In our thirty years of software implementation experience, we have found that many people are suspicious of going through a new ERP, Warehouse Management System (WMS), or Supply Chain Software Implementation. Guess What? Software Implementations can be successful if the following criteria are met.
1.) Your company has a REAL need to purchase new software.
This means you are losing money with your current software. Several reasons include poor data integrity, absence of inter-departmental visibility, too many manual processes, missing software functionality, lack of real-time analysis capability, and outdated technology.
2.) Top department heads are involved.
Your company understands the need to improve operations with an integrated system, and top department heads are involved in the software decision process.
3.) A team takes “ownership” of the software solution.
A team should be created to not just “train” on the software but help set up the software in order to take “ownership” of the software solution. This team should be managed by a spearhead that requires full backing by top-level executives.
4.) All costs should be clearly defined.
Your software sales consultant should be forthright about what the specific package can and cannot do. All costs should be clearly defined so you can budget for the entire project.
No software application can meet 100% of your requirements, so an 80% match out of box is important and other items should be addressed with potential modifications or process changes. Resources on both the software vendor’s team and yours should be identified. You should not base your final purchasing decision on price alone. The vendor you select is equally important.
5.) Set implementation milestones based on your Go Live Date.
A clear implementation process should be set in place with milestones based on your Go Live Date. If any bottlenecks occur, they should be identified immediately and your management should work as a team with your vendor to aggressively get back on schedule whether it means to reassign tasks, work overtime or align human resources to complete the project. If the Go Live Date should change, a clear process should be set into place so the momentum is not lost.
6.) All users must be properly trained.
All end users of the software must be properly trained on the software application and must practice using the software. This means they need to go through all of the transactions that apply to their daily jobs. End Users will have a better attitude with a new system if they feel comfortable using it. This will negate negativity and promote production.
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