Visual South Insights

Table of Contents:

Infor vs. SAP

SAP is arguably the most recognized name in Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software, and it is ranked number one in ERP revenue. Its ERP product is designed to serve the Tier 1 market. The best way to define the Tier 1 market is to think in terms of a Fortune 1000 company. The revenue of a company that makes this list is defined in billions, not millions. In 2020, the company that ranked last on the list was Liberty Oilfield Services, with revenue of $1.99 billion.

Infor is arguably the least recognized name in ERP software. At one point its marketing campaign used the tagline, “The largest ERP company you never heard of.” Large it is—its annual revenue is $3 billion making it the third largest ERP company in the world. It serves customers in the Tier 1, 2, and 3 markets.

Measure what you want to improve

There are many opinions as to what key performance indicators (KPIs) should be monitored at a small to medium-sized manufacturing company, but the on-time delivery (OTD) KPI is on everyone’s list. It doesn’t matter if the company is build-to-stock, a job shop, or something in-between; there are many steps in coordinating the production of a product and OTD is a nice summation of manufacturing performance.

The good, the bad

I’ve been involved with manufacturing and ERP for over 30 years. During that time, I’ve learned a lot about the interaction between a manufacturing organization, their goals, and their ERP (or lack thereof). I’ve seen companies who have a good plan for choosing ERP; I’ve seen companies that don’t. I’ve seen companies that use ERP well; I’ve seen companies that don’t. I’ve seen companies admit they weren’t using ERP well and then work towards fixing that problem. I’ve seen companies admit they weren’t using ERP well and then lose interest in using it better. I’ve also seen a common thread between the companies who excel in selecting/using ERP, and those that don’t. The ones who excel have the expertise to develop a good strategy and execute it, or they admit they don’t have the expertise and they get help. They view the cost of getting help as an investment that has a payback. The ones who don’t excel aren’t aware they don’t have the expertise, so they never get the help they need. They view the cost of getting help as an expense.

Teamwork in ERP implementation

Implementing a new enterprise resource planning (ERP) system can be a humbling challenge for any company. Four critical factors will determine the success of your new ERP implementation:

Production reporting is about the data

I’m a big believer in measuring what you want to improve. Measuring gives you data and you’ll see trends (good or bad) emerge. Figure out what is causing the good trends and keep doing that. Maybe you can even find ways to make the good trends better. Figure out what is causing the bad trends and find ways to stop doing that; or at least, minimize it.

Contents

• Introduction
• Chapter I – How to Run a Successful ERP Comparison
• Chapter II – 5 Characteristics of a Successful ERP Implementation
• Chapter III – 5 Characteristics of ERP Implementations Failures
• Chapter IV – Post ERP Implementation: How to Keep It Running Well
• Epilogue

Introduction

Buying ERP is a big deal. I know because I’ve done it. I was a Plant Manager in the mid-90s, and we were running production with a homegrown system that could not be modified because we didn’t have the source code. It was better than nothing, but not by much. We were not managing our capacity, our scheduling consisted of pushing product through the plant day in and day out. It was exhausting, and our on-time delivery range fluctuated from OK to bad. The results we got did not reflect the work we put into it.

Infor is the third largest ERP solutions provider in the world. The two main Infor ERP solutions we (at Visual South) help manufacturers implement are Infor CloudSuite Industrial (Infor SyteLine) and Infor VISUAL. In this guide, we'll take you through everything you need to know about Infor and its ERP software options. Click the links below to jump to specific chapters.

• Chapter I: Do You Need ERP?

• Chapter II: Deployment for Infor ERP Systems

• Chapter III: Infor ERP Product Review

• Chapter IV: How to Run an ERP Selection Process

• Chapter V: How to Implement ERP

ERP solutions don’t have everything

Evaluating Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems is not an easy task. Naturally, your focus will probably be on finding a system that is a good match for your company. Much of the criteria used to judge the software will likely be based on what features and functions it has or doesn’t have. That’s reasonable, but limiting your evaluation to features and functions will not give you everything needed to make a great ERP decision for the company. To make a great decision, you also need to consider factors outside the ERP system.