7 Crazy Reasons Why the Current ERP System Sucks (Mostly!)
Dr. Muddassir Ahmed
Supply Chain Maven I Founder & CEO SCMDOJO | Supply Chain Trainer I Supply Chain Consultant | Content Creator | Keynote Speaker | Supply Chain Digitalizatoin Expert | Host: The Supply Chain Show? I ExtroNerd
ERP System Sucks!
It’s true. If you work in a large enterprise, whether in manufacturing, telecom, automotive or retail, you’d know exactly why ERP systems are not what they are made out to be.
Rather than making your job easier, they make things much, much more difficult and more complex. We are talking about the current ERP systems, of course, the ones you’re familiar with.
The current ERP or Enterprise Resource Planning systems really are nothing more than a grouping of different software modules: Modules such as Sales, Purchasing, Ordering, HR, Inventory, Ticketing, Accounting and Analytics. For me they are mere to inter-relational databases (or simple tables!). Which mostly works with “garbage in, garbage out” philosophy”.
These software modules are connected to each other and link and integrate all of the company’s operations. The ERP allows you to follow the entire product cycle and the supply chain of the company.
The idea of an ERP system sounds good, but in reality, when you actually work with such systems and work with the ERP’s dashboard, and see the hundreds of fields that need to be filled, you wonder if any of that really makes sense.
The sheer complexity of the whole thing is staggering. It’s so easy to get lost and confused even as you try your best to follow the process flow.
Here are 7 Reasons Why the Current ERP Systems Suck.
1) They are Not smart and Intelligent.
ERP software can be confusing, complex and difficult to work with. The learning curve for ERP users can be pretty sharp. But that’s not what a good software should be about. A good software system should make your tasks easier and simpler, not harder. So one can make the case the current ERP systems are neither smart nor intelligent. Indeed, 50 percent of the features of a current ERP system are hardly ever used.
2) They Don’t Give you Immediate Results.
That’s the bane of most ERP systems – they don’t give you immediate results. It takes a while before the benefits of these systems become clearly visible. This makes it very difficult for the organization to justify the expenditure on a traditional ERP system.
3) They are Not Adoptive.
The current ERP systems are not flexible or adoptive in the sense that they cannot be easily customized according to your requirements. Customizing the system is not easy and requires a tremendous investment of time and labor. Any attempts made to change or improvise on the fixed processes used by the ERP systems could lead to unintended consequences.
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Business Consultant at ISI
1 年I am a small business management consultant of 20 years (150+ clients+10 years in actual management and engineering) and I agree - MRP is NOT impressive. The fact is that business systems are really not that hard and the basic tools - estimating, scheduling, supervision etc. have yet to been grasped by the IT world (based on the details of the manufacturing and other modules I have seen). Every client (business) that I have that has an ERP system does not use it since it is way too complex and yields little value. QuickBooks and my MS Excel programs deliver 100%. And to practice good file management for $40k a year I could hire 2 admin staff to do this. ERP is a shiny new idea that does not deliver.
2 / 2 "Experienced Sales & Business Development Professional | Proven Track Record in Revenue Growth | Open to New Opportunities"
4 年Then what do you recoommend??
Sap Solutions Senior Consultant
5 年In order to take the most from an ERP, you need not only to have clear in mind what are the benefits you want to achieve from implementing an ERP, but also to be well aware of all your business processes, together with your business’ pain points. That said, there is no magic formula that suits each and every business; however, if you rely on ERP consultants who are able to assess which solutions and modules are the most suitable for your company and you are well aware of the above mentioned points, you can actually achieve an excellent result through an ERP.? Referring to the fifth point of your article, I must say that, currently, there are many ERPs that don't lack integration at all: information is constantly exchanged between the different modules, such as, for instance, in SAP Business ByDesign.
Senior Contract Manager at METKA EGN (Metlen Energy and Metals)
5 年Wrong Business Blue Print leads always to a wrong implementation of ERP. No ERP is intelligent, they are a simple unified enterprise database for transversal business operation, and have to be "stupid" because only do what they are configured to do. The intelligence is in a good implementation and configuration, avoiding the neverending spiral of reconfiguration.
Procurement Enthusiast
5 年An ERP system is a tool meant to ease your way through planning, forecasting and reporting. Some people call it "a calculator on steroids" because it makes your daily routine a lot easier by doing all the math behind and allowing you to focus on actions instead of data gathering. The thing an ERP system is Not designed to do is actually make decisions and that's where the human factor comes into place. I don't expect ERP system to do my job, I expect it to supply valuable information that is easy to reach and that helps me perform faster.