In this selection guide, Beijing Tianyulian Technology Co., Ltd. tries to analyze the various stages and levels in the selection process of ERP software, and at the same time combines some characteristics of the printing industry to provide useful guidance for users in the printing industry to choose ERP products.
1. Start: determine the basic structure of the selection
Knowing oneself and knowing the enemy, knowing oneself first, only by deeply analyzing and summarizing one's own needs can lay a solid foundation for ERP selection. In fact, the selection is affected by many factors, including the core goal of ERP system purchase, the length of the benefit period, the relationship with the existing information system, the human and material resources that can be invested, etc. It is very important to clarify these factors. Questions govern all subsequent selection decisions.
Personnel in charge of each department and area discuss the various goals of introducing an ERP system, so as to obtain a benchmark as a guide for the entire selection process. For example, should the selection of ERP be mainly to avoid implementation risks or to meet the special business model of the enterprise ? This also reflects the attitude of enterprises to the introduction of ERP to a large extent. A selection process that focuses on reducing risk tends to focus more on near-term benefits, and it also tends to require a faster return on ERP investment. For a stable ERP system that can develop long-term and bring benefits, it often pays more attention to the integration with the enterprise management mechanism, sets the revenue target relatively conservatively, and sets the recovery time of ERP investment to two years. or longer.
2. Recruitment: Form a selection work team
After determining the basis of ERP selection, it is necessary to select the personnel who actually complete the selection work, which is also the focus of the ERP project establishment process. In addition to the heads of relevant departments, there are two aspects of personnel that need to be considered, one is the decision-making members of the enterprise, and the other is the third-party ERP experts. Although we are reluctant to exaggerate the proportion of the " top-in- command effect " in the success of ERP , the support of decision makers does play a crucial role in the implementation of ERP , which has a subtle impact from system selection. Since the real ERP thirst often comes from the highest decision-making level of the enterprise, the participation of the decision-making level is very important for other staff to grasp the selection target. When the cost allows, the introduction of third-party ERP consulting experts can bring many predictable returns. Experience has proved that in a certain scale ERP project, it is difficult to complete various evaluations solely by relying on the strength of the enterprise itself. work, even if the enterprise has sufficient IT technical strength. The experience of ERP experts is irreplaceable for enterprises to invest in short-term resources. For those who have not been involved in ERP work, even the collection of product information and industry information may form a great burden.
3. There is a law to follow: establish evaluation criteria
Just like a warehouse manager must make an inventory list before inventory, the selection of ERP software also requires a feasible evaluation standard to be established in advance. Based on the pre-specified goals, we recommend that companies conduct a preliminary selection of ERP products on the market, and formulate evaluation criteria based on the information provided by the shortlisted manufacturers. Doing so is conducive to mapping the needs of the enterprise for the ERP system to the real product functions, which can reduce the uncertain factors in the actual evaluation process and avoid the risk of selection. The general ERP evaluation standard is in the form of a questionnaire, and all the survey questions are given different weights according to the selection goals to determine the final score of each product.
4. Charge: software system selection
Product is the real core of ERP selection. All preparations for selection are for the final software system evaluation, and all other selection factors are also related to product selection. For companies preparing to use ERP , they usually have a certain amount of IT accumulation and some technical strengths to use, so they should first conduct internal assessments without external interference. On this basis, the shortlisted manufacturers can conduct centralized demonstrations and explanations on some issues of concern. For example, some printing companies with a large proportion of packaging production may focus on discussing with the manufacturers the issues of printing and publishing.
In addition to meeting the requirements of the enterprise, it is often more important to examine the functional depth of the software system. From the development of MRP to MRPII to ERP , the basic functions contained in a typical ERP system are very similar and relatively stable. The main difference lies in the level of functions, especially those functions that users in this industry focus on. For the printing industry, production efficiency is one of the lifebloods related to the survival and development of enterprises, which means that the ERP software used by printing enterprises should include powerful production planning functions, and at the same time can automatically schedule production to maximize the use of machines. and human productivity. Obviously, an ERP system that is relatively rough in production management and can only manage information but cannot analyze information and complete intelligent decision-making is unqualified in the printing industry. In addition, enterprises in different industries have different business concerns, and the ERP systems they use should also have different functions as the core. In fact, even in the same industry, there are more or less differences in the operation of different companies. For a printing company with a busy business, it is very important to reduce the downtime of the printing press while ensuring that each printing press has as few tasks as possible ; for a printing company whose active source has not reached saturation, it is more reasonable to Quoting to improve profit margins, better management of raw material prices and turnover to save costs, and how to improve quality to encourage users to increase their order volume will now be more important.
5. Lazi: choose a product or choose a manufacturer
In the selection process of ERP system, the factors of products are generally larger than the factors of manufacturers, but compared with many software systems, the factors of manufacturers are much more important, because ERP projects have extremely high requirements for implementation and services. Since ERP is a long-term project, the ERP software suppliers with strong own strength have better sustainable development ability, which can reduce the investment risk and development risk of enterprises, and provide continuous software improvement and various information and consultation. suggestion. In addition, factors such as the quality and quantity of the manufacturer's staff, and the manufacturer's geographic location are also important factors in the selection process. Experienced training experts and service personnel can provide effective support and guarantee to the enterprise, and the geographical location determines the speed of door-to-door response, which is particularly important for printing companies whose downtime represents monetary losses. Beijing Tianyulian Technology Co., Ltd., as a company specializing in the development of printing ERP , is impeccable in terms of product quality and company services.
6. Face changing: product customizability
For ERP selection, the existing features are only one level of the product, and the customizability and scalability are very important in the software implementation process and subsequent operation process. For larger printing companies, there may be many specifications for coated paper alone, reaching hundreds of varieties, and the classification and variety of various raw materials are countless, so the printing ERP software must first have a very flexible foundation Data encoding mechanism. At the same time, some customization capabilities for product BOMs are also very necessary, especially for those enterprises that print and produce orders for orders, maintaining a robust template library can greatly improve the operation efficiency of enterprises. On this basis, whether the functions and processes of the software system can be flexibly changed is also a key issue that needs to be investigated. Since the enterprise may continuously change the business focus and business model during the use of the system, whether the software function can be quickly adjusted to meet the latest needs has become an important issue related to the follow-up cost of the enterprise. In fact, from the perspective of the development trend of global enterprise management systems, platformization has become the mainstream, and comprehensive customization of ERP systems has become an emerging demand for users. The functions and processes of printing ERP of Beijing Tianyulian Technology Co., Ltd. can be changed flexibly, and functions can be adjusted quickly during the use of the software.
7. Escort Fleet: Beyond Software Functions
In the process of selection, many companies carefully evaluate the various characteristics of the product, but make wrong decisions in other fields. The selection of ERP products must take into account both comprehensiveness and details to maximize the possibility of success. From the perspective of software systems, factors such as performance and stability are also very important, because ERP systems often have to carry the core operational tasks of enterprises. A problem that is easily overlooked is the maturity of the system. An ERP software product that has not been tested enough may expose many problems during the implementation process, and even cause the premature death of ERP implementation. The price factor also needs to be paid attention to in the selection process. The relatively correct attitude is that we should pursue the rationality of the price, not blindly care about the level of the price. Many users choose not to purchase follow-up service support in order to reduce the price, but it turns out that the services of many ERP products are very necessary and beneficial, and users may need to pay more costs to purchase these services separately in the later stage. Simply considering the price can easily make the company ignore the value of the product, so making the price as the primary factor in the selection will do great harm to the company. In terms of the entire software industry, Beijing Tianyulian Technology Co., Ltd. has the highest cost performance for printing ERP .
