The Infor ERP Elephant in the Room That Must Be Addressed

In a recent survey of Infor ERP customers, we discovered that 50% of respondents said that they did not know whether or not their ERP system had the features and functionality required for their business.  50%....1 out of every 2……not good.

Why is this the case? Well, the causes can be traced back to one of the following reasons:

• A key-person has retired or left the company and their knowledge left with them.
• Systems were implemented based on how the previous system worked.
• Upgrades and implementations were viewed as a “technical upgrade”, meaning that the upgrade was done to get off an old or outdated platform. The new version wasn't researched, its functionality was unknown and no one was trained on it.

You may say “So what? Who cares if our team doesn’t know what else is available, or how the rest of the ERP system functions? Does it really matter?”

Yes - It matters more than you think.... 

It tells us that there is a great need for a review of your manufacturing processes.

Manual processes around labor reporting, production completions, issuing of material, inspection approvals, serialization, and more can weigh down the entire shop floor team and can be the source of significant errors. Your business and your customers’ needs have changed and you are in a constant battle to keep up. It is hard to know which area to tackle first and where the greatest impact can be made.

That's where the Crossroads RMC Manufacturing Utilization Review comes in. Whether you're on an old version of BPCS or Baan, or the latest version of Infor LX or Infor LN, odds are there are aspects of Manufacturing / Production Control in the ERP system that doesn't fit your business's current strategy. Do you throw out the software and start with something new? Odds are that is overkill. Sometimes it just boils down to taking the time to understand how your current state matches up with your corporate strategy, understanding the gaps, and developing a plan to get you from point A to point B.

We have successfully helped companies transform their business in the areas of: 

• Planning / Scheduling
• Shop Floor Control
• Final Assembly
• Quality Control
• Production Control
• Forecasting
• Work Centers / Routings / Bill of Materials

Our consultants have 30+ years of experience that bring about REAL...

Time-consuming processes around month-end close, year-end close, AP matching, invoicing, account reconciliation, vendor payments, tax compliance, and more can weigh down a Finance team. Your business and your customers’ needs have changed and you are in a constant battle to keep up. It's hard to know which area to tackle first and where the greatest impact can be made.

That's where the Crossroads RMC Finance Utilization Review comes in.
Whether you're on an old version of BPCS or Baan, or the latest version of Infor LX or Infor LN, odds are there are aspects of Finance in the ERP system that doesn't fit your business's current strategy. Do you throw out the software and start with something new? Odds are that is overkill. Sometimes it just boils down to taking the time to understand how your current state matches up with your corporate strategy, understanding the gaps, and developing a plan to get you from point A to point B.

We have successfully helped companies transform their business in the areas of:

• Procure to Pay
• Record to Report
• Quote to Cash
• Financial Planning & Analysis

Our Finance consultants have 30+ years of experience that bring about REAL...

Everyone understands the importance of ERP reporting, but what if you’re relying on the wrong reports?

Having access to ERP data in a usable format allows for a common understanding and the ability to take action based on what the data is telling you. What do you do if the way your data is presented is not useful, or flat out wrong?

How can your reports be wrong? That would mean that the data is wrong, wouldn’t it?
Not necessarily. Reports are wrong because they are stagnant. They represent the truth ONLY at the moment they are run. If that data is shared with others within your organization, the information the report(s) is trying to convey has already changed. Decisions are then made on bad information.

Statistics show that 57% of companies have experienced some type of cyber attack. Did you know that the average cost of an attack is $2.6 million?

I recently came across an article from CIO Magazine that talked about the various ways that your ERP system could be hurting your business. The single most important item on that list referenced ERP systems that weren’t integrated with other systems that housed mission-critical business data.

Having data in two (or more) systems that don’t talk to one another is like baking a pizza crust in one oven and the toppings in another. Once baked, you may have some good food to snack on, but it sure isn’t pizza! Pizza requires the cheese and sauce and spices to bake with the crust. One takes on the flavor of the other and when you take a bite, you get a complete representation of the flavors.   

That’s the value of an integrated ERP system. When you take a bite, you get a complete representation of the flavors…meaning, you get one version of the truth. Everything comes together to allow you to analyze critical business data in an efficient way with no disconnects.

Crossroads consultants have spent years developing integration expertise to tie countless different systems to Infor ERPs.

Here are some examples…