After we implemented the ERP Action Plan, this aerospace manufacturer improved planning and shop scheduling accuracy by 20%. It cut budgeting and forecasting labour time by by 75%. Learn how we helped this manufacturer drive business benefits by optimizing its ERP system.
The Company: The client is a privately-held international manufacturer of polyethylene bags. It operates sales and manufacturing facilities in North America and Europe.
These days, small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) need enterprise resource planning systems (ERP) to be competitive. ERP helps companies manage their global supply chains and forecast demand. SMBs, though, are advised to approach ERP very cautiously. Casualties from failed ERP implementations are like bodies strewn across a bloody battlefield.
Industry reports and promotional materials make ERP sound like manna-for-business, dropped down from the heavens above. They say that ERP can make your business more efficient, responsive, integrated, transparent, profitable, productive… and the list goes on. What you really want to know, though, is how ERP can help your business. And, what’s the catch?
As we close out 2010, I reflect on an ERP system selection project that we’re just now wrapping up in time for the holidays. The client runs a multi-site manufacturing and distribution business. It is a strategic supplier to big-box retailers and leads the market in its product category.
In a recent ZDNet article, Alliances, Referrals, Kickbacks, Reselling: Where’s the independent advice in this?, author Brian Sommer sends a crystal clear message to IT buyers. He says that if buyers want to find the right-fit IT system, they had better ensure the independence and impartiality of their system selection consultants.
If the consultants are not free from bias, he warns, the buyer could end up with a system that fits the consultants’ bottom lines better than its operations.
Companies evaluating ERP solutions may find themselves ensnared in a net of vendor confusion. Selecting the right ERP software from among 15 or 20 seemingly good candidates is a difficult project. So, how does a company go about comparing, contrasting and ranking the various ERP software alternatives? How can it satisfy itself that it is picking a software package that best fulfills its various needs?
Unanticipated ERP license needs. Unexpected ERP add-on modules. Unknown 3rd-party software needs. Surprises like these can lead to ERP sticker-shock and cause buyer’s remorse. Unplanned ERP expenses can throw off budgets, strain resources and, in some cases, cause ERP projects to die. They can even lead an ERP buyer to a system that it would not have otherwise selected had it known the true costs.
Deciding between ERP and best-of-breed applications is no longer an issue that involves a balancing of clear tradeoffs. Over the past few years, ERP vendors
Our client – a mid-sized manufacturer and distributor – recently participated in ERP software demonstrations. From its perspective, these demonstrations collectively constituted the single-most important phase of its ERP selection project. Why? Because it was our client’s only opportunity to test-drive the ERP alternatives before making a purchase.
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CANADIAN OFFICE
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Agtech providers of precision agriculture and robotic solutions providers are transforming agriculture and farming operations. Pemeco helps its agricultural technology clients implement standard, scalable business processes to drive their high-growth businesses.
