Any type of change is traumatic, but few things are scarier than a merger or acquisition. Whether you’re doing the acquiring or you’re being acquired, this process can be stressful for everyone involved.

Managing change related to a merger or acquisition is necessary for both the short- and long-term health of your organization. While mismanagement can lead to lost productivity in the short team, it can also weaken your company from within and make it vulnerable in the future.

To effectively manage change, you should focus on your most valuable resource: your employees. Here are five tips to help you prepare for the major change of a merger or acquisition:

1. Identify Skill Gaps and Overlaps

When you join forces with another organization, the first thing on employees’ minds is the status of their jobs. To avoid this panic, you should address employee concerns long before change occurs.

And long before you communicate with employees, you should spend time defining how your organization will look post-merger. This will provide visibility into skill gaps and overlaps. If you clarify the situation as quickly as possible, you’ll find it easier to manage change. Less concerned about their jobs or their future, employees will slowly turn back to the task at hand.

2. Focus on Organizational Culture

Bringing together two different organizations is going to combine two different types of organizational cultures. This could cause problems, but it doesn’t have to. In fact, culture can be one of your most effective tools in managing change – it can autocorrect for things you simply cannot control.

To avoid culture clashes, you should meet with teams throughout the organization to decide how processes will look post-merger. A strong business process reengineering methodology can help you establish a process framework prior to merging with another organization.

Focusing on culture before a merger or acquisition will make it easier for you to incorporate new employees into your organization and facilitate your transformation.

3. Make Communication Easy

During times of change, rumors are your worst enemy. The last thing you want is employees gossiping about what they think is going to happen post-merger. This not only takes people away from work, but it hurts workplace morale, which can have a negative impact on the health of the company.

It’s important to establish clear and open lines of communication with employees throughout the acquisition process. Consider developing an organizational change management plan and holding weekly meetings to discuss the latest news related to the merger and to answer any questions people may have. This simple step ensures everyone is on the same page and gives you the chance to dispel rumors while keeping everyone calm and working towards a common goal.

4. Establish Purpose

Many organizations use mergers and acquisitions as a growth strategy. The idea is that if you can combine highly-profitable companies in similar but different markets, then you can increase efficiency and profitability. This can be a smart strategy, but only if stakeholders are aligned.

To ensure alignment, you should communicate your strategy and explain how it aligns with your organizational vision. If acquiring a certain company gives you access to a new market, then make your intentions clear.

5. Collaborate

Organizational change can often feel as though it’s being imposed from the top, and this can lead to change resistance. It’s important to make the transformation as collaborative as you can.

Recruiting integration teams is a great way to spread the workload of change management, and it makes people feel more involved in the process. Participating in integration teams gives employees another way to stay informed about organizational changes.

While preparing for change is important, unforeseen challenges always arise. You should develop a plan but remain flexible as you navigate change. Keep these tips in mind, as they will make your merger or acquisition more successful.

About the Author: Jock Purtle is the Founder and CEO of a digital business brokerage. Prior to starting DigitalExits, he was an eCommerce entrepreneur. In his current role, he works with business owners to help them strategize growth and plan an exit, which has given him considerable experience in fields such as organizational change and corporate culture.

Note: The inclusion of guest posts on the Panorama website does not imply endorsement of any specific product or service. Panorama is, and always will remain, completely independent and vendor-neutral. If you are interested in guest blogging opportunities, click to read more about our submission guidelines.

Artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to become one of the most disruptive technologies of the 21st century. It’s driving innovation across sectors as disparate as healthcare and agriculture. Supply chain management is one area where AI has many applications and benefits.

Before moving forward, here are some quick definitions:

 

• AI refers to a branch of computer science that involves simulating intelligent human-like behavior in machines.
• Machine learning is a branch of AI concerned with using statistical techniques and algorithms to facilitate computer systems in improving their performance on specific tasks using data alone, without being explicitly programmed.

Benefits of Machine Learning and AI for Supply Chain Management

1. Predictive Analytics

Demand forecasting analyzes customer demand to optimize supply chain processes. Optimal inventory levels and reduced holding costs are key benefits of accurate demand forecasting.

Machine learning models are adept at predictive analytics for demand forecasting. These models can identify hidden patterns in historical demand data. For example, the models can correlate customer purchasing behavior with weather patterns.

We developed a manufacturing ERP systems list for organizations interested in this type of functionality:

2. Inventory Management

An important use case for AI is enhancing the computer vision capabilities of ERP systems and machines. Computer vision is a field of computer science that works on enabling computers to see, identify and process images.

Thanks to machine learning and deep learning, image classification is now becoming more feasible, meaning computer systems can now recognize and classify objects in images with a high degree of accuracy – in some cases, even outperforming humans.

In terms of supply chain management, computer vision can enable more accurate inventory management. Target, for example, trialed a system in which a robot equipped with a camera tracked inventory on store shelves. (For information on other trends and key issues in contemporary supply chain management, read this article by Bringg.)

3. Optimized Procurement Management

Chatbots have dramatically improved in recent years, and while they are often used in the context of customer service, they also have benefits in procurement management.

A good example is Chyme, which opens up conversational interfaces between human operators and sales/marketing automation solutions, such as Salesforce. A large beverage company implemented Chyme as they were experiencing inefficiencies when employees sought information on procurement queries. Employees were required to call a helpdesk and wait for operators to access several systems to give them the required information. By implementing the AI-powered procurement bot and integrating it with various ERP systems for access to real-time information, inefficiencies were markedly reduced.

Chatbots provide instant information on shipment status, stock availability, stock price and other procurement queries. This is a clear case of AI benefiting supply chain management while augmenting the roles of staff and allowing them to focus on value-added tasks instead of getting frustrated answering simple queries.

4. Automated Quality Inspections

Manual quality inspections conducted at logistics hubs are often used to inspect packages or containers for any damage during transit. The possibility to automate quality inspections has emerged with the growth of AI.

IBM Watson is an artificial intelligence system that can be used for automated analysis of defects in industrial equipment. The system uses machine learning techniques to check for damage via image recognition.

The use of AI to power automated quality inspections reduces the chances of delivering faulty goods to customers.

5. Improved Compliance

Manufacturers in certain industries are required to comply with a range of industry-specific regulations governing product quality. In industries like aerospace and healthcare, supplier quality is paramount. A component part that fails to meet industry regulations in aerospace, for example, could lead to human fatalities.

Supplier quality management is costly and time-consuming because manufacturers in heavily-regulated industries need to track and monitor thousands, or even millions, of component parts from different suppliers to ensure they meet compliance standards. Machine learning models can streamline auditing and compliance monitoring of component parts.

6. Faster, Higher-output Shipping

The autonomous vehicles industry is still in its nascent stages. However, as it begins to mature, there is enormous potential for shortening shipping times. Human truck drivers can only be on the road for a limited amount of time within a certain time period. Autonomous vehicles, powered by AI and machine learning, do not have this limit on driving time.

Closing Thoughts

The benefits of AI and machine learning in supply chain management are clear. These technologies augment the roles of skilled workers, allowing them to provide more value to their organizations.

If you’re pursuing digital transformation, Panorama’s ERP consultants can help you determine how AI can increase your organization’s operational efficiency and competitive advantage.

Written by Limor Wainstein. Limor is a technical writer and editor at Agile SEO, a boutique digital marketing agency focused on technology and SaaS markets. She has over 10 years’ experience writing technical articles and documentation for various audiences, including technical on-site content, software documentation, and dev guides. She specializes in big data analytics, computer/network security, middleware, software development and APIs.

Note: The inclusion of guest posts on the Panorama website does not imply endorsement of any specific product or service. Panorama is, and always will remain, completely independent and vendor-neutral. If you are interested in guest blogging opportunities, click to read more about our submission guidelines.

Whether you are a CEO of a company, an independent content creator or a marketing executive of a large enterprise, chances are you have given some thought to digital transformation. The digital marketplace we live in today requires brands and their respective businesses to innovate their marketing strategies in order to stay relevant.

Studies have shown that 55% of startups worldwide have already adopted digital transformation as their primary business strategy. One of the more predominant factors of becoming relevant to a wider customer base is site and content localization. What localization can accomplish is to make your brand relevant to markets outside of your local area or language region.

Localization of your internet presence can enable you to approach new markets and clients as well as to establish a firm presence as an important figure in your industry. Let’s take a look at why digital transformation should take center stage in your internationalization efforts through the lens of localization.

1. Brand authority & industry presence

It can be difficult for a company to establish its presence on the market, especially in a competitive niche. However, content localization coupled with digital transformation can help your brand achieve that goal. By going the extra mile and localizing your web content, you will make a statement that you are ready to grow as a brand.

Both customers and other companies in your niche will start to notice your online content, pages and the impact you make thanks to the search engine optimization (SEO) that comes with localization. In short, the more you move into localization of your content through digital transformation, the more prevalent your name will be online.

2. Greater variety of markets

Localization entails that you translate your content into languages other than your native one. This means that any customers and clients who speak Chinese, Russian, Greek or some other language will take notice of you. In that regard, you will effectively attract a more varied and lucrative clientele than ever before.

While traditional digital transformation efforts focus on internal restructuring, localization looks outwards towards the public. This is what makes localization a good choice for digital restructuring since it will place your brand’s pin on the markets across the world.

3. A flexible content structure

Content localization will give you ample opportunity to catalogue your website, blog posts and social media accounts. This is a good time to refresh and reevaluate your content marketing strategy now that you have localization in mind.

You will effectively create a more manageable and flexible content structure, which will allow you to create new types of interesting content for your international audience. Managing such a large operation is a huge feat, so you should consider outsourcing a part of your localization process to a trustworthy third party.

It is good practice to check out several translation reviews before settling for the writers and translators that suit your brand needs the most, especially in long term. Once you have a content creation and localization pipeline in place, managing the digital transformation chess pieces around your brand will be a quick and enjoyable task.

4. Better SERP ranking

All the digital transformation efforts you put into your website, brand and content lead to one thing – better SEO. SEO remains a pivotal part of content optimization on the web and directly affects the visibility of your brand on popular search engines such as Google, Yahoo and Bing.

Search engine result page (SERP) extrapolates data from your SEO optimization and ranks that content higher or lower than the competition’s. Your rank will depend on the level of optimization you applied to your content.

Localization is considered a huge leap forward from anything you might do to technically optimize your content through Google Adwords or SEM Rush. In essence, localization through digital transformation of your online brand will ensure you show up on people’s browsers far more frequently than before.

5. High ROI

Every company has to take ROI into consideration when innovations are in question. After all, digital transformation isn’t the cheapest or fastest way to upgrade your business model. However, content localization is a very worthy investment for an online brand for one simple reason – organic traffic. Localization brings organic traffic to your website and subsequently allows for much higher conversion rates.

This is a much more affordable marketing strategy than any form of paid advertisement, live event or influencer campaign. The ROI of localization in your digital transformation far exceeds any previously mentioned marketing efforts and it makes sense for your brand in the long run.

6. External investments & partners

Once the buzz around your company starts spreading, you will see a lot more clients and customers knocking on your door. One of the more prominent knocks you should be present for is when interested partners and investment opportunities approach you.

Localization can do a lot for your brand and being interesting to potential investment partners is only one of them. Make sure to take every option into consideration when it comes to corporate partnerships and investment projects as a result of your newly-implemented digital transformation. There is a lot to be gained by working with other brands in your niche and creating joint products and services for international markets.

Now, Not Later

Large companies and small startups are both cautious about implementing anything new into their existing business models. However, technical transformation and digital upgrades to your brand are becoming a market necessity. If you decide to wait, you can find yourself in the position of becoming irrelevant to the market because other brands have embraced new digital transformation techniques in your place.

Localize a portion of your online presence into popular global languages and monitor the performance of your brand for a while. Before you know it, you will have expanded far beyond where you were when you started considering localization as part of your digital transformation strategy.

Written By: Kristin Savage. Kristin graduated from Columbia University where she was majoring in Germanic Languages. Besides English as her mother tongue, she also speaks German and Dutch fluently. Currently, Kristin is studying Spanish and planning to obtain her PhD in Applied Linguistics.

Note: The inclusion of guest posts on the Panorama website does not imply endorsement of any specific product or service. Panorama is, and always will remain, completely independent and vendor-neutral. If you are interested in guest blogging opportunities, click to read more about our submission guidelines.

Competition is fierce in the robotic process automation market. It’s a market that has more than tripled in revenue during the last two years, perhaps due to the buzz around artificial intelligence (AI). However, robotic process automation isn’t quite the same as AI.

What is Robotic Process Automation?

Robotic process automation (RPA) is the use of software robots to perform simple, repetitive tasks, such as data entry or certain employee onboarding tasks. Unlike AI, RPA cannot make judgments about future scenarios.

Organizations often deploy RPA bots in place of an ERP system or use them in conjunction with an existing ERP system. While ERP systems automate many business processes, they don’t automate all processes. This is where bots become useful. Usually, a bot does not have to be directly integrated into an ERP system to interface with it.

When RPA technology came on the market, it was primarily adopted by the financial services industry. Now, it is popular across all industries, and organizations have a variety of software vendors from which to choose.

Three software startups rule the RPA market: Blue Prism Group, UiPath and Automation Anywhere. These three companies were all founded in 2005 or earlier, but they didn’t become successful until they entered the RPA market.

Why is the RPA Market Growing so Quickly?

Using bots to complete repetitive tasks saves organizations time and money and reduces errors. Bots also allow employees to focus on higher-level work instead of mundane tasks. In other words, the return on investment is huge.

Strategic marketing has also contributed to the growth of the RPA market. Blue Prism Group popularized the use of the word “robotic” in conjunction with “process automation” as it invoked the concept of AI. Taking advantage of the popularity of AI, the RPA market skyrocketed.

Another reason for the market’s growth is the fact that RPA technology is relatively low cost, and the initial implementation typically doesn’t require extensive customization or deep systems integration.

RPA Implementation Challenges

The RPA market continues to grow despite rampant implementation failures. You may have heard that RPA implementations are quick and easy, but the only reason this rumor has spread is because organizations are rushing through implementation. While this may seem like a good idea, this leaves no time for proper planning or developing a long-term roadmap. Organizations soon find that RPA technology is difficult to maintain as their organization grows and business processes evolve.

If you know where your business is headed in the next five to ten years, you can configure your bots to fit your future business model. When evaluating RPA vendors, look for a flexible solution that aligns with your culture of continuous improvement.

The Future of RPA

RPA technology will likely become more sophisticated as software companies move beyond the automation of simple tasks and begin automating more advanced processes. Eventually, more ERP vendors may acquire RPA (soon to be AI) companies to extend their own AI functionality.

In the meantime, organizations implementing RPA are getting creative. They’re integrating RPA with cognitive technologies, such as machine learning, speech recognition and natural language processing, so they can automate processes previously requiring human judgment. Many organizations are putting this type of automation, known as intelligent automation, on their strategic agendas for the next year.

While the future of RPA is bright, will the future it creates be just as idyllic? Automation technology has eliminated jobs in the past, so its reasonable to expect that more advanced automation will eliminate just as many, if not more, jobs. In response to this fear, organizations are developing reskilling plans, so they can maximize employee retention even as entire roles and job descriptions are eliminated.

Should You Consider RPA?

In this digital era, organizations want to redefine the way they work. While the need for new technology is urgent, you should first focus on aligning your people and processes with your digital strategy. Your RPA implementation should be part of a holistic digital transformation initiative.

If you build this strong foundation, your organization can realize numerous benefits from RPA technology, including cost savings, reduced cycle time and improved customer service.

What is your manufacturing model? Is it mass production or digital manufacturing? Most manufacturers will say they’re trying to move to digital manufacturing, but are they prepared to realize the full benefits of their digital strategies?

Digitizing every phase of your supply chain is only half the battle. Digital manufacturing also entails integration of disparate systems, processes and machines. Integration enables real-time decision making based on real-time data. Digital manufacturing isn’t just about automating processes; it’s about using intelligence from multiple technologies to optimize processes and improve product design.

How to Realize the Benefits of Digital Manufacturing

Even if you already have all of the manufacturing technology you think you need, it never hurts to reevaluate your current state:

Define a Digital Strategy

Your digital strategy should be aligned with your organizational vision. What technology do you currently have, and what technology should you implement to achieve your goals? More importantly, how will you integrate this technology?

Develop a Business Case

You should set ambitious but realistic KPIs and continually monitor your progress.

Obtain Executive Buy-in

We’ve included this in several blogs. It will probably be in every blog. That’s how important it is. Not only do you need executive support, but you need a core team with stakeholders from each functional area.

Streamline Your Processes

You should begin business process management before selecting technology. Inefficient processes cannot be fixed with technology alone.

Prove Value

Use proof of concepts to demonstrate the value of digital manufacturing. Early wins show employees how they can benefit from upcoming changes.

Communicate

Even with a proof of value, employees may still worry about being replaced by a robot. You should remind them that digital manufacturing will free them to focus on more important tasks.

Develop Essential Skillsets

You will need digital skills, such as big data analytics, automation, cyber-security and mechatronics.

Define a Business Intelligence Strategy

Who will be responsible for analyzing and acting on business intelligence from the factory floor? What processes will you need to implement to streamline decision making?

Finding an ERP System to Support Digital Manufacturing

While ERP software isn’t the only technology you need for modernizing your manufacturing processes, it often is the backbone of the full suite of technologies that gather, store and analyze your data.

Many ERP software vendors have been quick to respond to the evolving needs of manufacturers. They’ve committed to building capabilities such as IoT, machine learning, artificial intelligence, big data and blockchain directly into their cloud offerings. Other vendors use API to connect to external applications.

IoT is an essential component to integrate into your ERP system as it gathers sensor data from the supply chain and provides actionable analytics on design issues, lead time, maintenance needs, inventory levels, energy consumption and even the customer experience. Housed in the ERP system, these analytics can be reviewed by supervisors and communicated to decision makers on the shop floor.

When evaluating ERP systems, you should assess their ability to aggregate data from key areas of your supply chain.

Is Digital Manufacturing Improving Your Operations?

So, you’ve selected an ERP system and integrated it with advanced manufacturing technologies. What benefits should you expect? Here’s a partial list:

Here’s a bit more detail on a few of these benefits:

Easier Consumer Product Customization

Whether you’re selling directly to consumers or to other businesses, you need to be flexible and responsive. Customer needs constantly change, and they expect quick response times. Five years ago, it wasn’t economically viable to produce smaller quantities of customized products. Now, this is faster and cheaper thanks to 3D printing and digital collaboration with contract manufacturers. Mass customization is also more feasible with today’s technologies.

Better Decision Making

The masses of data contained in ERP systems become manageable when integrated with digital manufacturing technology. IoT brings actionable data to the forefront and alerts managers in real time. Smart machines can also alert managers of impending maintenance needs.

Continuous Innovation

The same data that improves real-time decision making can be used to drive continuous innovation. Customer experience data helps product managers design better products. Product managers can also rely on artificial intelligence to determine what factors improve production quality.

Who’s Adopting Manufacturing Technologies?

Few manufacturers have implemented all of the technologies mentioned in this article, and even fewer have done so successfully. While fully digitizing and integrating your supply chain seems like an ambitious endeavor, manufacturers who move first will realize benefits unachievable for slower moving competitors.

Panorama’s ERP consultants have helped many manufacturers digitize their supply chain. Contact us to learn how we can help your company achieve it’s manufacturing goals.

Whether you’re lost and asking for directions or distraught and seeking a listening ear, asking for help is never easy. This is true in both our personal lives and our professional lives. While asking a coworker for help can be embarrassing, it’s not as mortifying as seeking outside help beyond the walls of your organization. Many executives dread the prospect of seeking professional guidance, such as a business consultant or ERP consultant, to address an organizational issue they don’t want to address internally due to time or resource constraints.

According to Gartner, CEO’s top priorities for 2018 are growth and IT-related. It will be interesting to see how many of these CEOs seek outside help and how many use only in-house resources to transform their organization.

Reasons Organizations Don’t Engage ERP Consultants

Asking for Help Seems like a Sign of Weakness

You might feel like you’re admitting incompetence, but you’re actually admitting you have limits. No organization has unlimited time and resources. Acknowledging this fact is a strength. It shows you’re informed about your processes, your people and your pain points. It shows you’re willing to change and do what’s right for your employees and your organization as a whole. If you hide organizational problems, they become much harder to fix.

Your Competitors Don’t Seem to be Struggling

There’s nothing worse than feeling like you’re falling behind your competitors. But, are you really? Underneath all of their flashy marketing and innovative products, likely lie the same underlying operational pains your organization is experiencing. Again, your feelings of incompetence are unfounded. You’re all in the same boat. The person who calls an ERP consultant first, will quickly outpace the others and achieve operational efficiency, customer satisfaction and revenue growth.

You’ll Surrender Control of Your Project

While it’s difficult to trust people you don’t know with something dear to you, no one said you won’t have any say in the process. In fact, you’ll be in charge of all final decisions, and you’ll have the opportunity to set the tone for all project communications. Digital transformations are more likely to succeed with executive sponsorship and buy-in. The more involved you are, the more business benefits your organization will realize. ERP consultants make recommendations – you decide whether or not to follow them.

You’ll Choose the Wrong ERP Consultant

Maybe you’ve had experiences in the past where your ERP consultant put entry-level college grads on your project and allowed you minimal facetime with senior leaders. Maybe you were given a biased recommendation for an ERP system based on the consultant’s financial ties. Maybe you are scarred from this experience. While you don’t want to risk making the same mistake again, your project will benefit from third-party guidance, so you should keep your options open. If you need additional skillsets and resources, the right ERP consultant can provide this while bringing seasoned, industry expertise and unbiased software recommendations.

Why it’s OK to Ask for Help

While there are many reasons to approach a digital transformation without third-party guidance, there are just as many reasons to ask for help.

Validation of Project Deliverables

Oftentimes, you’re too close to the project to see the big picture or you’re focused on organizational politics. A third-party can provide a fresh perspective and review your project plan to ensure it’s realistic and includes all necessary components.

Lessons Learned from other Digital Transformations

If you hire the right ERP consultants, you will have access to experts with a wide breadth of digital transformation experience. They’ve encountered similar problems to yours and know how to navigate challenges such as vendor negotiations and organizational change management.

Specialized Skills

Speaking of organizational change management, you may not have this expertise in-house. If you hire the right experts, they’ll have both technical and business skillsets to address the full lifecycle of your digital transformation.

Reduced Strain on Employees

You don’t have to significantly disrupt your employees’ day-to-day jobs to transform your organization. While you do need a dedicated project team, consultants can help you strategically build your team so you select the right subject matter experts with a strong understanding of their particular functional areas.

Leverage for Persuading “The Powers That Be”

Sometimes, you have a great idea that will save your organization time and money, but you have no decision-making power. ERP consultants can help you build a business case that will convince your boss to invest in digital transformation.

Cross-Functional Problem Solving

Successful digital transformation requires a focus on business process management throughout the project lifecycle. ERP consultants can collaborate with process owners across departments to understand pain points and facilitate the definition of future state business processes. Sometimes, these meetings are one-on-one. Sometimes, they are cross-functional. In both cases, consultants place a high value on stakeholder input from all functional areas – this includes customers!

The Value of ERP Consultants

Whether you’re hiring a business consultant or ERP consultant, you’ll likely feel a little unnerved about being so humble. However, organizations that are willing to admit their limitations can experience the benefits of third-party guidance, such as objectivity and specialized expertise.

Transforming your processes, people and technology isn’t easy. ERP consultants can reduce the risks inherent to large projects by helping you anticipate common pitfalls. If you wait to hire a consultant until you’ve begun experiencing problems, the damage is much harder to fix.

The increased use of blockchain technology could significantly impact supply chain management. Some experts claim it has the potential to completely revolutionize the supply chain industry.

Here’s a quick look at three ways blockchain will affect supply chain management.

1. Blockchain Allows for Streamlining Secure Transactions Between Logistics Suppliers, Manufacturers and Third-Party Partners

Blockchain is a ledger of records structured into blocks of data, which are connected using secure cryptographic validation to form a continuous chain. Each block references and detects its predecessor. What makes this so important in terms of supply chain management is the fact that the ledger isn’t stored in a master location. Instead, the data lives on multiple computers simultaneously, giving all vested entities visibility and access to the records. Old transactions are preserved forever, while new transactions are instantly and permanently added. This ensures that the history being viewed is exactly the same for everyone, from the manufacturers and suppliers to the third-party partners. This will eliminate the need to reconcile internal data and prevent any group from cheating the system by misrepresenting goods, shipments, etc.

2. Blockchain Makes Everything Traceable and Enhances Accountability.

As mentioned above, every single aspect of a transaction is visible to every party in the supply chain. This means every single item can be traced from the very beginning to the very end, essentially eliminating fraud, waste and delays. This also ensures that no single company has complete control over access to the information. As an added bonus, once a transaction has been added to the chain of information blocks and confirmed, it cannot be removed or altered, making it a very trustworthy record (a transaction must be confirmed six times to be deemed valid.) Then, it is permanently added to the record on the public ledger. There is absolutely no way to manipulate or erase any confirmed block data.

3. Overall, Blockchain Makes Most Things Easier.

When it comes to the supply chain market, the use of blockchain simplifies almost everything. It virtually eliminates fraud and reduces errors. Additionally, it becomes much easier to manage inventory, improve partner and consumer trust and identify and fix any potential problems. Courier and payment costs are reduced, and the need for paperwork is eliminated. Finally, the long process of reconciling and auditing separate ledgers from different entities in the supply chain is eliminated.

The unique features of blockchain have the ability to positively affect all industries on a global scale.

In the past few years, IoT (Internet of Things) technology has exploded, resulting in plenty of positive changes for ERP systems. From enhancing customer service to making it easier for companies to monitor and evaluate data, IoT has significantly improved ERP functionality and how companies do business as a whole.

What is IoT?

IoT is the collective term used for the billions of physical devices all over the world that are connected to the internet, both collecting and sharing data. Think of all the tools in your life that connect and share data. This includes everything from smartphones and heart monitors to refrigerators, washing machines, coffee makers, cars and more.

How Has IoT Enhanced the ERP System?

In simple terms, IoT increases the usefulness and power of an ERP system, whether on-premise or in the cloud. It is easy to see why companies in all industries are looking at creative ways to utilize IoT. For example, in the manufacturing industry, equipment-mounted diagnostic tools and computerized maintenance management systems make sure information is available to everyone from the technicians working on the floor to the senior executives upstairs.

In both the manufacturing and customer service sector, handheld scanners have tremendously enhanced an ERP system’s functions. It makes keeping up with inventory much more manageable, while also providing the data needed for better forecasting and production. This ensures products are adequately stocked so when customers are ready to make a purchase, so are you. As a bonus for companies, the use of handheld scanners can cut down on administrative costs [1].

There is no doubt that smartphones have also had a substantial impact on ERP systems, improving the quality of service for both customers and employees. Access to critical information is now at their fingertips, creating better response times by delivering real-time information on the spot. Customers no longer have to wait to find out if something they are interested in is in stock. Instead, this information is immediately available. From the employee side, productivity is increased, and downtime is reduced.

There are plenty of other ways IoT has improved customer service. For example, mobile apps allow you to check-in at hotels, restaurants, and store pickups. When it comes to healthcare, patient care is greatly enhanced when physicians can use their smartphone or tablet to view a patient’s test results, previous doctor’s notes and medication records using IoT enabled technology.

How Will IoT Continue to Enhance ERP Systems?

IoT also allows for greater flexibility, considerably enhances data and makes life easier for everyone. By 2020, a whopping 95% of products are expected to be IoT enabled. Any business that has yet to embrace this technology is at a considerable disadvantage to users of IoT technology. In the very near future, they will have no choice but to adopt this technology or continue to be left behind [2]. It is impossible to predict precisely how IoT will enhance ERP systems in the future, but you can be confident their role will only increase.

A Personal Invite to Panorama’s ERP Bootcamp

[1] https://www.imprint-e.com/5-benefits-of-integrating-a-barcode-system-with-your-erp/

[2] https://www.forbes.com/sites/sap/2017/11/28/what-business-looks-like-when-95-of-products-are-iot-enabled/#55869f715efd

Making a decision between implementing an ERP system or Best of Breed system is never an easy decision to make. There are several factors to consider when trying to decide what is best for your company.

First off, in case you don’t know, Best of Breed software is simply the best product in its class.  Often comprised of the best modules from various vendors, Best of Breed incorporate many different functions and features. 

To position you and your team for success, here are the top five things you should do prior to starting your implementation:

1. Cost

Integrated ERP software often comes with a hefty upfront price tag. There is often the need for customization and this can really add to the bottom line. Best of Breed systems can be less expensive, however costs can add up quickly when talking about additional features and functionality which your organization many not even need. Highly touted Best of Breed systems may pose a potential for overlap in functionality. In other words, don’t overpay for systems which you won’t be utilizing just because it’s highly touted. An experienced ERP consultant can help you make those determinations.

2. Implementation

The ERP software selection and implementation process should be a factor in determining which direction is best for your organization. You can implement Best of Breed to address specific business processes that might be in immediate need of help. Best of Breed ERP systems encompass a variety of specialized functions from a variety of specialized vendors, all of which need to be integrated.  Implementing any new ERP system is a major endeavor which requires time and cost.

3. Versatility

Are you looking for a cloud-based solution?  There’s a Best of Breed option for you.  Are you looking to expand into new territories fairly quickly?  Then Best of Breed may be for you.  Of course ERP software offers versatility as well, the functionality isn’t quite like Best of Breed so you should truly understand your long-term and short-term needs before deciding between the two.

4. Ease of Use

Ease of system use is something else to consider. Best of Breed systems focus on specific areas of business, which can be extremely helpful, however, specialization can also require further staff training or learning many nuances of the solution.  Day to day, Best of Breed can also make it easier for your organization to manage work orders, satisfy customer needs, improve internal processes and increase efficiency overall. ERP software comes in a fully integrated approach, which can also be a solution for your organization’s need for a digital transformation.

5. The Best Fit

It’s important to consider which model will fit best with your company and both its long-term and short-term needs. Be sure not to get too caught up in trends or thinking about what worked well in another organization like yours.  Your organization will have its own individual needs, budget and dedicated staff hours that all need to be considered.  Should you find that Best of Breed is a good fit for your organization then it’s important to go through all of its features and benefits with your independent ERP Consultant before starting implementation.

Contact us for more information about ERP Implementation.