How do you align your ERP strategy with your customer journey and value proposition?

1 ERP innovation and transformation

ERP innovation and transformation is the process of adopting new technologies, practices, and models to optimize your ERP system and align it with your business goals and customer needs. This can help reduce costs and risks by automating and standardizing processes, improving data quality and security, and enabling scalability and flexibility. Additionally, ERP innovation and transformation can increase productivity and performance by enhancing collaboration, communication, and visibility across departments, functions, and locations. It can also improve customer satisfaction and loyalty by delivering personalized, consistent, and seamless experiences across channels, touchpoints, and stages of the customer journey. Finally, ERP innovation and transformation can drive growth and innovation by enabling data-driven decision making, fostering creativity and agility, and supporting new products, services, and markets.

2 ERP strategy and alignment

To reap the benefits of an ERP system, you need to have a clear and coherent ERP strategy and alignment. This means defining your vision, mission, and objectives for your ERP system, and aligning them with your customer journey and value proposition. Your customer journey is the path that your customers take from awareness to purchase to retention, and your value proposition is the unique value that you offer to your customers. Your ERP strategy and alignment should address questions such as what are the pain points and needs of your customers at each stage of the journey, how can your ERP system help you address those pain points and needs, and deliver value to your customers, what are the key performance indicators (KPIs) and metrics that you will use to measure your ERP system's impact and outcomes on your customer journey and value proposition, and how will you communicate and engage with your customers and stakeholders throughout the ERP innovation and transformation process.

3 ERP innovation and transformation framework

To successfully implement your ERP strategy and alignment, you need to have a structured and systematic ERP innovation and transformation framework. This framework is a set of steps and guidelines that will help you plan, execute, and monitor your ERP innovation and transformation project. Generally, the framework consists of four phases: Discovery, Design, Deployment, and Optimization. During the Discovery phase, you assess your current state, identify gaps and opportunities, and define the scope and requirements for your ERP project. The Design phase involves selecting your ERP solution, vendor, and partner, and designing your ERP architecture, processes, and data model. The Deployment phase is where you configure, test, and launch your ERP system, and train and support your users and customers. Lastly, the Optimization phase is where you evaluate, measure, and improve your ERP system, and leverage its capabilities to drive continuous improvement and innovation.

4 ERP innovation and transformation best practices

To ensure the success of your ERP innovation and transformation project, you should involve customers and stakeholders from the start and solicit their feedback and input throughout the project. Additionally, you should align your ERP system with your business strategy, customer journey, and value proposition, while avoiding unnecessary customization and complexity. Furthermore, you should adopt a change management and governance approach that supports your ERP goals and objectives, and addresses potential risks and challenges. Leveraging the latest technologies, such as cloud, artificial intelligence, and analytics, can enhance your ERP system's functionality, performance, and security. Lastly, monitoring and evaluating your ERP system's impact and outcomes, and using data and insights to optimize and innovate your processes and customer experience, is essential.

5 ERP innovation and transformation examples

To demonstrate how ERP innovation and transformation can help you align your ERP system with your customer journey and value proposition, here are some examples of companies that have achieved this. Starbucks used ERP to integrate its supply chain, inventory, and point-of-sale systems, as well as to enable its mobile ordering and payment app, which improved operational efficiency, customer convenience, and loyalty. Nike used ERP to streamline its global operations and create a digital platform that connects customers, products, and services, enhancing customer engagement, personalization, and innovation. Lego used ERP to simplify product development, manufacturing, and distribution processes, and to support online and offline customer interactions, increasing customer satisfaction, retention, and growth.