“As much as possible, you want the [ERP] solution that works right off the shelf,” says Bob Kill, president of Minnesota Technology. Avoiding an ERP that requires customization will save a company time and money. There won’t be the added cost of paying someone to write a special program to bridge the gaps between what the software actually does and what a company needs it to do. And users won’t have to spend time learning custom portions of a program.

It took Water Gremlin nine months of research, consultations, and demonstrations to make a choice about its ERP. Training and implementation will take an additional 10 months. Connor says that it’s not unusual for a company to take 18 months to complete the research, assessment, implementation, and training for a new ERP system. The entire selection process, including consulting fees and the cost of the selection software, came in just under Schulz’s $10,000 budget.

Water Gremlin spent more than $100,000 on the new ERP system itself—a move that launched the company into its next phase of development. The company went live with the order and cash flow portion of the ERP in August and plans to have the manufacturing and procurement portion of the software up and running in October. So far, Schulz and several managers have spent at least 10 days training on the software at the Epicor offices. He’s hired an information technology employee who works exclusively with the new ERP.

For all his heavy lifting, Schulz feels it was well worth it. He won’t know about the return on investment until the new ERP has been working for several years, but already he’s confident that Water Gremlin found a way toward better manufacturing processes. “Ninety percent of doing it right is just not doing it wrong,” he says.

ERP Selection Tips

Minnesota Technology, Inc., is a business consulting organization that serves small- to medium-sized companies around the state. Mary Connor, a field consultant for Minnesota Technology, offers some tips to companies just beginning the ERP selection process.

1. “Build in the planning upfront because I’ve seen a lot of software that was not a good fit.” This planning includes a needs assessment, rigorous research, creation of a selection committee, a timeline with realistic deadlines, getting “buy in” from executives, and regular updates for employees so there aren’t any surprises when the program rolls out. “You have to follow steps in order like any standardized process,” Connor says. “You can compress it, but you can’t skip a step.

2. “Don’t wait too long [to purchase a new ERP]. A lot of time there are so many inefficiencies that become habit because of the workarounds.” Employees may create workarounds to make certain tasks easier for them but that are perhaps not optimal for the system or the company. “If you wait too long, those workarounds become so ingrained and the habits become so profound, and the new people come in and are taught ‘We just do it this way.’ And then they develop the bad habit, too.

3. “I think you need the collaborative approach because if it is foisted on people, they’re going to be angry and some dysfunctional behavior is going to happen. It’s a cultural change as well as a software change.

4. “Don’t let your software run your business. It’s only a tool you use in your business. Software should work for you, you shouldn’t have to work for it.”

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