO offer organisations a range of powerful tools, simply implementing them isn't enough. Instead, continuous optimisation is key to success. Often the pitfalls to ERP return on investment (ROI) are a lack of clear objectives before implementation, poor user adoption leading to underutilisation, lack of integration with key systems, ignored automation opportunities, and failure to regularly review performance. All of which lead to underperformance and failure to reduce costs while boosting productivity.

In this guide we aim to show you five key areas you need to be utilising to drive ERP ROI, such as goal setting, user adoption, automation, integration, and continuous optimisation.

Step 1: Set clear goals & KPIs before implementation

Without defined success metrics, measuring the impact of your ERP implementation is incredibly difficult. This is why it's so important for businesses to set clear, measurable goals that are directly linked to operational efficiency, cost savings, and data accuracy. The following can be used to define ERP success:

  • Cost reduction: By reducing manual administrative tasks, optimising procurement and minimising waste, organisations should be measuring savings to maximise cost reduction, directly increasing ROI.
  • Efficiency gains: ERP systems contribute to improved order processing times, streamlined supply chain management and enhanced production scheduling, all of which increase efficiency which organisations gain from financially.
  • Data accuracy: Reduced financial reporting errors, improved real-time inventory tracking and eliminated duplicate data entry all contribute to business success.

Key examples of KPIs to track:

  • Reduce inventory discrepancies by a set percentage within a given timeframe.
  • Automate a certain percentage of financial reporting tasks.
  • Increase on-time deliveries by optimising supply chain workflows.

Setting these KPI's however, only works when following certain best practices. For example, organisations must ensure that all key stakeholders align on the ERP success criteria and KPI's before implementation to ensure relevant, beneficial objectives are being set. Continuous tracking is important so stakeholders should assign responsibility for tracking KPI's in relevant departments. Similarly, departments should conduct periodic reviews to assess whether the ERP system is meeting set goals.

Step 2: Drive user adoption & training

Even the most powerful ERP system will fail to deliver on ROI if employees aren’t using it correctly. This can be due to a resistance to change, lack of training, and poor understanding of ERP benefits, which can lead to underutilisation. Businesses often face the following adoption challenges:

  • Employees are not properly trained and struggle to navigate the system.
  • Users see ERP as an additional burden rather than a tool to improve efficiency.
  • Training is treated as a one-time event instead of an ongoing process.

Best practices to improve user adoption:

  • Role-based training: Customise training programs for different departments (finance, supply chain, sales, etc.).
  • Hands-on learning: Use real business scenarios to train employees rather than generic ERP modules.
  • Continuous support: Provide refresher courses, on-demand tutorials, and helpdesk support.
  • Employee engagement: Communicate how ERP benefits users directly in their daily tasks.
  • ERP Champions: Appoint influential employees to drive adoption across teams.

Step 3: Automate for efficiency & cost savings

Manual processes are often the culprit for slowed down operations and human error. Using an ERP, workflows, repetitive tasks and more can be automated, leading to significant efficiency improvements and cost reductions.

Key areas for automation within SYSPRO include:

  • Inventory management: Automating replenishment can prevent stock shortages and overstocking.
  • Financial reporting: Generating reports automatically saves time and reduces accounting errors.
  • Order processing: Automating supplier approvals and procurement allows organisations to streamline supply chain operations.

Best practices for automation:

  • Identify repetitive manual tasks that benefit from replacement with ERP automation.
  • Ensure workflows are properly configured to align with business processes.
  • Regularly review the performance of automations and adjust settings as needed.

Step 4: Leverage system integration for better decision-making

Businesses often run ERP alongside other platforms, such as CRMs and e-commerce systems. Failing to integrate these systems properly can lead to data silos, manual data entry errors, and workflow inefficiencies.

Key integrations that improve ROI:

  • CRM Integration: Helps align customer data with inventory and order management.
  • E-commerce Platforms: Syncs online sales data with inventory and fulfilment systems.

Best practices for ERP integrations:

  • Identify critical systems that need to communicate with the ERP before implementing integrations.
  • Use APIs or middleware to ensure smooth data flow between platforms.
  • Regularly test integrations to maintain accuracy and performance.

Step 5: Continuously optimise & review ERP performance

Many businesses implement their ERP system but then fail to reassess whether it continues to meet their evolving needs. This makes regular audits and performance reviews essential to help identify underutilised features and inefficiencies.

Best practices for ongoing optimisation:

  • Conduct quarterly ERP performance reviews to assess system alignment with business objectives.
  • Undertake annual system audits to identify areas for improvement and explore new SYSPRO features.
  • Utilise user feedback surveys to collect insights from employees, address challenges, and enhance usability.

Conclusion

Simply implementing an ERP system is not enough – businesses must actively work to extract value from it, following a structured approach to maximise ROI. This includes setting clear goals and KPI’s to track success, investing in proper training and user adoption to ensure employees are using the system effectively, leveraging automation to improve efficiency and reduce costs and integrating ERP with other business systems to eliminate data silos and streamline operations. This is all underscored by continuous reviews and optimisations of the system to keep up with changes within the business.

For businesses that actively manage and refine their ERP system, the long-term value and return-on-investment of their system will become extremely clear. Still sound complicated?

If you need expert guidance in optimising your SYSPRO ERP investment, get in touch with our consultants at HIT Technology for tailored ERP solutions and strategies for continuous improvement.

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