How Easy Is ERP to Learn?| Q | I am working in an accounting firm, therefore I am aware of the advantages of ERP. I have suggested that my family business (>1000 employee) install ERP, but the main concern is the human resources. Should the staff in the company be trained to use the system? Is the typical accounting staff able to grasp the concept quicky?
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The Accounting Library: A Good Tool?| Q | We are a small ($5 mil, 20 people), fast-growing manufacturer/distributor of diesel engines controls. Most in-house work is design, assembly and test. Most assembly is make-to-order, although some is build-to-stock. Components are generally fabricated by contractors, although we do some low-volume fab in-house.
I handle IT and we will either expand the IT staff or outsource in the future. We anticipate being a $10 million to $15 million company in a few years. Currently we use JobBOSS but it is no longer adequate. The accounting and its limited integration to job control make every financial analysis difficult.
Having lived with the JobBOSS problems as well as ones we created ourselves, I want to "get it right" from the start. My research has identified candidates but I am leaning toward buying The Accounting Library (TAL) software to clarify our requirements and rank vendors. Two keys are excellent financials and multicurrency support since we import and export.
Given our requirements do you think TAL is a good investment?
Secondly, is a short list of Dynamics NAV, Dynamics GP, Syspro, Vantage, MAS 500, MAS 200, Intuitive ERP and Southware Excellence a good start? I realize TAL helps but an expert opinion is more valuable than software. The budget target is less than $100,000 for software and initial implementation. We want to go live in about 6 months with basic operation (accounting, inventory control, etc.). I think our IT infrastructure should work for the next couple of years.
Finally, I've read a lot on implementation strategy but wondered what you would recommend. A lot depends on the vendor but I expect to be very hands-on and need guidance to make sure our team stays on course. And I know we will have more work after the initial rollout and I want to stay on track there also.
Thanks in advance for any advice you can provide!
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More Enterprise Software Selection Questions Than Answers| Q | We are beginning an enterprise software selection to span all areas of the business: acct/finc, PLM, mfg, procurement, forecasting, DRP, supply planning, distribution/fulfillment, multi-channel retail, and direct marketing.
We are a $250 million vertically integrated designer, mixed-mode manufacturer, and multi-channel retailer of fashion-oriented consumer products with a rapidly changing product line. We manufacture in five plants and distribute/fulfill from a central DC. We maintain 6,000-7,000 active SKUs that we sell through 50 retail stores, our eCommerce web store, and a catalog mail order call center.
Our business is extremely seasonal, and our products are highly sensitive to the promotional effects of their presentation in catalogs. So though we are not a large company, we have large-company business complexity and therefore need "industrial strength" enterprise software.
We know that won't be able to go totally "best in class" because even the Tier 1 vendors don't have everything we need. But we are maintaining a "less is more" strategy with regard to the number of vendors we will integrate to minimize implementation complexity and cost.
What guidance can you provide on how we should modify the traditional selection process to meet our needs and garner the attention of vendors that are sophisticated enough to meet our business requirements, but typically don't serve customers of our size?
Also, how should we balance two approaches: Tier 1 ERP with a Multi-Channel Retail partner vs. Tier 2 ERP to reduce cost with additional niche partners.
Lastly, who should we add to or subtract from our current list:
- Tier 1 ERP: SAP, Oracle
- Multi-channel Retail: CommercialWare, Escalate
- Tier 2 ERP: Sage, Axapta, SAP All-In-One
- Niche specialists: Logility, Manugistics, Agile, PTC
- Tier 3 ERP: Navision, Great Plains, QAD, SYSPRO, ACCPAC, Multiview, Epicor
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