Business Intelligence
Customer Relationship Management
Document Management
Finance Management
Governance, Risk & Compliance
Human Resources
Planning and Scheduling
Product Data Management
Production Management
Project Management
Retail Management
Sales Management
Service Management
Small and Midsize Enterprises
Supplier Relationship Management
Supply Chain Management
Warehouse Management
e-Commerce
Enterprise resource planning, or ERP software, can be a game changer for your business. It helps you to automate business processes and centralise data sources for all hierarchies, helping to make processes within your business more efficient and productive.
An ERP system implementation can seem daunting for some as it will cause a paradigm shift in your business which will
impact your entire organisation. While there are some stories of failed implementations or long and time-consuming projects, this can be easily avoided with dedicated resources and planning.
Read more to uncover tips and tricks on how to have a successful ERP implementation.
1. Review current processes
The first challenge of ERP software implementation is figuring out which of your business processes would benefit from automation, review or optimisation and which won’t. Doing this can be especially difficult for businesses with competing divisions or areas of importance. Here are a few tips to help you decide which processes need automation:- Want to track how long it takes to perform specific tasks
- Hold internal discussions with your team
- Involve key employees in the redefinition plans
- Compare how to do things to standard business processes or expected industry service levels
2. Select the right team
This should include senior management as well as people from each of your different departments who will be using the system, as they will be able to give you an overall picture of what they need to be able to do in it. The involvement of senior managers and department heads is essential for a successful ERP implementation. Commitment to the project is essential to avoiding ineffective decisions, poor morale, or delayed operations. Since your senior team are amongst the key decision makers, they must be charged up for a successful ERP implementation.
3. Prepare a requirements list
Once you have reviewed your current processes internally, to set a base line, and appointed a team, make a list of what you need the system to do. This list should be broken down into must-haves and nice to haves. In the first phase, it might not be wise to include all of your nice to haves because core operations such as financials and production planning may take precedence, but you can always achieve the configuration of additional parts of a system in a future phase. Be as precise as possible when making your list so that your ERP partner can give you the best solution to your problems.
4. Get experienced people involved
If this isn’t something you have done before, it would be wise to choose people to assist you along the way. Partner with ERP specialists, consultants or even the vendor themselves as early as possible to help you with your requirements and guide you along the way.
In addition, it would help to identify a project sponsor who believes in the project and the outcomes that ERP will bring to your organisation. This person should be a great way to steer and lead from a distance, keeping up to speed with project progress.
5. System training
Your ERP system will only be as good as those using it, so make sure senior management and key operations personnel learn the software and how it works. Ensure that employees from every department are trained to use the system at the right stage to help motivate the rest of the team to get on board. It’s great to collaborate with a professional for this, so that when your implementation manager leaves at the end of the project, your team can support each other with day-to-day duties.
6. Test test test
Testing is one of the most essential stages of ERP implementation. Make sure you’ve tested all your processes and have the team’s due to use the system run through everything they’ll be doing daily so that nothing goes wrong when you go live. If there are any hiccups, it will be much easier to deal with them during this stage.
Start planning your implementation
Selecting, agreeing and implementing an ERP system can be an intense time with many unknowns. However, taking the time to list out your requirements as early as possible, aligning needs with system functionality, as well as having your team on board and using the tips above can make it a highly productive and enjoyable process.
For further guidance on ERP implementation, get in touch with the team today to discuss your options.
.png?width=137&height=137&name=MicrosoftTeams-image%20(4).png)