A business doesn’t stop taking orders just because it’s switching ERP systems.
The warehouse still has to ship today’s orders. Purchasing still has suppliers to chase. Customers keep calling to ask where their stock is, and finance has invoices to clear before month-end.
And on top of all that, the team now has a new system to get ready for.
This is where difficulties arise in the process of implementing ERP system. People are required to support the change while they continue with their usual work. If nobody has time to make decisions, verify data or test the new system, even the best-planned project fails.
Time is crucial, but not if obtaining it will lead to inaccuracy. The true problem is how to implement the new solution as smoothly as possible without disrupting the work of the company.
Why ERP Implementation Starts Falling Behind
Most delays don’t come from one big problem. They pile up from small issues that nobody picked up early enough.
A product list requires removing errors, but the owner has a heavy workload. A department has queries regarding its new process, but the representative who can assist is not available. It is also common for team members to require some more reports, which leads them to spend a lot of time debating the issue even before the task at hand is started.
One delay triggers another.
Companies working with inventory feel this pain the hardest. The warehouse cannot suspend its incoming and outgoing operations until the project is complete. The team needs to figure out how to do both tasks at once.
Therefore, the first thing to do is to consider how implementation can be accommodated into daily operations rather than seeing it as an independent project that needs to be somehow fitted into the rest of the work.
Work Out What Must Be Ready First
When you’re choosing a new ERP system, it’s easy to start listing every improvement the business has ever wanted. New reports, a different approval process, a better way of handling certain orders.
Those may all be worth doing. But do they all need to be ready on day one?
Start with the work the business can’t run without. A distributor, for instance, needs to enter sales orders, check stock, buy products, receive deliveries and ship orders. Finance needs to know how transactions will be recorded.
Write those requirements down and agree on what a successful first day looks like.
Anything that isn’t essential to running the business can be looked at separately, later. That gives the team something concrete to aim for, and it stops the project from growing every time someone thinks of one more feature they’d like.
Don’t Leave Data Cleanup Until the Last Minute
Talk to anyone who has worked with inventory records and they’ll have a story. A product code that doesn’t match, a supplier record from years ago, stock quantities nobody fully trusts.
These problems are easy to live with until the data has to move into a new ERP system. Then they’re hard to ignore.
Before headquarters’ complex migration process starts, it is absolutely essential for businesses to perform some data review. From the names of products, codes, suppliers, and customers to inventory balance businesses need to examine the records thoroughly.
If the same product happens to have two different codes, the team needs to find out why this situation came about instead of simply transferring the records as they are. Otherwise, there are high chances that team members will have to deal with the same problems immediately after launching the system.
While this procedure takes up time, postponing it means additional work to do.
Make Sure Someone Can Make the Decisions
A project can have a detailed plan and still stall if every small decision has to wait for a meeting.
Say the purchasing team needs to confirm how supplier information should be handled. Finance has a separate question about its workflow. Both questions are sitting with the same manager, who has plenty of other things to deal with.
Nobody has done anything wrong, and yet the work isn’t moving.
It’s critical to assign a specific person to be in charge of the project. It’s also of the utmost importance to create a clear distribution of decision-making power. In other words, every employee should know whom to refer to at critical moments, while making any decisions.
You shouldn’t assume that it is the same thing as making hasty decisions or excluding major personalities from the process. What it means is having a clear picture of who should and shouldn’t be involved and not allowing any important questions to hang in the air for several days.
Test the Work, Not Just the Screens
A screen can look perfect in a demo, and that still doesn’t tell you whether the process behind it will work the way your business needs it to.
Before go-live, run everyday situations through the system from start to finish.
Take a sales order. Can the team enter it correctly? Does it move through the fulfillment steps it should? Does the inventory update the way you’d expect? Can finance review the related transaction?
Do the same for purchasing and receiving, and include the situations that come up often in your business, such as partial deliveries or changes to an order.
These tests usually raise questions nobody thought of during the initial setup. That’s a good thing. It’s far better to find an issue while the team is still preparing than while a customer is waiting on an order.
Give Employees Time to Get Used to the New System
The people who use the ERP every day are usually the ones who feel the change most.
Someone who has run purchasing out of spreadsheets for years will need time to learn a new way of working. A warehouse employee may have questions about how stock movements should be recorded. The finance team needs to understand how its regular tasks will change.
Do not wait until go-live to tell them about all of this.
Train them on how the new workflows will impact their own jobs and allow them to ask questions. Training should focus on what each person will do, not what they won’t be doing.
Deciding in advance who employees can go to when something doesn’t work as expected also helps in the transition. Issues will arise once the system is live, and knowing where to seek help is what makes the transition much easier.
Keeping the Business Running During the Change
There’s one practical issue that deserves attention: your team still has its regular workload.
If the same people are handling daily operations and the implementation, they need time for both. Having unrealistic expectations that your team can complete a full day of work and also be responsible for ongoing implementation tasks will contribute to putting the project under pressure.
Before assigning deadlines, review the work of your team. Assign duties for data preparation, testing, training, and approvals. Schedule project work for times when your organization is less busy.
You may also want to determine your order processing, inventory update, and other transactions systems while making the transition to the new system. The method you choose will be based on what works well in your organization and the project scope.
The point is simple. Plan for the work that has to happen while the system is changing, not only for the date you’re hoping to finish by.
How Versa Cloud ERP Approaches Implementation
Versa Cloud ERP solutions allow companies to choose their approach or the extent of involvement in the implementation process.
With Guided implementation, the customer’s team will be in charge but will rely on Versa’s experience and assistance throughout the implementation process. This option is suitable for firms that have specialists ready to devote enough time to the project and able to cope with the implementation process.
In case customer’s team has shortage of time or they prefer more assistance in the implementation process, the Traditional implementation will be their choice as most of the implementation work will be done by Versa.
Both methods of implementation include a systemized process covering the understanding of the client’s business, implementation planning, configuration, migration of data, educations and testing, start-up and stabilization.
According to Versa, the implementation can be done within a period starting from 4-8 weeks depending on the complexity of the execution stage, scope of the project and time of availability of the client’s employees available for the project implementation. The actual timeline will depend on your business and what it needs.
You can look at the available approaches on the Versa Cloud ERP fast implementation page.
Before You Agree to an Implementation Plan
A proposed go-live date is useful, but it doesn’t tell you everything you need to know.
Before you choose an ERP vendor, ask a few practical questions:
- What will the vendor handle, and what will our team need to do?
- Who is responsible for preparing and checking the data?
- How will our workflows, integrations and reporting needs be handled?
- When will employees receive training?
- How will we test the system before go-live?
- What support will be available after the switch?
The answers will give you a clearer picture of the work involved and help you decide whether the proposed plan actually fits your business.
A Few Questions Worth Asking
What usually delays ERP implementation?
Delayed scheduling can occur due to the presence of vague specifications, improper data processing, sluggish decision-making, excessive customization, and the lack of personnel availability. The earlier you can detect these problems, the more effectively you may solve them.
How can a business accelerate the implementation of the ERP?
Start with the requirements that really count, prepare the necessary data in advance, designate a decision-making authority, and test the actual business processes. Also, it is important to ensure that the employees have enough time to participate in the process instead of working on the tasks that are added to the list of already occupied duties.
Why is change management vital during ERP implementation?
A new system means that people will perform their duties in a different way. Thus, it is necessary that they understand the new functioning and feel self-confident.
How long does Versa Cloud ERP implementation period last?
Versa claims that a company can start operating very quickly, in approximately 4 to 8 weeks’ time.
Planning Your Next ERP Move?
Before you commit to a new system, take a close look at how implementation will fit around your team’s daily work.
Explore Versa Cloud ERP’s fast implementation approach to see the available options and decide which one may suit your business.
