Send us Fan Mail While Sales and operations planning is the shared responsibility of both sales and operations. Sales typically have far more clout while procurement with very little to no say in it. And as a result, most SMB organizations end up stocking the inventory far more than they need. And this overstocking results in the locking of cash and profitability issues. This is especially common with SMBs that are smaller and don't have PE or VC investment with them. In today's episode, our gue...
Jun 06, 2022•46 min•Ep. 327
Send us Fan Mail When most people think of integration, they just feel that as long as you have APIs, you should be good. Well, the integration projects could be harder than building software from the ground up. When you build or implement software, you speak one language. On the other hand, when you integrate two software, you speak two, if not more. One option to integrate two software would be to have them talk without a translator. While this might be OK in some scenarios, the problems becom...
Jun 02, 2022•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 326
Send us Fan Mail Did you know that only 10% of the sellers on Amazon generate over $100,00 a year? And while 90% of these sellers have the same complexity as their peers at $100 million, they don't have the same deep pockets to spend the money on integration and IT. While the options may not be perfect, they need a quick way of synching data from across the channels and system. Also, at this scale, the strategy to somehow manage with a fragmented set of apps and web hooks-based integration is pr...
Jun 01, 2022•59 min•Ep. 325
Send us Fan Mail If Infor is the largest ERP vendor that no one knows about, SAP Business ByDesign is the product from the largest ERP vendor that no one knows about. Some even doubt if there is any future for the product. The SAP resellers like to cannibalize products from their own portfolio in the hope of getting much higher license dollars from customers, even if it means that they might feel overwhelmed with the larger product. So does SAP even care for SMBs? If they do, have they done anyt...
May 31, 2022•1 hr•Ep. 324
Send us Fan Mail Inventory and on-time delivery are two major factors that show that your processes may require transformational change. These issues could lead to long production meetings chasing late orders or raw materials. They could also lead to ad-hoc arrangements and process inefficiencies that might be the implications of the band-aid solutions implemented to cure short-term operational problems. Having accurate inventory and a controlled supply chain requires a holistic understanding of...
May 30, 2022•48 min•Ep. 323
Send us Fan Mail Discrete manufacturing space is crowded with several solutions. But there are only a few that are really good at process manufacturing and agriculture verticals. The process manufacturing has unique nuances with requirements such as traceability, sub-lots, sub-batches, and formulation management. These verticals also have unique reporting and audit requirements. Managing them could be a challenge with a vanilla ERP. And it might turn out to be extremely expensive. So why is Sage...
May 26, 2022•59 min•Ep. 322
Send us Fan Mail Most people don't understand the importance of requirement management when it comes to ERP. ERP should be as easy as dumping your SKUs, customers, and vendors inside the ERP system. And that's it, right? Well, the ERP system could quickly become the black box, similar to the tribal knowledge sitting in people's heads. So what are the best practices for managing ERP requirements? And how to ensure that the critical decisions are well-documented? In today's episode, we invited a p...
May 25, 2022•1 hr•Ep. 321
Send us Fan Mail Selling on multiple channels is hard. They all have their rules and unique business models. Also, the channels and marketplaces are evolving on a daily basis. If you were to manage each of the channels manually, it could quickly become your day job to manage them. Also, even if you were able to do that, you might still run into scenarios of stockouts and struggle to maintain consistent pricing across channels. You not only need the centralized management of your product data. Yo...
May 24, 2022•58 min•Ep. 320
Send us Fan Mail Cannabis is a unique industry. You have significant reporting requirements that are ever-changing. And the priorities may change overnight due to the investment risks associated. Also, you run the risk of losing your license if you cannot comply with the requirements. For these reasons, the unsettling nature of ever-changing requirements may make planning for ERP implementations increasingly difficult. But are there unique reporting and audit challenges in Canada? Or is Cannabis...
May 23, 2022•45 min•Ep. 319
Send us Fan Mail When it comes to the needs of large enterprises with more than $1B in revenue, there are only a few solutions that can meet their needs. These solutions have extremely deep capabilities with their localization and globalization. But they are equally deep in their supply chain planning, transportation management, warehouse management, and project accounting. While most people think of Oracle or SAP as the only potential solution for large companies, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance...
May 19, 2022•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 318
Send us Fan Mail Building a test plan is hard. Executing is even harder. And if you are building a test plan for ERP implementation, you have added challenges. The testing challenges are unique with ERP implementation because the users don't have as much experience with the software development life cycle. They struggle with thinking like a tester where you need to plan for the edge and boundary cases. And ensure that you are not going to find any surprises post your go-live. But how to build a ...
May 18, 2022•59 min•Ep. 317
Send us Fan Mail eCommerce business models have grown in complexity exponentially. The channels such as Amazon and Walmart are always modifying their rules and business models. And it's hard for eCommerce brands to keep up with these regulations and have KPIs aligned with the changed regulations. If they are not aligned and measured, the brands may experience significant financial consequences. But most of these eCommerce platforms are targeted at a specific audience that might be on QuickBooks ...
May 17, 2022•58 min•Ep. 316
Send us Fan Mail While you might feel that most distribution businesses might be alike, it's not the case. It is especially tricky in industries such as oil and gas due to their compliance requirements and unique quality processes. These companies also go through specific ISO processes that are different from other industries and require you to have unique process arrangements in place to be able to meet them. Finally, each large Oil and Gas OEM may have its standards for the certificate of conf...
May 16, 2022•48 min•Ep. 315
Send us Fan Mail If you ask anyone their opinion about an ERP system, they will tell you that it's a system designed from the perspective of a CFO. Well, this might be partially true. But most CFOs would disagree with it. As they would not relate with these systems just like you. But there are a few systems that take that CFO perspective to the next level. Their perspective includes the ability to dissect data across multiple dimensions, easy financial report writing, and consolidation and elimi...
May 12, 2022•1 hr 30 min•Ep. 314
Send us Fan Mail If you have multiple subsidiaries, consolidating them could be a very involved process if you don't have an ERP system that natively supports multi-entity functionality. Your process might start with recording intercompany loans and interest earned through your subsidiaries. Then you might need to allocate the corporate overheads and account payables to various subsidiaries. Then you need to complete adjusting entries, followed by closing subsidiary books and then finally closin...
May 11, 2022•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 313
Send us Fan Mail How would you feel if you walked into a store and the product you wanted wasn't available? What could you do as a customer service rep if you had this customer at your store? The sales rep in you might be tempted to swipe the credit card. But if you can't deliver on your promises, this transaction may fire back in ways you wouldn't expect. This is where the newer eCommerce architecture allows you to explore scenarios such as buy-online-pick-up-at-store or buy-in-store-ship-to-cu...
May 10, 2022•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 312
Send us Fan Mail How difficult could the payment process through a POS be? You will probably take it for granted. If you can swipe a credit card in North America, why would be it be a problem in dealing with credit cards from the rest of the world? Well, when it comes to the financial processes internationally, each country has its own banking system and payment gateways. Selecting an eCommerce without thinking through the financial processes of that country might fire back. In today's episode, ...
May 09, 2022•47 min•Ep. 311
Send us Fan Mail One thing is the most consistent about ERP systems is that you will always find surprises. And that is even true for systems that may be well-liked or rated. Also, it doesn't matter how versatile a solution could be. Their design would make them a natural fit only for certain industries. If you make assumptions about any ERP systems, it's likely to fire back. You might think that systems as well adopted as NetSuite may not have limitations and might work for most industries. Wel...
May 05, 2022•1 hr 31 min•Ep. 310
Send us Fan Mail There are various ways of creating a financial budget. In fact, the key to budgetary planning is not to spend time getting 99% accuracy with your budget. It's the monitoring of the budget that matters more. So that you can take appropriate actions based on how far off you are from your budget. Budget planning is even more critical for industries with large amounts of inventory, heavy capital equipment, and human resources-driven industries. The budget planning could even vary ac...
May 04, 2022•58 min•Ep. 309
Send us Fan Mail Social media offers one of the biggest opportunities for eCommerce companies. The opportunity could include starting from influencer marketing to targeting ads on social media. Yet not many companies truly understand how to take advantage of social media. The company that really understand the nuances of each platform are crushing with their numbers, whether you talk about LinkedIn Influencers or TikTok. Also, the companies such as Twitter have been trying to figure out how they...
May 03, 2022•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 308
Send us Fan Mail Each industry has its own unique supply chain challenges, irrespective of whether you are in the manufacturing industry or construction. In the case of construction, you have a long sales cycle and demanding projects where you need to make sure you have suppliers lined up as soon as the project closes. The supply chain disruptions might result in delays with your projects, lost relationships with other business partners, and cash flow issues. In today's episode, our guest, Bahad...
May 02, 2022•47 min•Ep. 307
Send us Fan Mail The best-run companies use SAP S/4 HANA. The platform really lives to its name with its depth in transactions, deep workflow and auditing capabilities, and most robust planning and forecasting capabilities. But, in general, it is also the most hated vendor and platform. But why is that? It's primarily because of the misunderstanding of the purpose of the SAP S/4 HANA platform. It is also the most hated by companies that want to use ERP as the glorified database and have minimal ...
Apr 29, 2022•1 hr 27 min•Ep. 306
Send us Fan Mail ERP vendors and resellers race in a competition that no one will ever win. It's the TIME required to implement ERP software. Most vendors will oversell how quick and easy their software package is, some even claiming to implement as fast as a month. These claims are nothing but overstated. The most challenging part of an ERP implementation is to make critical business decisions and build consensus. Some executives might change their entire business model instantly without thinki...
Apr 28, 2022•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 305
Send us Fan Mail What do you buy as a consumer? Do you think you buy a product, brand, marketing hype, trust, confidence, or perception of being better, superior, healthy, wealthy, or smart? Well, one thing any marketer will tell you is that product is the least important of all, especially in the world of eCommerce, where you can't touch and feel the product before buying. This is the very reason why private label drop shipping exists. It's the exact product you could purchase anywhere else, bu...
Apr 27, 2022•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 304
Send us Fan Mail Most manufacturing companies are barely automated at the plant level. The premise of industry4.0 and specifically industry data ops is high. But it requires companies to have a centralized command and control, just like a supply chain control tower. The operational control tower will receive data from the plants and uncover operational efficiency synergies, whether you talk about energy consumption, predictive maintenance anomaly detection, or process bottlenecks. But what is th...
Apr 26, 2022•45 min•Ep. 303
Send us Fan Mail Supply chain is hard to define as it's very cross-functional in nature. It starts with receiving goods from vendors at your dock. And then it finishes with how you ship your shipments to your carrier. While these two touchpoints may be completely isolated, looking at your supply chain in an integrated fashion could provide significant cost savings and streamline your processes. But it's easier said than done as multiple departments are involved in the process. And it's very hard...
Apr 25, 2022•50 min•Ep. 302
Send us Fan Mail The announcement about the end of life of an ERP system has fired back every single ERP vendor. Whether we talk about Oracle announcement for JD Edwards, SAP announcement of ECC, or Microsoft announcement of GP, the vendors that have a lot of solutions in their customer base without very strong communities can typically sunset their products very easily without much noise. But that is not possible when you are a vendor such as Microsoft. And you have one of the most adopted ERP ...
Apr 22, 2022•1 hr 27 min•Ep. 301
Send us Fan Mail Pricing and discounting will always be a religious debate in the organizations on who controls it. For pricing and discounts to work, you need your inventory and master data to be in order. Or the pricing strategies may fire back due to the inconsistent customer experience. Pricing and discounting are even trickier when multiple systems might be controlling master data and pricing and discounting. The multiple systems could be CRM, eCommerce, PIM, ERP, pricing software, etc. So ...
Apr 21, 2022•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 300
Send us Fan Mail For an eCommerce business, inventory is everything. If you don't have enough inventory, you might lose on opportunities. If you have too much, your cash may be locked with the inventory. If you are working with vendors, they will not work with you unless you are willing to work with their preferred minimum order quantity. But those MOQs must make sense for your business as well. In fact, MOQ will drive your sales and product bundling as well as you need to have enough margins an...
Apr 20, 2022•1 hr•Ep. 299
Send us Fan Mail Amazon could appear like a massive opportunity. But to be successful on Amazon, you need a comprehensive strategy starting from SKUs to pricing and to your fulfillment. While Amazon could come across as frightening due to confusing terms and business models, Amazon provides several opportunities for sellers at different levels, including taking care of your entire fulfillment process. So what do you need to know to create Amazon as a successful channel? In today's episode, our g...
Apr 19, 2022•52 min•Ep. 298
