Do You Have Moxie?

Do You Have Moxie? John Baldoni, Leadership Now Grit, guts, and fortitude are all synonyms of the word “moxie,” which author John Baldoni describes in his new book, Moxie: The Secret to Bold and Gutsy Leadership as a key quality for business leadership.  Leaders with moxie have been proven to lead people during tough circumstances, and they possess several important attributes including, fire, drive, resilience, and street smarts.  Learn five characteristics that you can practice and develop and incorporate into your life and your business read more

Cycle Counting (Part 2): Tips for Choosing the Right Inventory Software to Support It

How accurate are your inventory records? It’s a question you've probably asked yourself on more than one occasion.  It is what every organization that handles inventory struggles with at one level or another, at one time or another, and coincides with automation and efficiency efforts.

Changing from Annual to Cycle counting does take some planning, but the long term benefits may well be worth the effort.  It also something that may need to be approved by your board or other regulatory body depending on your industry.  

We have found that many businesses need to do both Annual and Cycle counting until they show a consistent accurate inventory for at least one year.  After that time period the annual counting can be discontinued.  It is important that you demonstrate good accounting controls and financial reporting.

Please read the article series below to find out more.

Find Accounting Software continues their 2-part series and answers some additional questions about cycle counting.  Find Accounting Software has some great resources to help you navigate through the sea of change.  Read on for more information.

 

Tips for Choosing the Right Inventory Software to Support It

Where are you struggling?  Do you know how to get started?  What you should count and when?  What approach will you take?

At Dolvin Consulting we work with your team to find solutions that drive efficiency and automation in your operations.  Working solutions that are just-right for you and your business.  Contact us today to see how we can help.

Cycle Counting (Part 1): What Every Inventory Manager Should Know About It

Are you finding variances in your inventory counts no matter how hard you try, no matter what controls are in place?  Enter the Annual Physical Inventory and all the prep work, resource allocation, overtime, headaches and putting business on hold while you try to lock down your inventory during counting.

Are you considering cycle counting in addition to or as a replacement to an annual physical count? 

Please read the article series below to find out more.

Find Accounting Software starts their 2-part series and answers some important questions about cycle counting.  Find Accounting Software has some great resources to help you navigate through the sea of change.  Read on for more information.

 What Every Inventory Manager Should Know About It

Where are you struggling?  Do you know how to get started?  What you should count and when?  What approach will you take?

At Dolvin Consulting we work with your team to find solutions that drive efficiency and automation in your operations.  Working solutions that are just-right for you and your business.  Contact us today to see how we can help.

Life Cycle Part Two

Nature duplicates life we create or is it really that the life we create duplicates nature.  It really makes sense if you think about it, because we tend to replicate our environment in the way we live, learn and grow.  Last time we looked at the life cycle of ERP solutions with a comparison to Sunflowers and plant life.  Sunflowers are an interesting plant.  The flowers follow the sun through the day, supply food for birds and animals in their replication cycle.  Their plant-life-goal is to mature, grow and plant the seeds for the next generation. 

Dragonflies are also interesting in general and in their similarities to ERP solutions. 

First there are some 5000 varieties of the species.  There are a lot of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solutions too.  

Each solution has its benefits, limits and niche where they work best. 

Dragonflies start as larvae in water where they spend the bulk of their life.  The early stages of ERP is often a developmental stage where a lot of the work is not seen and includes implementation, migration and training to fully take advantage of the service offerings.  

The winged version of dragonflies are what most of us are familiar with and comes after growth and trials and struggles to survive.  Once mature there is the need to stay alive, stay current and continued growth.  This is similar to ERP as more and more function is utilized in the solution and give need via growth and life cycle to a new generation. 

The next generation is inevitable. 

That next generation can be an upgrade or new solution, but it will come.  No new generation and the solution will eventually wear out and perish.  

Business needs and cycles change and ERP solutions need to change and adapt to the way your customers prefer to do business.

Choosing an upgrade or new solution is not always an easy task even if what is currently in use does not work.  Decision makers need to decide if they want to keep a narrow focus on their industry such as manufacturing, distribution or application like order entry.  Or, the decision makers need to take a more broad view of their applications and embrace the ERP moniker and include more functional roles such as customer service management which would include order entry, inventory, procurement, and manufacturing applications, like capacity planning, in one big picture.

Enterprise solutions are optimized to maximize their return when the entire enterprise is integrated.

Industry solutions are an important grouping of applications that are used and optimized for specific industries such as retail, wholesale distribution, or manufacturing.  Decision makers now have to consider traditional on premise or hosted solutions as well as more traditional questions.

Some questions to consider:  

How long has the particular software been used and how successfully? 

Total cost of ownership (TCO) is an important factor.  Most people realize that the initial upfront costs are often outpaced by the ongoing administration and operational costs. 

What initial costs must be absorbed in your return on investment (ROI) calculation?   Hardware for on premise, software licensing, maintenance, support, implementation, migration, and training?

What type of support is available?  On line, documents, phone and what time windows?

What skills are needed?  Who will provide training?  Train the trainers?  How much time will it take to get your staff up to date?  Which modules will you activate and in which order?  Do you need to know how to run everything all at once or can you train as you go after having covered the basic modules first?

Should your solution be an open-source solution or is a proprietary solution better?  What size provider is right for your business?  Are you a global organization?  Do you need a global solution? 

An open source solution may seem like a winner especially with lower license fees, however, getting support may be limited or a challenge when you get locked into a custom solution that few outside of the solution provider know how to support.  A proprietary system actually can be more “open” in the sense that people that know how to support the system will have knowledge of how to support any solution running on this same platform. 

Regardless there may be nothing worse than having a solution that is not a fit for the culture of your organization and how your customers prefer to be served.

Maturity of the solution may be a more important factor that what platform they run on.  How responsive is the solution provider to listen and understand the nuances of your operations?  Or, do they just want to pack you in a box that “works” and hope you can manage the internal changes needed to fit their mold.

Conversely, be wary of too much customization.  An over eager solution provider that will customize everything will equally box you in.  With so many customizations, how will you take advantage of new releases?  How will they keep you current with industry trends?  

Too many modifications either means the solution is not the right fit for your organization or you have highly unique business requirements.

Where will you get support?  Will it come from, is it available directly from, the solution creator?  Are there local dealers with expertise that can be onsite to help?  How many of your staff will need to be trained in support? 

It is one thing to purchase a solution, it is entirely another matter to maintain it.  Like our dragonfly, your ERP solutions need regular tending-to, environment, and opportunity to grow.  Likewise it also has to be protected from and fend off predators.  A dragon fly starts small and is usually unseen until it has passed through various growth stages until it emerges mature and winged.  It is only then we see and appreciate its beauty and appetite for the insects it consumes daily.

Let Dolvin Consulting help you navigate to a new solution, upgrade or to feel comfortable with the solution you are already using.  Contact us today to get started.  We are here to help.

ERP Life Cycle

Enterprise Resource Planning solutions have life cycles, just as plants and humans have.  They differ in many ways and also have many similarities.

Sunflower plants follow the pattern of:

1. Existing mature flowers make seeds.
2. Seeds find fertile ground.
3. Seeds grow into new plants.
4. A young plant is a seedling and grows bigger.
5. The fully grown plant flowers.
6. The cycle repeats.

ERP software function as a business management solution and usually consist of a suite of integrated applications that a business uses to collect, store, manage and interpret data from many business activities, including: product planning, cost and development, Manufacturing or service delivery, marketing and sales, inventory management and shipping and payment.

ERP cycles through:

1. A business operates and spurs new growth.
2. New modules or third party solutions are added to address growth and the need to capture and manage additional streams of information.
3. Inefficiencies increase as growth outpaces capacity.
4. Separate systems are implemented to address growth.
5. A new solution or upgrade is implemented to address the new scope of business.
6. The cycle repeats.

There are a lot of definitions of ERP cycles. 

Most start with planning and package selection, then move on to implementation and then operation.  While these stages are true most companies are already in the middle step of operation mode.  The existing solutions can be a full ERP solution or a mish-mash mix of manual, spread sheet, or older solutions.  One of the biggest challenges are determining if the current growth is temporary or a sign of future activity.

What has changed?  What is driving the need to change?

Many factors stimulate change.  Growth, Mergers and Acquisitions are common sources as well as a new product or service lines or a myriad of other economic influences.  What becomes a driving factor is the incumbent solution worked at one level of business and was not able to scale up or down to address the new level of need.  The need could be to handle additional or a drop in transactions, new or a loss of business units. 

The need could be up or down, growth or decay.

Increased activity without a corresponding increase in revenue is a sign of inefficiency.  The higher overhead drains an organization’s resources.  In today’s business world automation is the key to sustained growth. 

When selecting a new ERP solution it needs to address the current needs, pains and anticipated growth.  Many organizations concentrate on the current needs and how the proposed solution addresses their pain.  This is certainly a good starting point.  However, a good solution should also address future growth.  A great solution takes into account business cycles and can address both future growth and downturns.

There are seasons to business cycles just like plant life.  There is a nurturing point in time, growth, maturity and then the cycle inevitably repeats.  A lot of businesses forget this point.  What goes up comes down and with proper planning business goes up again.  Your solution must scale in the same way. 

• How is your solution designed to address future business cycles?  
• What downturns have your business triumphed through with your ERP solution?  
• What key components are you considering in your next solution or upgrade?  
• What cycles does your solution need to address?

Dolvin Consulting works with businesses in Manufacturing, Distribution and Specialty Retail to help them identify and address their growth pains.  Take a minute to post and share your successes and failures here with our readers.  Contact us to discuss your challenges.  We are your trusted advisor and want to help.

Two Signs ERP Changes are Needed

Most know that manufacturers, distributors and other midmarket organizations depend on Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solutions to increase productivity and deliver great customer support via an integrated information repository.  You know the analogy, the left hand knows what the right hand is doing, less errors, better performance, and faster access to business metrics.

 

There are many signs that you may have outgrown your ERP solution.  Every organization struggles at some point in time.  The struggles are equal during periods of growth and decline.  The economy is cyclical and so are business operations.

 

Below are two signs.  How many more affect you personally? 

 

Sign-One:  You increase your labor force and you do not get an equivalent increase in productivity.  The extra personnel just seem to be less productive. 

 

When your business grows it makes sense that you may need more people to interact with customers, process orders, handle procurement and finances.  It makes sense, doesn’t it?  Perhaps it does, but how many are necessary and how many are too much?  How many actually just increase overhead?  How many more do you need to manage the workforce?  Are you creating the need for an extra level of management?

 

If you double your warehouse work force, should you be able to pick, pack and ship twice the number of orders?  Should you be able to triple the number of orders?  What is the ratio of people to orders processed in your organization? 

 

If you actually ship twice the number of orders, how many customer service people does that translate to?  How many people do you need to add to the Finance department to handle billing and reporting needs?  How many more supervisors and managers are needed to address the increase in workforce. 

 

It might make sense to take a look at how your business is physically organized before you add people.  Not that you do not need more people, the real question is how many and where? 

 

For example, would arranging your inventory locations in a more efficient way for stocking and picking make more sense?  Would conveyors or barcoding or other form of automation increase productivity enough so that you can minimize hiring? 

 

In contrast suppose business has shrunk, how many roles can be consolidated?  How can you empower the remaining personnel with the right tools so that their productivity increases and you can maintain business operations and then prepare for the next growth cycle?

 

How efficient is the software you use to process information?  How many separate systems do you use?  How many steps does it take to enter an order?  How much time does it take?

 

 

Sign-Two:  You increase your inventory level and still have troubles meeting customer demand.

 

How much is too much inventory?  What are your customer’s expectations?  What does on-time delivery mean?  What delivery does your competition actually deliver?  Is there anything real about Just-In-Time (JIT) inventory?  Who do you know personally that can make that type of system work?

 

Manufacturers have lead-times for the products they produce.  Distributors need systems that build that lead time into their procurement process so that customer demand and sales history can be balanced to ensure that you have enough inventory on hand to meet expected levels with a reasonable amount of safety stock.  In other words, you can meet customer demand without overstocking your warehouse.

 

A purchase “deal” is not a deal if that inventory sits in your warehouse too long.  A special price so one business can basically dump their inventory is not a deal for anyone, if that inventory sits and takes up space.  Physical space, overhead, taxes all add up and can easily out-cost any purchase savings.  A deal is not a deal unless you have a customer ready and willing (and has the monetary resources) to buy the product.

 

Can you find your inventory?  Do you purchase more, because you cannot find what you thought you had?  How accurate is your current system?  What tools and processes does your current system have that helps to keep your inventory accurate?  How often do you have to count your inventory to know what you have on hand?  Is the only time you feel confident on your inventory levels is immediately after the counts have been posted?

 

There are numerous indicators of inventory inefficiency and tools and software to address the challenges and problems.  Most businesses struggle in determining just where the bottleneck is occurring.  Otherwise, they would have fixed it already.  The problem often lies deeper than the observable symptoms.  The alternative is equally pressing.  A business knows where the problem is, but lacks the resources to properly address the problem. 

 

Either way short term patches and fixes designed to address the problem will inevitably make the situation worse when a decision is made to make these fixes permanent without addressing the underlying issues.  Until you get to and address the heart of the problem, the problems will repeat.

 

 

So many questions and too few answers.

 

 

These two signs are just the tip of the iceberg.  What keeps you up at night?  You have questions and we have answers.  You may agree with some of these statements and disagree with others.  Why not share those thoughts here for your fellow readers.  I would love to hear what you think.

 

Dolvin Consulting works with industry experts to help your business identify and remediate the obstacles that are holding you back today.  Contact us to see how we can help.  Only you know how great the pain is and the impact it has on your operations.  We understand and can help.

 

ERP Leaders

 

"If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader."   John Quincy Adams (6th U.S. President).

 

Can Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solutions themselves be leaders?  Is it even possible for software to be a leader or are the companies that provide the solution leaders? 

 

Should ERP solution providers be leaders?  Do they need to be or do they just need to provide workable solutions?

 

People generally want to be on a winning team.  But, after you peel away the layers, if the solution works, then does it matter if you are working with number one or two or some other ranking? 

 

The solution has to be a solution.

 

Call it what you want, rate it however you like, but the bottom line is: it has to work.  The solution needs to provide a platform to generate a positive Return on Investment (ROI).  Without that you would need to have a specialized need or operation to choose a solution that did not provide a basis to generate a good return.

 

What does a “Leader” mean to you, the purchaser?

 

One thing a leader in the software industry offers are direct relationships with hardware providers to ensure their applications take full advantage of available resources, that their software handles upgrades and operating systems updates seamlessly without interruption to business operations. 

 

Another leader quality is a commitment to development, research and support.  Taking feedback from their user base to build better solutions that fulfill their needs (customer service).   Research and development into new technologies to keep current with evolving supply chain demands.

 

What are you paying for?

 

With ERP solutions you typically pay in initial license fee and then an annual maintenance fee.  I had a conversation with a business owner a little while back about these fees.  He thought they did not make sense since the software had already been written.  He understood the hardware costs, but not the software fees.  Conversion and implementation estimates were another discussion.  We discussed that the fees are not really to pay for the software that has already been developed; it is to support the organization that supports your business operations.  It pays for continued improvements, bug fixes, and error/message handling. 

 

Granted the proposed software did have some significant costs associated with its development and the initial fee offsets those costs to the developer.  The annual fee is reasonable when you consider that you need the efforts of a leading developer to keep you current with your industry. 

 

You need a leader in the industry in order to provide training and support. 

 

There are plenty of solutions available and you need to select a solution provider that will be able to help you train, prepare, convert and support you as you transition and grow.  If the supplier it too small, then what happens if the economy turns, or they get really busy or they get hit by a bus?  If the organization is too large, then you can end up being just a number and lose any personal contact.  Most people like to be known to their supplier and have a relationship. 

 

Technology is continuing to develop at a faster and faster pace.  You need a partner that understands your business and is committed to continue growth efforts to both your business and theirs.  You have a mutually vested interest in both succeeding.

 

What do you think of leaders in ERP solutions?  How important is it to your business?  Do you just prefer a low cost solution and are not concerned about upgrades and support?  How do you currently utilize the support services provided by your supplier?  What is important to you?  What does your business need to grow?  What support services are a necessity and what is a luxury?

 

At Dolvin Consulting, we would like to know what you think.  Please share your ideas with us.  Contact us, if you need help.

 

Belief, ERP and All

It does not seem too long ago, my wife and I purchased a live (balled) tree for Christmas.  We actually did that for our first three years together.  I was looking out in the back yard recently and was just staring.  You see we live in a neighborhood that was built a number of years ago on what was a golf course.  The houses are relatively close together.  We have nice neighbors, but we also like to feel like we have some privacy.

 

 

It is called “Green” now, but I just liked the concept of having a live tree that could be planted instead of thrown out on the curb for garbage collection a couple of weeks later.  The trees took to the yard just fine.  Taking an outdoor tree, bringing it inside to a warm environment, then back out in winter can stress the tree.  When they were planted each was four or five feet tall.  In a few years they towered over the yard. 

 

And that was what I was contemplating.  The trees are probably 35 feet tall now.  I might need to find a geometry book and figure out the calculation of angle-side-angle so I can calculate the actual height.  A somewhat nerdy thought, I agree.  It really is not that important to know how tall they are.  What is important is the transformation of the yard.

 

I did not plan on having a green fence that gave shade and privacy all year round.   The evergreens are so nice, even in the winter season, having some green around.  The snow on them looks nice too. 

 

A few years ago our older neighbor moved out.  She was a really nice lady and we had respect for each other’s privacy.  Knowing that new neighbors would move in, we replaced a 4 foot chain link fence with a vinyl 6 foot privacy fence.  The first thing the new neighbors did was erect a 12 foot tall play fort for their kids right next to the fence.  No zoning laws for that unfortunately.  The kids and parents like to climb up and stare and comment on our yard.  So we planted some fast growing cedar trees.  At the time they barely topped the fence. 

 

We believed the nursery when they told us they would grow quickly and return our privacy to us.

 

Now just a few years later these new trees, green all year long, are 30 feet tall.  At the time we did not know what to do.  What we thought we wanted would not have helped.  The nursery owner became our trusted advisor.  He understood the problem and had the knowledge of what would work.  It really was not that uncommon a problem and he had dealt with it before.

 

Looking at your situation in business sometimes takes forward looking back sight.  Are you seeing your business as it is now or as it could be?  I did not plan to plant trees for privacy, but the results were worth the effort and expense.  I am glad I made the investment when I did.

 

Looking back it really was not that much effort or expense.  The results are worth everything to us.  There was waiting, faith, belief and a trusted advisor.

 

As a business owner you need to keep current and keep up with the demands from customers whose expectations are always changing and evolving.  Your competition is doing that all the time.  A happy customer is a loyal customer.

 

Any update, upgrade, new, or replacement of software should have the goal of increasing customer satisfaction.  Efficiency is important and it is how you can afford to serve your customers better.  It is like your optimal weight.  You belt has another notch free, your clothes feel good and your walk is lighter, but are you any happier?  Did the weight loss enable you to do anything more or more efficiently?  If the result of the efficiency does not serve your customers, then you will not have customers.

 

A fresh set of eyes to look at what you are doing is a valuable investment.  It is hard to look outside of the box when you are in the box.  One of my favorite sayings is: When you find yourself in a hole, stop digging.

 

Many companies look to a trusted advisor when they realize that what they are doing just does not work anymore.  Sometimes this is due to an increase in business.  The business grows, sometimes rapidly, and they just do not realize right away that the software that worked really well at one business level, just cannot keep up anymore.  At the other end of the spectrum is a business that is losing ground.

 

The purpose of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software solutions is to seamlessly integrate as much of the business operations together as possible.  The best way for management to make intelligent decisions is to know what is going on, what are the trends and financial outlook.  ERP enables the left hand to know what the right hand is doing. 

 

This much you already know. 

 

In this day and age, we know what ERP solutions are supposed to do.  What we may not know is in what way the investment, which can be significant, can produce a Return on Investment (ROI) and in what time frame. 

 

This is a really big point. 

 

If the ROI will essentially pay for the solution in one to two years, any longer and it probably is not the right choice, then you are losing money/revenue right now.  This is a fact, not a sales pitch.  Think about the fact that if you can achieve a reasonable return, then that is most likely due to inefficiency in your operations.  Inefficiency can be costly.  It is money that could be used to improve customer service, grow market share, expand capacity, save jobs, take a vacation, etc.

 

Sometimes it takes a leap of faith.  You have to believe. 

 

A trusted advisor can help bridge the gap.  Dolvin Consulting works with industry experts to help you look at what you are doing today and where you want to be in a few years.  We start by working with your people to define areas that need improvement and have potential for great ROI.  Sometimes we just do not realize how much pain there really is, because we have always done “it” this way.  Then we work with your decision makers to define your budget and find solutions that will work. 

 

The final decision is always yours, but would it make sense to know what your options are?  Contact us today to see how we can help.  That is why we are here.

 

Decision Making

What process do you go through when making a decision?  Do you ask some questions?  Do you like the way it looks?  Do the details, the little things matter?
 

When you purchase an appliance or television, do you read the manual, ask a salesperson, a trusted advisor, your neighbor, someone else you know that recently went through the same decision process?  Do you research it via a search engine, read online reviews? 

 

I had this discussion with my wife recently.  Like most relationships each of us has our roles.  Mine includes the official read-the-manual (if it pleases you) role.  She has the role of plug-it-in or turn-it-on (and ask me what to do that if she has problems).

 

We have been fortunate to be able to drive a wide variety of vehicles since being together.  We used to own, now we are used to leasing and really enjoy having a new vehicle every three years and not have to worry about maintenance or other long-term car care issues.  Once you are used to the payment, they typically stay about the same and it just becomes part of your budget.  Very similar to leasing server equipment for Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solutions.  Hmmm?

 

My wife now enjoys, I mean really enjoys driving her Jeep Wrangler.  Enough so that she is on her second one and states that she will always have one now.  It took some trial and error over several years to finally try and lease this Jeep.  She had talked about it, her brother gave it two thumbs down, but she test drove it, liked it (loved really), and introduced me to the dealer where I could test drive what she already selected.

 

She likes the variety of options.  A Freedom top, which is a combination of hard-top, T-roof and also a soft-top, which has many options and she has me lower for her in the summer.  She likes the options, but really just uses the hard-top in the winter and soft-top in the summer seasons.  She, of course, adds a few options to customize to her style.

 

Notice that I said that I take care of the top- up, down, hard, soft.  Yes, I read the instructions.  I even know how to remotely start it with the key.  She said she could not make that work and thus hands them to me.  She is management and strategic, I am technical and tactical.  It works in our relationship.  We each take care of what we do best.

 

For my car, I researched all the options, checked with the dealer, went to one of their promotional events to get a discount on a new model.  I needed to know everything, even though I knew what I was going to do, I just needed to justify it properly.  I like watching the Salesrep demonstrate the car features when I picked it up.  I probably knew as much as he at that point.  I asked a few questions, one of which he had to double check.  Amazing what information is available. 

 

I often tell company owners the most dangerous employee is the one who reads the help instructions.

 

Should an ERP system be analyzed and if so, to what extent?   Considering that replacing an existing ERP solution is comparable to open heart transplant surgery.  If the doctors are smart and the homework and prep done right it can proceed without issue and your life continues happily ever after.  Done wrong or steps skipped and a less than optimal existence will follow.

 

What challenges are you trying to solve? 

 

What options are available in the solution?  What will the Return on Investment (ROI) be?  Can you purchase and deploy in a phased manner or do you have to jump in fully? 

 

Two really important questions are how well does the software match your company’s culture and does it give you the ability to improve customer service levels?  There are a great number of solutions to choose from today.  Does the new solution employ new technology that requires hiring new people or does it involve too many steps to process a simple transaction?  Is it just a matter of the learning curve or will it just frustrate everyone.  Most new solutions require some learning.  What will life be like six months later? 

 

Change is the hardest thing for people to do.

 

If the fit is good, then it is not uncommon to actually hear six months after implementation that “I wish we had done this earlier, I do not know how we functioned before”. 

 

Does anyone have a vision of the future?  The most successful people have coaches.  In the business world we call them Trusted Advisors.

 

Does it matter?  The questions and due diligence? 

 

If you asked my wife, her answer would likely be “No”.  She is in that rare group that has that ability to just pick the right one.  Besides, she knows that I will do the research regardless, so why should she do it also.  Remember she is the strategic one.  For me, the answer is “Yes”.  Yes, it matters.  It matters very much.  What about your business? 

 

What are your most asked and yet unanswered questions? 

What keeps you awake at night?

 

Contact Dolvin Consulting with your questions.  That is why we are here.  We work with industry experts to ensure you have the right solution to your challenges. 

 

We look forward to serving you.

 

Control and Visibility

Is there a way to achieve improved productivity, industry compliance and increased profitability?  At the same time?  These goals are not mutually exclusive and in particular the food industry has added pressure from an extra layer of compliance needs with the implementation of the recent act by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Food Distribution and Manufacturing company’s jobs became a bit more complex after January 2011 when the Food Safety Modernization Act was signed.  This “Act” placed added pressure on food manufacturers and distributors to ensure a safe food supply chain.

 

The law gave the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) the power to order recalls of contaminated food and request records from food organizations to provide reports related to the manufacturing, distribution and packaging of any product. If your company sells a food product and the FDA uncovers a problem with it, be it contaminated or expired for example, the government can request all of your records.  If you fail to provide these records, your company can be banned from selling that product. Furthermore, the FDA has the power to suspend and shut down your business.

 

These are not pleasing thoughts for an industry already struggling with economic issues, high labor costs, overhead, and cutthroat competition.  Margins are small and volume is needed to make a profit.

 

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solutions are often the rescue of these organizations.  Whether it is a new solution or upgrade of an existing solution, ERP solution providers are answering the call for compliance while at the same time they typically reduce the manpower needed to achieve results via bar-coding and automation. 

 

ERP solutions are being leveraged to help with record keeping of purchases, manufacturing, inventory, and pick-pack-ship processing. This automation also helps with rebates, pricing and quality control testing and record keeping.  The transactions and testing can be documented in the case of an audit.

 

Record keeping is something that computerized solutions do very well.  There may be some additional data collection, but you will utilize the system to do this instead of pen and paper. 

 

Warehouse Management Systems (WMS) are often coupled with an ERP solution to streamline the automation process and reduce labor overhead.  They become integral components.  Some are third party solutions while others are fully integrated.  Fully integrated solutions are almost always preferable if they provide the functionality needed.  The reduction in overhead in integration and maintenance often makes up the financial difference.  If your ERP solution does offer this module or equivalent, then it is time to perform an evaluation of what else you may be missing.

 

Control and visibility of inventory, product movement and operations are key components to an efficient operation.  Efficient operations lead to reduced costs and higher profits.  Profits that can be reinvested in your organization to gain a competitive edge.   

 

Dolvin Consulting works with industry experts to find powerful solutions that will enable your organization to break through the glass ceiling that is holding you back from growth.  Contact us today to see how we can help.  That is why we are here and how we deliver value.

 

Competition Drives Need for a New ERP System

If you are content running as-is and enjoy a shrinking market share from overseas competitors that do not have your overhead or constraints, then you probably are already doing everything you need to do.  If on the other hand you would like to remain in business, chances are you will have to reinvent what you do and how you do it.  “It” being whatever it is that makes you unique among your competitors.

 

Global Trade Magazine has an article from a colleague of mine, Dani Kaplan, who has enough years experience to understand the impact that automation has on operations in efforts to drive efficiency versus Big-Company sales goals, where the only goal is profits and not necessarily customer success.  Unfortunately, even today, many software suppliers are only concerned with their next sale.  Perhaps they think that once the customer has committed, purchased the solution and struggled with the implementation that they are essentially stuck and will eventually come around.  Eventually they will make the system work.

 

 

 

“Having accurate machine production and forecasting systems improved productivity and eliminated inventory shortages,” he continued. “With the new system we were able to open additional markets in Europe and make plans to sell our audio products in the Far and Middle East. Opening the new markets in Europe enabled us to increase our market share beyond everybody’s expectations.”

 

What value does the relationship between a company and its software provider have?

One year after going live with the new ERP system, the company’s VP of operations reflected on overcoming the challenges. “We took our time searching for the right ERP system,” he said. “We looked for a vendor who would not only provide us with excellent support but would also be our business partner for years to come. The new ERP System enabled us to achieve just in time inventory with 99 percent inventory accuracy. Our manufacturing plant was able to keep track of the multi-bill-of-material usage.”

 

Read the full article by clicking this link.

 

The company profiled in the article is not unique.  Many company struggle with the same issues.  They have been in business for many years.  We see this same issue with family run businesses as well.  We have always done business this way.  The overhead and inefficiencies are like a pulled muscle or constant ache in your body.  You have lived with it for so long that you have given up trying to deal with solutions, that you just learn to live with the problem.  You erroneously make the assumption that there is nothing you can do to effectively make positive changes.  Perhaps the fear of taking that step one more time is more fearful that dealing with the current issues.  After all, you have dealt with it for so long it has to get better some time.  Maybe it is the economy’s fault.  It is hard everywhere.

 

A key foundation for this solution and any other is finding the right partner. 

 

The company in this article invested time to look at what they were doing and identified manual processing that could take advantage of automation and an integrated system.  The next step was finding a trusted advisor to help them find a partner and solution to address the challenges. 

 

There are many software solutions that will work for any given situation.  It is critically important to find one that matches your company’s culture.  The right tool for the right job.  Spread sheets are not effective for a larger organization and a full scale tier 1 global solution is overkill for a regional business. 

Pricing a solution is important too.  There needs to be a good Return on Investment (ROI) that takes into account the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO).  It is important to look past the upfront costs to see what return can be reasonably be expected. 

 

After all, if you felt 100% confident that any and all monies invested would be returned in a year, why would you not make the change?

 

The only reason would be an uncomfortable relationship with the supplier or lack of confidence in either the solution provider or your company’s ability to make the necessary changes.

 

Change is the only constant.  As a friend of mine often says- “Change is inevitable, Growth is optional”.

 

So what are your next steps?  First and foremost, count up the number of hours of missed sleep. You know, the extra hours you work each day.  The hours you spend awake at night staring at the ceiling.  The time away from home.  How often do you go back to the office or remotely sign-in after dinner so that you can just try to keep up?

 

There has to be a return just in the number of hours gained from a new solution that is fully integrated.  Most organizations that pick the right solution with the right partner (notice I say “partner” and not “supplier” – partner implies a vested interest) will achieve a complete return on investment in a relatively short period of time.  Anything after that is profit.  It is the empowering option to reinvest in your business and drive profits (and get some sleep).

 

Dolvin Consulting works with manufacturers, distributors and specialty retailers to help them streamline their computer operations with ERP solutions so that they increase their operational efficiencies through automation, reduce costs, and ultimately increase profits.  We have a mutually vested interest in your success.  Contact us today to see how we can help.  We help or do our best to refer you to a resource that can help.  Really.

Business Value

It really does not matter the industry, business leaders should be asking themselves how they can maximize the investment their organization spends on technology to support their efforts.  This focus is more important than the technology itself.  What business process are we trying to improve with automation?

 

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solutions are typically at the forefront here and are also the point of failure for most organizations.   Reason being falls to many details, but at a high level it is easier to address a challenge by adding on to an existing solution or addressing it outside of and separately from an integrated solution. 

 

ERP works, because it incorporates all business functions. 

 

There are ERP solutions for most business industries today.  When I describe the focus to those not involved in technology, I say think about “boxes on shelves”.  Even the most lay person can visualize this environment.  It is in this type of environment where there is the greatest potential for a Return on Investment (ROI) from your investment.

 

ERP handles the food industry with its batch and lot control and FDA food tracking.  The Pharma industry also benefits from automation in inventory processing.  Retail industries are concerned with inventory turns and customer service (something all industries should focus on first).  Analytic or Business Intelligence applications help with the analysis of product movement and forecasting.  Salesforce and Contact Relationship Management (CRM) integration tightly integrates both internal and external sales processing.  Suggested purchase orders help to drive down inventory levels and at the same time maximize buying incentives.  E-commerce and EDI functions help integrate the supply chain to end customer support.

 

The more the organization adopts and embraces the changes ERP solutions offer, the quicker the return.  The problem for most organizations is the reluctance to tear their guts out and rightly so, and to instead try to fix a systematic problem with a band aid.  Ask yourself do you need a band aid or surgery? 

 

Everyone understands budget and the fact the economy is not full of investment monies.  That is why the first step is to undertake a thorough analysis of your business process.   Start with a technology audit.  What do you have, where is it, how are your people utilizing it and what are they doing outside of technology.  In particular what manual processing are they doing?  Where is there a paper log jam?  Are your people asking (or using without asking) mobile technologies? 

 

What information do your people need, where are they located, what devices are they using, and who are they?  These four aspects define your anywhere, anytime technology.

 

Next step after a technology review is to analyze the business processes your organization employs.  Are there areas where you can drive efficiency with technology solutions?  Can you integrate more of your enterprise?  What are the business goals that your departments are trying to achieve?

 

When the aforementioned analysis have been run through you will be ready to select and implement solutions that will drive operational efficiencies.  Sometimes this comes from more fully utilizing what you already have, sometimes it incorporates adding new modules or upgrading your existing system.  Sometimes the answer is to replace what you have.  It is not that what you are using is bad, it is just not giving you a competitive edge.  It may cost you more to keep using what you have than to bite the bullet and make the changes necessary to move your business forward.  It is not an easy decision to do major surgery, but it is better to do it when you are strong than to wait until there are no resources left.

 

In order to survive your businesses is going to increasingly rely upon technology solutions.  Now is the time to contact Dolvin Consulting, one of many trusted advisors to help you navigate the constant flux in technology.  ERP solutions today are more necessary than ever in order to deliver more value to the business.  ERP offers more significant opportunities to meet today’s challenges in real ways that increase operational efficiencies which make the business more agile, responsive and competitive.