Tips

Tips

• MRP vs. ERP: Understanding the difference

  Did you know today's ERP systems evolved from yesterday's MRP systems? Learn the differences between MRP and ERP, including their functions, applications and benefits.  Continue Reading

• 8 tips for a successful ERP upgrade project

  Follow this expert advice to avoid surprises such as data mapping hassles and scope creep and ensure that the new ERP system is a change for the better.  Continue Reading

• 5 supply chain management tips for 2021

  Understanding recent forecasts and events -- such as difficulties in the COVID-19 vaccine supply chain -- can help you create more effective supply chain management in 2021.  Continue Reading

• RACI matrix for project management success, with example

  A lack of clarity around roles and responsibilities is a common cause of project failure. A RACI matrix can help project managers address this issue.  Continue Reading

• EAM vs. CMMS: What are the differences?

  When it comes to EAM vs. CMMS, making the right choice comes down to understanding what each software type does. Here's an overview of each to help you decide.  Continue Reading

• 10 cloud ERP implementation challenges during COVID-19

  A new cloud ERP system can help your company create digital transformation and find new opportunities. But first, you must address implementation challenges.  Continue Reading

• Remote ERP implementation: 10 project management essentials

  Implementing ERP remotely can be challenging because for many IT teams it's new territory. Here are ways to make it easier.  Continue Reading

• Supply chain recovery post-COVID-19: Risk, disruption and tech

  The coronavirus pandemic exposed the fragility of global supply chains and leaders must turn their attention to boosting resiliency. Here's how to start.  Continue Reading

• Should COVID-19 halt your ERP implementation? 12 questions

  The COVID-19 pandemic is casting doubt on whether ERP and enterprise business applications projects should move forward. Here's help on deciding.  Continue Reading

• Pros and cons of non-RFP vs. RFP procurement process

  The decision to use an RFP procurement process or skip it rests on each companies' unique needs. Understand how each method works and why each has its own pros and cons.  Continue Reading

• Essentials of EDI in supply chain management

  Electronic data interchange (EDI) applies to many different business aspects. Learn three ways EDI has streamlined supply chain management.  Continue Reading

• ERP integration strategy: 3 common approaches

  Integrating ERP with other business systems is critical to ensuring organizations are able to access data and streamline processes. Here are three approaches that can help ensure success.  Continue Reading

• Top 8 ERP implementation best practices to prevent failure

  Deploying a new ERP system is a risky endeavor, and danger lurks at every turn. Learn how to lower the risk of failure with these eight tried-and-true best practices.  Continue Reading

• 3 emerging technologies changing the finance department

  Learn how three different ERP technologies -- cloud ERP, AI and robotic process automation -- are changing the world of finance.  Continue Reading

• How to choose the right ERP project team: 5 secrets to success

  Without the right people on your ERP project team, your implementation is doomed to fail. Here's how you should structure roles and responsibilities.  Continue Reading

• Hybrid ERP considerations: Choosing on-premises vs. cloud

  Deciding what to run where requires balancing business processes and strategic goals with infrastructure options. Several experts share advice on how to approach the problem.  Continue Reading

• ERP support now calls for skills in cloud services, products

  The gradual shift from on-premises to cloud ERP makes the old emphasis on IT infrastructure less relevant and the ability to piece together cloud products more important.  Continue Reading

• Cloud broadens scope of ERP support to focus more on users

  A truly modern ERP support strategy must consider the needs of both internal and external users and ERP's expanded role in the employer and customer experience.  Continue Reading

• 6 supply chain management tips

  A poorly maintained supply chain can spell disaster for your business. Here are six supply chain management tips to ensure success and mitigate risk.  Continue Reading

• Why companies should make ERP security a top priority

  Whether your ERP system is on premises or in the cloud, it's still vulnerable -- and you need to take the right measures to secure it. Here's advice on how to do just that.  Continue Reading

• Finance transformation efforts soar with cloud ERP

  Although some CFOs resist moving financials to the cloud, the process can help streamline processes and save money. Here's a look at what's involved.  Continue Reading

• 6 steps for building a digital transformation strategy

  The failure rate of digital transformation is high, but a smart and detailed strategy can vastly improve the outcome of your digital transformation. Here's how to create one.  Continue Reading

• 7 demand planning strategies to beat the competition

  Today's supply chain management rests on refining your demand forecasting and creating partnerships. Here's a look at what that means.  Continue Reading

• Follow these guidelines for a successful ERP upgrade project

  Get a handle on the time and cost variables of upgrading an ERP system and stay laser focused on value drivers, like analytics, that have the biggest impact on business strategy.  Continue Reading

• How to improve the manufacturing process: 6 keys to tech success

  AI, analytics, IoT and modern apps can serve important roles in today's manufacturing companies. Learn six steps that put these technologies to good use.  Continue Reading

• Process management team can be bridge between IT, business

  Process automation efforts, such as chatbots and predictive modeling, are more likely to succeed if you have a clear understanding of operational levels and team roles.  Continue Reading

• ERP implementation success: Program management vs. project management

  ERP program management provides the framework to manage the portfolio of projects that ensure ERP deployment success. Here's what that looks like.  Continue Reading

• For ERP ROI, pay attention to these 12 business processes

  ERP consultant Jeff Carr explains how digitally transforming processes such as inventory and sales management, product development and forecasting can speed up the payback from ERP.  Continue Reading

• Hybrid ERP demands process integration, easy data access

  SaaS apps can strengthen areas where ERP is weak, but to ensure the combo adds value, both sides must communicate seamlessly at the business-process, messaging and data levels.  Continue Reading

• Nine critical features of budget management software

  Workflow tools, multidimensional data structures and flexible reporting are among the capabilities that ensure the budgeting process supports strategic and financial goals.  Continue Reading

• Software troubleshooting steps work best with these 10 tips

  There are efficient ways to troubleshoot enterprise software, and frustrating, time-consuming ones. Follow this advice to sidestep obstacles and find a fix quickly.  Continue Reading

• Is your digital transformation process truly transformative?

  People confuse one-off digitization projects with real digital transformation. Here's how to tell the difference and set your strategy on the right course.  Continue Reading

• Capital budgeting software helps manage complex investments

  ERP vendors' BI platforms, corporate performance management software and niche budgeting tools are all places to find the technology for maximizing the ROI of capital assets.  Continue Reading

• Are supply chain risk assessment and management CFO issues?

  Supply chain disruption interrupts the flow of goods, and that means it has the potential to have a major effect on a company's financials. Here's what business leaders -- including CFOs -- should know.  Continue Reading

• ERP reporting tools effective first step in exploiting data

  Here's how ERP's built-in reporting and SQL tools can be effective at exploiting company data without full-blown analytics -- within limits.  Continue Reading

• The four best ways to tailor ERP packages to your needs

  Despite the standard advice against doing it, sometimes you just have to modify an off-the-shelf ERP package. Here are the main routes that ERP vendors provide.  Continue Reading

• Industries turn to digital twin technology, IoT to boost profits

  From design to predictive analytics, the use of digital twins is becoming more prevalent. Here's a look at how it can help different sectors.  Continue Reading

• How to use a new ERP system to improve business processes

  Packaged ERP will not match your business processes exactly -- and that's a good thing. Here's why you should use the prospect of a new system and its implementation to become better.  Continue Reading

• Seven supply chain risk factors that affect assessment, mitigation

  Over the years, managing supply and demand has become increasingly complicated. Here's a look at factors that influence today's supply chain risk assessments.  Continue Reading

• Hard truths you need to know about customized ERP

  It's true that companies sometimes believe packaged ERP doesn't fully support every business process. But here's why you might want to just say no to modification.  Continue Reading

• Why internal supply chain alignment is critical -- and how to get it

  The internal supply chain -- from procurement to sales -- is critical to your company's success. Here's how to make sure your departments are aligned, and not working at cross-purposes.  Continue Reading

• Supply chain, logistics and inventory go 3D with additive manufacturing

  Additive manufacturing -- popularly known as 3D printing -- has been touted as the next big thing in manufacturing, but its impact will soon be seen in supply chain management.  Continue Reading

• How to decide if ERP best practices are the best for your business

  ERP vendors often claim their software incorporates business process best practices that are best left unchanged. But how do you know if these ERP best practices are right for you?  Continue Reading

• B2B processes get smarter in the cloud

  Major cloud platforms are offering more and more analytics tools. It's a development that should be beneficial for the continuing growth and alignment of B2B partnerships.  Continue Reading

• Three measures for capturing the value of data-driven decisions

  Here's advice on how to track not just the amount of use of the analytics team's data and insights, but the value of the analytics they bring to the entire organization.  Continue Reading

• Why customizing ERP software is usually a bad idea

  To get the functions and flexibility that support your organization's competitive edge, try these five solutions first, before customizing ERP as a last resort.  Continue Reading

• Trump presidency makes supply chain disruption planning critical

  The current political climate is a charged one. Companies that have a global supply network should start thinking about risks -- and how to handle them -- today.  Continue Reading

• Driverless vehicles to rev up supply chain management

  If self-driving forklifts and fleets of trucks guided by technology sound like science fiction, think again. Here's a look at what's happening today -- and what's coming tomorrow.  Continue Reading

• How lean production systems cut the fat out of manufacturing, ERP

  From its introduction, the lean approach has influenced manufacturing efficiency, and ERP systems have incorporated its concepts to a greater and greater degree. Here's a look at how lean and ERP have grown increasingly intertwined.  Continue Reading

• How supply chain partners can help create IoT adoption success

  IoT adoption tends to be an organic, step-by-step undertaking for enterprises -- but a coordinated effort between partner companies can improve the supply chain faster and more economically.  Continue Reading

• Six keys to creating strong data-security measures

  The rush to embrace digital technologies can put organizations at extreme risk. Here are six foundations for creating an information-security strategy that will keep your data safe.  Continue Reading

• Expert tips for implementing procure-to-pay software

  P2P software touches many departments, ties in suppliers and has a big impact on financials. You need all the major stakeholders at the planning table.  Continue Reading

• S&OP software can coordinate integrated, data-driven planning process

  Sales and operations planning is certainly possible with spreadsheets and paper, but collaboration and benchmarking across departments are much easier with specialized software.  Continue Reading

• Five essentials of creating a business transformation strategy

  As vendors, analysts and others weigh in on the best approach to digital transformation, determining what's right for your company can be tricky. Here's how to make it easier.  Continue Reading

• Project planning for a new corporate performance management system

  A corporate performance management system touches most aspects of any business. You need a carefully thought-out plan to ensure a positive ROI from the software.  Continue Reading

• Three misconceptions about supply chain disruption risks

  Any supply chain, big or small, simple or complex, can be disrupted; planning for those disruptions and the associated risks can require getting past some wrong assumptions.  Continue Reading

• Five key steps to building a data-driven organization

  Proven change management tactics are the key to creating a culture that thrives on using data and analytics. Here are the essential steps you need to know.  Continue Reading

• Aligning sales performance management with corporate strategy

  Multiple layers of software tools and business processes are needed to ensure that sales performance serves a company's strategic goals -- and the bottom line.  Continue Reading

• Value drivers must be constant focus of digital technology initiatives

  Getting caught up in the enterprise digital technologies hype is dangerous for your company. Here's what to do instead.  Continue Reading

• CFOs want analysts trained in finance data science

  Analytics expertise is widespread in operational realms such as manufacturing and HR. Finance data science must be a priority for CFOs to secure a place at the planning table.  Continue Reading

• Five key strategies to making savvy digital investments

  'Digital' is all the rage in enterprise technology. Here's advice on defining what the concept means for your organization, so you don't risk falling for the hype.  Continue Reading

• How supply chain partners can look for success through analytics

  Supply chain partners that look for ways to share data have a far better chance of successfully predicting customer demand and other variables that lead to success.  Continue Reading

• Strategic shared cloud migration for better supply chain operations

  Migrating to the cloud along with your supply chain partners can be a boost to business. But you'll need to answer key strategic questions before doing so.  Continue Reading

• How manufacturers can use an MRP system to reduce inventory

  By focusing on compensating factors such as safety stock and shrinkage, you can counteract the tendency of an MRP system to increase inventory, especially in the beginning.  Continue Reading

• Are strategic CPM tools any good for strategic planning?

  To stay relevant, strategic CPM software will need to incorporate more advanced modeling and other tools for integrated planning and performance management.  Continue Reading

• How material requirements planning can lead to more inventory

  It seems counterintuitive, but inventory can actually increase after implementing an MRP system. Here are some reasons why it's so hard to zero out the excess in the supply chain.  Continue Reading

• Human-machine interface advancements could be boon to productivity

  Augmented reality and voice recognition are just two of the HMI tools that could help make factory automation more humane and fun -- not to mention profitable.  Continue Reading

• Supply chain performance management provides key metrics for finance

  Inventory and cash measures are some of the most powerful tools for aligning operations with finance in a comprehensive process for corporate performance management.  Continue Reading

• S&OP inventory a key metric in sales and operations planning

  Inventory is just one output of sales and operations planning, but it's also one of the best S&OP metrics for how well a plan is working and serves as a shock absorber between supply and demand.  Continue Reading

• Cooperative S&OP allows better balance, eases pain on operations side

  Sales might continue to drive the S&OP bus, but the ride will be smoother for everyone with a truly collaborative process that respects the demand plan's impact on operations.  Continue Reading

• Four developing ERP trends the C-suite must know

  To successfully lead their companies into the future, business leaders must take heed of these emerging ERP and business application trends. Here's what to know.  Continue Reading

• How to measure process performance with a well-designed dashboard

  An expert in benchmarking for performance management reveals how process performance is hard to analyze without a dashboard that provides the right context.  Continue Reading

• MES technology will need scale, analytics boost for IoT

  Modern manufacturing execution systems already have solid reporting and connectivity, but lack the capacity and analytics to be control centers of the Industrial Internet of Things.  Continue Reading

• Manufacturing execution systems now key in digitized world

  MES technology links plant systems to business applications. As more devices go digital over the Internet, it's positioned to be the control center for digital manufacturing.  Continue Reading

• Eight keys to supply chain sustainability

  Figuring out how to create a comprehensive and compelling supply chain sustainability initiative can be overwhelming. Here's guidance on getting it right.  Continue Reading

• Marketing performance management software can improve ROI

  These specialized budgeting, analytics and data repository tools can integrate with CPM software and better align marketing initiatives with organizational goals.  Continue Reading

• What do CIOs need to know about enterprise UX and UI?

  User experience design and user interface design can boost productivity, customer communication and your competitive edge. Here's what they are and how to get them.  Continue Reading

• Overcoming the challenges of a complex ERP environment

  Mergers and acquisitions can present technical challenges that undermine planned revenue growth. Learn how ERP complexity can stunt business growth.  Continue Reading

• Leadership tips on creating your dream IT project team

  Finance and accounting systems need support from IT project teams that are vigilant and fired up about meeting team objectives. Here are processes to help your own team flourish.  Continue Reading

• Keys to a good sales incentive compensation plan

  Developing an effective incentive compensation plan, along with choosing the right software, ensures that salespeople can be appropriately motivated and rewarded.  Continue Reading

• Improve operations with lean manufacturing techniques, ERP

  Users want lean manufacturing, but they won't give up ERP in favor of it. This gives software developers ample opportunity to bring lean, and other methodologies, into ERP.  Continue Reading

• How to select an ERP integration partner

  Integrating ERP with outside applications is key to a successful implementation. Here are a few things you should do to ensure success -- and what you'll want to avoid.  Continue Reading

• IT plays a key role in SPM software selection and automation

  Understanding the core elements of SPM software will help in its selection, deployment of sales plans, interfaces to other software and developing a strategy to support analysis.  Continue Reading

• The benefits of using CPM analytical tools for budgeting

  An expert walks through an example that illustrates the benefits of analytical tools in corporate performance management and budgeting software.  Continue Reading

• Enterprises save with efficient distribution network design

  Although a perfect distribution network doesn't exist, you can optimize for current conditions and build in enough flexibility to adapt.  Continue Reading

• Who's who among midmarket ERP vendors?

  Whatever your ERP needs may be, knowing the makeup of vendor offerings is the first step in choosing the right software. Here is a quick look at midmarket ERP vendors.  Continue Reading

• Manufacturers: Use a warehouse for product customization

  Leveraging warehouses for product customization, or late personalization, adds flexibility, shortens delivery lead time and helps better meet customer expectations.  Continue Reading

• CPM consulting services: Tips for choosing wisely

  If you're buying CPM software, consider getting CPM consulting services as well. Consultants can help to ensure a successful software implementation.  Continue Reading

• Cloud-based ERP becoming preferred choice for midsize companies

  According to this expert, the cloud could be the right approach for companies needing midmarket ERP.  Continue Reading

• Budgeting best practices come first when automating budgets

  To ensure a smart choice, an expert explains the five pillars of budgeting best practices that your company should consider before evaluating budgeting automation software.  Continue Reading

• Manufacturing SMBs slow to adopt an ERP platform

  Manufacturing SMBs tread lightly when it comes to moving to an ERP platform. But experts say implementation can be smooth if clear goals are set.  Continue Reading

• Use EAM software to manage critical corporate assets

  An expert explains how to choose the EAM software that will benefit your organization most.  Continue Reading

• Business performance measurement builds a performance culture

  With an effective business performance measurement plan, an organization can improve processes and create a performance culture.  Continue Reading

• Strategic CPM software can fill gaps in process innovation

  As strategic CPM becomes a key point of differentiation between vendors, you will need to understand how it differs from OFCPM.  Continue Reading

• Manufacturing pioneers embrace product as a service

  Despite the hoopla over the IoT, it's still early days for product as a service as manufacturers steer a slow course to new business models.  Continue Reading

• Predictive analytics in manufacturing starts to take hold

  Manufacturers are realizing that long-term sustainability requires the ability to exploit machine-learning algorithms by employing predictive analytics.  Continue Reading

• Product as a service requires business transformation

  The real challenge in implementing product as a service lies in transforming the business to support a new services model.  Continue Reading

• Enterprise manufacturing intelligence comes of age

  Enterprise manufacturing intelligence tools are approaching a tipping point as IDC expects widespread adoption among manufacturers this year.  Continue Reading

• Is your company suited to ERP in the cloud?

  If you're a startup with simple data and don't require tons of customization, the cloud could be a perfect fit. Here are a few other qualities of the most cloud-compatible companies.  Continue Reading

• What to consider before moving applications to the cloud

  Before choosing to put applications in the cloud, organizations need to identify the business problems that they are trying to solve -- especially the problems that set them apart from other companies.  Continue Reading