Send us a text Which spend categories should procurement control would always be debatable. Most companies may have a budget threshold where they might dictate the involvement of procurement. But this approach might not be suitable for every category. Some categories may be so strategic, even if the budget threshold may not be as high, that the business might want to take over because of the cross-functional implications or risks. These categories might also have very unique workflows and proces...
Apr 24, 2023•45 min•Ep. 480
Send us a text While there are several process manufacturing solutions out there, they all differ in their capabilities. Some are designed for growers and processors, while others are friendlier for distributors and DTC companies. The process manufacturing verticals have unique nuances, such as the hierarchy of serial and lot numbers. The serial numbers need to be managed at the UoM, case, and license plate levels. The pharma distribution may also have requirements such as DSD and route accounti...
Apr 18, 2023•1 hr•Ep. 479
Send us a text The needs of the services industry might differ substantially, especially when you think of subscription, revenue recognition, and ASC 606 compliance capabilities. The ERP systems designed for the service industry might be very deep with grant and fund accounting, having payment terms and multi-element allocation at the line item level on the contract, and HIPAA compliance capabilities. These industries also have very unique requirements, such as the integration with best-of-breed...
Apr 17, 2023•57 min•Ep. 478
Send us a text Is the controller a lead accountant? Are they responsible for preparing financial reporting for a business unit? Are they responsible for planning, budgeting, and spending? Do they work with the CFOs to manage both strategic and tactical activities? Are they also responsible for IT projects such as ERP implementation? Are they also responsible for FP&A? Is there a difference between a controller and a comptroller? Does the role vary depending on the size of the organization an...
Apr 12, 2023•58 min•Ep. 477
Send us a text While ERP consultants might put all process and food verticals under one umbrella, there are massive differences among these verticals. And some of these verticals require substantially different capabilities. The food vertical that also caters to growers and processors are very different from plain vanilla food distribution. Grower accounting is unique and may require DSD accounting as well. So which customers would be the right fit for Aptean bcFood? In today's episode, we ...
Apr 11, 2023•57 min•Ep. 476
Send us a text There are several strategies that you can explore while starting on your paid media journey. You can either go general or specific, depending on your target market and the audience. But the strategy that may work for B2C might not work for B2B unless it’s a consumerized B2B business. Also, once you start on the customer-driven content acquisition, you need to keep collecting data and experimenting until you have a clear working model. In today's episode, our guest, Rishabh Ja...
Apr 10, 2023•39 min•Ep. 475
Send us a text What is a better choice? Go for a well-known horizontal solution. Or opt for a vertical solution that can provide the last mile functionality? What if you could get the best of both worlds? And that's where Aptean JustFood is super handy. Built on the Microsoft BC platform, it provides one of the best interfaces out there. And then it has all the bells and whistles that you might need for the food business, including support from Aptean. So which customers would be the right ...
Apr 04, 2023•58 min•Ep. 474
Send us a text The retail industry is unique in its architecture. You have layers such as B2B and B2C. The B2C and FMCG industries have always had unique architecture, with their needs for the POS being the most important. The role of ERP was limited to just financial reporting. The order management layer always consisted of the OMS in a combination of WMS and TMS, with the POS forming the fabric for inventory, allocation, and fulfillment. Now with the needs of eCommerce, things are a bit challe...
Apr 03, 2023•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 473
Send us a text Marketing could be a time sucker if you don't track your numbers. But if you track too much, you might come across as too salesy that your prospects might not trust you. Marketing is all about the right balance. So how do you find that balance? And what KPIs CMOs use to track the balance? In today's episode, we invited a panel of cross-functional experts for live interview on LinkedIn who brings significant expertise to discuss the top KPIs for CMOs. We discussed the bes...
Mar 30, 2023•1 hr•Ep. 472
Send us a text There is typically a difference between open-source and commercial eCommerce platforms. While you might save a little bit on the licensing with open source, it might end up costing the same with payment processor integrations, etc. Also, there are several categories of eCommerce platforms in the market. A lot of them are owned by payment companies. But there are other platforms that are owned by agencies. Both of their pros and cons, but you need to decide what will be in your bes...
Mar 29, 2023•46 min•Ep. 471
Send us a text The open-source systems could be as expensive as their commercial peers once you account for all the costs associated with deploying software. Also, not all open-source software is created equal. Some have great governance processes in their communities, while others struggle to enforce controls, causing issues during upgrades. The open source systems are also more suitable for companies that have internal development expertise or have access to developers for free, like non-profi...
Mar 28, 2023•1 hr•Ep. 470
Send us a text When businesses think of upgrading their capabilities, they might feel that they need to hire an agency that can help them get off the ground. Or they might feel that internally they might be able to manage the majority of work. But the reality is that to be successful with eCommerce platform implementations, you need several resources with different skill sets. They spend years sharpening their craft, and it’s very hard to match this expertise with internal resources. So how to a...
Mar 27, 2023•43 min•Ep. 469
Send us a text CROs are responsible for meeting their numbers. Making sure their teams are hitting their quotas. Or they will struggle with their own. Also, they need to have control of the entire funnel, starting from the lead acquisition to signing the contract. But sometimes, the journey may start well before that. Also, the customer journey could be different per industry type. So which are the KPIs they need to master in order to meet their numbers? In today's episode, we invited a pan...
Mar 23, 2023•58 min•Ep. 468
Send us a text When it comes to the available options to design your storefront, there are a ton of them, whether you are looking for open-source or paid ones. Most open-source platforms have a trend. Making money by selling hosting, tightly coupling with payment providers, or selling premium themes or add-ons. Open-source platforms are also more suitable for communities and universities where development resources are free or not as expensive. So how does OpenCart compare with the other platfor...
Mar 22, 2023•56 min•Ep. 467
Send us a text The process manufacturing space is complex, with several different PLM options. As well as manufacturing processes that require completely different capabilities. Food manufacturing requires things such as Yield measurement, while the process space might be super heavy with the versions and revisions of its formulas. There might also be other complications, such as fleet management and eCommerce.An average process manufacturer needs a lot in an ERP. So how does ProcessPro differ f...
Mar 21, 2023•1 hr•Ep. 466
Send us a text Finding the right system for the right job is more difficult than you would think. Most companies end up mixing the boundaries of the systems. While the journey of data science could be powerful, it’s hard to get meaningful insights that will be actionable and drive business outcomes with data siloes. So what do companies need to do to get results from their data science initiatives? In today's episode, our guest, Tony Aug, discusses the first steps enterprises need to take f...
Mar 20, 2023•42 min•Ep. 465
Send us a text Operations are all about KPIs. You need a ton of KPIs to measure efficiencies. To lead your team. To motivate them. To make sure they are moving at the optimum speed. Manufacturing or non-manufacturing ops can't operate with KPIs. Don't have good data? Most likely misleading KPIs. Don't have data at all? How would you have KPIs at all? Have a ton of data but no insights? How would your KPIs be reliable? So which are the KPIs COOs need at their fingertips to ensure t...
Mar 16, 2023•59 min•Ep. 464
Send us a text The smaller eCommerce platforms might claim to be cheaper than other mainstream platforms such as Shopify or BigCommerce. They might also have claims such as not charging the transaction fee. But let's face it! Most eCommerce platforms are owned or have an alliance with payment companies. That's how they make money. Running an eCommerce platform is expensive, and the fee that you pay barely covers the cost of running the platform. So is EKM Powershop really a deal, as th...
Mar 15, 2023•56 min•Ep. 463
Send us a text The systems designed for process manufacturing differ completely from discrete manufacturing. The process manufacturing verticals are also deep into logistics and transportation management, as the regulatory bodies might need to report as part of the traceability compliance. They also have very strong QC requirements with the shop floor equipment integrated. Finally, recipe management and yield calculation are completely different from discrete verticals. So which system in the Ap...
Mar 14, 2023•58 min•Ep. 462
Send us a text Running a business is hard. But changing business at each inflection point could be harder. You need changes in people, processes, and technology to enable growth at each inflection point. But the hardest change management project that any organization can ever undertake is the ERP implementation, as the ERP implementation touches every discipline possible in the entire company. And regardless of how many times you have done it, you will still get surprises. But the more implement...
Mar 13, 2023•48 min•Ep. 461
Send us a text Most smaller companies struggle to understand the importance of a CIO. In smaller companies, it's not uncommon to have developers, a CFO, a VP of Supply Chain, or a VP of marketing playing or claiming the role of a CIO. They might also not understand the importance of enterprise architecture, IT portfolio planning, and master data governance. But a CIO is a very specialized skillset that requires experience in managing complex enterprise applications and infrastructure. It ta...
Mar 09, 2023•59 min•Ep. 460
Send us a text The ecommerce shop owners are likely to be lured by the idea of open source. But once you start managing your store on an eCommerce platform, you might spend more time with technical issues than selling. osCommerce is one such platform that is often among the popular open-source cart options and has been installed on thousands of sites. Also, there was a time when osCommmerce was an OK option because the other options were equally outdated. But not anymore. And definitely not in 2...
Mar 08, 2023•54 min•Ep. 459
Send us a text There are nuances right within the ERP system, such as most processes being driven using size, style, season, brand, and color. But then the integrations are super involved too. You have integration as thick as PLM, WMS, and a designer toolbox such as Adobe Illustrator. Then the supply chain processes are fairly unique as well, with the need for vendor collaboration, sampling, and order placement during R&D. So, which are the systems designed for the Apparel industry? If you h...
Mar 07, 2023•58 min•Ep. 458
Send us a text Most SMBs don’t understand the importance of the packing process. They might have a very serialized pick, pack, and ship process and might pack one order at a time. As companies mature, they gain efficiencies by decoupling the process steps and optimizing them individually. Packing is one step that is often ignored. Most SMB companies might simply send the order from their eComm or ERP to print the shipping label using the order or pick list, skipping the packing step. So not only...
Mar 06, 2023•44 min•Ep. 457
Send us a text CFOs need a ton of KPIs to ensure profitability. To ensure all revenue and expenses get accounted for. To maintain the debt-to-equity ratio. To get favorable terms from the bank. To maintain the price of the stock. But doing all of this might require thousands of KPIs. Also, as companies grow, CFOs might not have the bandwidth to keep track of every transaction of the business. So they require KPIs that are not only reliable but traceable in a manageable manner. So which KPIs are ...
Mar 02, 2023•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 456
Send us a text Headless, composable, and microservices architecture could be confusing even for developers. But it gets more confusing when you look under the hood. With too many moving parts. And not a clear understanding of which component is supposed to do what. What is most confusing is this whole notion of the front end for the front end. Sound cryptic? It is! Why would you need that? There are many reasons. Caching, performance, ease of development, composability, and scalability. But main...
Mar 01, 2023•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 455
Send us a text One channel that might not be immediately apparent to be different would be the office dealer space. It has similar flavors, such as building material and auto parts distributors, for the requirements of local fleets and PODs. It also has unique integration requirements with furniture manufacturers and distributors that might be more expensive with horizontal offerings. Also, they have unified commerce requirements at a much smaller scale where they need inventory to be synched be...
Feb 28, 2023•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 454
Send us a text Large programs require a lot more planning and strategy than smaller ones. Due to the number of functions involved and the need for collaboration among those functions. The default answer for most companies while leading large programs would be to go to a large SI and start it. The challenge with the approach is that each SI has practiced and might not have a centralized entity that could help you identify the right products and define the architecture. And might result in conflic...
Feb 27, 2023•39 min•Ep. 453
Send us a text Rework issues could eat up all of your margins. There could be several reasons why there might be rework orders. The rework could be quality issues in the production process. Or they could be because of the issues with incoming raw materials. So what are the best practices for reducing rework in the manufacturing industry? In today's episode, we invited a panel of cross-functional experts for live interviews on LinkedIn who brings significant expertise to discuss Manufacturin...
Feb 23, 2023•58 min•Ep. 452
Send us a text While there is much talk about the coolest eCommerce platforms out there, the large majority of the market share is still in the brick-and-mortar setting, especially among retailers. This makes the POS and OMS experience far more critical than eCommerce. Also, to get the eCommerce experience right, you need to have: Omnichannel experience and Unified experience. Whatever the name you may want to give, it's a necessity. In today's commerce experience. So how can Fluent Co...
Feb 22, 2023•1 hr•Ep. 451
