By S.Suren
This is my second posts on this subject. My first post on this subject highlighted some important dos and don’ts when going for an ERP System; in this posts I will be highlighting a few more. Most of what I write on this blog comes from my ERP Implementation experiences with many different companies, if you have anything to add, do contribute.
Think beyond the limits -
Being a Financial Consultant, generally when I come across requirement gatherings, the clients often discuss about generating Financial Statements and the various inputs that need to go into it, but any system can generate financial statements. I would feel more time should be spent on analyzing cost specific activities in the last years, check out their trends and devise measures to reduce those, look for reports to highlight profitability based on product, customers, sales persons etc. Check out these trends and compare with competitors figures (guesstimates) and thereby assist with decision making at the higher management level. You may want to use financial ratios to measure your company’s performance against your competitors.
Identify your business life blood and those that are not –
It is a common practice by the business team to bring in all the processes in the business when preparing the RFP. In this process what generally happens is there is a lot of discussion within the business team and brain storming would be done on as many of the processes possible. However in this stage there is tendency for the business team to concentrate in their core area and discuss about specific issues that does not have a direct impact on the overall business process. However as with ERPs, all modules are integrated and the best results are achieved only when the integration is smooth. Therefore, it is very important to keep in mind the entire business process and the critical issues that need to be eliminated, when preparing an RFP.
Integration is Important -
Integration is key and it very important that you always consider the integration facilities your ERP is to have with the other systems operating in your business, this could help in you have a tight control of various process that span across different systems. Its best to link all functions internally and linking to customers, suppliers, and other business partners externally can dramatically reduce lead times and waste throughout the supply chain.
You can streamline operations and gain a competitive edge by integrating supply chain, customer relationship management and human resource management applications. When evaluating ERP systems, always check to see how seamlessly they integrate with other system as I mentioned earlier. Remember tight integration will save you time, enhance better controls, promote greater efficiencies, and add value to your business.
More to follow soon; hope you found this post informative and interesting. Feel free to contact me on ssurenlk@msn.com.
Have a nice day!!
