Most manufacturers have someone who knows why the ERP is set up the way it is. They know which customizations matter, which workarounds keep things running, and what happens if you change the wrong setting. Then they retire, and a lot of that knowledge goes with them.
Why It Happens
Teams usually build customizations to solve a real problem at the time. A report that wasn’t available, a process that didn’t fit, a connection to another system. The people who built them knew exactly why they were there. Years later, those people have often moved on, leaving code and configuration with little documentation behind.
The company keeps running on it, but nobody is fully sure how it works.
Where It Shows Up
The cost rarely shows up all at once. It shows up in small ways:
- Teams push upgrades back because no one knows what a change might break
- Simple requests take longer because someone has to figure out how the system works first
- New employees learn by asking the one person who remembers, until that person is gone
- Teams avoid small fixes because the risk feels bigger than the benefit
Over time, the customizations that once gave a company an edge end up holding it back.
Getting Unstuck
Moving forward usually starts with finding out what you actually have:
- Take inventory of your customizations. Which ones does your team still use, and which no longer serve a purpose?
- Capture what’s in people’s heads while those people are still around to explain it
- Decide what to keep, retire, or rebuild based on how your business runs today
- Plan the upgrade around your real processes and your timeline, not the other way around
Not Sure Where to Start?
A utilization review is a low-commitment first step. We look at how your team has set up and uses your system today, customizations included, then help you identify the gaps and build a plan. You don’t need to know what’s wrong before you call. Finding out is the point of the review.
What Customers Say
Two manufacturers described what their upgrades looked like with Crossroads RMC alongside them.
Tim Knight, IS Manager at Yupo Corporation, on an upgrade where the original builders were long gone:
“Our upgrade from BPCS to LX was greatly aided by Crossroads RMC. Their extensive knowledge of the financial system was a saving grace for us since we had a system that was set up over 15 years ago by people no longer in the company. The patience and professionalism of Hugh Carty made the transition much less complicated and frustrating. There is no doubt in my mind that it would have taken a much longer period and a substantially more painful path if it was not for Crossroads RMC bending over backward to accommodate our processes and time constraints. Crossroads RMC was also able to help us with AS400 technical training, MRP production system design, and pricing using Promotions and Deals. This large swath of knowledge was very helpful in management discussions. Thanks to the Crossroads RMC team, Yupo was able to bring this implementation under budget and on time.”
An IT Specialist at Hunter Douglas, on an LN upgrade under a tight deadline:
“Crossroads RMC was instrumental in assisting us with upgrading our LN system. We had a few security obstacles that we had to work around and a short time frame in which to complete the project, but Crossroads was quick to resolve the issues to get the new system online. They were an integral part of our success.”
Decades of Experience, Across Every Environment
Every company configures its ERP a little differently, and every customization has its own history. Crossroads RMC has spent decades helping manufacturers work through them across the ERPs we support:
- Infor LN
- Infor LX
- Infor M3
- Infor SyteLine
- Infor XA
- Infor CloudSuite
- Baan
- BPCS
If your ERP depends on knowledge that only one or two people hold, we’d be glad to talk through your options.