ERP Challenges By John Ekers Jan. 10, 2019
Like many of you I “grew up” in a culture of mergers, acquisitions, and divestitures. One day you think you’ve solved all the problems of the world and the next day you’ve inherited them. Let’s face it, ERP systems just don’t play well with others. Before you decide every system should be consolidated onto one ERP platform, make sure your business strategy isn’t going to divest any of the integrated subsidiaries. You’ll save yourself many bottles of aspirin.
The road to consolidation requires a common language between all your sites. It starts with the product definitions, part numbers, and BOM’s on the manufacturing side and a global chart of accounts on the financial side. The benefit of this consolidated system is that you have a common visibility at all sites. Or at least that’s the initial goal. Often the reality of a global consolidation is that you end up with multiple ERP modules that are used and others that have been made redundant. The Sales Team will lobby to spend the extra $ on an external CRM, so now you turn off your ERP CRM module. You’ve also lost some visibility on the order management side; but have better sales reporting. Of course you're told it can be integrated, but it's not been budgeted so you have to make do with what you have. Shipping will partner with a global shipper who provides their own shipping module and now the ERP shipping module is gone. One of the production sites will have a customer developed system they use for everyone that displaces the ERP order entry module. The point is, the ERP system you’re migrating everything to is not the ERP system you think it is.
On top of all the implementation challenges, you’ll also see your customer markets evolving at light speed along with enhanced business tools. If you fixate on the ERP behemoth at the center of your business, you’re going to miss the integration opportunities to accelerate your business with those tools.
The future of any business system will have some level of challenge associated with it. And with future business solutions that are cloud-based, you’ll want your business cloud-enabled and ready to engage with the future. At Stepwise, we believe our Integrated Components and Business Modules are a great complement to existing business solutions. It’s also a great way to affordably cloud-enable your business future.
Your business system or ERP may be a great platform for today, but what about tomorrow?
Contact us today to schedule a demo.