How ERPNext Transformed Sales Operations for an Agri-Food Company Introduction

Industry: IT Services, Agri-food

Author: Ramanujan KK

Publish Date: 15 February, 2025

Introduction

 An established agricultural food processing company, producing products like Granulated Wheat (Sooji), Refined Flour (Maida), Wheat Floor and Bran, faced challenges in managing real-time stock visibility. This in turn affected their sales and order fulfilment.

With their sales team relying on outdated stock data and manual processes, the company struggled to provide accurate information to customers during negotiations. The solution to these problems came in the form of ERPNext. It helped the company streamline their sales operations, improve stock transparency, significantly boost their order accuracy and customer satisfaction.

The Story of the Agri-Food Processing Company

The company is a well-established player in the agri-food industry, specializing in producing Granulated Wheat (Sooji), Refined Flour (Maida), Wheat Floor, Bran, and other wheat-based products. Known for their strict adherence to food safety standards, they’ve developed a strong reputation among B2B customers and retailers.

Before implementing ERPNext, the sales team faced difficulties in accessing accurate, real-time information on product availability. This led to delays in confirming orders, pricing challenges, and even issues with fulfilling large, time-sensitive orders. These challenges were affecting customer satisfaction and preventing the company from capitalizing on lucrative opportunities.

The company needed a solution that would empower its sales team to have up-to-date, accurate data at their fingertips. So that they can make more effective decisions and build stronger relationships with customers. ERPNext became the ideal solution to help them achieve these goals.

The Challenge of Outdated Stock Information

Before adopting ERPNext, the sales team struggled with stock visibility.

• They often had to rely on the warehouse team to manually update stock levels or verbally confirm the stock, which was time-consuming and led to delays.
• Sales representatives were unable to confirm product availability in real-time, which created friction during negotiations, especially when customers required urgent orders or special deals.
• Additionally, the company faced challenges in forecasting demand, which led to either stockouts or overproduction, both of which had negative financial implications.
• Their manual, reactive processes weren’t scalable as the business expanded.

Why the Company Chose ERPNext

The company sought a solution that could integrate inventory management, sales operations, and forecasting capabilities into one seamless platform. After considering several options, they chose ERPNext for its comprehensive, easy-to-use interface and real-time inventory tracking.

• What stood out about ERPNext was its ability to provide live updates about stocks and integrate easily with existing systems.
• They also chose ERPNext because it offers customizable features that suit their unique business needs in the food processing industry.
• Furthermore, ERPNext’s cost-effectiveness, scalability, and strong track record of success in other agricultural food companies made it the clear choice.
• They also appreciated that ERPNext could handle regulatory compliance, such as batch tracking and traceability, which was crucial for their food safety standards.

How the Company leveraged ERPNext

Once implemented, the company began using ERPNext to manage its stock levels in real time.

• The sales team could now instantly access live data about product availability. This allowed them to negotiate confidently and provide accurate delivery timelines to customers.
• The immediate access to inventory levels and historical sales data subsequently helped them in better demand forecasting, manage procurement, and optimize production schedules.
• After integrating ERPNext’s CRM and sales modules, the company’s sales representatives were able to track customer preferences, past orders, and pricing patterns. This made their negotiations more tailored and efficient.
• They also utilized real-time stock updates and automated order management features, which allowed them to fulfill orders faster and with fewer errors.

“ERPNext has been a game-changer for our sales operations. We now have the ability to respond to customers instantly with accurate stock information, which has really strengthened our relationships and improved our margins.” – Sales Manager, Prathyansh Joshi

The Results

After adopting ERPNext, the company saw significant improvements across several key performance indicators.

1. Faster Response Times

• 45% reduction in the time taken to respond to customer inquiries about stock availability and order status.

2. Improved Negotiation Power:

• The sales team secured 20-30% better terms with customers, utilizing real-time stock data to offer competitive pricing and flexible delivery timelines.
• A 10% increase in average deal size was realized as a result of more confident pricing and better product bundling.

3. Improved Customer Satisfaction:

• 25% increase in customer retention rates, as clients were more satisfied with the prompt, accurate information and on-time deliveries.
• A 15% improvement in on-time deliveries was achieved, which helped boost customer loyalty and trust.

4. Better Sales Forecasting:

• With ERPNext’s analytics tools, the company reduced stockouts by 20% by accurately predicting demand and adjusting production schedules accordingly.
• Realtime information helped the Sales team to check production dates and push stocks to market without delay as these have expiry. Thus, saving stock losses for the company.

Conclusion

The successful implementation of ERPNext has demonstrably transformed the sales operations of this agri-food processing company. The company saw a 20% increase in operational efficiency and a 15% increase in revenue in the first quarter after the ERPNext implementation.

The quantifiable results of ERPNext implementation include faster response times, improved deal sizes, increased customer retention, and a significant boost in revenue. This underscores the value of ERPNext in optimizing sales operations and driving business growth within the competitive agri-food industry.

Therefore, this case study serves as a testament to the power of ERPNext in enabling companies to overcome operational challenges, enhance customer relationships, and achieve sustainable growth.