If you haven’t automated and extended your Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) via mobile yet, chances are you’ve encountered having to enter data in your system twice (or more!). Picture this scenario:
A company representative (usually technicians for service companies) is being sent out to a client site and is logging his activities via a notepad, a paper, or a lengthy phone call to the office. Every time a change in the info or the job itself is made, the tech would have to write it all down. Once done, all that same data is entered into another department’s log and after, is again typed into another place before finally closed or invoiced.
This scenario is only one of the many when it comes to “entering data twice”. Data entered twice could pertain to a lot of things like job orders, parts, requests, and etc. Each business process varies from company to company but one thing is certain for those who haven’t eliminated entering data into their system twice: it is time consuming and opens a lot of windows for errors.
And this creates problems for companies in the future especially when the time for invoicing comes.
We list down issues a company faces in the wake of having a double entry in their system and why it shouldn’t be taken lightly.
1. Takes Up Precious Time
TIME IS MONEY. Time is gold. We’ve all heard the saying and know what it means. For every time you waste doing something that could be done once, you lose money.
This is because the time spent wasted on having to enter data that is already in the system could be used in something more productive and money generating. Efforts could have gone to trainings, entertaining prospects, sales, or overall company improvement. The possibilities are endless with the time you could have saved. A lot can be done in a few minutes so why not spend them at where it really counts?
2. More Entries, More Errors
Because information is put into the system more than once, the risks for discrepancies are doubled. Different factors may affect data entry and could cost your company especially when these errors are discovered at a later point in time. And we don’t mean just minor spelling errors. These errors could range from having the wrong part being written down or accidentally putting in requests twice in a customer’s account, which will be charged to him twice. The list of possible errors goes on and on.
Mistakes will always be a part of work but if there was a way to minimize them, you should take the opportunity. Everyone who has run a company know that mistakes mean profit loss and bad customer feedback, which will hurt your organization the most.
3. Impractical
If you really think about it, important data has already been written down by the person in charge of it. So why do others (or the same person) have to keep on entering it over and over again into your system? At this point, it all seems like clutter that you would have to go through and clean up. Not only does it waste the time of the people involved, it also is a redundant activity that costs you money. There are now a number of ways to have data entered only once, eliminating the issues mentioned.
The money that is lost from fixing errors or missed opportunities is better spent at improving this part of your business system. The ROI is not only immediate but it makes the work of everyone around easier and simpler. It’s a win-win situation for everyone.
Your company should be more vigilant with time management if you want to increase your overall productivity. There are many ways to achieve this and will be discussed in further detail soon. But here is a breakdown: plan your time well, identify and manage any interruptions, use your spare time wisely, and go digital. Make use of tools that will help you become more organized and time efficient.