To make smart decisions and maintain profit margins, steel service centers and metal distributors need access to accurate, reliable, real-time financial data. If your financials are buried in disparate systems, accessible only to specific departments, you could be missing out on vital information that could optimize your business.
So, what are the risks of burying important financial data, and how can you push it to the front and center of your business?
The Risks of Financial Inaccuracies in Your Business
Steel and metal manufacturers have a wealth of specialized software at their disposal, from inventory management and accounting programs to plate processor software and coil processing software.
All these programs generate vital data, but if you’re operating multiple disparate systems, you could be missing crucial information. To properly assess your finances, you need full visibility on the four pillars of cost:
- Materials
- Labor
- Overheads
- Outside processing costs
By keeping this information and control of your financials separate, you risk issues such as:
Billing Errors
Your finance departments should have clear, complete, and real-time visibility on every step of the production process, from the moment you order stock to the moment it’s processed and shipped. It ensures they have all of the data they need to create accurate invoices, preventing mistakes such as overbilling and underbilling.
The process should be partly or wholly automated. Humans make mistakes, but with the right data sets and algorithms, AI models can efficiently automate billing cycles without adding/subtracting extra digits or recording incorrect information.
Inventory Discrepancies
Inventory management software needs information from across the business so it can accurately record stock levels in real time. These systems record stock levels as soon as a new shipment arrives, adjust when materials leave the warehouse, and ensure this information is available throughout the business, thus reducing the risk of overstocking or understocking.
Pricing Mistakes
Costing mistakes lead to pricing mistakes, and if your products are priced too high or too low, it will affect your bottom line.
Compliance and Legal Problems
Incorrect financials aren’t just bad news for your profit margins. It could create compliance, tax, and even legal issues, while also making life difficult for stakeholders, suppliers, and customers.
Improve Financial Accuracy with Customized ERP Solutions
As your business grows, it’s easy to get lost in the data. Those disconnected systems all tell pieces of the same story, but until they connect, you won’t really know what’s happening inside your organization.
An enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution can bring those systems together and create a single source of truth across your business. It’s a software suite that offers various integrations and features, giving you the same specialist features as before, but with improved visibility and greater communication and collaboration.
The system draws financial, inventory, production, sales, and purchasing data and stores it in a central location. You’ll have clear, real-time visibility on every aspect of your business, will see how all that data connects, and can quickly respond to changes in lead times, material costs, and other deviations.
For example, roll forming manufacturers can plan raw material purchases, track pallets, manage costs, and calculate profitability across every line. With invoicing and sales order integrations, the system can automate basic tasks, allowing you to divert resources elsewhere while avoiding many of the issues associated with manual inputs.
Keep Your Financials Front and Center with RealSTEEL™
The problem with ERP systems is that many of them are designed for general use. They cast a wide net to cover all manufacturers, but in doing so, they often overlook the specific needs of metal distributors and steel service centers.
RealSTEEL™ is different. We developed this software in coordination with steel and metal distribution experts. We included specific integrations needed to run your business optimally, including inventory management, sales and invoicing, all-in-one purchasing, and flexible accounting.
RealSTEEL™ is cloud-based, reducing hefty setup costs and making it affordable even for smaller manufacturers. It’s also scalable, so you can upgrade as your business grows, all while keeping those software costs manageable.
To learn more about RealSTEEL™, see our software features page. To see the software in action, contact us and request a demo.
