Page 38 - MetalForming September 2013

Ten Hut!
Ten Hut!
ERP
ERP
Implementation
Implementation
Basic
Basic
Training
Training
BY ERIC KIMBERLING
While military recruits receive the risk of employee desertion, oper- zations the unique opportunity to
ational disaster or even outright ERP- system failure.
Having spent my entire career ana- lyzing, participating in and leading ERP projects, I can tell you, with all due certainty, that successful projects share commonalities, as do unsuccessful projects. Based on our experience, my teams and I can quickly grasp the strengths, opportunities, risks and areas of resistance that will serve to define a project, the usage of the system and the company’s overall success for years to come. We have distilled these themes into a Boot Camp of sorts to educate, prepare and support organi- zations before they head into the implementation combat zone.
Among our Boot Camp training goals are instilling the following ten “Keys to ERP Success”—critical path components of a triumphant opera- tion, regardless of a company’s size, industry, structure, revenue model or selected ERP system.
1) ERP is about your business, not the technology.
ERP implementations offer organi-
exhaustive training to ensure
that they are physically and psychologically prepared for the demands of service, ERP project leads, managers and core team members are not always so lucky. Many are thrown into the battlefield of an ERP-software implementation without previous experience, with little understanding of their role or responsibilities, and often with questionable leadership support. Add to that a tight budget, a tight timeframe, high expectations and a project that affects everyone in the organization and you’re running
Eric Kimberling is managing partner, Panorama Consulting Solutions; www.panorama-consulting.com. Eric’s background includes extensive ERP soft- ware selection, ERP organizational change and implementation project management. He will deliver a keynote presentation at this year’s Manufactur- ing ERP Experience, slated for October 8- 9, 2013, in Cincinnati, OH. Learn more and register to attend at www.metal- formingmagazine.com/ERP.
improve operations, efficiency, employ- ee morale, customer service and com- petitive advantage. While they use tech- nology to achieve these goals, they should not be considered as a techno- logical initiative but as a business-bet- tering initiative. Organizations that use a “get ‘er done” approach to push an ERP project onto the IT staff will miss many of the key benefits that the tech- nology can bring to their company, customers and staff.
2) ERP initiatives are very chal- lenging.
I compare ERP implementation to performing open-heart surgery on a quarterback, on the sidelines of the season’s biggest game. A project of this magnitude can serve to revolutionize your company’s way of doing business —while it continues to do business. When organizations underestimate the impact of the project, they run into problems. In fact, Panorama’s 2013 ERP Report, available online on our website, finds that 53 percent of projects cost more than expected, 61 percent take longer than expected and 60 percent
36 MetalForming/September 2013
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