Visual South Insights

Some background before we begin

I work with companies that are in all stages of their ERP journey. Some companies are looking to purchase and implement their first ERP system; they are typically trying to understand what ERP can do, how to evaluate vendors, and dreaming of the “to be” state they are trying to attain. On the other end of the spectrum are companies that have been running ERP for 25 years and longer. These clients are always trying to improve what they have and make themselves a better company. Whether your company is at the same stage as the former, the latter, or is somewhere in between, there is one fundamental truth you need to keep in mind: an ERP system is only as good as the data that is put in it. Let’s get a little background on the types of data an ERP needs before we get in to the importance of the data itself.

What is VISUAL Time and Attendance (VTA)?

VTA is exactly what it sounds like: it is a time and attendance solution for your employees. A lot of VISUAL customers use the labor barcoding or new Shop Floor Mobile applications to track the time of employees doing direct work on jobs. VTA allows you to do the same, plus much, much more!

Scheduling in your ERP is a great goal

I have been in the ERP world for close to 25 years, both as a consultant and salesperson. I’ve seen companies buy ERP for many reasons, but usually the driving factor has something to do with being able to use the system to schedule their shop floor. This is a fantastic goal. Not because shop floor scheduling with ERP sounds cool, but because to do it, you have to be good. Really good. The reason being that if you are going to have an algorithm in the software help you make valid decisions; you have to give it valid input. And that valid input has to come from almost every functional area in your organization. Everyone has to be on board!

Some background before we begin

The ability to understand your costs, manage your capacity, and accurately quote all depend on knowing what your labor costs are for each work order. Infor VISUAL customers typically use the labor barcoding functionality, or the brand-new Shop Floor Mobile solution to capture labor on their work orders. (If you would like to learn more about Shop Floor Mobile, click here to view a demo of each module.)

Some background before we begin

I work with all sorts of companies and many of them already use an ERP, but many more do not and are evaluating solutions. You may think a lot of my conversations revolve around the software itself, explaining its functionality, the technology, how it’s licensed, etc. While I do have many detailed conversations about those things, most of my discussions center on what challenges businesses are having and how an ERP might benefit them. There are all sorts of reasons to implement and use an ERP, which vary from company to company. But one of the main benefits of ERP that is close to being universal for all companies is being able to control overhead costs.

Some background before we begin

I want to give a little background before we jump into the meat and potatoes here. I have been selling Infor ERP products since 2002 and spent 5 years as an SAP consultant prior to that. I’ve helped implement SAP from beginning to end in many companies, ranging from service providers and distributors, all the way to manufacturing companies. I’ve worked in small, midsize, and Fortune 100 companies in my different roles as a consultant, trainer, and project manager. I think my perspective can be helpful to someone currently running SAP who is faced with the forced transition to HANA by 2025.

What is it?

VISUAL Shop Floor Mobile (SFM) is a solution that provides mobile functionality in the areas of Labor, Attendance, Materials, and Scheduling from a web application that allows you to deploy it on mobile devices such as scanners, tablets, and mobile phones. It takes the existing VISUAL functionality in these areas, and gives them a technology overhaul which provides a variety of benefits.  Better yet, there is a licensing option that gets you UNLIMITED licenses. These exciting new developments allow you to become more efficient by putting the solution in the hands of more users. The technology uplift allows more cost-effective hardware options, and provides a streamlined, modernized user experience.

A little background first…

ERP software is a tool that supports business processes and workflows. Some ERP software systems are generic while others are designed for particular industries. Visual South focuses on the manufacturing industry and our ERP solutions are designed for manufacturing companies—more specifically, order-driven manufacturers. Our customers are typically make-to-order, configure-to-order, engineer-to-order, make-to-stock, or a combination of all of the above. So, the ERP processes and workflows I cover in this article are primarily targeted toward manufacturing companies and their software.

Inventory management is critical

I visit companies all the time that are looking for an ERP software solution. In almost all cases, these companies mention that they need to manage inventory better. Solid inventory management for manufacturing companies is a result of solid processes, but solid processes are difficult to execute if you do not have a tool like ERP software (Cloud Suite Industrial or VISUAL) to support them. Below, I list some of the inventory management issues I hear about all the time and how ERP can address these issues, which will hopefully help you determine if your current solution measures up.

Before we get to the three questions…

This blog is written assuming that you are following some sort of methodology for managing your ERP evaluations. The following questions are geared toward helping you decide which vendor to work with, not the mechanics of the evaluation itself.  If you don’t have a methodology, my suggestion would be to first download our ebook to get some fantastic advice on how to carry out your ERP evaluations. You can download it here.