Posted by Glenn Nowak on Thu, Aug 12, 2010 @ 12:23 PM
In times of economic uncertainty, everyone naturally looks for ways to save money and cut costs. As some annual manufacturing ERP system maintenance programs come up for renewal one might question the validity of expense. What happens when you don't continue to pay maintenance? For most ERP users, be prepared to be shut-off from technical support as well as any current or future software upgrades. In some cases, continuing to operate without technical support is not reason enough to justify the cost. So that leaves the upgrades as the main driver for continuing to pay your maintenance fees. So, are ERP software updates a big enough reason for paying maintenance? It all depends on your system!
Let's look at what happens if you don't renew. If you are, as noted above, on a relatively new or "stable" version of the manufacturing ERP software, and you don't have a very active marketplace that changes dynamically, then you might feel pretty comfortable hopping off the maintenance train. Your thought is that you will just maintain yourself with your current system and its current capabilities. You might even get your ERP provider to discount maintenance if you don't take upgrades. This may be fine for the time being but what if one of the dynamics of your world changes - like new customer growth with different demands, business upgrades that require new technology, obsolete hardware and operating systems, or new business expansion opportunities offshore.
The most significant of these is the changing dynamic of your customer base. Because, in today's ever changing business world, even keeping your existing customers requires you to change and adapt to their needs - regardless of whether they have been with you 20 years or 20 minutes. How will you keep up year-after-year when your core technology infrastructure does not keep pace? How will you implement new technologies when they don't mesh with your existing outdated systems? The answer is that you will eventually fall farther and farther behind the curve against your competitors - who are keeping current with their technology - and this will then require you to eventually take one of two actions: start from scratch with a brand new ERP system or upgrade your existing system (and depending on how far behind you are it may seem like a new system anyway!). Either option is likely to be more costly than having continued on maintenance in the first place.
But its not just all about getting updates. It's about the quality of the updates. You need to look at this closely and see whether your manufacturing ERP software company is providing you a consistent path of development. With the consolidation of ERP systems in recent years many packages are being developed to fit certain niches within a company's product offerings and not necessarily the original direction of the ERP system. Ask yourself whether the updates that are being provided fit the direction that your business is going and whether your ERP provider allows you input on the development for the update? You should ask yourself these questions when you think about shelling out the maintenance fees because it is important that your ERP system evenly grow with both the industry and the technology.
So once you have bitten the bullet and decided that maintenance is worth the money (and to be worth the money it must include frequent and useful updates!), how do you ensure that you get value for your maintenance dollars? You can bargain with your ERP provider for a lower maintenance rate as an option. But that will likely lead to cost cutting on the ERP provider side and a reduction in services and update quality. The answer is to find a manufacturing ERP provider with a reasonable maintenance rate where the updates are frequent, useful and relevant to your business needs. Those manufacturing ERP software packages are out there and I would be happy to offer my top choice!
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.
Posted by Tina Jolicoeur on Wed, May 26, 2010 @ 11:33 AM
Call me old-fashioned, I still enjoy a good commercial or print ad. Not only are they entertaining, but I appreciate the skill, innovation and imagination put in to them. Right now one of my favorite ad campaigns is Microsoft's 'I'm a PC and Windows 7 is my idea'. Of course I know that it's just an ad campaign and those are actors, but I'm sure Microsoft considered change requests when they developed Windows 7. Wouldn't it be great if we had a voice in the improvement of all of the devices, software, appliances, vehicles, etc. that we use everyday? That got me to thinking about EnterpriseIQ software and we've always been customer driven, taking and implementing literally hundreds and hundreds of software change requests (SCR) per year. That's evident especially now that we have reached our one year anniversary since implementing IQMS Community Server. Anyone who logs in can see We have over one thousand SCRs posted to Community Server - in just one year! Not only are there over one thousand SCRs, over half of them have been approved. Our customers, real users not actors, can say they have a voice in the improvement of our ERP software.
All SCRs can be viewed by all customers. Customers can comment good or bad on any SCR; they provide input on whether or not they like a feature and if it would be beneficial to them and/or all users. They also comment when they disagree with a change request. Which leads me to my next train of thought. I sometimes picture our lead developers, who review EVERY SCR, as Jim Carrey in Bruce Almighty. There's a scene when he is going through the prayer emails and is so overwhelmed he grants every prayer. Not only do our Developers read every SCR, they have to sometimes take the time to decipher what the customer is requesting and then consider, "Is this in the best interest of all users?" That's because our software is fully integrated and we don't make changes to the core software without considering all of our customers and their manufacturing types.
A nice feature in Community Server is all customers can view the status of SCRs from submission, to review, to approval (or denial) to programming, testing and documentation. Customers can filter on the status of the SCR as well. For example a customer can choose to view only SCRs that are pending approval or just the SCRs they've submitted. A lot of our customers have been with us since the 'early' days and they know they sometimes had to contact IQMS to find out the status of their SCR, now they can go to Community Server any time they'd like and review the status without picking up the phone or sending an email.
IQMS employees love Community Server too. Support, Development, Testing, Sales, Professional Services- all of us view the requests, look at the status and view any notes. We can quickly see which customer and/or user made the request, refer back to what they were trying to achieve and how they were accomplishing that currently. We often have conference calls to review an SCR, it doesn't matter where we are, as long as we have web access, we have access to the SCRs. The turnaround time for SCRs has improved exponentially. There isn't a bottle neck at any level. And it's not that we weren't trying to get to all of the SCRs before in a timely fashion, but there were hindrances that are no longer there with this method.
So, if you are an IQMS customer or thinking about becoming one, let me give you some tips on how to get your SCR reviewed and approved.
- Attach a screen shot. We are visual people and a picture speaks loudly and clearly.
- Be brief but succinct in each area of the SCR; what is your request, what are you trying to accomplish and how do you achieve your goal currently. Is it a workaround, a separate report, etc. All three of the questions on the SCR are well thought out, we are trying to keep our customers focused on their request and ask leading questions that prompt our customers to provide well thought out responses. Re-read your request; if you can, have someone review it. I do a lot of proofing and always find errors or missing information in other people's work, but often miss it in my own writing.
- Make sure to leave the box checked to email responses to the SCR. When we reply we might be asking for further information or more detail and the faster you can respond, the faster we can push your SCR through the approval process. And when you respond to our reply, do so within the SCR not in the automatically generated email.
- Take the time to review other customer's SCRs on occasion and reply to a SCR if you'd like to see the same change. Then when you submit a SCR your community is more likely to have your back. If you have a special area of use in EnterpriseIQ, for example, Quality Document Control, review just these SCRs on occasion. Not only will you know what's coming in the next version, you can comment on an area of the software that's important to you. You have a voice.
- Review other SCRs to see if what you've requested is already approved. If you are on an older version of the software, you can also read the What's Changed documents for the newer versions before you submit a SCR.
Our customers have a voice in the continuous improvement of IQMS' EnterpriseIQ software; they are IQMS customers and EIQ is their idea.
Posted by Shannon Holloway on Fri, May 21, 2010 @ 12:24 PM
I watched the new Alice in Wonderland movie a couple weeks back. It was very entertaining and, in a strange way, educational as well. (Spoiler warning - if you haven't seen it, I mention some details below that you may not want to know.) After the 3D excitement was over and I was driving the 7 miles home from the theater, it struck me how many similarities there are between Alice's journey and the journey of ERP software implementation. I know, a bizarre analogy, but this is how my mind works sometimes.
The parallel that stood out most was the mental voyage that Alice took within herself. She started completely in the dark with no understanding of why she was there or where she was going. If you are part of a newly appointed team who has been given the task to implement a new ERP software package, you may feel the same way and the quote, "If you don't know where you're going, any road will take you there" might come to mind. Just as Alice has the White Rabbit, the Mad Hatter, and many others to show her the way and help her along, it is the job of the software provider to be the guiding influence to ensure a successful implementation. From your sales person, to your implementation expert, along with trainers and technical support specialists, you should have a team of experts to help you along the way as well. This starts by providing a picture of where success will take you. Stephen R. Covey said it well when he advised us to "Begin with the end in mind". (The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People) It is important for everyone in the organization to see how a successful implementation will benefit the company, their customers, and themselves.
Once Alice understood why she had been brought back to Wonderland and the large task that lay in front her, she was a bit overwhelmed. Her exact words were, "This is impossible". To that, the Mad Hatter replied, "Only if you believe it is". Even with that advice and all of the other help she was given, Alice was still unsure. She continued to search for a "Plan B", a safety net that would prevent her from having to take the risk she was so determined to avoid. During an implementation, it is very easy to try and hold on to "what we've always done". It is important for everyone involved to understand why the status quo is no longer good enough and that going back is not an option. This leaves the only means of success to be moving forward.
It wasn't until Alice looked at all that was at stake that she realized that failure wasn't an option. It was then that she threw away her safety net and made the decision to be the champion that everyone else knew she was. Whether you are the implementation project leader, a member of the implementation team, or an end user learning the new software for the first time, decide to be the champion. Look back only to find the starting point where improvement begins. Look forward to find understanding, possibility, and ultimately success.
Posted by John Asi on Fri, May 07, 2010 @ 03:13 PM
Successful companies have always been on the search for ways to streamline their business processes and run their daily operations as efficiently as possible. These companies know that their success as a business relies on how efficiently they interface within the supply chain and adapt to demand as needed. The brutal economy that crippled companies around the world last year and the slow recovery that has followed has forced many companies to evaluate how they operate within the supply chain and find ways to increase their productivity while keeping the cost of doing business down. EDI is a powerful tool in streamlining business processes and providing cost savings in the right environment.
So one might ask, "What is the wrong environment?" Good question. Too many times the consideration for using EDI does not go beyond the effort needed to get an EDI file in-house and possibly formatting a report to output some needed information from the data because a trading partner requires communication through standard EDI documents. Another situation may be the result of a legacy system that has been in place for many years with no one understanding what the magical "EDI box" really does other than it regularly outputs reports containing business critical information. From there a user might take that information and key in any orders and then call it a day and a job well done if they entered all the data correctly. In either case EDI has not proven its usefulness as a powerful and effective cost saving business tool.
Finding the "right" environment in which to implement EDI is not very difficult. It does require a little investment of time, a good understanding of internal business processes, and the right tools to make the most effective use of EDI within the corporation.
The time investment comes in the form of doing the research and understanding what documents a trading partners can work with and if those documents are used in sufficient quantity such that they consume a significant time to handle manually. A simple example of this is an automotive manufacturing delivery schedule (X12 862 or EDIFACT DELJIT). While receiving 1 or 2 on a weekly basis may require several hours to process manually, handling 20 or more of these documents becomes a significant process.
Understanding internal business processes is critical in order to adequately define business rules that are needed to correctly translate and process EDI. Knowing how key data elements are used within the company will help in configuration and support of the EDI process.
Ultimately, the most important piece in the equation is having the right tools available to make effective use of the EDI process and the data it provides. EnterpriseIQ and its integrated eCommerce module is such a tool. The eCommerce module is capable of processing both inbound and outbound transactions. Being integrated makes it possible to take inbound EDI data directly into the system and automatically create forecast schedules and firm sales orders and output order acknowledgements (855), shipping notices (856) and invoices (810) just to name just a few transactions. With the powerful MRP engine in EnterpriseIQ, the system can create work schedules and purchase requirements based on the data provided by the EDI transactions. Add the ability to take purchase requirements and generate outbound vendor purchase forecasts/orders (830 and 862) through the eCommerce module, EnterpriseIQ shows its strength. Another tool available within the EnterpriseIQ suite is EServer. This tool is used to completely automate the defined business process for handling EDI from start to finish. Specific actions can be defined to allow processing of acknowledgements, orders, notices, reports or any other requirements to effectively monitor and process the data flowing through the system. Utilizing EServer with the eCommerce module and the MRP engine allows EnterpriseIQ function seamlessly and efficiently within the supply chain while reducing the amount of time required handling manual processes, eliminating the chance for human induced errors, and keeping data and material flowing where it needs to.
Any company looking to streamline their processes and better fit into the supply chain should take the time to research how EDI might help them cut costs and become more efficient. While EDI may not be a fit for every company, knowing how they interface within the supply chain can provide valuable information and other opportunities to look for efficiencies.
Review how automotive supplier Nissen Chemitec America is utilizing eCommerce solutions by reading their case study.
Posted by Glenn Nowak on Tue, May 04, 2010 @ 10:45 AM
If you can't measure it you can't improve it?! How many times have we heard that before? But when we go into manufacturing companies looking for ERP systems and ask some of the basic questions, like "what is your on-time shipment accuracy?" or "what is your machine efficiency?" or "what is your daily cost of scrap?" we get blank stares or answers like "it's over 90% I think" or "it's in the 70 to 80% range I think" or "we don't have that much scrap." That would be like an ERP software company responding to the question of "how many of your customers meet the target go live date" with the answer "most of them". "Most" can mean a lot of things - 95%, 75% or 51% which is a big difference in the bottom line.
For most businesses today the difference in a couple of percentage points on machine efficiencies, OEE, or scrap rates can mean thousands of dollars per day. IQMS customer Plastic Components Inc. has detailed their costs to the point of knowing exactly how much profit they make - on every product they make - and conversely how much it costs for every piece of scrap they make. This information is published to the employees so that they can know and take ownership of exactly how much it costs when they make bad product. So instead of saying "this scrap is costing us money" they go to the chart and say this scrap cost us "x" number of dollars and we have to make "y" number of extra product to just break even. This type of accuracy is not only something that their employees understand but provides a more tangible target for success.
The PCI example is just one example of how a company can define their business metrics. The first step in the process is to determine which metrics are important to you as a manufacturer. Companies usually know what they want to measure already and most ERP software companies will have published sets of key performance indicators (KPIs) that you can use to select the most important metrics for your business.
Once you have selected the metrics you want to measure for your business, you need to set your benchmarks of where you are today. Unfortunately, in many cases the data may not be readily available in most ERP systems and therefore it becomes cumbersome and time consuming to gather the data. If you have an ERP system with the built in KPIs the process becomes simpler than if you have to gather the data from spreadsheets or other sources within your operations.
The next step is to make the objectives and results available to your team. In the case of PCI they published the metrics on bulletin boards on the shop floor so all their employees can see how well they are doing against their goals and how their contributions are affecting the bottom line of the company. Once your employees can see how their efforts make a difference within the company and the rewards of profitability - whether they are job security or performance bonuses - then you have truly achieved the goal of measuring for improvement.
For more information on PCI, please review their case study.
Posted by Daniele Fresca on Thu, Apr 29, 2010 @ 01:02 PM
We have all done it. We've all said something was "good enough." It isn't great, it isn't bad; it's just okay. Whether it is your house, your car, your job, etc.... we often find that settling for things is easier than pursuing another option. And we are right, it is often easier. But is it the best way to go about evaluation and decision making. No it isn't.
The same holds true with ERP software. When asked, leaders of many manufacturing companies I recently talked with tell me that their ERP software is "just okay." They know that it doesn't meet a majority of their needs but they aren't compelled enough to change. The reasons vary as infinitely as the companies themselves. For some, not changing is due to cash flow - or lack there of. For others, business is slowing down and committing to a new ERP system isn't a top priority. For a different group, the opposite is true; business is picking up speed again and now there is no time to put effort into a change. Still others feel the pain from their last ERP implementation many years ago and assume that doing nothing is simply easier than changing.
Whatever your reason is to settle for "just okay" think of this: in other aspects of your manufacturing facility is settling an option? If product rolled off your machines, conveyors, or assembly tables that was obviously flawed, would you still send them to your client? If an employee was consistently late or offered little value would you still employ them? The truth is we put more stock in the quality of our products and employees than we do in investing in the proper tools to assist in the process. ERP is one of those important tools that is often neglected and it shouldn't be.
ERP systems should make the job of running a manufacturing company easier by accurately meeting your business process and manufacturing needs. Your ERP system should allow you to do more with less! It should help identify areas within your processes where time and money can be saved. It should increase communication across all departments within the company. A great ERP should also automate information obtained from the shop floor and eliminate redundant data entry.
But it is more than just basic ERP functionality. An ERP system should also be able to provide relevant information to its users in a timely manner, with valid data. If a facility manager can't get information like "total down time and its main reason for the last 30 days" or "most profitable and least profitable produced part - based on actual costing - within the last 2 weeks" then the ERP system isn't doing enough for you. Your ERP system should tell you when tools/dies/machines are up for maintenance based on actual usage before they require repair, rather than after they fail. A good ERP system should be an enhancement to the manufacturing process, not a hindrance. By obtaining valuable and accurate information in a timely manner, ERP should help manufacturers produce better product because it identifies areas of improvement or success.
So, I invite you to take a few minutes and think about how your ERP system is helping your company and how it might help your become more competitive. Evaluate your ERP and ask is it "good enough" and then decide to demand great!
Want more information on how a great ERP can help your facility? Download our whitepaper "How The Small Get Mighty"
Posted by Liz Alflen on Mon, Apr 26, 2010 @ 09:45 AM
Advancements in ERP system technology provide us with tremendous visibility into our operations, and the 2.0 world is embracing transparency in all matters. Information is accessible about all aspects of our work and our lives: the scheduling of our manufacturing operations, the dimensions of the parts we make, the financial viability of our customers and suppliers, and details – personal as well as professional - about our employees and partners.
In HR we’re familiar with “don’t ask , don’t tell”: don’t ask if a candidate is married, don’t tell if an employee has a medical condition. Our ERP system provides access to the HR information we need: workforce (payroll and benefits) information, skills, training and certification; applicant tracking, job descriptions, work-related injury and illnesses. Social media (in the 2.0 world) has brought additional information about all our employees and applicants to our desktops, via any number of social and professional media sites.
We have visibility, but how much transparency is appropriate from an HR perspective?
HR professionals are hard-pressed to provide guidance on these topics. We have to consider:
- Employee media usage (do we want employees “tweeting” at work? how much so?
- Recruiting policies (to use or not to use information about candidates gained via the web?)
- Just what information can be told to the hiring managers (if it’s posted on the web, can we ask about it?)
Old rules don’t apply and new rules are vague; just a few months ago most pundits recommended great caution when doing an internet search for information about a candidate and to “not friend” employees. It was believed that information gleaned via these sources was unreliable, not intended for the HR audience, or subject to interpretation (an employee calls in to work “sick” and subsequently posts to their social media site that they are out and about).
A few years ago a hiring manager informed me that she had “Googled” a candidate and discarded this candidate based on the public information they had posted to their social media website. In another example, an executive was reviewing posts linked to the company name when he spotted a link to an employee who had posted information about a personal legal matter. It came up because the employee was linked to both the company name and the information they had posted, perhaps imprudently, about their legal problems. At the time, I cautioned both against sharing the fact that they had accessed this information at all.
Now, however, experts promote transparency, to accept this free-flowing of information and relationships as part of the new model, much like enterprise management systems allow visibility into every aspect of business operations. Participants (executives, employees, candidates) must be tacitly aware that information is available on a public forum, and they have a choice of whether to post information “publicly”, or more privately to “friends”. An individual can establish a “personal brand”, being personal and professional at the same time, allowing professional colleagues glimpses into a personal life, such as the music listened to or the books read, in order to build deeper relationships with business associates. According to Mitch Joel (“Six Pixels of Separation”), “the best connections are real and authentic”. In order to grow your business, “you are going to need a way to understand more about the individuals you are connecting to.” This philosophy promotes validity; participants are accountable for the information they post, about themselves, their company, and the products they represent. This requires a great deal of trust, diligence, and a degree of caution.
The growth of issues such as this in HR mirrors the growth of the enterprise-wide perspective. The more inclusive and integrated the perspective, the more all of our relationships promote ourselves as well as the enterprise.
What are your thoughts on this? Do you “friend” colleagues and business associates? Do you ever skip work and post on your social media that you went to the beach? On second thought, don’t answer that… Your HR manager doesn’t want to know.
Posted by Daniele Fresca on Thu, Apr 08, 2010 @ 06:41 AM
This is the year! You have decided you are going to evaluate your existing Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system or make the leap to buy a new one. Congratulations.
Now where do you begin? There are many tools available to help (internet sites, downloadable ERP questionaires, consultants) to evaluate and narrow the field of suitable suppliers. However, I would suggest that one of the best decisions will be to make "industry specific" a key determining factor in the overall evaluation.
In the first stages of vendor selection, often times immediate features, functions, databases, and cost are on the top of the list for review. They should be. But whether or not an ERP system is designed with your company business and manufacturing processes in mind should also be among your top criteria. Why? Because a highly effective ERP system cannot be eveything to everybody and still have the depth to meet the needs of specific industries. An ERP system that speaks the same language as your processes, your employees, and your business culture provide a competitive edge over ERP systems that don't. This criteria also gives you insight into what other companies in your industry are using their systems for. By this I mean that ERP systems that are industry specific have development driven by other companies in the same industry.
For example, in the medical industry does the ERP understand and handle complaint tracking? Do the ERP salespeople say "yes" because you can pick up the phone, take a complaint, and type it as a note somewhere in the software or is there a specific module for complaint tracking? What about the automotive industry? Does part of their electronic data interchange (EDI) process include any manual entry or is it completely automated? How about plastic injection molding? Does a family tool bill of material (BOM) require more than one BOM or more than one machine to schedule?
Industry specificity also translates to quicker ROI because implementation and training times are reduced. Choosing an ERP system that understands the industry you are part of makes it easier when comparing your needs to the software. The ability of a software to identify the subtle nuances associated to your industry make data transfer, data import, and the roadmap of implementation more concise. In addition, customer driven requirements that are inherent in your industry are known and therefore manufacturers don't have to hassle with "workarounds." Instead of modifying all the manufacturing processes to fit the software, it is simply the other way around.
So when you decide to evaluate whether your existing software fits your needs or an upcoming purchase, looking at industry specific ERP will give you a competitive edge.
Posted by Glenn Nowak on Tue, Mar 23, 2010 @ 07:59 AM
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ERP systems are the life blood of a company as they touch and affect the daily lives of so many of your employees and business processes. Why then do so many companies today make their ERP system software choice based on the type of database or the technology platform? Putting this criteria before their business requirements is, to me, like the tail wagging the dog.
Database preference is typically based on hype or misconception of how the ERP provider utilizes the tools of the database or unawareness of newer advancements to the capabilities of the underlying technologies. Oracle, for instance, has an outdated reputation for being hard to administer and requiring an expensive, full-time database administrator. That may have been true back in the late 1990s but not today. With newer releases, increased scalability, self-tuning capabilities and advanced features this fallacy is just not the case. IQMS, for instance, also embeds the Oracle database within our system. That means we take care of all the Oracle programming so our customers do not have administrators or DBAs.
Similarly, many companies will only look at ERP systems based on the AS-400 platform because that is what they have today. They do this because their ERP system searches are most often headed up by IT departments that may have a comfort level with this platform based existing or past experience. This is a good platform for some applications but it is not what the majority of the top ERP systems today operate on. Companies today should include systems that run on Microsoft or Linux platforms as you will have more choices and more focus on finding a system that meets your business needs. The cost and performance of these other systems and the servers they run on will be just as robust as the AS-400 but more importantly they typically cost much less, as most can run in a lights out environment.
When selecting an ERP system companies should do formative needs analysis and determine fit and functionality irrespective of database or platform utilized. I say this because, in reality, 99% of the actual system users will have no clue as to what database or platform the system runs on. What really is going to matter to the end users of the system is whether they can quickly, easily and accurately execute their transactions in the system. The most important factors for a manufacturing company should be critical needs such as whether inventories are accurate, whether shipments go out on time, are inventory turns where they should be, etc... And none of these is going to really have much to do with the underlying database technology.
Now I would agree that if all things are equal regarding the capabilities of the ERP system to meet the business needs of the organization then the make or break decision could be the database technology or the platform. However, this is a decision that should be made at the end of the process not at the beginning.
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