What Management Should Focus on When Choosing a New ERP

The decision has been made, it's time for a new software system for your food company. The current system is outdated, it requires too much manual work and your business processes are no longer optimally supported. As a company, you need to work well together to make the implementation of a new ERP platform work, so it is very important that everyone has the same goals. But it's not surprising that you see different interests in different roles within the company. In the coming weeks, we will focus on the interests of the management team, the department manager and the IT manager in a food company during an ERP process and its implementation. What do they think is important? And more importantly, what should they pay attention to when choosing and implementing a new ERP platform? First up: the management team.

The management team chooses a new ERP system, because...

The biggest reason for the management team to opt for a new ERP system is to realize improvement. Achieving ambitions, saving costs, more sales, creating space to expand and grow. Within a management team, each person has his or her own role. A CEO has a full focus on strategy, where a CFO focuses mainly on risk, costs and returns. The COO sees the importance of the efficiency of the system and a CCO sees opportunities – more sales, more turnover, new markets. Different focus areas, but one goal: Achieving the set out goals.

What should you pay attention to as a member of the management team?

As a management team, the big picture is the most important – this will always be number one priority. What should the new ERP bring you? What do you want to get out of it in the long run? Then the following questions arise: Is your organization ready for a big change? Are your employees willing to change? Do the employees have intrinsic motivation? If not, how are you going to make sure that this changes? In the end, those are the people who will work with the system the most on a daily basis. An ERP deployment will only succeed if the entire company is on board. In short: As part of the management team, it is very important that you keep communicating with your employees, you formulate where you want to go, and it needs to be monitored during and after the project. If you don't do this, it’s going to be a tough road ahead. Choose a software partner who helps thinking, who understands the pitfalls of your particular industry, and above all, is honest.

An adoption process is a big job

An adoption process is a big job, and should not be underestimated. However, if you do it well, you’ll achieve the desired results. Are you looking for tips on how to best handle the adoption process? Read our whitepaper with 9 conditions for optimal return from your new ERP package.

Next up: the IT manager.