Standard ERP won’t cut it for the waste industry

Johannes Neumüller, Senior Sales Manager at COSMO CONSULT, explains how the ERP provider can help business management in the waste and recycling sector

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The waste industry has very good prospects and is among the most innovative industries in the world. Those who want to participate successfully must be able to react flexibly to the industry's dynamics because the waste management market is characterized by constant change.

A mound of waste on a beach.Participants must react to new regulations and legislation immediately. Regional, national and international waste regulations and the respective reporting duties are being toughened constantly.

Today, companies from the fields of recycling management and reverse logistics require cutting-edge Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solutions that fit the needs of this dynamic and ever-changing industry. ERP is the integrated management of main business processes, often in real time and mediated by software and technology.

Standard ERP is not enough

Some industries have an additional hurdle along the way, because there is no standard ERP system that meets their requirements. One of these is the waste and recycling industry. One of the critical issues in this industry is that there are two directions for the same transaction. Money can be both paid and earned when goods are received. If you have hazardous waste, you are happy to pay for its disposal. Standard ERP just posts purchase orders against accounts payable and sales orders against accounts receivable.

So, a standard ERP system can’t cope with the particular situation in the waste and recycling industry. For the company to acquire materials with a standard ERP system, at some point in the process you have to pay a bill. But you never get money for it.

This is not the only drawback, the list is long, but we can sum it up as follows: normal ERP systems lack several core functions for this industry. Besides the reverse logistics (which is core), additional industry functionality such as weighbridge integration, container management, contract management, logistics management are also necessary for the industry.

So standard software just doesn’t cut it. The question remains – what is a future-proof way to fill these gaps?

The all-rounder: Standard ERP + industry package

There is more than one answer. If you’re not willing to miss the advantages of standard ERP solutions, there’s only one option remaining: an industry package in addition. The industry package adds the functionality that is not provided by standard ERP. The ERP thus becomes a waste management and recycling solution, and the company acquires proven functionality.

Standard ERP + Industry Functionality = Waste Management and Recycling Solution!

Furthermore, you will keep all the advantages of a standard solution. This way also minimizes the service cost for programming additions, and it removes a major unknown variable from the equation, since the software already exists. Standard software could be theoretically applied in the industry too, but only with huge programming efforts.

COSMO CONSULT presents the ERP standard solution with industry specific add-on

We decided to build our industry solution based on the rock-solid technology stack from Microsoft. The main advantage is that Microsoft provides all business applications from Office 365 to ERP or business intelligence functionality. We bring in our unique intellectual property (IP) and embed the specific industry features into the product.

To ensure project success, industry experts who exclusively deal with the waste management and recycling industry share their knowledge with an international customer base. Summing up, Microsoft provides best in class technology and COSMO CONSULT focuses on dedicated industry expertise.

You can find more about the services provided by COSMO CONSULT on the company’s website.