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by Lauren Gibbons Paul, Contributing Editor   | Abstract: | From specialized analytical tools to ERP system extensions, there are many ways to track key performance metrics in real time across the enterprise. Here's how two SMB manufacturers are getting the job done. |
Whether you call it enterprise performance management (EPM), business performance management (BPM), business intelligence (BI), corporate performance management (CPM), or just plain performance management, the concept is the same: gathering data from all aspects of enterprise operations (including financials, shop floor, customer service, sales/marketing) and analyzing how these results stack up to business objectives (e.g., sales increases, cycle-time reductions, customer retention improvements, to name some basics). Businesses of every size and type do this sort of analysis instinctively -- at the most basic level, seeing that the day's numbers are off spurs the conclusion that the sales department (or someone in sales) is underperforming. EPM broadens that view, analyzing every aspect of a business's operations in concert, according to John Hagerty, vice president of performance management for AMR Research Inc. (Boston). "Our clients have an interest in getting a tight look at how each part of the business is doing and how it affects the other areas," Hagerty says. EPM, he says, combines strategic goal-setting and alignment with planning, forecasting, and modeling capabilities. In this arena, small and mid-size (SMB) manufacturers can have challenges that their large counterparts do not, Hagerty adds. "[SMBs] tend not to have the technical infrastructure in place to support EPM -- things like data warehouses, data marts, analytical tools for planning and budgeting." Often, smaller manufacturers try to use a performance management tool that operates within the original source of transactional data (such as ERP or CRM applications). This option promises quick results but can end up affecting the performance of the application due to resource contention, something SMBs should watch out for. [Click to continue] |