6 Myths Surrounding ERP Software Busted
By Johnny Nugent
Are you a manufacturer considering installing or updating an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software system? The time is now. ERP software has improved dramatically in recent years. In the past, ERP software was seen as an enormous expense, a potential security risk, a challenge for IT teams from a hosting perspective, and was perceived as taking over a year to implement.
These are myths of the past - at least for Visibility ERP customers. Installing a robust ERP system with extensive capabilities is not simple, but it's a lot easier than it used to be and well worth the time and effort. Your whole team will be on board after we bust 6 of the biggest myths surrounding ERP software.
Myth 1: ERP Software is an Enormous Expense
Let's bust this one right off the bat. With cloud and on-premise solutions available, flexible payment options, and quick, lean implementation in 4-6 months, there's no better ERP software on the market than Visibility ERP with its extensive tier-one vendor functionality at a cost-effective price.
Myth 2: ERP Software Creates Security Risks
Wrong again. ERP solutions are more secure than ever. With Visibility ERP, system security is provided at all layers of the application down to the field level. Database connections are made through an embedded data object model, providing for tightly secured data access between the Visibility ERP application and your database. Business data access permissions are checked at every access point and traceability capabilities are extensive through our audit trail functionality.
Myth 3: ERP Software Systems are a Nightmare to Host and Maintain and I Need a Large IT Team to Do So
False. Visibility ERP offers a cloud-based solution with its software as a service option (SaaS). For companies that don't have an IT team or don't want to host and maintain an on-premise ERP system, the SaaS model is the perfect option. Go ahead and run your business and let Visibility handle maintaining and servicing your ERP system and hosting needs.
Myth 4: ERP Software Systems Take Over a Year to Implement
You've been told lies by the big ERP providers. Visibility ERP has a lean implementation methodology that gets our customers live in 4-6 months. Unlike many of our larger competitors who stick 6 consultants at your facility for well over a year to implement you on their system, we don't do that at Visibility. Give us a call to learn how we do it.
Myth 5: Implementing a New ERP System is Too Much of a Cultural Change and I Don't Think My Users Will Be Receptive to This
We hear this comment all the time and at Visibility, we are sensitive to the fact that implementing an ERP system impacts end-users as they perform their day-to-day functions. We understand that you have a business to run and that you may have employees who have been doing their job a certain way for 10, 20, or 30 years.
We believe that successful manufacturing requires constantly thinking ahead about process improvement. Working with and listening to the concerns of your team, we are confident that we can help you make better products (and more of them), increase customer satisfaction, lower your risk, and improve overall business results. We've been helping manufacturing companies achieve operational excellence for over 30 years. Our experience and knowledge are unmatched.
Myth 6: Only the Large Name Brand ERP Providers Can Help My Business
This is completely false. Big-name ERP providers are beholden to the investors and private equity groups that own them rather than putting their focus on their customers. Their interest is making quick returns and swallowing up smaller vendors in an effort to buy their users or technology and expand their market share while cutting costs (to the detriment of their customers).
At Visibility, we have no outside capital, zero debt, no bank leverage, are profitable every quarter, and are 100% devoted to our products and have long term partnerships with our customers. We've been around for 31 years. No other ERP vendor has been around as long as we have without being swallowed up and acquired. How do we do it? We foster a level of intimacy and trust with our customers that ensures success. You can't buy relationships and trust. You must build it. Our loyal customer base is proof that our model works.
Our family ownership also gives our customers the comfort that they too are a part of our family and that we have no intention of selling to some larger vendor or financial investor. We also are laser-focused on our core strength: ERP software for engineer to order, make-to-order, and configure to order manufacturers. Our solution continues to be designed and enhanced for these specific types of manufacturers.
As such, we refuse to drift away from our core competency and the functionality our customers love just to add names to the customer list the way our larger competitors do. We have the products and people to support multi-national corporations with dozens of plants around the globe as well as small start-ups we stand behind and support as they scale. Whatever your size, Visibility is a committed partner to our customers.
Conclusion
So, this may all sound great, but you may be wondering how does Visibility ERP really improves your processes? To improve your business processes you have to first understand what your processes are and where you want your business to be with a new ERP system and we will help you with that during our implementation.
In our experience, the benefits are enormous and your users end up happy following an implementation. Accounting is happy because much of their data entry needs are now executed by Visibility ERP and it supports Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). Your purchasing and manufacturing teams are happy because material resource planning ensures timely and accurate purchasing and many manual data entry and tracking tasks on the shop floor are eliminated.
Your executive team is probably the happiest because now they have dashboards, charts, and data to track profits, costs, projects, sales, and more, giving them visibility over the entire business. Your technical team is happy as well with advanced security features and a team of Visibility experts who can assist with their technical needs at a moment's notice.
