What can you expect from an ERP implementation in the manufacturing industry?
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Is your manufacturing company looking for new operational software? If you’re interested in modern enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions for manufacturing, such as Business Central or Acumatica, it’s important to understand what goes into a software implementation. Our manufacturing ERP implementation guide covers everything you need to know before investing in new software.
If you’re considering what an ERP implementation looks like for the manufacturing industry, chances are you’ve already identified a solution that looks promising. Before you invest in the new system, it’s important to understand what your implementation will look like.
For instance, if you already use multiple Microsoft applications such as Outlook, Excel, and SharePoint, implementing Business Central and integrating it with your current systems will be easy. However, if you use a variety of third-party applications that will need to integrate with Business Central, the implementation timeline and cost will increase to accommodate custom integrations and other configurations.
Often, these details are ironed out during implementation, but they are important factors to consider before you make a purchase decision.
Selecting Your Manufacturing ERP Partner
What Does a Manufacturing ERP Implementation Partner Do?
Implementing a new manufacturing ERP can be a stressful process, especially for organizations that have not made new software investments in recent years.
Whether you plan to purchase an ERP for the first time, are upgrading from a legacy system, or simply aren't happy with your current solution, you'll want a dedicated implementation partner by your side. This partner will help you navigate:
Implementation, including software configuration and testing
Training, including new user training and sessions about new features and releases
Customization, including industry-specific dashboards or specialized reports
Support, including troubleshooting and ongoing software adjustments
How to Choose the Best Implementation Partner for Manufacturing ERP
Choosing the best implementation partner is just as important as choosing the right manufacturing ERP. As you research potential partners, consider the following qualifications:
Does this partner have experience with my type of manufacturing?
What solutions does this partner offer?
What third-party integrations can this partner also support?
What do real customers think about this partner?
Can this partner handle my integration and customization needs?
What ongoing support and training programs does this partner offer?
There are plenty of partners to choose from, but you’ll want to look for an experienced partner that can work closely with your team to reduce operational disruption, assist with data migration, develop custom workflows, and train your team on the new system.
Manufacturing ERP Implementation Steps
You’ll work closely with your chosen software partner to pull off a frictionless manufacturing ERP implementation. Although the scope of the project and timeline may vary from business to business, this eight-part implementation process offers a look at what you can expect:
1. Assemble Implementation Team
To define the scope of your project, you'll need to create a team in charge of every aspect of the implementation. This will include your ERP implementation partner as well as your own teammates. Cross-functional alignment is crucial here, so depending on which software you select, you will need to loop in folks from multiple departments:
Project Manager: A strong, organized decision-maker should lead the project and serve as the main point of contact between your company and your implementation partner. They will keep the project moving by ensuring that stakeholders meet necessary deadlines.
CFO: A software implementation is no small project, which means it requires an executive sponsor to ensure strategic alignment and clear roadblocks as they arise. A CEO, President, or VP of Operations can serve as an executive sponsor, but we recommend a CFO for the role, given how finance-heavy an ERP can be.
Operations/Supply Chain Lead: An ERP implementation brings new supply planning, project management, and inventory capabilities to your manufacturing business. And depending on whether you are a batch, discrete, MTO, MTS, or process manufacturer, the exact features, calculations, and tables you require will differ. A leader from the operations or supply chain side of your organization will understand this nuance and play a crucial role in software configuration.
Production/Shop Floor Lead: ERPs bridge production with the rest of an organization's operations, which is why every implementation team should include a leader from the production or shop floor. This leader will have the best perspective on the day-to-day impact of existing operational systems and can offer insights for successful configuration.
Quality Control Lead: Manufacturing ERPs offer unique features for quality tracking and compliance, which means a team member with quality control experience is essential. The quality control lead will ensure that system configurations account for your organization's manufacturing processes. This is especially important for manufacturers in highly regulated industries such as chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and aerospace.
Finance/Accounting Lead: Since ERP solutions come equipped with accounting capabilities, you'll want a finance team representative on your implementation team to ensure the software aligns with existing workflows. While a CFO may already be on the implementation team, they focus on long-term financial health, whereas the finance/accounting lead can offer a day-to-day accounting perspective.
IT/Systems Lead: Any new software implementation should include an IT team member to handle data migration, integrations, and user access. This role is especially critical for a manufacturing ERP implementation, since the ERP will serve as a central hub that integrates with other manufacturing solutions such as MRP, MPS, and SCM.
Departmental Representatives: If members of other teams, such as sales or customer service, will use the new ERP, they will want representation on the implementation team to provide input before go-live.
2: Establish Goals with Dates
Once you've brought your team together, it's time to collaborate with your manufacturing ERP partner and establish clear goals and objectives for what you want to achieve. These goals are based on your current operations and what you anticipate will change once you've gone live with your new software. Here's how you can determine those goals:
Dig into your metrics
Keep staff engaged
Map out the tools you want to integrate
Communicate clearly
Identify key compliance needs
Evaluate existing operational processes
By carefully assessing your processes and determining what you want to achieve with your new manufacturing ERP, you'll gain the information needed to estimate the time and resources you'll need to devote to your implementation.
3: Scope
Your goals will set the stage for the scope of your manufacturing ERP implementation, which in turn determines the timeline and budget. Here's what you should decide in the scoping process:
Users: How many people will need to access the ERP, and what level of clearance do they need?
System Integrations: Will your selected manufacturing ERP handle all your needs, or do you need to invest in/integrate it with additional solutions like MRP, SCM, and MPS?
Compliance and Security Restrictions: If you operate in a highly regulated manufacturing space, such as pharmaceuticals or aerospace, what guardrails does your manufacturing ERP need?
Training and Change Management: How much training is required to get your team started on the software, and who all needs to be trained?
4. Migrate Data
Before migrating any data between systems, your team will need to work with your implementation partner to audit your existing data. You'll determine the information and fields that are essential to your business and should be preserved during migration, but you'll also identify ways to clean up your data. Typically, this involves the following:
Removing duplicate accounts
Purging or revising outdated information
Removing unnecessary fields
Standardizing data formats and workflows
Defining processes and categories
5: Build & Configure
This step takes your new software from being a typical manufacturing ERP to being your manufacturing ERP. While configuration will vary from manufacturer to manufacturer, these are the most common areas that are tailored during this step:
Financials
Reporting
Workflows
Custom fields and screens
User roles and permissions
Integrations
BOMs
Routing
Warehouses and work centers
Lots and serial numbers
Quality control triggers
Scheduling parameters
Product configuration rules (for MTO manufacturers)
6: Model
Before your team goes live with the new manufacturing ERP, your implementation partner will help you test-drive the software and ensure that its components will work independently and in tandem. As you orient yourself to the new software, here's what you're looking for:
Configuration errors
Integration issues
User concerns
Data validation
Once you've identified any lingering issues, you'll work with your implementation partner to smooth everything out in anticipation of your official go-live date.
7: Deploy
Welcome to your new software (officially)! Once you deploy the solution, your team will work full-time with the system. You won't be alone, though—your implementation partner will stay by your side as you learn how to manage quality control, inventory workflows, labor and resource allocation, financials, and more.
8: Evolve
Even after you've grown accustomed to your manufacturing ERP, you'll need to continue customizing it to keep pace with organizational changes. No matter how big or small the project, your software partner is on standby to help you as your needs evolve. Here's how they can help:
Integrations: Did a software update for one of your peripheral systems break its connection to your manufacturing ERP? Or perhaps you're investing in a new tool that you'd like to synchronize with your operational system. Your software partner can ensure smooth data flow between systems.
Ongoing training: Modern manufacturing ERPs are always growing to accommodate industry shifts. To make the most of the software as it changes, or to help new employees learn the ropes, you can tap your software partner for training. This can be broad training for a large group or one-on-one sessions that dive deep into features relevant to a specific job role.
Software support: If you run into trouble with the software and can't figure out how to proceed, your partner can step in to review the issues and offer quick fixes as well as permanent solutions.
Ongoing audits: Your manufacturing ERP partner can work with you to review how the software has kept pace with changes to your business and make relevant adjustments. For instance, if you open a new manufacturing location or add a new product to your shop floor, your software partner can expand your data network.
How Long Does It Take to Implement Manufacturing ERP Software?
Depending on which modules and features your business needs, a manufacturing ERP implementation can take anywhere from 3 to 6 months. But the software’s depth is just one piece of the implementation puzzle. These factors play a key role in the implementation timeline:
Which solution you are implementing
The complexity of integrations between your new ERP and your other solutions
How much configuration/customization you require
How much training your team needs
The level of collaboration between you and your implementation partner
The complexity of your operational processes and production workflows
You and your software partner will collaborate at every stage of the process to ensure effective implementation. The benefit of collaboration is twofold—implementation is faster and smoother, and the software is configured more accurately to your business’s needs.
How Much Does a Manufacturing ERP Implementation Cost?
The cost of implementing a new manufacturing ERP varies from business to business. Typically, the more complex an organization’s needs, the more expensive the implementation will be. Customizations, integrations, advanced modules and features, and other configurations will cost more than an out-of-the-box implementation.
Since there is no one-size-fits-all price for manufacturing ERP implementations, it’s recommended to consult with a dedicated manufacturing software implementation partner. This partner can provide a ballpark estimate for implementation based on your unique needs.
Ready to Implement a Manufacturing ERP?
Implementing ERP software for the manufacturing industry requires your team to juggle several moving parts. Without the right implementation partner, it's easy for things to go awry, making go-live feel like a distant dream. But with a skilled manufacturing ERP partner like Cargas, you'll have all the expertise you need to make your implementation a roaring success.
First, we'll discuss your challenges, processes, and needs to identify how a manufacturing ERP can help you achieve your business goals. Once you've signed our implementation agreement, we'll schedule a kickoff meeting to plan your implementation. Our schedule will include time for customization, data migration, training, and a test run of the software before you go live.
Our approach to software implementation and support stems from our purpose of Shared Success—when you succeed, so do we. This strategy has helped us achieve a 99% success rate in implementing top ERP solutions, and it's why we stick with our customers for the long term to help their businesses grow.
