Final Touches to a successful ERP Implementation

S01 : The Untold Story of Today’s Manufacturing Business

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About Author : You can visit jupical.io we have a beautiful website where we describe about our culture, our expertise in providing services for ERP implementations with experience over 12 years. But the main purpose to write here about us is to acknowledge the world that we are not only service providers, we are the perfect partner for your business standing like main stem of your tree.

It’s a pleasing experience when you go to work with a free mind, enjoy your coffee sit relaxed you know the machines will be playing the major role doing your work, and all your mates including you love your work. The weekends are sunny bliss, you have freedom of anywhere anytime work. Think at moon time to expand with scale your business and this can only happen if you invest in technology like Keles have done.

Photo by Austin Distel on Unsplash

Keles manufacturing you remember it right yes where in first four chapters we have gone through their downfall, their problems, how they were once ruling the market. Then they implemented ERP, consulted business consultant, now were using the ERP and the outputs and benefits were clearly visible.

You can clearly go through this complete story if you don’t get it clear what are we talking about

Chapter 4: Keles reborn with ERP implementation

In business everything works on calculation, like managing, analyzing, counting figures with all your records, If you have a small business in the 1000s you can do it manually no issue, when it reaches, 100000s it needs help. But when it reaches, 10000000s we should actually think about avoiding manual work and invest in some good softwares like ERP to avoid delays and errors which will give you time to divert your focus on business development.

Ok now you have implemented ERP from the best known vendor and now is your partner, but do you think this implementation process is finish after deployment, migration, and training ?

The journey didn’t stop here, it's actually begin from here, the real struggle starts from here because now all users are live and using each system playing every role which they have asked to design.

Similar was the case with Keles where all they celebrate the success and embracing the new system with new methodologies and new strategies. The partner was too supportive, which we call it as a real vendor who had planned for post implementation support for the company in various five steps and their different strategies.

These ingredients were:

Celebrations & Encouragements

Every employee every corner of the organisation should celebrate in terms to know that they have successfully implemented ERP system and they will be encouraged to know the value of it.

• Celebrating and recognizing all the efforts of the team, demostrating the organization’s capability to tackle the challenges during the hardest times, yet achieving the goals.
• Explaining the team to the greatest ROI which the organization will gain, on improved process of data, saving costs , growth in revenue, emphasizing the value of the system.
• Celebrating with small small events oganizing training sessions, group lunches, in house events to make a meaningful and reflect the community structure.

Training & Support

In these plan the partners have already decided the analysis points to be executed within the team and to know the progress of the organisation’s process over the ERP system:

• Supporting the most capable users of the system with continuous key points and support, they can analyse the other users issue and problems, they can arrnage the training and support their colleagues.
• Partners prepared the FAQs for the users including the usermanuals, documentation and video tutorials so that they don’t get stuck at a point, and immediate make their decesions self.
• They planned to answer each and every question through the helpdesk and in live sessions for the internal users support team.
• They conduct weekly check up for their user’s check in and check out to address how well the users adapt with the ERP system.
• They created a community group with the system where they mark the measure of every questions asked, every question answered and then reward the one with maximum correct answers so that the users still remain inspird with the system and feel motivated to use it. They also created a dashboard for each and every measures for the users, so that they can calculate or see the real time reports.

A well-trained and engaged user base is essential for maximizing the benefits of your ERP system.

Monitoring the Perfomance

With this plan the complete performance of the team with the ERP and their progress were to be monitored lookig up for the sales and the output that affected the organization to plan out the better solutions for the gaps.

• Define parameters that really matters the progress of the organizations, it must be known all the departments that need to be focused on, this can include cost reduction, revenue growth and customer satisfaction.
• Keep an eye on real time reports by creating dashboards in the ERP system or organizing the tools that can maintain those records, this must be purely real time so that it can be promptly identified if the problem is any issue is arised.
• Conduct regular system audits to ensure data accuracy, integrity, and compliance. These audits should cover data security, access controls, and adherence to regulatory requirements.
• Ensure the feedback from the users on the perfomance of the system, their input can highlight issues that may not be apparent through automated monitoring alone.
• Keep regularly updating the system with the latest series of bug solving on update number and clearly mentioning the descreption of what changes were made. So that the users can stay updated with the stable and secured version of the system.
• Maintain comprehensive documentation of your ERP system’s configuration, performance history, and issue resolution processes. This documentation is valuable for troubleshooting and audits.
• Generate and review regular reports summarizing system performance. These reports should be shared with relevant stakeholders, including IT teams and senior management.

Post-Implementation Support

With this plan the solutions doesn’t only marked the perfomance but the real issues with the systems like bugs, error and some other functionalities which were as not expected by the client were been resolved to the requirements by the expert team via helpdesk or online-offline support.

• Clearly outline the types of support offered (e.g., technical troubleshooting, functional guidance, user training).Define the duration of support (e.g., a fixed period after go-live, ongoing subscription-based model).Consider offering tiered support options based on user needs and complexity of issues.
• Assemble a team with in-depth knowledge of the specific ERP system and your business processes. Ensure the support team is easily reachable by users through multiple channels (e.g., phone, email, online chat).The team should have strong analytical and problem-solving skills to efficiently resolve user issues.
• Provide users with additional training opportunities beyond initial go-live training. Offer training on new system features, functionalities, and updates to ensure user proficiency. Consider offering a variety of training formats (e.g., in-person sessions, online tutorials, on-demand video resources) to cater to different learning styles and schedules.
• Proactively monitor system performance metrics (e.g., system uptime, transaction processing speed, user activity). Analyze system performance data to identify potential bottlenecks or areas for improvement. Take preventive actions to address potential problems before they disrupt user productivity.
• Create a comprehensive knowledge base with easy-to-understand articles, FAQs, and step-by-step guides for common tasks. Develop readily accessible user manuals with detailed instructions on system functionalities and processes. Ensure knowledge base articles and user manuals are updated to reflect system changes and new features.

Feedback Management

The most important part of the plan was Feedback where the team and the developers get the real value of the work done since a long period of time, where the both counterparts really know about their doings.

• Provide users with various avenues to submit feedback, such as online surveys, dedicated feedback portals, or email addresses. Make sure feedback channels are easily accessible and user-friendly for all users. Consider offering an anonymous feedback option to encourage honest and open responses.
• Encourage specific and actionable feedback by using standardized feedback forms or templates with clear prompts. Focus on capturing feedback that identifies areas for improvement rather than simply reporting problems. Include open-ended questions to allow users to elaborate on their suggestions and experiences.
• Conduct regular analyses of user feedback to identify trends and recurring themes. Leverage data analysis tools to categorize and prioritize feedback based on impact and frequency. Analyze feedback to identify opportunities for system improvements, process enhancements, and user experience optimization.
• Prioritize feedback based on its potential impact on user adoption, system efficiency, and overall business value. Evaluate the feasibility of implementing suggested changes based on resource availability and technical complexity. Create clear and actionable plans to address prioritized feedback with defined timelines and responsible parties.
• Communicate the results of feedback analysis and action plans back to users to demonstrate that their input is valued. Provide transparent updates on the progress of implementing feedback-driven changes. Encourage ongoing dialogue with users to foster a culture of continuous improvement.

With this master plan the complete implementation process came to an end with the achievement of Keles, redefining the complete business operations in a digital way, So if you are a business owner even with a least amount of business scale, we can suggest you the best ever advice if you are looking up to scale in the global market, Not with just ERP solutions but any possible ways depending on your business size and your budget, making your first move towards securing your dreams.