What Generative AI Means For Enterprise Resource Planning
These days, many enterprise resource planning (ERP) platforms have found in one way or another to incorporate artificial intelligence (AI) in their business systems. AI could assist in analyzing patterns and forecast with great accuracy both customer demand and optimal business efficiency. Scott Hebert Forbes Council Member and Americas Chief Revenue Officer for SYSPRO, shares an article on what AI really means to ERP and the effects of generative AI being thrown in the mix. He states,
For ERP, generative AI can enable end users to communicate with the platform using ordinary language, either typed or spoken, and the software will reply in a similar fashion. Let’s say you want to get a report on which key raw materials the company is in danger of running short in the next three months. Simply ask, “Produce a report on the key raw materials of which we are at the highest risk of running short in the next three months.” You could follow up by asking the platform to email you a new report on the first of each month. It can be that simple. In the future, I see decision-makers being able to directly ask ERP for recommendations on what actions to take. If the generative AI-powered ERP says that the company will likely run out of component X in two months because their key supplier is experiencing difficulties due to labor shortages, the user could ask, “What actions do you recommend the company take to prevent this shortage?” In this way, the ERP becomes a key advisor to help solve business challenges.
Herbert also notes that generative AI has the ability to organize, summarize and index enormous volumes of unstructured data, cutting the time and costs it would usually take a team to do the same task. He states that for ERP users, this capability could come in handy when attempting to understand long, complex purchase orders for, say, a shipyard that needs highly specialized fabricated metal for a new boat.
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