Visual South Insights

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.

What is a Business Process Review?

What we do in a Business Process Review (BPR) is pretty straight forward, and we perform several for our clients over the course of a typical year. In the review, we observe how the ERP processes have been built to manage the business. Then, we make recommendations to streamline and improve the processes and procedures related to the flow of data in the company. For example, how to use the ERP to alert procurement of projected material shortages, as opposed to having them look for shortages in a spreadsheet – usually after it was manually updated. In essence, an ERP business process review is a gut check on how things are working, and what can be done to make them better.

It ain’t easy on the shop floor

Managing a shop floor is no easy task. Your employees make mistakes, equipment breaks, rush orders slip in, jobs ship late, and days are long. On top of that, there is the constant demand to reduce costs and increase quality. It’s a real pressure cooker.

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.

An Exhaustive Look at Infor VISUAL's Functionality

Note: This blog was updated in 10/2020 to reflect some major changes in version 9.x.x. See the end of the blog for updates.

Why would any manufacturing company want VISUAL ERP?

Actually, that’s an easy question to answer. There are three reasons:

1. Value: You will not find an ERP product with more depth and breadth of functionality at the same price point.
2. Ease of use: VISUAL is built by software developers, but the interface was developed by designers to focus on ease of use. The screens are simple and intuitive, yet answers to your next question are in a secondary (child) window or are a simple click away.
3. Focus: VISUAL is designed for small-to-medium sized manufacturers who create work orders to make or repair items. If this doesn’t describe your company, Infor VISUAL will not be a fit for your manufacturing company. If this does describe your company, keep reading—VISUAL may be exactly what you're looking for.