From ERP Evaluation to Go-Live: Can You Get The Best Outcome from Your ERP Project?

From ERP evaluation to go-live and beyond, a core principle here at Ultra Consulting is to be the best and do what it takes to deliver significant value to the mid-market manufacturers and distributors we serve.

Ultra’s clients are on a journey to transform a legacy system to a modern ERP system. Everyone’s objective is to eliminate the problems they are encountering with the old ERP system. To that end, it’s our mission to offer the best value to our clients, so they can overcome common challenges such as:

• Difficult and time consuming process to access timely information
• Cumbersome business processes that require manual communication, overuse of Excel, paper-based reporting
• Islands of information where data is not integrated
• Processes that need multiple versions of data, cumbersome work-arounds

For those manufacturers experiencing these challenges, everything is harder, takes longer and costs more than it should. Productivity is down, decisions are difficult and monumental efforts are needed to put out a fire.

That’s why smart manufacturers look to Ultra to drive results for their organization. Manufacturers team with us because we see an ERP project as a platform for continuous improvement, helping teams achieve key business outcomes such as improved customer service, reduced lead time, improved quality, reduced asset turns, higher productivity and improved, more timely decision making.

The Best ERP Outcomes

Ultra recently conducted a team discussion about what it means to “be the best” and offer value to manufacturing and distributing companies.

It’s part of our corporate culture to keep the focus on delivering value to our clients. These discussions center on how consultants can best serve as a strategic partner that adds value during a client engagement. We thought we’d share a few of our consultant’s insights here:

• Dennis Gilhooley, Jr., Ultra’s Senior Manager, offered his perspective on being the best: “During a client engagement, we find that to “be the best” the focus is on teamwork and collaboration. As independent ERP experts, we’re uniquely positioned to come into a project with the ability to add specific expertise in areas the client team needs the most – whether in project management, change management, business intelligence or other areas. Our job is to make the team stronger, and guide them to work smarter and more effectively to evaluate and select technology that satisfies their specific requirements.”

• Marty Moor, Senior Consultant, offered his insights: “It’s clear that clients gain value through Ultra’s structured approach to ERP selection methodology. Value is “built-in” through a detailed set of tasks and activities that focus on the current state of processes, and how the right technology can enhance a “future state” of improved processes.   With a structured selection method, the manufacturer sees what’s possible, the ERP vendor truly understands the company’s requirements, and the process builds a foundation of information, education, and documentation that increases the project’s success.”

• Steve Goldberg, Ultra’s Senior Manager, shared the following insights: “We often think about what it takes to “Be the Best” — but when phrased another way to reflect the perspective of our manufacturing clients, what we really seek to do is deliver the best outcome from an ERP evaluation and selection project.   We see “Being the Best” as truly understanding each client’s unique business context, not just pain points. We take the time to fully grasp our clients’ challenges and corporate culture, as well as theiroptimal pace of change; i.e., in their transformation journey, how far and how fast can and should they go — reflecting both business goals and realities.”

Final Thoughts

From ERP comparison to go live, we well know that an ERP project is one of the most critical, strategic and resource-intensive initiatives a midmarket company will face. That’s why our team of independent ERP consultants is passionate about being the best, and doing what it takes to guide each client to a successful outcome.

Whether it’s technology evaluation/selection, implementation management, organization change management, business intelligence, or other engagement, companies benefit from our proven methodology that optimizes team efficiency, and reduces time to benefit.

To learn more, check out Ultra’s library of ERP success stories that highlight successful ERP evaluation and selection projects.

I also invite you to contact us to see how to get the best outcome from your ERP project.