Top 10 Key Elements to a Successful ERP System Deployment-Key Element #1

AIT’s Professional Services Group is responsible for managing the implementation of an ERP deployment, making sure the project is properly resourced and executed. Our role with clients really starts during the sales process where we gather information about the company, its requirements, and the unique problems it is trying to solve. We get an idea of the personality and culture of the company. That gives us a great head start to hit the ground running after a contract is signed. AIT has developed a list of the top 10 keys to successful ERP deployment.

Top 10 Key Elements to a Successful ERP System Deployment

      1.      Develop a project mission statement

      2.      Get executive team commitment

      3.      Identify and define the scope; map requirements to objectives

      4.      Establish methodology, realistic resources, and timeline

      5.      Identify, designate, and support key personnel

      6.      Prepare your data

      7.      Create a training plan

      8.      Conduct pilots to work out the kinks

      9.      Take steps to ensure things as expected (establish a method to resolve conflict and issues)

     10.  Measure results

Develop a project mission statement

When starting a project, we encourage clients to develop a project mission statement for everyone to live by. Embracing and embodying the mission statement throughout the implementation and carrying on after helps to ensure that the company remain committed to the success of the project and realize the long-term objectives of the initiative. We recommend posting the statement prominently around your company. Refer back to it throughout the life of the project.

Here are a few examples from some of our clients that helped guide them and set the tone for the entire implementation:

“Our mission is to create a successful implementation by ensuring that we transfer accurate data, train a skilled workforce, and design a system that is efficient and based upon ease of use. We will work effectively to complete all steps in a timely manner adhering to our timelines and milestones.”

“Our mission is to leverage enterprise resource planning (ERP) technology to gain operational efficiencies and seamless integration across all business functions and processes.”

“Our shared corporate goal is to enable and empower departments to manage their resources more effectively by streamlining workflow and removing obstacles.”

Your mission statement doesn’t have to be incredibly lofty. In fact, the more straightforward and realistic it is, the more easily your employees will adopt it. 

Connect the Top Floor to the Shop Floor

As we tour various plants throughout North America, we discover that unless executives are continually running to the shop-floor – they have difficulty keeping the current pulse of the shop-floor.  Customers are demanding real-time updates while vendors continue to update order and shipment status’.

Executives must have all of this information up-to-date, allowing for immediate decisions to be made. The business will run smoothly when each resource is fully informed of the portion of the business that touches his or her area of responsibility. Customers, investors and frankly, each individual needs to be informed – to make quality decisions at the precise moment when the decision needs to be made. We like to call this “The Moment of Truth” – when your people efficiently and effectively produce products without several one-off questions, that force inefficiency into the process.  

Infor (World’s 3^rd Largest ERP provider) has a multitude of methods, to not only bridge this gap but more importantly, provide the reach necessary, so that Executive Dashboards are providing Real-Time information. 

Check out our website testimonials to see what our customers are saying. And feel free to reach out with questions/comments/requests for further information. We’re here and happy to help!

1-866-248-4240

Challenging Economic Conditions for Manufacturing and Distribution

The exponential success of supply chain giants is causing distributors and manufacturers alike, to evolve their business models to accommodate mixed mode transactions. Mixed mode meaning -the organization must adopt a larger vision of serving their customers’ needs to stay competitive in the marketplace. For example, a manufacturing organization would add services and/or distribution to their offering. This introduces operational challenges – requiring more complexity and flexibility at the same time. Today it’s not uncommon for an organization to receive a wide variety of orders – from traditional bulk retailer orders to orders that may consist of just one item to be picked, packed, and shipped to an individual customer. We are in an age where online transactions are increasingly prevalent. Customers have very high expectations for order timeliness, quality and accuracy – they demand a high-level of accountability and service from providers.

An organization’s vision as it relates to its workflow process is critical to its success in this new global economy. Many enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems are one step behind; they’re designed for one vertical (manufacturing vs. distribution vs. service).  Companies are now looking to ERP vendors that have experience in managing this growing business model to help them manage their operation.

Inventory and warehouse management are becoming key performance drivers. Smaller margins and higher costs mean the organization needs to be able to execute more efficiently to match demand. Adding a service offering is a cost-effective way to remain competitive without requiring significant capital investment.

One of AIT Business Services’ (AIT) customers is a leading manufacturer of commercial broilers used by the fast food industry. They’ve grown their business to include an international network of service and distribution partners. We worked with them to upgrade their ERP system to manage manufacturing, distribution, and service operations. Another customer – a leading distributor of home décor products to large national retailers, recently ramped up manufacturing and service call operations. AIT helped them solve the problem of accomplishing high mix, high volume made-to-order manufacturing in what was previously a simple distribution environment.

We recommend that you look for an ERP solution with a workflow and interface that can adapt to mixed modes of value. Companies that transition their operations to compete in this hybrid manufacturing/service-based distribution era have the brightest future.