Business involves lots of day-to-day managing, and it can get pretty confusing when you have to look after finances, marketing and sales at the same time, using loads of different software that doesn’t coordinate with each other. This leaves a huge communication and efficiency gap, lots of potential mistakes and ruined nerves. That’s why Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems are a huge relief because they glue everything together and turn your internal systems into one efficient management tool.
ERP connects and ties together everything – from accounting to manufacturing and sales – and makes work smooth, productive and mistake-free, thus growing your business and bringing in profit. ERP software serves as a vital platform to keep a healthy and consistent workflow.
It’s even better to go for an open-source ERP software solution because this way you’ll be able to customize and tailor software to your taste and have it serve specific tasks. Let’s check out some of the more popular open source ERP software options.
Dolibarr
Dolibarr is a modern and easy to use platform for managing contacts, invoices, orders, products, stocks, agendas and so on. Dolibarr is fast and easy to start to use. If you don’t want to do lots of personalization, it’s possible to do basic configuration and set up a server is less than 2 hours.
It’s a good option for simple, basic needs. Customers say that Dolibarr provides professional looking invoices and efficient management, but it appears that its simplicity can be costly. It lacks necessary some necessary options that can be bought through expensive upgrades. So, the illusion of free open source ERP software, in this case, could be deceiving.
ERPNext
ERPNext is an open-source solution designed for small and medium-size businesses. This flexible platform allows organizations to manage financial accounting, planning, and budgeting processes, etc. It simplifies ERPNext and provides a cheaper alternative than most systems out in the market. There’s a free 30-day trial after which a monthly subscription costs only $12.50.
That’s probably the reason why this solution so appealing for smaller companies. ERPNext was definitely designed for the modern user because it’s presented in a series of very convenient apps, making the whole system is suitable for people who are less technical.
The most obvious downside of the software is probably its limits. For more specific and complex businesses ERPNext is not very suitable. You have to realize that ERPNext is oriented to small and medium-size companies – it’s not made to handle enormous transactions. Of course, you can add resources to allow more features, but it is not fully optimized to do that.
Odoo
Odoo’s distinction is that the whole system revolves around a collection of apps that can cover everything from warehousing and manufacturing to sales and purchases. The apps connect with each other and exchange information effortlessly, making the software highly efficient.
One might think Odoo is a complex system, but the truth is it delivers one of the most streamlined, easy-to-manage interfaces and offers remarkable support and community back up to ensure there won’t be any problem while using it. Odoo is an open source manufacturing ERP software. Odoo charges $12 per month for a basic plan and extra for every app that you’re using.
The most obvious downside is the limitation of free apps and the need to have enough in-house technical expertise to set it up and run it yourself. Luckily, adding more apps isn’t overly expensive.
WebERP
WebERP is a unique platform because – as the name says – it operates through a web browser. The only other software you need is a PDF reader to view reports. It’s an accounting and business management solution geared toward wholesale, distribution, and manufacturing businesses.
It also integrates with third-party business software, including a point-of-sale system for multi-branch retail management, an e-commerce module, and wiki software for building a business knowledge base. It’s written in PHP and aims to be a low-footprint, efficient, fast and platform-independent system that’s easy for general business users.
Opentaps
Opentaps is one of the few open-source ERP software solutions designed for larger businesses. It packs a lot of power, flexibility and features that are vital for managing bigger companies – you get the expected set of modules that help you manage inventory, manufacturing, financials and purchasing while the analytics feature analyzes all aspects of your business and uses that information to make future plans.
Opentaps also has a great reporting feature which carries out flawless coordination between different sectors, giving precise and accurate accounts. On top of that, you can buy add-ons and additional modules to enhance Opentaps’ capabilities. Opentaps is a great first choice if you’re transitioning to become a successful big company.
Apache OFBiz
Apache OFBiz‘s is another handy open-source collection of tools that enables organizations to customize the ERP to their needs. It’s best suited for mid-sized or large companies that have the necessary resources to adapt and integrate the software within their existing IT and business infrastructure.
OFBiz is a mature project that Apache has been nurturing on a top-level for more than a decade. Their modules are available for accounting, manufacturing, HR, inventory management, catalog management, CRM, and e-commerce. OFBiz is a very good solution if you control your software: customize it or use it as a framework to implement your most challenging business needs.
With OFBiz you can get started right away without the huge deployment and maintenance costs of traditional enterprise automation systems.
Metasfresh
The name reflects its promise to always keep its code fresh and shiny. It appears they weren’t joking because Metasfresh has been releasing weekly updates since late 2015. Metasfresh is a pretty young project but it’s already attracted some very positive attention. It has sophisticated vertical features like handling units and attributes management.
Metasfresh is mostly used in companies that work in wholesale and manufacturing – places that need high flexibility and performance in data processing and multithreading The software includes Sales & Procurement, CRM, Manufacturing, Billing, Accounting and much more.
Conclusion
The market is full of decent open-source ERP software solutions that differ in price and features. That means you should carefully consider what you need and get a solution that will serve specific needs. Don’t forget that small and big businesses have different dynamics and problems to solve, so your choice for an ERP solution has to be based on your capabilities and budget. Gravum can help you customize software and adapt it to a particular case. A well-chosen option is key to properly managing a business and getting better results.
