HORIZON ERP

Companies often spend enormous time internally debating whether or not they should update their ERP system to the latest version, with many are unsure just how they can tell whether the time is right or not to sanction an upgrade. Below 5 indicators will help them to say if there is a need to their ERP. 1. No mobile functionality With business in general becoming increasingly remote and about working on the move, ERP system should complement this change in culture by allowing users to access certain features of the system on their mobile phone. While for the time being at least, mobile apps are not going to offer the same level of insight and features that user would get from his desktop. By allowing the user to work on the go, it prevents the traditional backlog of the transactions which can be done on real time.   2. Lack of standard features As time progresses, features that may have been considered not essential, or a luxury when first implementing current ver...

ERP systems enable the flow of data between them. By collecting an organization’s shared transactional data from multiple sources, ERP systems eliminate data duplication. The five most common challenges manufacturers can overcome by implementing ERP software are: Managing Data Without the use of an ERP, companies spend valuable energy and time pulling together fragmented data from different spreadsheets, accounting sources and sales orders to discover the company’s overall financial position. By implementing a fully integrated ERP system, significant amounts of time can be saved by eliminating dual entry of information and needed to perform data searches in various places. Tracking of data Manufacturers have to resort to manually entering numbers into spreadsheets when they don’t have an ERP system. The issue with this is producing accurate entries in complex manual entry spreadsheets to keep track of raw material lot numbers used in multiple finished goods and shipped ...

In addition to budget, time and scope overruns, lack of realized business benefits can be one of the most frustrating parts of an ERP implementation. In fact, a majority of organizations fail to achieve at least half of the business benefits that they expected. In addition, manufacturing, distribution, financial services, government and healthcare organizations across the globe validate that ERP benefits realization can indeed be a disappointment. Despite the challenges, ERP benefits realization doesn’t have to be impossibility. At the same time, it also doesn’t have to be an all-or-nothing proposition. There are a number of ways that organizations can go after the “low-hanging fruit” of potential ERP business benefits to start realizing their return on investment sooner: 1.   Carefully manage total implementation costs.  One of the most immediate ways to optimize the ROI from your ERP implementation is to manage overall implementation costs. Th...

Access to current and historical data is one of the top benefits of an ERP system. But if that data in inaccurate or untrustworthy, it can compromise quite a bit of the worth of the system — and frustrate the users to no end. It’s no secret that a good data cleaning strategy must be in place long before switching over to a new ERP system, but organizations continue to persist in the idea that they can migrate everything they have over to their software and the software will somehow magically scrub and standardize it. That’s just not the case. And if they’re counting on their ERP vendors to help them, they’re in for a real surprise. Data migration is such an onerous and extensive task that many vendors simply leave it up to the implementing company to figure out. Suffice it to say, organizations need to get their data strategy set and begin working on it long before the cutover date. Following are some basic tips on how to approach cleaning historical data for an E...

Contrary to the beliefs of many, an  ERP implementation  is far more than a large IT project. It affects stakeholders in every functional area, and if it fails, it has dramatic consequences throughout an organization. With that said, an  ERP failure  is not unlike a car crash. Both are disasters that leave trauma and retrospection in their wake. Despite this, there are notable differences between a car crash and an ERP failure that provide important lessons on mitigating risk in the ERP implementation. Heed these lessons and it will avoid the mistakes that lead to ERP crashes. 1.        A car crash happens suddenly . In most cases, car accidents occur in an instant and have little or no warning. ERP failures are preceded by numerous red flags over the course of months or even years. Warnings such as a lack of executive or employee buy-in, inadequate  change management  and unrealistic deadlines are often present l...

An ERP project will succeed or fail based on a number of criteria, not the least of which is the system’s usability. Today’s end-users are accustomed to intuitive, easy to-use interfaces akin to what they experience when using technology in their daily lives. Whether it is an app on their tablet to buy concert tickets or a touch screen on their PC, today’s end-users live in a world where the user interface is clean, simple and intuitive. Unfortunately, there are still many ERP systems out there that are not designed with the end-user in mind. Instead, they look dated, often requiring multiple entry and data points to process information and build out dashboards. A poor interface dramatically impacts end-user buy-in, usage and adoption. In some cases, poor and overly complex user interfaces drive users to not only resist the changes but outright revolt and revert back to workarounds and manual processes. We are often asked about the usability of a system and if it...

Most ERP benefits are well-known but however, it would appear that certain benefits are ignored by clients that is highlighted below:   1. Reduced Operating Costs   ERP solutions are meant to streamline business processes, which can improve customer service and increase revenue. As it turns out, the software can also decrease operating costs. Instead of needing an IT administrator to run reports, ERP solutions make this easy for anyone to accomplish. Additionally, the central storage aspect means employees from different departments can input updated information as they receive it. This removes the need of having focused teams to collect and correct information.  2. Improved Security   Business owners rarely consider the security implications of an ERP system, and when they do, they often make inaccurate assumptions. Business owners can selectively choose who they want to have access to certain information. Additionally, having all of this data c...