When Systems Blur Together
As businesses expand, the lines between different enterprise systems often blur. Executives find themselves asking: Do we need an Order Management System (OMS)? Do we need a full ERP? Can Salesforce handle both?
The confusion is understandable. Salesforce offers a powerful Order Management System (OMS), yet many organizations also run ERP platforms to manage inventory, manufacturing, finance, and supply chain. Both touch orders, both integrate with customer data, and both promise efficiency.
But there is a fundamental difference. OMS is designed to manage the lifecycle of customer orders — ensuring they are captured, processed, and fulfilled correctly. ERP, on the other hand, is the operational backbone, connecting not only orders but also production, procurement, accounting, and compliance.
Understanding where OMS ends and ERP begins is critical for leaders making technology decisions. And in the Salesforce ecosystem, solutions like Axolt ERP extend the platform from customer orders to full operational control.
Salesforce Order Management: What It Does Best
Salesforce Order Management (OMS) is a natural extension of Salesforce’s CRM heritage. It focuses on the post-purchase journey:
Capturing customer orders.
Coordinating fulfillment across channels.
Handling returns and exchanges.
Providing customer service teams with order visibility.
Strengths of Salesforce OMS
Customer-Centric: Orders live alongside customer records, providing sales and service teams with real-time visibility.
Omnichannel Fulfillment: Whether the order originates online, in-store, or via a call center, OMS routes it to the right location for fulfillment.
Reverse Logistics: Returns, refunds, and warranty claims are integrated into the same process.
Scalability: Built on Salesforce, OMS leverages the platform’s flexibility and ecosystem.
OMS excels in order orchestration — the workflows required to deliver the right product to the right customer, at the right time.
ERP: The Broader Operational Backbone
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems go beyond order capture and fulfillment. They manage the resources required to make, move, and account for goods and services.
Core ERP Functions
Inventory Management: Tracking stock levels across warehouses and channels.
Manufacturing: Scheduling production, managing BOMs, and optimizing capacity.
Procurement: Handling purchase requisitions, POs, and supplier management.
Finance: Accounts payable/receivable, general ledger, and compliance reporting.
Supply Chain Management: Logistics, distribution, and demand planning.
ERP ensures that an order can actually be produced, costed, shipped, and recorded accurately in financials.
Key Difference
Where OMS focuses on the order lifecycle, ERP covers the entire business lifecycle — from forecasting to sourcing, production to delivery, invoicing to compliance.
Where Salesforce OMS and ERP Overlap
There is some natural overlap between OMS and ERP, which often creates confusion:
Order Processing: Both systems handle orders, though OMS emphasizes orchestration while ERP links to inventory and finance.
Inventory Visibility: OMS may show stock availability, but ERP is the source of truth for multi-warehouse, multi-supplier inventory management.
Fulfillment: OMS directs orders to fulfillment centers; ERP ensures materials and resources are in place to complete them.
The overlap is functional, but the scope is different: OMS is narrow but deep in order orchestration; ERP is broad, spanning all enterprise resources.
Why Businesses Need More Than OMS
Salesforce OMS is powerful, but it cannot replace a full ERP. For example:
Manufacturers need Material Requirements Planning (MRP), BOM management, and shop floor scheduling — beyond OMS scope.
Finance teams require accounts payable, general ledger, and compliance workflows. OMS does not handle these functions.
Procurement leaders need PO automation, vendor scoring, and contract management. OMS focuses on customer orders, not supplier orders.
Supply chain managers require end-to-end logistics and traceability. OMS ensures orders ship, but ERP ensures products exist to ship.
In other words, OMS answers “How do we fulfill this order?” ERP answers “Can we produce it, source it, account for it, and remain compliant?”
Salesforce-Native ERP: Extending OMS into Full Operations
Instead of treating OMS and ERP as separate worlds, Salesforce-native ERP solutions like Axolt extend the platform. This creates one environment where customer demand and operational capacity converge.
How Axolt Extends Salesforce Beyond OMS
Manufacturing Execution
Multi-level BOMs managed inside Salesforce.
Capacity planning for machines and labor.
Real-time shop floor execution and traceability.
Inventory and Supply Chain
Unified inventory across multiple warehouses and locations.
Procurement linked directly to sales forecasts.
Logistics and carrier integrations for outbound shipping.
Finance and Compliance
Accounts payable and receivable workflows.
Automated invoicing, tax compliance, and recurring billing.
Audit-ready records with digital trails from order to cash.
AI-Powered Insights
Predictive demand planning to prevent stockouts.
Supplier risk scoring to manage procurement proactively.
AI-driven collections and cash-flow forecasting.
By embedding these capabilities into Salesforce, Axolt turns OMS into part of a true end-to-end ERP system.
Case Example: From Order to Fulfillment to Finance
Imagine a manufacturer of high-tech equipment:
Step 1: Order Capture
A customer order enters Salesforce OMS through an e-commerce portal.
Step 2: Manufacturing Planning
Axolt’s ERP module translates the order into production schedules, checks BOM availability, and triggers procurement of missing components.
Step 3: Fulfillment
Once built, the order is shipped through integrated logistics carriers. OMS tracks delivery; ERP ensures inventory accuracy.
Step 4: Finance
Axolt’s finance module generates an invoice, applies tax compliance, and schedules payment.
Step 5: AI Oversight
AI predicts potential shortages and cash-flow timing, ensuring proactive adjustments.
The customer experiences a seamless order journey, while the business experiences a connected operational backbone.
Strategic Implications for Leaders
The OMS vs. ERP debate is not academic. It shapes how organizations deliver on promises to customers.
Customer-Centricity: OMS ensures flawless order journeys.
Operational Resilience: ERP ensures resources are aligned and compliant.
Strategic Agility: Combining both in Salesforce delivers real-time visibility across the value chain.
For executives, the message is clear: Salesforce OMS is essential, but it is not sufficient. To compete in modern manufacturing, distribution, or services, OMS must be extended into a full ERP.
One Platform, Complete Control
Order Management and ERP are not competitors; they are complements. But while OMS orchestrates orders, ERP orchestrates the business.
By extending Salesforce OMS into a full ERP with Axolt, companies gain:
A single platform for customer and operational data.
End-to-end workflows from sales order to invoice.
Real-time alignment between customer demand and business capacity.
The future is not about stitching together OMS and ERP with integrations. It is about unifying them on the same platform, eliminating silos, and empowering leaders with one version of the truth.
Salesforce OMS is the starting point. Salesforce ERP — with Axolt — is the destination.
