Enterprise system implementations can be invasive, disruptive, and even counter-productive, causing considerable expense, possibilities of wrenching business-process change, and gnawing uncertainty in the minds of employees. But while no magic pill guarantees an implementation will be quick, painless, and successful, there are steps manufacturers can take to secure ERP value without risk of catastrophic failure.
An advertising insertAlertAugust 2007
Enhanced services Five big improvements in give Schumacher
just five months Elevator a leg upanufacturers today want Structured implementation at industrial good maker Hunter to differentiate them-Manufacturing reduces timeframe, promotes business success Mselves from low-cost By Jim Fulcher processes, and managed inventory that global providers through provision nterprise system implementations ERP, as a system of record, brings to of product-related services. Besides can be invasive, disruptive, and bear. being convenient and effective for Eeven counter-productive, causing Happily, while no magic pill guarantees customers, such services deliver bet-considerable expense, possibilities of an implementation will be quick, pain- ter profit margins for the manufac-wrenching business-process change, less, and successful, there are steps man- turer than OEM products do.and gnawing uncertainty in the minds ufacturers can take to secure ERP value However, putting the right busi-of employees. without risk of catastrophic failure. ness processes and practices in place Yet surveys show midsize manufactur- Solon, Ohio-based Hunter Manu- to deliver superior service can be a ers are increasing investment in enter- facturing-one of the world's largest vexing challenge-particularly for prise resource planning (ERP) to stay producers of heating and protective fil- small to midsize enterprises.competitive. Manufacturers want the tration systems-is a good example of Schumacher Elevator did it, with benefits of integrated data, streamlined the result that the Denver, Iowa-cont'd on p. 2 based company-which has $30 million in annual revenues and 170 61 percent of all ERP implementations are accomplished employees-is as well known today in fewer than nine months for superior services as it is for 50 innovative elevator systems. While its OEM business grew consistently 40 Small companies (<$200M) over the past decade and a half, ser-Midsize companies ($200M-$2.5B) vices doubled in recent years, says e Large companies (>$2.5B)30 Jeff Schumacher, VP and CFO.gatn 24% That's important for his company ecr 21% for a number of reasons, Schumacher eP20 16% 16% says, because services provide a bal-14% ance against the cyclical nature of 10 9% the product business. And while the product order-to-cash cycle is 0 Implementation time long, for services it is considerably <34-67-910-1213-15>15shorter, which enables self-funding monthsmonthsmonthsmonthsmonthsmonthsmanufacturing initiatives.Based on an internal SAP study conducted 2003-2004 Source: SAP Interestingly enough, the empha-No matter what the company's size, many manufacturers can successfully implement an ERP system in sis on services was part and parcel under nine months, according to a recent SAP survey. cont'd on p. 2Five big improvements Select SAP industrial manufacturing accounts that have achieved rapid implementationsin just five months Company Revenue Employees ERP Implementationcont'd from p. 1 Probity Electronics $37.5M 150 8 WeeksPacific Cycle $295M 350 11 Weekswhat a midsize company can accomplish with TomoTherapy* $76M 180 12 Weeksa disciplined approach to gaining ERP value, in Microcast $23.5M 100 13 Weeksconcert with a vendor that has the functionality, Aida America* Private 150 16 Weekstechnology, domain expertise, and services to support the effort. Gunnebo Johnson Private 138 16 WeeksCorporationHunter-which has 230 employees, two plants Hunter Manufacturing* $140M 350 16 Weeksin Ohio, and an R&D lab in Edgewood, Md.-chose to work with SAP, the world's most suc- NexPress Joint Venture 800 16 Weekscessful ERP provider, and itelligence, a leading Pall Corporation $1.9B 1,200 16 WeeksSAP implementation partner, that also offers Southern Pump & Tank $60M 145 16 Weeksconsulting services, training classes, customer American Meter Private 1,400 5 Monthssupport centers, and outsourcing services. Ryobi $321M 3,800 5 MonthsAnthro Corporation Private 50 6 MonthsA business case Avanex $140M 700 6 MonthsIn the post-September 11th world, demand Fusion UV Systems $33.2M 200 6 Monthsfor Hunter's military and security products Yaskawa Electric America $410M 1,000 6 Monthsincreased dramatically. But its legacy comput-ing systems couldn't support rapid growt... [download for more]
