Many companies invest a great deal of time, money, and resources in a new ERP system. The expectation is: less manual work, better data, greater transparency, and more efficient processes.
And yet, your buyer is still sitting in front of Excel and writing emails to suppliers—tasks that the ERP system could have automated long ago. The problem rarely lies with the ERP system itself. It lies in the gaps between the ERP system, processes, machines, and third-party systems.
ERP gaps don’t just cost time. They increase the effort required for coordination, cause errors, delay decisions, and tie up employees in manual tasks.
This becomes particularly costly where standard processes end and individual workflows, technical data, machines, suppliers, or specialized processes aren’t seamlessly integrated. Your organization is growing, but efficiency isn’t keeping pace.
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1.
Problem
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2.
Typical effect
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Rising Costs Despite ERP
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+10–25% increase in workload in areas such as inside sales, purchasing, financial planning, and order planning
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Inefficiencies in Day-to-Day Operations
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Up to 30% of working time is spent on manual tasks
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Errors Caused by Manual Interventions
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1–5% error rate due to duplicate or manual data entry
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Costly rework
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Revision cycles cost 5–10 times more than the original work
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Lack of real-time data
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Decisions are based on delayed or inconsistent information
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Blocked Automation
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Manual interfaces hinder end-to-end processes
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Incorrect scaling
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Growth comes from adding people rather than systems
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TESTEX certifies textiles according to OEKO-TEX standards. The test matrix required for this was manually entered into the ERP system over the years. It defined which materials had to be tested and under what parameters.
With each new branch, it became more difficult to apply the testing rules consistently. Changes to the test matrix had to be made manually. This resulted in a high workload, slow adjustments, and a growing risk of inconsistent process logic across international operations.
Instead of further expanding the ERP system, the business expertise was transferred to a separate application. The solution centrally maps the validation rules and is connected to the ERP system via interfaces. This allows standard processes to remain in the ERP system, while the specific business logic can be flexibly maintained outside the ERP system.
Today, data flows automatically between the ERP system and line-of-business applications. TESTEX can implement changes to the test matrix more quickly without having to wait for an ERP release. Manual effort is reduced, the logic remains consistent across all locations, and operations become significantly more flexible.
A standard order comes in. The ERP system knows the process. But the internal sales team still enters the data manually, often from emails or PDFs. Media discontinuities remain, errors occur, and every order takes up unnecessary time. Impact: Standard orders, combined with limited scalability, lead to manual effort, wasted time, and an increased error rate.
Area for improvement:
The demand is generated in the ERP. But what about the purchase order? It’s calculated in Excel and sent to suppliers via email. Approvals require manual signatures. Supplier status is tracked manually . The buyer is caught between three worlds and is constantly syncing everything by hand. Impact: What should take minutes ends up taking 4–5 hours. The error rate increases with every manual action.
What’s missing?
Your design engineers work in CAD. The ERP system has no idea about this. Bill of materials are manually transferred to the ERP. If a specification changes, the information doesn’t make its way to production, or an incorrect version is created. Impact: Scrap, rework, incorrect versions. Everyone knows something went wrong, but no one finds out in time.
What needs to be improved?
Inspection processes run outside the ERP, e.g., in Excel, separate systems, or on paper. The data is later entered manually into the ERP. Audits become a nightmare because data is missing or must first be gathered. Impact: Providing audit evidence takes 3 days instead of 30 minutes. High effort, low transparency, high risk of quality deviations.
What’s missing?
The goal is for engineering, purchasing, and production to work with the same data—not copies or outdated versions. This doesn’t require a new ERP system, but rather the right connections between the systems and processes you already have. That means: CAD changes are automatically reflected in the bill of materials. Requirements are converted into purchase orders without anyone having to reconcile the numbers. Inspection data flows into the system, not into an Excel file. Everyone can see in real time where an order stands. As long as your teams are manually transferring data between systems, you’re paying more—not less—for each additional order.
A Swiss manufacturing company had status reports in its ERP system. The employees who worked on orders every day were looking elsewhere. The information was there, but not visible where it was needed.
The Solution: The status report was integrated directly into the application and connected via an ERP interface. Now, employees and customers see the information in real time, right where the work is happening. You can find out more about interface development here!
As long as procurement, order management, and engineering aren’t fully integrated, it will cost you time and lead to errors every day.
We’ll show you which interfaces and automation features make the biggest difference.
Direct number
+41 55 253 00 53
Sofia Steninger
Solution Sales Manager
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