Enhancing Enterprise Resource Planning with AI Chatbots

With the introduction of AI chatbots into the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) space, organizations are now more productive, transparent and agile than ever. But how can organizations implement them correctly, and how can they decide which chatbot best suits their needs?

To succeed in business today, every organization needs to have full transparency regarding the tools they have at their disposal, what projects they have in their pipeline, and when certain teams will be unavailable because of these projects etc.

Previously all of this was done manually through programs like Windows Excel. But with the ever-increasing popularity of AI chatbots, enterprises now have a new option for planning the resources they need to achieve their goal – provided they have the right AI chatbot development services, generative AI services, and AI and ML services in place of course.

But what is an ERP chatbot and why are they so crucial in the day-to-day resource planning of an organization?

What Is an ERP AI Chatbot?

An ERP AI chatbot is an artificial intelligence-powered program that uses natural language processing (NLP) to interact with users. It is designed to assist and automate various tasks related to enterprise resource planning systems.

What does this look like in practice? Well, imagine someone in finance wants to see how many invoices you handled last month and compare this amount to the same month last year? Perhaps they want this information to ensure they are on track to achieve their yearly KPIs, but regardless of the reason behind it, this process used to take hours to complete before the introduction of ERP AI chatbots.

Previously, anyone who wanted information like this would have to spend hours, sometimes even a few days, combing through their organization’s ERP system to gather all the information they needed. Now they can just type “how many invoices did we clear last month?” and “how does this compare to the same period last year?” into their ERP system’s chatbot window. Doing this gives them access to the information they need instantly thanks to the chatbot’s ability to understand their request and provide relevant responses through its NLP capabilities.

Additionally, AI chatbots can retrieve, produce, and test data, as well as analyze reports, and make recommendations – all much faster than a person.

The benefits of an ERP AI chatbot

All the above is why ERP AI chatbots are so important to organizations today. They function as personal assistants who are available 24/7 to provide employees with the information they need when they need it, enabling employees to focus on completing tasks that will grow their business moving forward.

All this leads to a variety of benefits for any organization such as:

• Delivering higher productivity: AI ERP chatbots streamline and automate core business processes so that everyone in an organization can do more with less.
• Enhancing insights and decision making: AI ERP chatbots eliminate silos by breaking down the walls between teams, enabling them to build a sole source of truth for information which significantly enhances decision-making and leads to better business outcomes.
• Increasing transparency, lowering risk: AI ERP chatbots significantly increase transparency across organizations, ensuring better control and compliance as a result, leading to significantly improved risk prediction and prevention processes for any organization.
• Improving agility: AI ERP chatbots make identifying new opportunities easier by making operations much more efficient, giving organizations access to data in real-time which, of course, is key to succeeding in any modern industry.
• Simplifying IT quickly and easily: Finally, AI ERP chatbots integrate with other ERP applications at speed, enabling different applications to share the same database, meaning these chatbots can help organizations simplify IT, which in turn, offers employees an easier way to work.

Making the integration of these chatbots simple

When integrating any chatbot into any ERP system, remember that these bots are only as good as the data used to train them, as poor data often leads to poor – or worse – inaccurate or false information being provided by these chatbots.

However, there are steps organizations can take to limit the likelihood of negative outcomes with their new chatbot. These steps are:

• Assess business needs: First organizations must identify the ERP processes they want to automate and the kind of queries they want their bot to answer.
• Choose the right chatbot: Next, they need to select a chatbot that will mesh well with their own ERP systems; while meeting the standards they have set for the bot in the previous step of this process.
• Plan the integration carefully: Once this is done, organizations can begin to map out the data flow around their new chatbot, while also deciding what security protocols will govern every user interaction with it.
• Develop and train the chatbot correctly: With a plan in place, organizations can begin to customize and train their new chatbot using a wide dataset, which should include multiple sources, if possible. This will ensure it has more effective responses for its users when it is up and running.
• Test rigorously before deployment: Conduct as many controlled tests as possible before deployment, adjusting these tests as needed to address problems as, and when, they occur.
• Monitor and update your chatbot consistently post deployment: Leverage performance and user feedback after deployment regularly to ensure you continuously improve your chatbot in a way users expect.
• Educate teams accordingly: Train employees on how to use the chatbot correctly while ensuring they understand its limitations. This approach will lead to the chatbot being leveraged more effectively – lowering workloads and increasing employee satisfaction.

ERP AI chatbot – use cases

In short, businesses in every industry need accurate, real-time information and effective processes to stay relevant in any market. As a result, they all rely on ERP AI chatbot technology in some way. For example:

Any modern retailer’s ability to provide the self-service options customers now expect – such as the ability to checkout items or build “wish lists” by themselves – depends on integrated data. Therefore, introducing an ERP AI chatbot into these systems helps retailers reduce cart abandonments, improve online conversions, boost average order value and increase customer lifetime value.

On the other hand, any accounting, tax, engineering, IT, or legal firm or any other professional services firms for that matter, require powerful, real-time mobile ERP technology to deliver the mobile services their customers have grown used to – especially in a post-pandemic world. For these firms to succeed, they need to adhere to a schedule while managing project profitability, resource utilization, revenue recognition, revenue objectives, and growth opportunities. Introducing ERP AI chatbots into these processes ensures these firms can do all of this by giving them the information they need in just a few clicks, which in turn, enables them to deliver and improve their own in-house and mobile services.

These are just two examples of what ERP chatbots can do, there are others of course, but this is just an idea of the efficiency and outcomes they can deliver to any organization.

How to choose the right ERP chatbot?

Choosing an ERP chatbot is easier than some might think. Just follow the steps below and you will soon have a chatbot that addresses your business needs:

• Define your business needs: Your first step in deciding which ERP chatbot works for you is similar to the first step in the implementation process outlined earlier in this article. Ask yourself, “why do I need an ERP chatbot in the first place?” “What tasks do I want to automate and how do I want it to respond to users?” Then, look for specific features that address those needs in the chatbots you are considering implementing into your ERP system.
• Evaluate AI and NLP capabilities: Once you have done everything in step one, ensure the chatbot you select has the AI capabilities you need to carry out the task you want it to. Whether that helps finance teams address their invoicing queries or call center staff understand call context by translating information into their native language.
• Consider how it will integrate with your existing ERP systems: Does the AI chatbot you and your team are considering integrate with your existing ERP system? It should. So, do not forget to ask if there have been any challenges when integrating with systems such as yours when interviewing chatbot providers.
• Ensure security and privacy compliance: It is also important to ask potential providers about their security measures and data privacy policies regarding sensitive data, and whether they have a crisis management plan in case of any security breaches.
• Identify customization options where possible: Finally, unless you are building a chatbot from scratch, customization is key if you want your new chatbot to fit your needs quickly, so also keep this in mind when interviewing prospective chatbot candidates.

Developing an ERP AI chatbot with Software Mind

At Software Mind we know that developing an ERP AI chatbot is easier said than done, and we also know that undertaking this kind of work can be extremely daunting.

That is where our experienced software experts come in. They can help you quickly choose the chatbot for your business and connect with you to understand more about why you need to leverage a chatbot in the first place, which in turn will save you considerable time and money.

So, what are you waiting for? Our experienced software development team is happy to talk about what a properly implemented chatbot can do for you.