By: Rebecca Kempenich

There are some exceptionally crafty marketing tactics that can make you believe that a company has everything you need and more. But as a consumer and a professional that researches, recommends, and approves purchases, I always look to the references to see if a company really follows through with its promises. There are many guides and how-to resources out there to help provide direction on how to do your due diligence when researching complex/complicated purchases, such as ERP software for your business. ProcessPro has published a white paper on this topic:  How to Choose an ERP for Process Manufacturers. In addition to written resources, verify your research by ALWAYS seeking out current customers to find out how their experience was/is with the vendor.

Here are some of the experiences ProcessPro clients have had with ProcessPro’s product and services:

SoftwareAdvice.com

Unedited Letter of Recommendation

Client profiles

By Tim Sands

“Matchmaker, matchmaker, make me a match; find me a find, catch me a catch.”  Ok.  Maybe not everyone knows all the songs to Fiddler on the Roof like I do, but you get the gist.   Today’s topic: dating.  Not really dating in the traditional sense of the word, but dating like matching the best ERP system for your business.  In ERP selection, like in life, the cheapest date isn’t necessarily the one you want to marry.  Time to do some due diligence.  There are many types of ERP systems out there in all different sizes, shapes, colors, and styles.  Since the goal of your company is to partner with someone who fits your business  for the long haul, it’s prudent to do the homework, the vetting, if you will.  It’s better to do it right than having to repeat the whole process again in a year or two.

In my profession, I run across prospects that are looking at several different ERP solutions - as they should.  Sometimes they include systems in their search that are focused on discrete manufacturing.  Discrete, roughly defined, means things are being measured in “eaches” like nuts and bolts, shelf brackets, or roof trusses.  Systems that are designed for those types of manufacturers are much different than that of ERP systems made for process manufacturers. Discrete systems manage a simpler process and consequently are much cheaper.  Sure, discrete systems might handle the basics of standard based manufacturing, but they can’t really do what a process manufacturer needs nor solve the problems they are looking to solve.

That’s when it is important to step back and look at the real business issues and outcomes a company is looking for.  The advice I give my prospects when they are starting a project is to do their homework.  I tell them, “Whatever you do is ok with me. All I know is you will want a system intended for your industry and a solid vision that gives them a clear upgrade path, that will cause less headaches, and result in less money you’ll need to  put out on your end later.”  Isn’t that true?

That said, start with answering the basic question: What do we make?  What type of “stuff” do you make?  For example, in the inventory or manufacturing process, is there a need to convert various units of measure?  Perhaps it’s a good idea to see that the software contains tools for specific gravity conversions.  Next, there might be a need for automatic unit of measure conversion.  An ingredient may be measured in grams when making a small batch, but measured in kilos when making a large batch as an example.  The list goes on.  There are many other components to this decision and I have provided two different white papers on this topic:  Process vs. Discrete ERP software – What is the Difference?,  and Process vs. Discrete ERP software – The bottom Line.

When making a big investment like an ERP purchase, it’s imperative that you do all you can to do it right the first time.  Invest sufficient time and effort into the decision making process – including things like weeding out the cheapest date.  When you are in process manufacturing, make sure to look under the hood, shop around, get references, and find out what you are getting yourself into. Selecting a new ERP solution will likely be the largest IT decision your company will ever make as it will become the information backbone of your company. The right system will provide you and your managers with critical information about how to better manage your business and drive more dollars to your bottom line for years to come.

Attend the January Webinar: Not all Manufacturing ERPs are alike – 8 Questions to ask when searching for an ERP.

Jan 18th @ 2:00 pm CST & Jan19th @10:00 am CST  Register online.

You know you’ve got it right when independent ERP analysts are giving the same advice as we do.  Michael Koploy, ERP Analyst with SoftwareAdvice.com and Warehouse Management Systems Guide, stresses the importance of more visibility and less silos as the secret sauce for leading supply chain leaders.  A recent survey by Capgemini reported that 45 percent of the respondents prioritized supply chain visibility at the top of their improvement initiative list.

Read Michael’s Bog and read our whitepaper on “Six Manufacturing Challenges Overcome with an Integrated ERP” to get a head start on optimizing your operational efficiencies in 2012.

By: Tim Sands

The other day I was looking through some boxes in my basement and found some old books.  One was my Boy Scout manual from years ago.  I was reminded of the old Boy Scout Motto:  Be prepared.  It made me think of various conversations I’ve had while attending food focused trade shows or when visiting with prospects on the phone on the topic of being ahead of the game.  One of the common things I sense from these conversations is that some food manufacturers are overwhelmed with regulations such as HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points).  As much as companies would probably like to ignore HACCP requirements, they really can’t.  Many clients think they’re too small, that those regulations don’t apply to them, or they are “fine”.   Well, food and beverage manufacturers are required by the FDA to implement HACCP. 

When we start to talk with manufacturers about systems, processes, and SOPs, many people are surprised to hear that ERP (Enterprise Resource System) can help with HACCP and lighten the overwhelming burden of outlining the entire plan from scratch.  Implementing ERP as a tool to adhere to HACCP regulations will help minimize risks associated with FDA audits and/or product recalls such as loss of brand loyalty, litigation expenses, or consumer disaster.  In addition, an integrated system with a QC (Quality Control) application can have predetermined quality standards set to specific acceptable levels of identified hazards. Anything exceeding those standards is pulled from production.   The same QC application will keep record of the tested quality of all incoming raw materials and outgoing finished goods.  An ERP system can help manufacturers specifically with tracking, storing, and retrieving required records.  In addition, an ERP system that has been validated in an FDA environment can ensure speed and precision of traceability requirements under HACCP.  Advanced ERP systems will also offer extensive search and reporting capabilities, data analysis, and lot tracking.  Real-time data availability and validation will satisfy the strictest FDA regulations.  Manufacturers can breathe a sigh of relief that an effective ERP system addresses the most complex and time consuming principles in a HACCP plan. 

Be prepared.  No matter how complex the world gets, something as simple as my old Boy Scout Motto still applies today.  Be prepared and help your organization survive and thrive for years to come.

By: Joe Blauert

Some mid-market ERP vendors are making some pretty outrageous claims.  Situations we often run into include ERP vendors claiming the ability to address the unique needs of every market. Claims like these can really only be justified by the large-market ERP vendors, such as Oracle and SAP. Those making these claims typically have a customer base that might number in the hundreds, yet the unique markets they address number in the dozens.  The truth is that their supposed “expertise” comes from a very limited number of companies in each of those markets, and in many cases their products only “fit” those customers because they have only implemented the most basic elements of the software.  If they claim expertise in markets that range from Agricultural to Construction to Electrical to Sporting Equipment (among dozens other markets), you only need to apply a little common sense to realize that they know “a little about a lot”, which does not constitute “expertise”.  If their focus encompasses such a broad range of industries, how is it possible to provide the depth of industry knowledge in sales, implementation, support and ongoing product development that makes it worthwhile to invest your money and your future in their product and business?  Any vendor can write a few lines on their web site and in their marketing material that sounds good, but it takes a truly focused vendor to provide people that know almost as much about your business as you do.  Which one would you rather entrust the future of your company with?

There are multi-billion dollar companies in the market that own multiple types of businesses in multiple types of market, and those large customers are best served by the multi-billion dollar ERP vendors.  If you’re not one those, however, you need to find someone who focuses on your type of business.  If the sales person does not know the difference between a bill of materials and a recipe, if a demonstration person cannot show you a mock recall report (down to the lot number of every raw material and every sales order on which it was ultimately included), if your prospective project manager cannot discuss how they personally addressed specific FDA, cGMP and HAACP needs in the last half-dozen food manufacturers, then you need to ask yourself if you are investing in right software.

To know if your specific requirements align with an ERP software capabilities, try some of these on-line resources and software selection tools:

FindAccountingSoftware.com

SoftwareAdvice.com

Top10ERP.org

TechMatch.Managing Automation.com

By Joe Blauert

The product demonstration is in many ways the most important step in the buying process. Unfortunately, many prospective customers approach this with too little preparation and forethought.  In order to truly see how the prospective software will work for you, you need to invest time into preparing for this event.  Provide the vendors with real samples of your data, and a script of the key business processes you want to see demonstrated in their product.  Even with a focused and scripted approach, a demonstration that is detailed enough to show you what you need to see will probably take eight hours. Doing it in less time will rob you of the opportunity to see what you really want to see.  You may even want to break it up into two half-days so that your internal evaluators are focused and fresh, and so you have some time each day to do your regular jobs.  A sample outline for a batch process manufacturer looking at ERP might look something like this:

Bill of Material/Formula Management
BOM layout & Multi-level BOM’s
Revision Tracking
Overhead/Burdening of Intermediates/Finished Goods

Quality Control (QC/QA)
Entry of QC/QA tests and definitions
QC tests for RM’s, Intermediates and Finished Goods
Entry of test results and reporting of results
Reporting, C of A, Lot Tracking

Research & Development (R&D)
“Sandbox” environment use live data, including costs
Experimental / R&D item  entry
Quoting
From R&D to mass production

Manufacturing and Purchasing
MRP Functionality with Manufacturing
MRP Supply/Demand Report
Generation of Work Orders (Batch Tickets)
Scheduling of Work Orders (Batch Tickets) – Capacity Planning
Posting of Inventory from Manufacturing
Blanket Purchase Order Process
Scheduling the Receiving of Raw Materials
MRP Functionality with Purchasing
Posting of Inventory from Manufacturing
MRP Functionality with Purchasing

Inventory Management
Inventory by Location Options
Specifics to an Inventory Item
Types of Items handled
Warehouse Solutions – Handheld scanning

Order Entry
Customer Maintenance
Definable specific customer requirements
Ability to document specifics about orders and customers
Specific customer payment/sales terms
Item Pricing/Contract Pricing
Order Entry process
Shipping Process
Generation of Shipping documents

Accounting (GL/AP/AR)
General Ledger
Accounts Payable
3 way match, Approve to Pay, Print Checks
Bank Reconciliation
Landed Cost
Accounts Receivable

For more information on how to choose an ERP system that is right for your business, download our whitepaper, attend a webinar,  or contact the ProcessPro consultants to help guide you through the process.

By: Tim Sands

Selecting a new ERP solution will likely be the most important IT decision your company will ever make as it will become the information backbone of your company. The right system will provide you and your managers with critical information about how to better manage your business and drive more dollars to your bottom line. 

Before purchasing, however, you may want to know in advance what an ERP system will really mean for your bottom line.  An ROI calculator is one tool that can help determine the potential return on investment.  The numbers should help you see the value and savings you could be bringing to your organization such as cost reductions through better management of raw materials, tracking, and testing.  Implementing ERP should also help to better manage inventory:  where it is located, when it came in, expiration dates, co-mingling, placement, and storage/warehousing.  Order processing, accuracy, and on time real time production is also a benefit of ERP.  ERP allows order entry as fast as the order is made.  Lower costs, faster production times, increased ability to serve your customers right every time and respond to your competition, market trends, and industry forecasts are all pieces of a complete ERP with will  boost your ROI.

ProcessPro has an ROI Calculator. I offer it to companies seeking to measure this sometimes intangible value. It is easy to use tool, and can help you begin to quantify your return and see the possibilities and potential annual savings you could achieve with an ERP.

I’m also looking for other ROI tools for ERP that you have found helpful, comment to this blog with your experiences.

By: Joe Blauert

“Just send me a quote, do a quick web-demo, and I’ll make a decision.” 

A quick decision approach is perhaps a tempting way to think about buying an ERP system, especially after multiple phone calls, demos, and visits with a number of different software vendors, but not a process that will typically yield the best solution for your business.  In order to make a good decision on an investment that will significantly impact the efficiency and performance of your company, you will need to invest significant time.  Software companies that are seeking your business should also be willing to invest significant time to ensure that they know the unique aspects of your business and can directly tie their solution to those requirements.  One of the most important steps in a software vendor’s pursuit of your business is discovery.  The discovery process entails a fairly detailed tour of your facility, in-depth discussions with all the key department stakeholders in your business, and a final visit or call to confirm their compatibility findings.  The discovery process should be completed before a vendor ever begins to demonstrate the details of its software.  When working with vertical market oriented software solutions as compared to broader application solutions, there should still be a number of different ways to allow you to execute on major business processes that incorporate best practices from a variety of similar businesses.  Knowing your unique requirements [read more in this white paper: How to Choose an ERP] will help a vendor show you very specific functionality that will greatly enhance your business.  If a software vendor is not interested in discovery, it is either not capable of meeting unique requirements, or not experts in the market that your business competes in.  Either way, the vendor is not a good fit for you and the solution will not provide the return you need to justify significant investment.

By:  Chuck Theisen

Little “mrp”, MRP II (e.g. Big “MRP”), ERP, Supply Chain Management, as well as associated approaches such as JIT, TOC, Lean Manufacturing, and others all, in one way or another, address the common operations issue of efficiently managing materials. Management of inventory has been, and continues to be, a major business driver in implementing integrated business systems such as ERP and Supply Chain Management.

How do we better manage our inventories?  The basic tenet in improving inventory management processes, and therefore directly impacting materials decisions, is increased visibility of our inventory position.  Increased visibility of our inventory position is driven by timeliness and accuracy in all inventory transactions.  Lack of timeliness in inventory transactions is typically a reflection of “lag” time in those transactions.  Lag time is defined as the elapsed time between the physical activity (e.g. move, consumption, etc.) of the inventory and when the business system transaction reflecting that activity updates the database.    Lack of accuracy is usually a result of missing inventory information (e.g. item numbers, unit of measure, lot numbers, location ID’s etc.), lack of training for personnel, or personnel misunderstanding of management’s priority for accuracy in the transaction process. 

Lag time issues can be addressed by streamlining the transaction process, using tools such as bar code, RFID, or similar systems, and ensuring the transaction is processed at the point of the physical activity.  Accuracy issues can be addressed by proper training, and ensuring all required information and tools are available and accessible to the people doing the transaction. 

Remember, ultimately we must have accuracy at whatever level of granularity applies to my environment (e.g. item, lot, warehouse, location).  Any misrepresented granular count record can directly affect planning and consequently effect purchasing and manufacturing. This can cause us to have too much of some items and not enough of the needed items.  Also material management costs will be higher, based upon the need for extra counts, inventory moves and handling, etc.  To minimize these costs, and improve customer service, the organization needs accurate, timely inventory information. 

By: Charles Rice, Director of Software Development

Who updated my data?

Have you ever wanted to see who updated a piece of information?  Even software with a full audit list of changes made by the system, how can you be certain nothing was done “outside” the system?  Microsoft SQL Server is a backend database that can keep a transactional log of every change that has happened to your data.  Using tools like ApexSQL Log  gives you the ability to read the log file and find out who changed the data, even if it happened outside of your software system.

The key is having a user ID in your software being a user id in SQL Server and having a software system that does this for you automatically.  The system can generate a password to connect to SQL Server that is a hash of their password to log into the software.  This provides easy traceability in the SQL transaction log back to the user inside your software system without giving the user the ability to log into SQL Server outside of the software system.   Using both the software transactional data inside the system and using SQL Server transaction logs, you will be able to track who updated information even if it was done outside the system easily.