ERP Solutions

Selecting Your ERP

Selecting an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution can be a daunting task.  There are several ERP vendors on the market today offering on-site solutions, Software as a Service (SaaS) solutions, open source solutions, front –office solutions, back-office solutions, e-commerce solutions, manufacturing oriented ERP solutions, financial oriented ERP solutions, ERP solutions for the food industry, ERP solutions for the manufacturing industry….need I go on?  I think you get the picture.  There is an overwhelming amount of ERP vendors that offer everything you could possibly want making ERP selection impossible.  In North America alone there are more than one thousand manufacturing ERPs.  So, how do you wade through the big waves to make it to the sweet little island?

ERP selection should not be taken lightly.  Before you even begin your ERP selection process, you need to define your current business model.  Ask yourself where the gaps are and where you need improvements.  Decide which processes you need automating.  Do the math and examine what kind of return on investment you expect from an ERP solution.

According to the Wall Street Journal, seventy-three percent of all manufacturers are not happy with their ERP selection.  You don’t want to join these ranks.  There are numerous reasons these manufacturers are unhappy with their ERP, but one main reason has to do with a poor selection process associated with poor planning or no planning at all.  So, plan, plan, plan!

Creating a plan to select an ERP solution is a good idea.  You can get executive buy-in by having all your upper managers approve the plan.  The plan also stimulates communication and enables you to get in-put.  Create and make a budget plan.  Work with your executives to come up with a realistic budget.  Stick to the budget and make sure you don’t just budget the initial cost of the ERP solution.  You need to budget implementation costs, service costs, support costs, training costs and future upgrade costs.  One reason so many manufacturers are unhappy with their Enterprise Resource Planning solution is that they don’t really know how it works functionality.  This means that they can’t take full advantage of their solution.  ERP functionality can be downright confusing.  These systems are robust and can be extremely difficult to use.  If you don’t want to invest a lot of money into training your employees, then get a solution that is more intuitive and user friendly.

Written by :

kristine H