Is Your Company Growing Like Crazy?
Good-And-Stinky!
“How is it possible to be carrying so much inventory and still be falling short on shipments to key customers?” Ferdinand asked. As the CFO of Yuck Industries, producer and distributor of organic manure, he knew this was not a good situation. The company was becoming ‘stinking rich’ as demand for their best SKU, Good-And-Stinky, had doubled during the past 12 months. But the shipping problem - and a host of others - plagued the quickly growing company.
Flossie, the project manager he’d brought on board months ago to implement a new ERP system, promised him that once they did their “Go-Live” next week, he’d be able to optimize inventory and ensure orders were filled.
“That will be great,” Ferdinand said. “But how do I get my people on board? I want them to actually use the system and take advantage of all it will bring to the company. In his mind, he was recalling the ambivalence expressed by Bessie, head of Sales and Marketing. She still didn’t think the ERP could do much to help her people. Over the past few weeks, Flossie had been trying to show Bessie how the salespeople would be able to sell more by having access to SKU inventory counts and sales promotions. Bessie remained a skeptic.
“Set up a management meeting for tomorrow,” Flossie said. “I’ll present a picture of the processes that existed before the new ERP and the process for the future with the new systems.” She knew of three key major changes that she thought would get a round of applause:
Customer Orders
Inventory Forecasting
Financial Reporting
The management meeting had a few folks that would be doubters, so the presentation needed to be visual, smooth, and clear.
Has your company been yearning to have smoother processes and a system that works (so that you don’t have to)?
The management meeting started right on time and everyone received a small plant in a 2” clay pot packed with rich soil mixed with Good-And-Stinky manure. The room smelled like a field with newly planted seedlings. The message was ‘Let it Grow.’
Flossie gave a brief background and then got right into the top three benefits from the new ERP:
Customer Orders: Customers could reorder directly through the system. Not only that, but the system would suggest an order quantity to increase in order to get a promotional price break.
Inventory Forecasting: Inventory forecasting could be calculated through the system instead of via the super-complex spreadsheets that the company had been using for ten years.
Financial Reporting: Financial reports and department YTD and QTD reports could now be done directly through the system using the integrated report writer instead of exporting to separate spreadsheets.
Ferdinand was the first to speak up and thanked Flossie because he knew that his monthly two-week process of gathering financial information would be streamlined. Instead, he could now start analyzing the results immediately so that he could give some insights to the CEO. That was a double benefit. Flossie smiled broadly.
Bessie immediately complained that the new process for customer orders was sure to fail because without the salespeople writing the orders, the customers would yuck it up. Flossie froze and realized that there would be no praise from Sales and Marketing. Bessie would not budge. Bessie wanted to keep things the way they always had been. This was going to the hardest group to get on-board. Ironically, also the most critical.
The Director of Inventory Management had no reaction. If this was to be the new system, then he would use it. Just show him what to do, and he was fine with the change.
But the CEO got it. He was pleased as punch. He could see how internal systems would evolve his company to be a better-run group. He could ‘smell’ the increasing profits ahead. The CEO stood up and loudly said, “Thank you, Flossie and all of the ERP Implementation Team, this is a great way to grow! Round of applause!”
Flossie smiled and knew that all the hard work was about to pay off, big time!
Are you about to start a systems project? We can help.
We can help you to select and implement the best system for your company so that your company can grow while we do for you what we do best.
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We excel in managing the project for ERP Systems Selection, ERP Implementation, finding the right solutions to overcome the impossible, keeping the project on-schedule, and creating a cohesive Project Team that will be the champions for the new system within your company.
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Rubenstein / Justman Management Consultants (RJMC) assists mid-market companies to evaluate, select, and implement ERP solutions including Financials, Manufacturing, Distribution, Warehouse Management, Supply-Chain Solutions, CRM, and Data Analytics. We are skilled and experienced consultants who provide the Project Management that gets the project done. To start the dialogue, give us a call at 310-445-5300
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