Posted by Randy Flamm on Wed, Sep 01, 2010 @ 07:50 PM
Single Database – Single Source ERP for Manufacturing
A Little History - Lessons Learned
From the beginning of my career in manufacturing I saw the need for a comprehensive system to control the whole process from start to finish. It was clear to me that a single database was the way to go. One version of the truth was very illusive when it came to manufacturing information - how to make a product or even how many to make and when. There were many places to look for answers and sometimes none of them were correct.
Microcomputers were just coming out and I was really interested in them. My friend Dewayne Clinton and I attended the Home Brew Computer Club meetings held in an auditorium at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center. I thought it would really be cool to create such a system using a microcomputer.
I started programming around 1982 on 8 bit machines using CPM/dBase II while working at a custom manufacturing company in the San Francisco Bay Area. I was a production foreman and my future wife worked in the office. We had to take orders, purchase raw materials, and manually schedule the shop resources including machines and labor. Our boss was very demanding when it came to production performance and reporting. He insisted on have a detailed production report including profit contribution on a daily basis. Performing these tasks manually was very time consuming and prone to error since everything could change overnight. The manufacturing control system I developed was infinitely more capable and user friendly than their current IBM System 36 RPG punch card-input based system in use at the time. This is when I developed many of the same demand-driven concepts in use today in the EnterpriseIQ ERP products.
With the new system all we had to do was make sure the sales orders were entered and the finished goods/raw material perpetual inventory was kept up by doing all packing slips and receivers from the software. We would start the MRP engine (we called it IRV) and go to lunch. When we returned the output told us the parts to run and the materials to order. Time-phased calculations that had taken two or three days were completed in an hour. Ok, sometimes we took an hour and a half for lunch but we got more done with much better accuracy than any other time in the history of that company.
In 1986 I went to work for GE Plastics as a tech service rep based in the LA area. With this job I didn't need to worry about scheduling production or dealing with employees. Through that job I met many owners and managers of manufacturing companies who were struggling with the same problems my wife and I able to handle via computers and software when we worked in the Bay Area. I would mention (brag about) this at customer dinners and lunches. Soon I got called on it by a husband and wife who owned a custom injection molding company in the LA area. The conversation went like this: "Wow! That system sounds great. Why don't you write the same thing for me?" I responded that I couldn't possibly because it was a lot of work and I really liked my job at GE. After a few more conversations I let them know that I would write a system which would do the basics including a MRP engine, with the understanding that I would sell the same system to other companies as it was developed. I started programming in August of 1988 on nights and weekends.
Back then DOS was the operating system of choice. Hardware was cheap and local area networks were making their debut. The Clipper programming language offered a familiar dBase syntax and .dbf file storage system. CPU clock speeds and storage capability were increasing all the time so I figured that if I wrote a comprehensive system, the hardware would come.
In 1989 my wife and I quit our jobs, mortgaged the house and started IQMS (then known as IQ Management Systems). My objective was to develop an all encompassing manufacturing software system (long before the term ERP was coined). I envisioned a software system which provided the tools and automation necessary to enable the smartest manufacturing operations possible.
We found ourselves with over 100 customer installations by 1996. By then, I was no longer programming but took on the architecture and design of the manufacturing modules of our product named IQ/Genesis. We had complete Accounting, Inventory, MRP, Finite Scheduling, RealTime Machine Monitoring, Preventative Maintenance, Payroll and Time and Attendance modules. File based data storage systems are inherently weak when run in a multi-user network environment. "Re-indexing" data files became a way of life when the network wasn't stable. It was always hard to explain to your customer that the problem was their hardware - not your product. In spite of the weak foundation the product was a hit with our customers - most of which we still have today. Service had a lot to do with our customer retention (as it does today). Coming up with software solutions to customer problems is one of the reasons the product had so much depth. Software updates came fast and furious and were always at no extra cost.
At this time it was evident that DOS was dead. We were starting to get hammered in the market place by systems with far less functionality that were Windows-based. Going to a demo with a DOS based system was like going to a gun fight with a knife. IQMS as a company had to decide if we were going to continue to grow or just survive on loyal customer maintenance contracts until they went away. It would have been a slow death to my vision of the single-source/single-database all-encompassing manufacturing software system.
It was decided that we would "burn the ships" and go forward. We made the decision to abandon the millions of lines of IQ/Genesis code. We threw everything away except the concepts developed and the lessons learned over the prior 7 to 8 years. It was time to pull out the stops and come up with a bullet proof foundation to build the next generation of IQMS ERP products.....
(I’ll continue the story of how IQMS got where it is today in my next blog.)
Posted by Neil Gow on Fri, Aug 20, 2010 @ 02:57 PM
When is an option no longer an option but a necessity? When purchasing equipment it can be the stripped down model or the one fully loaded with all options. You may remember when an automatic transmission and radio were an option when buying a new car. Now a full-blown stereo is included and the manual transmission is the option! Automobiles now come loaded with what used to be options! Power seats, power windows, side view mirrors on both sides etc..
What is the cost to add these things after the purchase? Well it can be a ton of money! The same thing goes for manufacturing equipment. More and more features now standard were once pricey options. Bells and whistles are in abundance on many of the newest Injection Molding machines for instance. They can run all by themselves, keeping track of tons of data, even counting cycles and shutting down if the job is finished or some parameter is going out of control! SPC and closed loop control for pressure curves allow the machine to adjust to changes in viscosity on its own! So why not include a programable I/O card for add-on equipment? Maybe even make the cycle count available for remote monitoring!
I would like to challenge the machine manufacturers out there to take notice. Without using any names there are some who provide an output for cycle counting but most do not. Those that do not will gladly charge you to add an I/O board and update the programming. Some of these charges add up to thousands of dollars! While at the same time these same companies will tell you all the great things the machine can do by interfacing with other equipment to allow you more flexibility and use less manpower!
It often takes a herculean effort for some machine manufacturers to simply provide an output for the start of a cycle! I mean this should be one of the features included! What is the cost of such a simple feature when done before shipping the equipment as compared to after? Well we know out of who's pocket the later comes from! Yours! Robots and sprue pickers need this type of interface. Why not provide a standard output for counting cycles that connects to an ERP system that can really benefit the company's bottom line!
With more accurate counts and better visibility of cycles compared to standards we all make more money! Less waste and higher efficiencies truly add value to you and your business! If we do a better job in today's economy we make ourselves stand out from the competition, thus gaining more customers and a possible need to expand capacity. This translates to buying more of that equipment from a company with enough forethought to add simple features such as programmable outputs!
The point is this, times change and new circumstances are created. That old car you bought 40 years ago is outdated for a reason! Somebody realized it's easier to offer features instead of options. You're going to buy the thing anyway, why not have the versatility and freedom to be inventive along the way! What do you think?
Posted by Diane Ramaglia on Tue, Aug 03, 2010 @ 08:40 AM
Some people do not realize the impact of what happens within an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system when your inventory is not accurate. And when I say accurate; I mean at least 98% accurate.
A common issue at companies is they do not have the disciplines in place to assure inventory accuracy. Some common pitfalls of inventory inaccuracy would be that bills of material (BOM) are incorrect. I have a history working with plastic processing (along with other types of manufacturing) and one thing that throws off inventory is incorrect part and runner/sprue weights in the BOMs. A lot of manufacturers also do assembly/secondary processes and the quantity per could be incorrect in the BOMs. There are two different ways I have seen consumption of materials being completed during production reporting.
One is the function of back-flushing material based on parts produced based on your BOM. Many systems that I have used allow for the back-flushing of their materials when they report production. This is the time when you can catch inventory issues due to BOM inaccuracies. You can check your work center location inventory and verify at the end of shift if the computer matches the actual inventory counts. If not, start weighing your parts and checking your BOM.
The other type of system out there allows you to issue material to a job/work order. The downside to this is you can’t see this inventory since it is typically removed from any on-hand quantities. You have to reconcile at the end of the job/run.
Another common factor with inventory inaccuracy is that your users are not moving material to proper locations based on procedures. If your system allows a location to go negative, it's time to check a negative report and get to root cause of what may have cause this. It can come down to material not being moved or inaccurate BOMs. I hate repeating myself on the BOM issue but I have seen issues time and time again. In fact, I have recently worked with two customers who are struggling with negative locations. If a location is negative and other locations are positive, what is your true on-hand quantities? One can only guess.
What happens within your ERP when your inventory is inaccurate? The system might not generate work/job orders for customer orders if it thinks you have finished goods/work in process stock. If you don’t have the inventory or the work orders you will likely miss shipments. Customers won’t be too happy if you don’t have on-time shipments. In addition, if the work orders are not generated the system will not tell you to purchase material. It’s a downhill spiral from here.
Speaking of purchased material, let’s talk raw materials and purchased on-hand balances. If these are not correct, you will not have product to produce your manufactured parts. You will possibly be expediting material which can become very costly to your company. On top of that, it can cause havoc on the production floor. A scheduler has to decide to keep running parts that might not be due for over a month or lose costly production time by keeping the machine in downtime.
Think of the breakdown for downtime costs due to material inaccuracy in this way: If a machine rate if $50 per hour and your machines sits down for 48 hours, the cost is $2,400 for two days. If that happens weekly, the annual lost utilization is $124,800. That is more than a lot of peoples' salaries on the production floor. For this annual cost, you can justify hiring people to fix the inventory issues.
Add to this cost, other factors such as the cost to deal with machines that need to be changed over quickly to fill an order because your finished goods on-hand counts were inaccurate. How much does it cost your company when you have to switch over jobs that you were not thinking you had to run? What is the time it takes to switch over jobs? Depending on the jobs, setup times can range from one hour to ten hours. That is a lot of downtime for changeovers.
What can you do to start fixing these issues?
- Have the right people handle inventory management – they have to care and be analytical.
- Training/education– you need to make sure that people know what they are supposed to do in the system and what the impacts are if they don’t.
- Get to root cause of the inventory issues and have a corrective action to prevent this from happening again.
- Track the downtime costs due to inventory issues (waiting on material, changeover/setup)
- Create a process to validate bills of material.
- Ensure people are following their procedures.
I hope this helps some of you out there in the manufacturing world.
Posted by Liz Alflen on Thu, Jul 29, 2010 @ 02:33 PM
One unfortunate morning a few years ago, I got an early call at home from my boss informing me that my 1st floor office had been broken into and my computer was stolen. It so happened that I had left my laptop on my desk, hooked to an external monitor, a VOIP phone and a printer. When the burglar alarm/noise-intrusion sensor went off, scaring the intruders into a more heightened sense of urgency, they made a quick grab for my laptop, but ended up dragging along the monitor, the phone and the printer. Pieces of my printer (the paper tray, paper, little broken plastic pieces) were strewn across the parking lot. By the time the police arrived on the scene, the intruders were long gone, miscellaneous plastic parts left behind, and they were likely on the highway headed out of town.
Not surprisingly, I panicked at this news. What about all my information? My reports? My data? What would I do? How painful would this be?
The local police made note of all the pertinent information but offered little hope for recovery. Our IT department made available an alternate computer for my use while ordering me a new one; I received the usual talking-to about backing-up my data. When I finally got back to work, I quickly found that I wasn’t in too much trouble.
I still had access to our EnterpriseIQ ERP system! They couldn’t take that away from me. I can access the system from anywhere, log in, run a report, review documents, respond to workflows - from anywhere.
Until that day, I hadn’t realized that the bulk of any day’s work was not dependent on my personal computer, my stored information or my reports. Most of any day’s work could be completed by accessing information in EnterpriseIQ, views or reports.
For my purposes related to both Administration and HR, areas I access on any given day include:
And on and on. It was almost disappointing. My data isn’t even really special (although my particular role is); I’m replaceable by someone else (or perhaps multiple individuals) who is (are) trained in the system, can access the same information, and plan equivalent courses of action. One of the tremendous values in having a comprehensive ERP system is in the ease with which I can fulfill my responsibilities, independent of specific hardware or location, as well as the ease with which a “backup” could do the same.
I still try to remember to back-up the data on my personal computer, but I’m confident that most of the information I need at work will be available to me when I need it. It’s nice to NOT worry about something!
Posted by Tina Jolicoeur on Mon, Jul 26, 2010 @ 03:01 PM
Sustainable manufacturing, recycling, repurposing, reducing your global footprint, going green. All of these phrases have become more and more widely used in the last 20-30 years. At first they were just phrases; ideas that were maybe a little 'out there' but now increasingly manufacturing companies are implementing business processes and philosophies to bring the phrases to reality. And why? It turns out sustainable manufacturing is profitable.
'Sustainable manufacturing' includes the manufacturing of 'sustainable' products and the sustainable manufacturing of all products. It's the environmental responsibility of manufacturing companies to begin to keep this phrase in mind. It caught my attention because the idea is not only should we manufacture sustainable products, but the way we manufacture them should leave a small footprint. I like the idea of only using the resources you need and reusing them if possible.
I'm excited to see the Department of Commerce (1) and the United Nations (2) taking an interest in sustainability. Their buy-in will help promote the ideals of sustainability. However, I know there are a lot of manufacturers who implemented grass roots sustainable manufacturing business processes a long time ago because they knew eventually they would be more profitable. And profitability is still the bottom line.
A 2008 sustainable manufacturing study by Atos Origin reported, 'These companies have set up initiatives to apply business intelligence to operational data that reveals areas where raw materials can be saved and energy conserved, which delivers immediate business impact through lower costs while, at the same time, reducing the company's environmental impact.' By doing the 'green' thing, they are also more profitable than before.
There have recently been two examples of sustainable manufacturing in the media with regard to products. The first one was a dog toy that just went on the market. It's a virtually indestructible ball made completely of scrap material. The other product was a salad spinner (generally made of regrind) that's also used in third world countries to identify anemia. I know, you are feeling the love with these products; they fulfill needs, they are sustainable, repurposed and bring profitability to the companies who manufacture them along with an environmental pat on the back!
When I read about those two products it was easy to come up with an example for the manufacturing side of the sustainability initiative; a new product recently released to beta customers by IQMS. It's RealTime Process Monitoring and it gathers machine performance and process data in real time. Users define which performance and measurement parameters to capture for each item or project. When limits are met or exceeded users can quickly identify necessary adjustments to the machine or device allowing for maximum efficiency while utilizing the least amount of resources, for example water and heat, and still manufacture a quality product.
Companies can begin to implement sustainable manufacturing with the goal of profitability and not just due to the pressure they receive to be 'environmentally correct'. It's a mindset that takes very little time to acquire and the benefits will be long lasting.
I'm proud to be part of IQMS who is a part of the chain in sustainable manufacturing. As a company they are very involved in the 'green' initiative. IQMS recycles many of the resources it uses. From recycling just about everything, to hosting an electronics recycling event, to reusing obsolete CD's and DVD's on a parade float. It didn't take long for IQMS to realize going 'green' doesn't take a lot of effort, just a change of habits and how we view and reuse resources.
Footnotes:
1.“Sustainable manufacturing is defined as the creation of manufactured products that use processes that are non-polluting, conserve energy and natural resources, and are economically sound and safe for employees, communities, and consumers.”
2. Sustainable manufacturing “meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”
Posted by Daniele Fresca on Wed, Jul 21, 2010 @ 07:32 AM
While I am not a huge fan of the reality dating show, "The Bachelor" I can admit to watching a couple episodes now and again. Recently, former couples from the show were in the news and I got to thinking how the show parallels the ERP selection process. Some aspects are strikingly similar while others are more interpretive. For those who have never seen the show, perhaps you will understand the premise through this comparison.
Round One: The Many Suitors!
On the show, the first round begins with our bachelor or bachelorette meeting several "candidates". It consists of a single-night welcoming party after which a slew of prospective suitors are sent away - roseless. First impressions count for a lot in this round.
This is similar to how one begins the selection process of an ERPvendor. A company may post a notification on one of the many online forums, may utilize a consultant to help in the search, possibly will seek the assistance from colleagues, or simply do research themselves. In any event, the manufacturing company will have several candidates for the vetting process. While this first round in ERP selection will most likely take place in more than a single night, odds are that first impressions are still a big factor here and those ERP companies that don't show or handle themselves well will not get a rose...oops I mean an invitation to move forward.
Round Two: The Narrowing Down of Suitors
On the show the next several (as in many!) weeks involve meeting with suitors individually as well as in groups on dates. These dates are often fantastical and overwhelming - stuff that doesn't typically occur in a normal dating process - helicopters, celebrity-chef dinners, trips to Paris...all situations to enhance the experience and drama. Week after week, more suitors are sent home.
In comparison, this portion of the ERP selection process also slims down the vendors vying for the company's attention. While the discussions and possible online demonstrations (dates) may not be as fantastical, ERP vendors are often still willing to do much to impress the potential client. As well they should. It is here you get a little more time with the vendor, get to hear what makes them different and how they can be the best potential partner for your company. You now pare the list down even further.
Round Three: The Final Group
For TV, the final group represents the usually four suitors - the best of the best. It is now game time for these potential mates! They show the bachelor/bachelorette their home town, how they live, how they truly are....basically they put all the cards on the table. Their actions and words have equal importance and make or break the decision to move ahead in the game.
This is most closely tied to the onsite demonstration phase in ERP selection. Your final group of chosen vendors comes to your facility and spends all day going through the system - hopefully with much of your data. This is where the rubber meets the road. Can all the hype leading up to this point be fully realized in the face-to-face, one-one-one meeting? It is possible that not everyone moves ahead.
Round Four: Meet The Family (aka Meet The References)
Yes, just as it sounds, this is where our bachelor or bachelorette takes the final two suitors home to meet the family. This is crucial because as we all know: family can be vocal and help to shape decisions.
In the ERP process, this is where you will dilingently call and possibly visit the reference customers of the final ERP companies hoping to win you over. Will the family of customers offer praise, food for thought, or both? Just like on the TV show, what the references say can swing a vote to one side or another.
Round Five: Selection Time!
On the show this last step traditionally ends in a marriage proposal. Well, in all honesty, it rarely ends in a proposal that will last much long after the final TV episode airs but for those romantics out there, hope is alive.
In reality, the ERP selection process will end here too (admittedly, with several more aspects throughout such as RFIs, etc...). If you have gone through the steps, listened intently, and chosen wisely than you are likely to see a proposal as well. Hopefully, your choice ends better and with more success than that of "The Bachelor" series. I know many of our customers have been our "partner" for more than the average rate of our competition so I am a firm believer that hope is still alive.
Posted by Diane Ramaglia on Tue, Jul 06, 2010 @ 07:10 AM
There is one thing that I am aware of when a consultant comes on-site to assist with an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Implementation, they ask "why" a lot.
I was a customer not so long ago and our project team would get a little frustrated when the consultant kept asking them why we did things a certain way. Now that I am a manager of a Professional Services Group and I have been a consultant for an ERP vendor for the past 6 years, I know why they ask why. They want to understand the reason why you may be doing something a certain way when utilizing your current system and why you might want to do it the same way in a new ERP system. Sometimes it takes your consultant asking "why" five times before they know the "real" reason is discovered of why you may be doing something a specific way.
Manufacturing Resource Planning (MRPII) systems have been around for a long time and a lot of companies have been utilizing the same system for twenty plus years. Older systems definitely have limitations compared to the newer systems available. Older systems often can't be upgraded because of all the numerous changes they had customized way back in the stone ages (kidding of course!). Knowing this, we realize that older MRP systems had limitations that forced users to do things a certain way.
Here are some common answers that consultants get when it comes to asking "Why":
- We have always done it that way. It works for us so why change it.
- I wasn't around when they implemented this system so I have no idea why they've been doing it that way.
- That's the way I was shown so I don't question why we are doing it that way.
- The best one is: Because I want to do it that way!
An ERP consultant is not your enemy; they are there to assist you with best business practices on maximizing the ERP system. They are asking questions to better understand your processes/procedures that will allow them to help you utilize your "new" system. They are not to questioning you just to question you; they want to better understand how they can help you. We understand that you may have done it that way for the past 20 years but things have changed and ERP systems have come a long way in the past 20 - 30 years that you no longer have to process data the same way.
Here is an example of a specific process that a customer had requested recently: They wanted to be able to put a note in a location to explain why they did not want to ship a specific lot of product and they wanted this note to follow through the system. After asking why they needed this note, the main reason was because they did not want to be able to ship this product. Solution, instead of changing the program at a potential thousand dollar cost to the customer, we discussed with them adding an attribute that would simply not allow them to ship this lot. Not being able to ship a lot is much easier to address than changing all the programs that were affected by any inventory transaction within the system.
So think about this and do yourself a favor the next time you are asked to answer the "why" questions because you just might be pleasantly surprised by the results!
Posted by Liz Alflen on Wed, Jun 23, 2010 @ 09:46 AM
Remember "hand-shake" deals? Or where a person was "only as good as their word"? Today, we "document, document, document." In business, where we're short on telepathy and long on increasing employee turn-over and failing memories, good documentation is imperative.
Documentation is both a life-saver and a burden in business, but either way it's certainly a necessity as we endlessly tap into the enterprise information flow. Information is vital, and shared information is key to daily decision-making. The good news is that the "paper trail" is now largely an "information trail". Documents don't necessarily mean paperwork! And information is more accessible than ever before.
As business models have evolved with information and communication technology we can now take advantage of electronic libraries, as opposed to stacks and stacks of three-ring binders and rooms of file drawers. How many of your departments require documentation?
For those of us attempting to answer questions, such as, "what is in the offer letter?", "what did we agree to for the customer?" or "what is on the setup sheet for this job?", it's easy to click on the database record and view a reference document.
In addition, it has always been amusing to note "paperwork reduction act" on any six-page form which has to be completed and signed. In a commercial enterprise, there are a myriad of forms to complete, sign, file, store, and reference. We have forms for employees, partners, vendors, part specifications, machine setup, safety compliance, audit trails, contracts, material data, and the list is seemingly endless.
But now even some requisite government forms can now be completed electronically and signed with an electronic signature.
Thankfully, Document Control was incorporated into our EnterpriseIQ ERP system years ago as part of our Quality Management System. This system encompasses any kind of internal and external documents, including drawings, and is available for any department. Controlled documents are easily accessed for viewing, by library, secured or shared, from any module in the system. Documents can also be checked out, and revisions can be submitted, reviewed, and authorized via a workflow system, routed sequentially or broadcast, for team members. They're even color-coded for quick visual reference, with revisions listed, and effective dates and expiration dates.
In HR, where we have required documentation for recruitment, hiring, job descriptions, personnel records, skills tracking, and certifications, secure document libraries are a life-saver and so much easier to use than 3-ring binders and file drawers. I'm a fan of documentation, and I encourage the use of electronic documents. It certainly reduces workplace injury from paper-cuts and falling stacks of files!
Posted by Randy Flamm on Mon, Jun 14, 2010 @ 08:15 AM
It's been a year since we introduced the IQMS Community Server. It's clear to me that this project is "game-changing technology" on many levels.
The IQMS development effort encompasses many different departments. All have been directly affected by the advent of Community Server.
The design team is charged with evaluating each software change request (SCR) in regards to the module(s) to be affected. The Community Server users have averaged three SCRs per day including weekends and holidays. The content ranges from brilliant to not so brilliant. Sometimes it's a challenge to really understand what the author of the SCR is trying to achieve. This is when the collaboration tools (ability of the author to include other documents including screen shots) become essential. When a designer approves the SCR he or she must then submit a workable design to the programmers and mark the SCR as being "Approved" and "Designed". Community Server SCR Workflow enables the life cycle of an SCR to be transparent to not only IQMS employees but to all customers.
The programmers are sent the SCR designs with enough information to complete the development. Some designs require significant detail including changes to database structures, flow charts and most importantly screen shots. Other easier designs are straight forward but pretty much always include screen shots. All EnterpriseIQ modules are "owned" by a designer/programmer/tester team. The average tenure of these IQMS employees is over 6 years with senior members over 10 years. This is why the constraining activity to fulfill SCRs is not the programming department. They can knock this stuff out with uncanny speed due to their experience and the modern object oriented development tools they utilize. They are also very good at what they do.
When the programmers are finished they check their development source code and scripts into our state of the art version control system. The Community Server workflow is updated which notifies the testing department that the ball is now in their court. This is when it gets very interesting. The testing technician is charged with testing the development on many different Oracle and operating systems as well as adherence to our own "prime directive". Our prime directive, unlike the Star Trek one, has to do with not undertaking any development that will negatively affect how our customers are using the current functionality of a module. At times this directive can be difficult to adhere to when customer users find ways to use undocumented functionality that we hadn't thought of.
At the end of the testing phase the Community Server workflow is updated which sends the SCR to the Documentation department. Each SCR that has been approved, designed, programmed and tested is now documented based on input from the SCR (what we want to achieve), the design (how are we going to achieve it), the programmers and testing technician notes. As it happens the documentation department technicians also retest the change to fully understand what needs to be documented. This method is the next best thing to having the change being used in a production environment.
The IQMS development workflow process can best be described as an "Agile Software Development System". All work is done in house which allows complete control over both the process and the outcome.
My next blog will discuss the impact that Community Server has had on our Training and Professional Services departments and our product offerings.
Posted by Daniele Fresca on Wed, Jun 09, 2010 @ 02:48 PM
Purchasing and implementing a new Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system can be a daunting prospect for many. Even more so than the decision itself of WHY to purchase, many companies are confounded by the question of WHEN to purchase. The economy is still questionable. Some companies are seeing a rebound and others are merely seeing the hope of a rebound. If this is true then why should a company decide to purchase a new ERP system now, when there is no guarantee that a profitability rebound is on the horizon? Given that there is probably no perfect time to purchase ERP the question then is why should I buy now? Below are three of the top reasons why buying now is the right choice.
First, and most importantly, think about where you want to be in a year, two years, or more. If your business isn't at optimal capacity now but your plan is to get there within a year or even two, now is the time to buy. If you purchase now, you can strategically plan your implementation and take more time to be meticulous about data conversion, data transfer, and possible changes to processes or procedures. You can also allocate the proper resources and time to the implementation. Having the appropriate people involved from the beginning and with the ability to commit the time to the project is by far the biggest hurdle with any implementation - regardless of the chosen system. By the completion of "go live," chances are very good that the steps you took during the implementation will make your company more efficient and more aptly able to handle the increase in business that is anticipated.
Second is the fact that ERP companies are also still looking to make sales (read deals!) and are offering more tailored, industry-specific packages. The rapid consolidation of companies that we saw a couple of years ago has, for the most part, subsided. The result of the consolidation is that ERP system capabilities are more defined and it is easier to find ERP that more adeptly handles your company needs. While one company might have multiple packages to choose from, overall choices of ERP systems that truly match your company's manufacturing type have diminished. Thus, you have a field of less than 10 ERP systems, instead of 30 plus, from which to choose. While less options doesn't seem like an advantage, think of it as weeding out a significant number of systems that wouldn't have been close to a good fit anyway. The time saved in the beginning search process is significant.
Lastly, the information available, via a multitude of resources, is more abundant than ever before. From basic internet searches to social media sites (i.e. Facebook and Twitter) to non-biased ERP comparison sites - all avenues provide a vast amount of information for any ERP consumer. Never before has the power of the internet become such an ally for research and development. A quick search of ERP companies can yield a list of top award winners, top customer comments, valuable reviews, and priceless notifications of pending lawsuits. The information age has pushed the data available out of monthly print publications and into our daily lives. By utilizing the information available, consumers are better equipped to ask the right questions, compare the answers to known information, and gain knowledge via other users out there in the World Wide Web.
So when thinking about your company and how you will rebound, think about ERP as a foundation for everything you do and a springboard to make you stronger in the future. Your quality commitment, your goals for success, your ideas for strength as the economy rebounds - all of these can be achieved with a solid ERP system in place. If you don't have that solid foundation now, then perhaps you should be thinking about getting it in place now.
