Peter Clarke

Key No 5 – Maximising The Business Benefits And Return On Your IT Investments It goes without saying that, despite the best planning and implementation processes, the proof of an ERP project is in the business benefits and the return on investment achieved

Key No 1 - Charting the course of success for your technology investment Is your current ERP system is lacking in functionality Does it limit your ability to respond quickly to customers' requests

Key No 4 – ERP Implementations: Critical Failure Factors, Classic Mistakes And Best Practices The complexity and wide encompassing nature of ERP means that there are inherent challenges in any ERP implementation

Key No 3 - 7 essential criteria for selecting your ERP solution and technology partner Once you’ve made your decision as to why you are considering an ERP implementation (covered in article #1 in this series) and investigated the total cost of ownership (article #2), there are several aspects you should consider in detail when selecting a specific system for your situation

Optimising replenishment means making sure that the relationship with your suppliers is as efficient as possible This allows you to decrease lead times, lower prices and get better service levels

The fourth step in the article series focusing on Inventory Optimisation and the most important step in your inventory optimisation program highlights the need to calculate your product forecast Calculating your product forecast is the most critical part of inventory optimisation

To optimise your inventory, you need to know what you have, decide how best to move it around, and find out how well you are doing it Step 2 in the Inventory Optimisation series - analysing your inventory performance - is difficult enough considering the many variables that have to be considered

Something that is borne out in every survey of those who have implemented an ERP system, or those who are contemplating doing it, is that the three most important concerns are functionality, ease-of-use and total cost of ownership Functionality and ease-of-use are both purely technological issues that rely on a proper understanding of your requirements and how well the system or systems under consideration comply with and, hopefully, anticipate those needs

Traditionally, it has been understood that to improve customer service you have to have high levels of inventory This ensures that orders are filled quickly

The inventory in your warehouse or factory is both an asset and a liability In either case, if it just sits there, it is worse than worthless - it’s of negative value