Visual South Insights

ERP software evaluations provide answers to your questions

Visual South assists companies with ERP system evaluations and implementations every day, and has since 1993. It’s what we do and we have been through the ERP evaluation process hundreds of times.

However, many customers may only evaluate ERP software every 10 to 15 years. The ERP selection team members may have never evaluated software, or may have done so only once before. This leads to the development of many different processes -- some are good and others not so good. The Visual South team can help regardless.

Enough ERP articles to compose a novel

We published a lot of blog posts over the last 18 months—85 posts and over 75,000 words, to be specific. (Just for context, the average novel is about 90,000 words, as long as it’s not Harry Potter.) We had a lot to say, and we tried to keep everything relevant and helpful. This is the bar we set for ourselves and I’m proud of the content we published last year.

Planning for success

Material planning and scheduling are perhaps the two most difficult processes for any manufacturing company to perfect. While the processes generally live in two different departments, the success of one is highly dependent on the success of the other. In this article, we will discuss Visual South’s methodology for implementation of the Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS) functionality in manufacturing. I will use Infor CloudSuite Industrial as the ERP software of reference.

Infor provides options

Infor provides ERP solutions that help manufacturers with all order modes, including assemble-to-order, make-to-order, configure-to-order, engineer-to-order, build-to-stock and forecast, and mixed-mode production. Some Infor ERP solutions are manufacturing-centric—such as CloudSuite Industrial (Syteline) and Infor VISUAL—and manage all manufacturing modes, including assemble-to-order, very well.

Riddle

If you had to travel from New York City to San Francisco, what’s faster, a jet or a car?

♩♫ Jeopardy music ♫♩

Right now you’re thinking, “The obvious answer is “jet”. But if that’s the right answer, this wouldn’t be a riddle.”

What is a KPI?

A KPI (key performance indicator) is a measurement of value that manufacturing companies typically use and track to determine how they are performing in a particular area of operations. KPIs are ideally presented in dashboard format, giving the user the ability to quickly answer the questions of “How are we are doing?” and “What is causing performance issues"? Think of KPIs as a company or department’s scoreboard for how the team is playing in the game.

It’s all about the data

I’m a big believer in measuring what you want to improve. Measuring gives you data, and trends emerge from the data. The trends can be good or bad. Figure out what is causing the good trends, then 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.

Experience in manufacturing

Visual South’s number one criterion in hiring consultants is experience in manufacturing. Almost all of our customers are responsible for making or repairing something, and the entire business usually revolves around work orders. With this being the case, our consultants have to understand manufacturing.  Typically, they held a leadership position in a manufacturing company, such as controller, CFO, plant manager, CIO, COO, or other similar titles.

Include IT for the best results

The role of Information Technology (IT) in an ERP implementation project is very important. The IT manager should always be part of the project as their department will be responsible for assisting during the software evaluation, installing the software or connectivity, and providing the ongoing infrastructure support needed for an optimum-performing ERP system and environment.

ERP implementations need a leader

For any project to be successful, it requires a leader, and an ERP implementation is no different.  Projects involve people who take on roles, responsibilities, tasks, and decisions. They are a true team, and everyone’s actions (or inactions) affect the team and project. The ERP Project Manager is the leader of this team, and is ultimately responsible for the success or failure of the implementation.