Management & Leadership: Two areas for a successful ERP project

The problems that can occur in an ERP project have already been explained here frequently and in many different ways. Rarely is it the software that causes a project to fail. Most of the time it is a wrong assumption or a poorly thought-out Project management, which are an obstacle to the desired success of the new system. No matter whether you want to introduce an ERP solution from scratch, or whether you want to change your Replace old software: Paying the right attention to the following two areas will lay the foundation for the success of your ERP project.

The key thing about the following areas is that you can ? indeed, should ? address them before you start the project. One is how you have structured the processes in your company so far and how you would like to structure them in the future. Both can be the same, but also very opposite.

What is already there?

This part refers to everything that concerns the management of your company. This is where everyone who knows how things work in your company can have their say. Which processes do they work, but where could they be improved? Which parts of processes have become established but are in danger of becoming obsolete in the next few years? Depending on the size of your company, you can get help from the individual departments in mapping this area. A holistic process analysis is an essential step for the next part.

Where are we going?

This part refers to the management ? and this time in the literal sense. The management should and must deal with where the journey is going. The view is directed outwards, or forward. In order to be the best in the dynamic market in the long term, it often takes more than a one-time change of course. The management must therefore at least have an idea of the direction to be taken and how to prepare the company for it and prevent it from capsizing. Before a ERP project you should therefore ask yourself the question: Where do you want to go? If you felt much more comfortable with the 'management' inventory, you should perhaps get help now. Often you need impulses from the outside (e.g. from a ERP consultant) that shows what is possible and what has proven successful for other companies in your sector.

It is rarely a question of reinventing the council. Especially not when it comes to structuring internal processes. Mostly, it is about reliability, transparency and changeability. However, how much and in what way these areas should be developed is up to your goals.

Both Together in the ERP Project

If you now combine both areas, it becomes apparent what kind of software you need. Often there are clear patterns that delineate this area. If you are, for example, a manufacturing company in whose process chain a design precedes and you notice that with your delivery times on the market are sagging. Then you need to find out where the production time can be shortened before delivery. Many industry softwarehow SAP Business Oneoffers manufacturing companies the opportunity to sustainably link process areas with each other. For example, in such a way that data from the design department can still be processed in production. This is necessary, for example, if a certain plant material is missing. Also the Warehousing can be managed much more sensibly this way, since a simple inventory can already be automated with the order. There are many more examples that show how the goal of "reducing delivery times" is linked to the most diverse process chains and that an integration of the delivery logistics improves the situation, but does not solve it in the long term.