Tag: Profile

ERP – Where to Start?

Starting an ERP selection and Implementation seems like a huge undertaking. It can be, but it can also be straightforward if you do things properly.

Where to Start with your ERP Selection and Implementation
Where to Start with your ERP Selection and Implementation

If you are a small to medium sized company, here are some tips to get you going:

1. ERP Vendors – who should you look at? There are many different ERP vendors. The easiest way is to use a free evaluation service such as SoftwareAdvice.com. Their advisors ask you some questions to profile the type of business you are in and then from that they can give you a short list of candidates to focus on. One good article you should examine is to help you understand how ERP vendors are categorized is “ERP – What Tier are you in?” You can also reference our ERP directory for a listing of various ERP vendors.

2. What questions should you be asking the ERP vendors? This is really a questions of how well do you know what you do. Take a look at “How to determine your ERP Evaluation Criteria” to learn more about how you should self examine your company to then have the criteria for evaluating the vendors. You can also get some free templates that will help you in evaluating erp vendors here on our site.

3. ERP Negotiation – How to reach a successful outcome? Negotiation can be stressful, but really it doesn’t have to be. It is a dance that the vendors go through everyday, so they know how to work it and how to make you come to their desired decision point. You can learn more about negotiation through various books, or you can start with this article on ERP Negotiation.

4. ERP Implementation Planning – There are a lot of details to implementing an ERP solution. Here are the Top 20 ERP Implementation tips. Find out also What makes for a successful ERP Implementation. You can also learn about four corners stones to any successful implementations with this article on RICE. Here is a great article on the 12 Steps to a better ERP Launch. Lastly, here is a tongue-in-cheek look at implementations.

We hope these links and articles will help you sort out resources as to where you can start with your ERP project. For more information, please also see our ERP Bookstore where we have a lot of useful books on ERP Selections and Implmentations.

ETO ERP: Making the Wrong Choice

ETO ERP: Making the Wrong Choice
Roger Meloy

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems offer great benefits to engineer-to-order (ETO) companies looking to increase productivity and decrease cost. According to TR Cutler, spokesperson for the ETO Institute, ‘These benefits come as a result of a successful implementation, but not every implementation is successful.’ Cutler asserts that, ‘One reason some implementations are not successful is the selection of the wrong system.’

The ETO Institute has just published a white paper, ‘Why Do Companies Choose the Wrong System?’ This document is written with engineer-to-order companies in mind. It highlights the problems facing ETO companies trying to find and evaluate a new ERP system. The while paper provides some time and simple steps companies can take to reduce the chances of making a critical mistake. (www.etoinstitute.org)

Cutler, who authors regular columns for Industrial Connection magazine (www.industrialconnection.net) and InMFG magazine (www.inmfg.com) is looking for case study profiles of ETO manufacturing companies and their ERP experiences. ‘The good, the bad, the ugly. I want to know what ETO manufacturers think about the ERP selection process, what companies have served them well and which have not. This will provide an interesting profile for the members of the ETO Institute.’

The ETO Institute specifically highlights some of the problems ETO manufacturers face when searching for an ERP system. Go to www.etoinsititute.org and learn more. Registration is free of charge and more than a thousand ETO manufacturers are expected to join in 2005.

Thomas R. Cutler ETO Institute 954-486-7562 www.etoinstitute.org e-mail protected from spam bots