Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can use low-cost, cloud-based enterprise resource tools that can be customised to automate and improve business processes and reduce costs, says enterprise resource planning software firm Palladium Software CEO Stephen Corrigan.

Basic uses of modern business tools by SMEs include automatically managing the generation and sending of all relevant documents for each business process, automatic waybill generation, inventory management, geolocation and automatic electronic proof of delivery receipts, as well as capturing and automatically populating documents with information.

Cloud-service business tools also provide the visibility, traceability and control required for SMEs to integrate seamlessly with large supply chains by connecting with their business partners’ supply chains or enterprise resource platforms’ application programming interfaces, thereby facilitating integration.

Additionally, easy-to-use and effective business tools are enabling SMEs to be more agile and to seize transient business opportunities without creating a disproportionate administrative burden. Adapting the tools and developing new functions are also important to suit the system the business needs, he adds.

Palladium’s role is to customise its systems to suit clients’ business requirements and to develop new functionality for individual clients, he says.

“We must start to manage by exceptions, and this is what intelligent accounting tools can provide. The intelligence and automation that must be part and parcel of business tools help SMEs to manage processes more easily and help them to recognise opportunities or deficiencies,” says Corrigan.

SMEs foster diversification through their development of new and unsaturated sectors of the economy. The current move towards new technologies such as artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things, driven by the economic challenges our country faces, indicates that small businesses must identify ways of tightening operating costs, while retaining employment and remaining profitable, he says.

For example, database updating protocols designed according to the business’s needs, whether to meet client needs or regulatory requirements, reduce the pressure on information technology resources, while ensuring that the necessary processes are completed and communicated as they happen.

“We work closely with clients, which enables us to design the systems to meet their needs as efficiently as possible,” he adds.

Palladium typically works on four client-driven projects simultaneously and attributes its success to this collaborative development and support model.

“We have clever clients, which leads to smart systems,” quips Corrigan, highlighting that some of its recent work includes developing a module to integrate sensors in manufacturing processes and at workstations into a company’s workflow management system.

The company also developed a module for a repackaging and distribution client to monitor and manage its variable processes. For manufacturing and exporting clients, it develops automatic interbank reconciliation and currency management systems.