Don’t play safe : Choose

I would like to give this suggestion for anyone going in for a new ERP. First it is ofcourse fine to look at companies that are in similar industry and/or have very similar processes for example steel extrusion and flat rolling. Look at your competitors and others in the region of similar size, to see what they are using. Consider the very important factors of support and experience of the implementation consultants that are available to you.

I have been involved in ERP and supply chain deployments and am very aware of the need to have good experienced people available to assist you in your project. Many companies will shortlist to Oracle and SAP simply because they are safe choices. By 'safe' I mean they are politically safe for the people doing the choosing. For Oracle there are several choices of system, and with SAP there is a whole lot of choices as well and they have their brand. I respectfully suggest that you broaden your scope and look at companies that have long experience of supplying to steel industry. I am not for or against these big players in the market but, I suggest you should look at options, verticals, before you consider.

So, dont overlook the offerings from local suppliers / vendors as there is a chance they may have something suitable for part, if not all, of your operations. Again by talking to the local vendor, I mean within India, and the local vendor may have clients whom you can check upon. These may offer better value for money, and lower risk options, than big name solutions.

Finally, I believe that a successful ERP implementation come from the following factors,

1. The right political environment inside the company;
2. Know your business needs clearly and set a clear goal and budget;
3. The right implementation consulting partner;
4. The right ERP application;
5. Qualified Project Manager both from customer and consulting firms.

Thanks for the time.

Author: Goodguy