What is the role of an ERP consultant?
As a manufacturer or distributor, you face a difficult enough task, just running your company. Enterprise technology consultants like Ultra Consultants’ ERP consultant team can deliver value to your organization by helping with the selection and implementation of ERP systems.
"ERP consultants play a critical role in helping businesses of all sizes get the most out of their ERP investments. They can help businesses select the right ERP system, implement it successfully, and optimize it for their specific needs."
An ERP Consultant is an Expert Who Assists Organizations in:
- Managing the ERP project
- Revealing opportunities for BPI
- Selecting an ERP system
- Negotiating the contract
- Implementing the ERP solution
- Training the stakeholders
- Evaluating the results
- Ensuring value realization
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software runs functions related to business process management—the backbone of resource planning decisions in most businesses, and is considered indispensable by major manufacturers and distributors looking to complete digital transformations. However, most organizations have little to no experience with the rigors of ERP selection and implementation.
In fact, it’s highly unlikely anyone on the project team has experience leading a comprehensive evaluation and selection project, and a poorly managed selection process or poorly executed ERP implementation can lead to significant time delays and financial losses for a company. Therefore, organizations reach out to expert consultants for help navigating the journey. So…what is an ERP consultant, and what does an ERP consultant do?
Five Guidelines for Choosing the Right ERP Consultant
Ultra's experts compiled five guidelines for choosing the right ERP consulting team for an efficient and effective ERP project.
Typical ERP Consultant pay scale
What is an ERP Consultant?
An Enterprise Resource Planning consultant is a professional who specializes in selecting, implementing, configuring and customizing business process management software for businesses. A consultant’s experience and technical skills helps them propose solutions to your company’s technical teams as they define system requirements and oversee solutions. A consultant’s expertise can enable them to assist in providing technical support or another ERP related critical skill. But an ERP consultant is primarily responsible to manage the digital transformation of your company, from the current system to the subsequent integration of an end-to-end solution—a complete solution, including user training and support.
What Does an ERP Consultant Do?
The Role of an ERP Consultant: The Place to Start
Requirements Gathering
One of the primary reasons to engage an ERP functional consultant is to help with gathering business requirements for the project. This involves a thorough business analysis understanding your business operations, identifying the pain points and determining your requirements for an ERP platform.
Knowledgeable Enterprise Resource Planning professionals have the necessary communication skills to ask the right questions, gather the necessary data and provide valuable insights that help your organization select the most appropriate ERP platform for your needs. Without proper requirements gathering, your business risks selecting a system that doesn’t align with your particular company needs, resulting in poor user adoption and reduced ROI.
System Selection
Selecting an ERP platform is a significant investment for any company, and making an inadequate choice needing extensive customization can be costly. A consultant can help you select the most appropriate ERP platform based on your needs, budget and long-term goals. They provide valuable insights on various ERP systems’ features, functionalities and capabilities and help your business focus, evaluate and compare them to determine the best fit.
Customization
Every business is unique, and their ERP platform should address its challenges. A consultant helps your business customize your selected ERP platform to meet your specific needs and requirements. This includes configuring the system, developing custom workflows and integrating the system with your existing infrastructure and technology. This ensures that your ERP platform best aligns with your company’s operations to achieve improved productivity and efficiency.
Implementation
ERP implementation can be a complex and time-consuming process, particularly for businesses with limited IT resources. An ERP consultant helps your business manage the implementation process from start to finish, ensuring that the system is deployed seamlessly and with minimal disruptions to business processes and business operations. This includes data migration, system configuration, testing and deployment.
By partnering with a consultant, your business ensures that its ERP platform is deployed on time, within budget and with minimal operational downtime.
Training and Support
An ERP platform is only as good as the people who use it. Therefore, providing your staff with comprehensive training and ongoing support is essential to ensure that your business gets the most out of its ERP platform. A consultant provides technical training on the ERP system’s functionalities and educates the staff on the company’s improved processes. These consultants also provide ongoing technical support and maintenance to ensure that the system is running smoothly and efficiently.
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5 Guidelines For Choosing An ERP Consultant
We’ve compiled five guidelines for choosing the right ERP consulting team for an efficient and effective ERP project.
The best consultants have expertise in everything from project management, business process mapping, change management and risk management, to a full understanding of modern enterprise technology and the vendor landscape.
Consider the following guidelines when selecting an ERP consultant:
- Assess internal resources
- Ensure the consultant knows your industry
- Confirm the consultant knows today’s ERPs
- Verify the selection methodology focuses on BPI
- Consider the consultant’s fit with your company
Guideline 1: Assess Internal Resources
As we noted previously, your IT department and executive team may have limited experience managing selection and implementation projects. Moreover, they may not have the time or sophisticated project management skills required for such an ambitious project.
Ideally, your ERP selection team should have extensive knowledge and experience with multiple vendors, their products and their sales and support organizations. Additionally, even if you have a dedicated procurement team, specialized skills and knowledge are needed regarding ERP vendor selection and contract negotiation.
Guideline 2: Ensure the ERP Consultant Knows Your Industry
Focus on finding a consulting firm with decades of experience in ERP and business best practices for your company’s specific industry, size of business and type of manufacturing processes. Ask the consultants for references of similar organizations to yours and demonstrate the results they were able to achieve from the ERP implementation. Also ask if the selection consultant understands issues specific to your industry, including any compliance considerations, quality mandates, customer requirements and other considerations.
Manufacturers and distributors face specific challenges and sub-verticals wrestle with unique needs. We have decades of experience helping industries including Metal Fabrication, Food & Beverage, Distribution, Industrial Equipment Manufacturing, Medical, Pharmaceutical and more.
Guideline 3: Confirm the ERP Consultant Knows Modern ERP Systems
Partner with a consultant who is “vendor neutral” for the best outcome. Many consultants position themselves as independent yet have strong ties to certain vendors, so take the time to confirm these claims.
Modern ERP solutions offer sophisticated configuration tools, robust reporting and business intelligence, workflow engines and other advanced features— with many targeted to your specific industry. Confirm that the consultant understands these capabilities. Recent customers can give a clear picture of the value the consultant can provide.
Guideline 4: Verify the Selection Methodology Focuses on BPI
Look for an ERP consulting firm that specializes in driving results. The consultant should see an ERP project as a platform for continuous improvement, helping achieve key business outcomes such as improved customer service, reduced lead time, improved quality, reduced asset turns, higher productivity and improved decision-making.
High achieving manufacturers have found that a “business process” evaluation methodology is a crucial factor in evaluating ERP vendors. It’s only after looking closely at the business processes that the team can identify the vendors that best meet your company’s requirements.
Guideline 5: Consider the ERP Consultant’s Fit With Your Company
Ensure that your internal project team and other members of your organization have a good connection with the selection consulting team. Also, ensure that the selection consultant isn’t so focused on technology implementation that they miss the primary opportunity to implement business process improvements. To do this, spend as much time as possible with the potential ERP selection consultants, and have them interact with the company’s team and leadership.
An ERP Consultant Helps Companies Select, Implement and Use ERP Systems Effectively
Working alongside your company to understand your specific needs, a consultant coaches you in available software and related technology solutions and then ensures that your chosen ERP system is configured to meet those needs. The consultant also coordinates user training for key stakeholders on how to use the system, troubleshooting issues that arise by ensuring vendors deliver on contractual obligations. In short, an ERP consultant works by guiding your company to get the best possible ERP system—a system that operates smoothly and efficiently to accomplish the goals of your organization.
Driving Value—the Best ERP Consultants
The Role of an ERP Consultant: The Place to Start
When considering the role of an ERP consultant, the place to start is business process transformation. When the focus is business process transformation and not solely technology needing computer science experts, the project team has a better chance of conducting an effective technology evaluation that is designed to meet future state needs.
Before any discussion of ERP vendors or system features, it’s a best practice to put into action a proven business process improvement (BPI) methodology. Ultra’s BPI methodology includes the following phases:
Current State: For true business process transformation, an ERP consultant guides project teams to start with a current state analysis that involves in-depth discovery activities to identify current business processes in all functional areas. This entails a comprehensive review of current “As Is” processes, collecting all the business process improvement opportunities (“pain points”) that cut across each functional area of the enterprise.
Education: Taking the time for a thorough education of all those involved in the project is critical for the project team to be well versed in ERP concepts and industry best practices. This is a key area led by the ERP consultant.
Future State: The next step is ERP requirements definition, to identify criteria a new enterprise software should address, which is determined through a thorough future state mapping. The future state is a development of the “To Be” state, with standardized processes across all functional areas that meet the opportunities or “pain points” revealed in the Current State analysis.
Moving to Evaluation, Selection: After the Future State analysis, and building out the specific list of requirements, the focus of the consultant turns to evaluation of the technology products from the enterprise software vendors that best serve the industry and align with business requirements. Enterprise software selection is surprisingly complex, involving a comprehensive review of the findings from current state and future state analysis.
What Makes a Great ERP Consultant? They Save You Time, Resources and Costs
Saves Time
Saves time—because the company workforce don’t waste time trying to figure out next steps. An internal project manager is typically inexperienced in company-wide initiatives, which puts the entire project at risk. With an experienced ERP project manager at the helm, companies aren’t left in reactionary mode, letting vendors dictate the process and guessing at what process works best to evaluate the myriad of vendors and custom solutions. A consultant with dozens of ERP projects under their belt knows the best path forward, knows the issues to watch for and knows which factors can accelerate the process when done correctly.
Saves Resources
Saves resources—because employees only take necessary time on ERP projects, keeping the daily flow of business. Experienced consultants understand prioritization of human resources, including when it is best to involve relevant company management and when it isn’t necessary. This way, key members of the ERP selection team can focus more of their time on effectively running the entire company and less on wasted hours on project development, where their involvement isn’t critical.
Saves Costs
Saves costs—because an ERP consultant manages negotiations and contract issues. Regardless of a company’s strength in purchase negotiations, having an expert team of negotiators who deeply understand the financial aspect of the ERP landscape is one of the primary areas where money is saved in ERP projects. An experienced ERP consultant’s primary goal is to know every option, add-on and customization available for your particular vertical and will know how to best build in scalable flexibility without additional costs and penalties.
Many ERP software contracts can be structured to allow for growth by adding authorized users as needed and the ability to turn on additional functionality when the company grows into the need. By limiting up-front costs and customization expenses, a good ERP consultant ensures cash-flow is retained and better ROI is achieved.
Understands Change Management
Understands change management—because change is tough for any person, any organization, no matter the size or scope of the project. Change management is not just a phase. Instead, change management must be woven into the fabric of methodology and built into the project plan. That is why at Ultra we always include a robust change management strategy as part of any digital transformation journey.
Our experts have found that the selection process and the Implementation of enterprise software fare better when key stakeholders have been guided throughout the process. Being mindful of change management techniques and best practices—such as executive buy-in, phased adoption and focus groups—leads to better outcomes and reduced resistance.
Mitigates Potential Issues
Mitigates potential issues—because experience says that issues will arise. A good ERP consultant understands that nothing is guaranteed to go exactly according to plan. However, experience brings wisdom about solutions to the disruptions and unforeseen issues. Knowing the potential problems keeps the key stakeholders vigilant, which reduces the unforeseen costs associated with disruptions. This in turn keeps the project moving along smoothly, on time and on budget.
Decreases Time-To-Value
Decreases time-to-value—because an on-time project is far more likely to also be on-budget. Great ERP consultants have a deep understanding of enterprise technology and how it best operates within a manufacturing or distribution company. This wide industry-centric knowledge enables them to quickly transition from legacy systems and work-arounds to a robust, seamless integration without any delays.
What Does an ERP Consultant Do—Final Thoughts
Independent ERP consultants—those with no financial ties to any ERP vendor—are an invaluable resource with a wide range of experiences and a deep understanding of how these systems work. They will be able to configure Enterprise Resource Planning Systems to meet your company’s specific needs, and they can provide valuable insights into how your company can improve its overall operations by using an ERP system. Plus, they can offer guidance on which features of an ERP system will be most beneficial and how best to implement ERP systems. ERP consultants act as trusted advisors to companies who are looking to get the most out of their investment in an ERP solution, providing the best user training solutions to use the system properly with minimal disruptions to core business activities.
Don’t let your organization attempt these projects alone. The average company ends up spending 2x–4x their budget and timeline when attempting an ERP project on their own. Ultra ensures that a robust plan is in place and drives the project toward an efficient and effective execution of the plan. Our ERP consultants provide templates, know the systems and vendors and deeply understand process best practices. That’s how we typically save our clients over a month from selection through ERP implementation and an average of $160,000 over the lifecycle of the ERP solution.
So, what can an independent ERP consultant offer? The role of an ERP consultant makes the process go a lot smoother, accelerates time to value, helps with mitigating project risks and provides the organization with much needed ongoing management and support.
1. Tailored Solutions:
One of the key advantages Ultra Consultants brings as an independent ERP consultant is our ability to provide tailored solutions specific to your business needs. We understand that every organization is unique, with different processes, goals, and challenges. By conducting a thorough analysis of your current systems and workflows, Ultra’s ERP consultants can create a customized solution that aligns with your business objectives.
2. Expertise and Experience:
An independent ERP consultant is not your average IT guy or gal. They are professionals with specialized knowledge and hands-on experience in implementing ERP systems across various industries. With our deep understanding of different ERP platforms, you can tap into our expertise to choose the most suitable software for your organization. Our consultants have seen it all, from successful implementations to potential pitfalls, enabling us to guide you through the process smoothly and efficiently.
3. Cost Savings:
Hiring Ultra’s independent ERP consultant team can actually save you money in the long run. Implementing an ERP system involves significant investments, from software licenses to hardware upgrades and training costs. Ultra can help you make informed decisions, ensuring that you invest in what matters most and avoid unnecessary expenses. Moreover, by streamlining your processes and improving efficiency, an ERP system can help reduce operational costs and increase your bottom line.
4. Change Management and Training:
Implementing an ERP system is not just about installing fancy software; it’s about managing change within your organization. This includes training your employees, getting them onboard with the new processes, and addressing any resistance to change. Ultra’s independent ERP consultants can act as change management experts, guiding you through this transitional phase. We can develop training programs, facilitate workshops, and provide ongoing support to ensure a smooth transition and maximum adoption of the new system.
5. Ongoing Support:
Once your ERP system is up and running, you might encounter unforeseen challenges or require additional features as your business evolves. An independent ERP consultant from Ultra Consultants can continue to provide ongoing support, acting as a trusted advisor. We can help you optimize your system, integrate new modules, and keep up with the latest industry trends, ensuring that your ERP system remains a valuable asset for years to come.
Ultra Consultants’ independent ERP consultants can provide end-to-end technical support, project development, system analysis and data migration services to ensure a successful ERP implementation. Are you in need of ERP consulting services? Are you ready to see what an ERP consultant can do for your organization? Call or set up a free 30-minute discovery call with one of our ERP consultants today.
What is the role of an ERP consultant?
As a manufacturer or distributor, you face a difficult enough task, just running your company. Enterprise technology consultants like Ultra Consultants’ independent ERP consultant team can deliver value to your organization by helping with the selection and implementation of ERP systems.
What does an ERP consultant do?
The Role of an ERP Consultant: The Place to Start
Requirements Gathering
One of the primary reasons to engage an ERP functional consultant is to help with gathering business requirements for the project. This involves a thorough business analysis understanding your business operations, identifying the pain points and determining your requirements for an ERP platform.
Knowledgeable Enterprise Resource Planning professionals have the necessary communication skills to ask the right questions, gather the necessary data and provide valuable insights that help your organization select the most appropriate ERP platform for your needs. Without proper requirements gathering, your business risks selecting a system that doesn’t align with your particular company needs, resulting in poor user adoption and reduced ROI.
System Selection
Selecting an ERP platform is a significant investment for any company, and making an inadequate choice needing extensive customization can be costly. A consultant can help you select the most appropriate ERP platform based on your needs, budget and long-term goals. They provide valuable insights on various ERP systems’ features, functionalities and capabilities and help your business focus, evaluate and compare them to determine the best fit.
Customization
Every business is unique, and their ERP platform should address its challenges. A consultant helps your business customize your selected ERP platform to meet your specific needs and requirements. This includes configuring the system, developing custom workflows and integrating the system with your existing infrastructure and technology. This ensures that your ERP platform best aligns with your company’s operations to achieve improved productivity and efficiency.
Implementation
ERP implementation can be a complex and time-consuming process, particularly for businesses with limited IT resources. An ERP consultant helps your business manage the implementation process from start to finish, ensuring that the system is deployed seamlessly and with minimal disruptions to business processes and business operations. This includes data migration, system configuration, testing and deployment.
By partnering with a consultant, your business ensures that its ERP platform is deployed on time, within budget and with minimal operational downtime.
Training and Support
An ERP platform is only as good as the people who use it. Therefore, providing your staff with comprehensive training and ongoing support is essential to ensure that your business gets the most out of its ERP platform. A consultant provides technical training on the ERP system’s functionalities and educates the staff on the company’s improved processes. These consultants also provide ongoing technical support and maintenance to ensure that the system is running smoothly and efficiently.
What Makes a great ERP consultant? They save you time, resources and costs
Saves Time
Saves time—because the company workforce don’t waste time trying to figure out next steps. An internal project manager is typically inexperienced in company-wide initiatives, which puts the entire project at risk. With an experienced ERP project manager at the helm, companies aren’t left in reactionary mode, letting vendors dictate the process and guessing at what process works best to evaluate the myriad of vendors and custom solutions. A consultant with dozens of ERP projects under their belt knows the best path forward, knows the issues to watch for and knows which factors can accelerate the process when done correctly.
Saves Resources
Saves resources—because employees only take necessary time on ERP projects, keeping the daily flow of business. Experienced consultants understand prioritization of human resources, including when it is best to involve relevant company management and when it isn’t necessary. This way, key members of the ERP selection team can focus more of their time on effectively running the entire company and less on wasted hours on project development, where their involvement isn’t critical.
Saves Costs
Saves costs—because an ERP consultant manages negotiations and contract issues. Regardless of a company’s strength in purchase negotiations, having an expert team of negotiators who deeply understand the financial aspect of the ERP landscape is one of the primary areas where money is saved in ERP projects. An experienced ERP consultant’s primary goal is to know every option, add-on and customization available for your particular vertical and will know how to best build in scalable flexibility without additional costs and penalties.
Many ERP software contracts can be structured to allow for growth by adding authorized users as needed and the ability to turn on additional functionality when the company grows into the need. By limiting up-front costs and customization expenses, a good ERP consultant ensures cash-flow is retained and better ROI is achieved.
Understands Change Management
Understands change management—because change is tough for any person, any organization, no matter the size or scope of the project. Change management is not just a phase. Instead, change management must be woven into the fabric of methodology and built into the project plan. That is why at Ultra we always include a robust change management strategy as part of any digital transformation journey.
Our experts have found that the selection process and the Implementation of enterprise software fare better when key stakeholders have been guided throughout the process. Being mindful of change management techniques and best practices—such as executive buy-in, phased adoption and focus groups—leads to better outcomes and reduced resistance.
Mitigates Potential Issues
Mitigates potential issues—because experience says that issues will arise. A good ERP consultant understands that nothing is guaranteed to go exactly according to plan. However, experience brings wisdom about solutions to the disruptions and unforeseen issues. Knowing the potential problems keeps the key stakeholders vigilant, which reduces the unforeseen costs associated with disruptions. This in turn keeps the project moving along smoothly, on time and on budget.
Decreases Time-To-Value
Decreases time-to-value—because an on-time project is far more likely to also be on-budget. Great ERP consultants have a deep understanding of enterprise technology and how it best operates within a manufacturing or distribution company. This wide industry-centric knowledge enables them to quickly transition from legacy systems and work-arounds to a robust, seamless integration without any delays.
What should businesses consider when choosing an ERP consultant?
Businesses should consider the consultant’s industry knowledge, understanding of modern ERP systems, focus on business process improvement (BPI), and compatibility with the company’s culture and needs. It’s important to assess the consultant’s experience, verify their vendor neutrality, and ensure they have a methodology that aligns with the organization’s objectives and processes.
How does an ERP consultant contribute to cost savings in an ERP project?
An ERP consultant contributes to cost savings by helping businesses make informed decisions that prevent unnecessary expenses. Their expertise in system selection, process optimization, and efficient implementation can reduce operational costs, increase efficiency, and improve return on investment. They also manage negotiations and contracts, ensuring financial benefits.
What are some key functions an ERP consultant performs during an ERP project?
Key functions of an ERP consultant include requirements gathering, system selection, customization, implementation, and training and support. They help in identifying business needs, selecting appropriate ERP systems, customizing the system to fit specific business requirements, managing the implementation process, and providing comprehensive training and ongoing support to staff.
