ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) for events

On this page, you can find information about ERP or enterprise resource planning. Suitable for the event industry but not only!
Enjoy your reading! 😉

An ERP is a crucial information system for a company. It saves time and money and optimizes resources. There are a multitude of them today, some more generalist like Biver or Infor, and others more targeted like Lab Event on the organization of events.

The term ERP comes from the English “Enterprise Resource Planning”. In good French, we prefer the term PGI for Prologiciel des Gestion Intégré. This tool is defined as a group of modules linked to a single database.

To define an ERP, some like to use the analogy of the backbone of a company. Indeed, by combining a multitude of modules, ERP concentrates all of the operational processes of a company on the same software. The best known of these are SAP and SAGE.

To be qualified as an “Integrated Management Software Package”, an ERP software must cover at least two fundamental principles:

The use of a workflow engine allows to define all the tasks of a process and to manage their realization in all the modules of the system which need it.

Build computer applications in the form of independent but perfectly compatible modules on a unique and common database.

Thus, an ERP can integrate the following functionalities:

An accounting module: payroll and invoice management
A human resources module
A sales module
An e-commerce module

Our offer is thus composed of different interconnected modules: Events, locations and services, estimates and invoices…

Different tasks can be assigned and monitored together.

In addition to an ERP, many companies opt for a CRM (for Customer Relationship Management) to improve their customer satisfaction.

What you need to know before opting for an ERP

But the picture is not perfect. Indeed, installing an ERP in a company has a number of disadvantages that should be presented.

Firstly, implementing an ERP in a company requires a lot of organization and rigor. It is not just a matter of switching from one office suite to another. It will take time because an ERP is an extremely powerful tool but also extremely complex at first glance. You will need a lot of training time for you and your employees to understand all the contours.

Moreover, installing an ERP is a big investment: you will need to count on average between 5 000€ and 12 000€ per user, including hardware, license, integration, training and maintenance.

Finally, one of the main difficulties you will have to face is the reluctance of your employees. Many of them will not be thrilled at the idea of having to work with a new tool and some may be afraid of the idea of not knowing how to use it. You will have to be very patient and educational to help them get used to ERP in the best possible way.
New management methods have been developed to adapt to this problem and will allow you to reach your goal; try to adopt them!

According to a Standish Group study, only 1/3 of ERP projects are successful. Not all companies are cut out to have an ERP. You will need to ask yourself the right questions and probably use a consultant.

At Lab Event, we help you to fight against the resistance to change by offering free training hours as well as support available at any time.

Moreover, this maintenance completes our offer, which is already among the most attractive on the market.

Do you know Lab Event?

Lab Event is the first ERP/CRM software dedicated to the event industry! Enjoy many benefits:

Manage more events in less time
Increase your revenue
Improve your profitability
Work better with your customers but also with your employees…

By opting for its use, you will have access to different features. You will be able to:

detail the organization of your events
track the availability of your rooms/venues
to have a commercial follow-up of your customers and providers
share your services and places thanks to your database
create quotes and invoices
jointly manage your events with your employees by centralizing information

Our team will be with you every step of the way at Lab Event. We invite you totest our tool for free and without obligation; so don’t wait any longer and try a complete digital tool specially designed for events!