Why flexibility is important in ERP for small?
We live in a very competitive global market, where Brazilian companies, regardless of their size compete with companies in other countries that have a robust, advanced processes, and a finely tuned management.
In this scenario, we have two distinct worlds, the companies who run the market with a strong marketing and efficient logistics structure, and those companies that provide these services to large corporations.
Small businesses, excluding those operating in niche with its own technology, is on its resellers and / or providing services to third parties, entered into a distribution chain, services or production and, bearing, follow a set of rules not always consistent majority.
Suit the conditions imposed by the big invariably require a lot of flexibility, commitment and operational creativity, devices that only small businesses are able to do that is because they have rules and operations to suit the demands of the market very quickly. And these are small, with a high degree of flexibility and creativity, which are part of the group of survivors.
Today, when we talk about processes and management, we turn quickly to an ERP software, which is nothing more than a guided software for business process management. Analyzing the flexible companies, what happens if a cast software, which does not allow adjustments for increased adherence to processes is implemented?
We will see that these companies in a short time, will be filled with worksheets, precisely because they do not cease to be flexible because the software is not. But on the other hand, the intense use of spreadsheets in the operation of the company is the first step to loss of control and the path toward “chaos” total situation that may lead to the closure of the company.
We know that the suitability for specific processes, in many cases, means customizing the ERP, which consequently results in higher cost of implementation, correct? Not exactly, because we understand that matching processes can also be seen as a process improvement and financial return.
Companies that possess this understanding often invest in improvements in their solutions, either through specific reports for more complex customizations, precisely because there is a philosophy of growth based on improving operational efficiency and, consequently, reduce operating costs and even even improving the control of management processes.
This means that when the deployment ends, as initial scope of the sale does not end service delivery of ERP? Yes, it is exactly this period that initiates the process improvement management, and post these investments is that ERP can give the contractor expected to return.
Note that before many companies invested in ERP consulting, more senior managers, layout and production flow, or even more sophisticated equipment, which shows that investment in improvements already part of the small business.
What you must understand is that the ERP is also a major source of improvement in processes, and often higher than investments in consulting projects, and / or potentially more sophisticated machines.
On the other hand, the ERP also helps companies standardize their processes, which is important in the setting of Small Business, where processes are not always organized enough. In this context, there is an important caveat, because the implementation of improvements or customizations, little organized or planned, just bringing more side effects than benefits properly.
Therefore, instead of implementing a more complex feature, the company may implement several simpler small features, for the simple costs less, is easier to absorb, and take much less time to develop and operate the system.
A common mistake is companies want to automate everything and in detail. The problem is that a process that is not sufficiently matured or stabilized it suffers many changes and thinning during development, dynamically changing the specification of the program, and this is usually a source of stress between the contractor and the contractor, with the greatest impact is the delay in completing the project, and the total project cost.
Being flexible ERP, it is important to take into account the cost of this flexibility, ie, how much a professional to do these customizations, and what degree of complexity or ease the development environment provided by ERP? One must also take into account whether this environment is internal or external to the ERP and makes use of its own tools or third parties.
No less important is the cost of upgrading, ie, what happens when a system has a very customized version update? What is the impact of a new version of the customizations done, and what is the cost and time to deploy these updates?
Since the customer pays to implement the customizations and then pay more to keep them in operation. What happens is that many companies fail to update the version of ERP not to suffer these impacts on the operations of the company, however, the Brazilian tax scenario is totally impractical stay without updating the software.
Even with all the problems and high costs, flexibility is a key item of survival of very dynamic and growing businesses and also important for companies that need to maximize process efficiency, reduce operating costs and time item.
Full article: http://www.baguete.com.br/
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