WBSRocks: Business Growth with Enterprise Software and Digital Transformation

Send us a textMost people when they start on their ERP journey feel it's more of a science, which engineers can figure out easily. But then they quickly realize that irrespective of whether the model is built on a spreadsheet or a complex computer program, it relies on the quality of inputs and the context. And that’s what makes ERP implementations so hard as it’s really more of an art than a science. And just like the way an artist gets better as they get more experience under their belt, the chances of ERP implementations would be higher as you figure out the art of ERP implementation.In today's episode our guest, Tom Pierce, shares why ERP implementation is more of an art than science. He also talks about several issues related to ERP implementation projects such as how siloed culture impacts the outcome of ERP implementation, the disconnect between digital and physical processes, and how minor changes such as six vs twelve characters on bin number could result in more than 300 programming changes. Finally, we discussed some controversial concepts related to enterprise architecture such as single vs multiple sources of truth, the order of migration for different ERP components, and prioritization of features whether you should be first focusing on simpler concepts or edge cases that are likely to break your architecture and systems.For more information on growth strategies for SMBs using ERP and digital transformation, visit our community at wbs.rocks or elevatiq.com. To ensure that you never miss an episode of the WBS podcast, subscribe on your favorite podcasting platform.

Send us a textWhat comes to mind when you think of engineering change control? Well, if you are a small shop with a few changes per month (or relatively straightforward products), then you might not see as many change orders. But if you are a highly engineered shop or sell custom products, you might receive change orders even after shipping your products. Heavy on change orders? Then you must need a formalized engineering change control process. Otherwise, you might struggle a lot. So what are the best practices of engineering change control?In today's episode, we invited a panel of cross-functional experts for live interviews on LinkedIn who brings significant expertise to discuss Engineering Change Control best practices. We discussed the nuances of the engineering change control process for various industries and how form, fit, and function derives the ECM process. Finally, we covered several other concepts related to engineering change control such as revision number, reference designator, engineering change notices, and how compliance in several regulated industries might drive the engineering change control process.For more information on growth strategies for SMBs using ERP and digital transformation, visit our community at wbs.rocks or elevatiq.com. To ensure that you never miss an episode of the WBS podcast, subscribe on your favorite podcasting platform.

Send us a textDo you know an eCommerce platform that is open source but has UX as good as Shopify? Do you know an open-source eCommerce platform born out of Germany? Do you know an open-source platform that has that is built on PHP but can support headless? Do you know an eCommerce platform that is upcoming and targeted for SMBs? If you guessed Shopware, then you are right.In today's episode, we invited a panel of industry experts for a live discussion on LinkedIn to conduct an independent review of Shopware’s capabilities. We covered its strengths such as its UX similar to Shopify, business events, and flow builder. Finally, we discussed the pros and cons of open-source software and how their model compares to other open-source software such as Magento, PrestaShop, and OroCommerce.For more information on growth strategies for SMBs using ERP and digital transformation, visit our community at wbs.rocks or elevatiq.com. To ensure that you never miss an episode of the WBS podcast, subscribe on your favorite podcasting platform.

Send us a textDo you know a Sage ERP that is designed for companies with up to 100 employees? Do you know a Sage ERP that was part of the MAS portfolio, just like MAS 500? Do you know a Sage ERP that has a contractor version, just like Sage 300? Do you know a Sage ERP that might allow multi-companies as part of its database but doesn't allow intercompany transactions? If you have guessed Sage 100, then you are right.In today's episode, we invited a panel of industry experts for a live discussion on LinkedIn to conduct an independent review of Sage 100cloud’s capabilities. We covered many grounds including its history, product architecture, and industry alignment. Finally, we covered its different versions such as the main version which was targeted mainly at the distribution industries, and the contractor version which was a leaner product for companies before they moved to Sage 300 CRE.For more information on growth strategies for SMBs using ERP and digital transformation, visit our community at wbs.rocks or elevatiq.com. To ensure that you never miss an episode of the WBS podcast, subscribe on your favorite podcasting platform.

Send us a textMost people struggle to understand the data migration challenges with ERP systems. They also struggle to understand why ERP data is harder to migrate than other technical systems such as CRM. The challenges could be even more grave if there are multiple currencies involved. As well as when you might be migrating data from incompatible or incomplete sources. So what are the best practices for data migration? In today's episode our guest, Richard Ray, shares his insights into the data migration challenges of financial data. He also talks about several issues with data migration projects such as multi-currency, incomplete source data, and incompatibility of source and destination data sources. Finally, we discussed the differences between migration financial and operational data, the rationale for bringing data, and how each system has different ways of handling charts of accounts.For more information on growth strategies for SMBs using ERP and digital transformation, visit our community at wbs.rocks or elevatiq.com. To ensure that you never miss an episode of the WBS podcast, subscribe on your favorite podcasting platform.

Send us a textHow hard could ERP document management be? Just get a dropbox subscription, and dump all your files into that. Well, regulated industries may have significantly complex processes. The needs could be as simple as maintaining the versions of drawings. Or as complex as driving your quality and production processes. Not having a good document management system could throw off your production and quality processes. So what are the best practices for ERP document management?In today's episode, we invited a panel of cross-functional experts for live interview on LinkedIn who brings significant expertise to discuss ERP Document Management best practices. We discussed the difference between document and data and how there is a very thin line between both Finally, we covered ERP document management concepts such as metadata, BOM, engineering drawings, and paperless.For more information on growth strategies for SMBs using ERP and digital transformation, visit our community at wbs.rocks or elevatiq.com. To ensure that you never miss an episode of the WBS podcast, subscribe on your favorite podcasting platform.

Send us a textDo you know a platform that is fully integrated, whether you need mobile commerce, store experience, merchandising, or personalization? Do you know a platform that has out-of-the-box processes, whether you need BOPIS, ROPIS, Curbside, or Whitelabel dropoff capabilities? Do you know an eCommerce platform that truly gets the DTC experience with the merge of physical and digital experience?  Do you know an eCommerce platform that is truly unified commerce? If you guessed Kibo Commerce, then you are right.In today's episode, we invited a panel of industry experts for a live discussion on LinkedIn to conduct an independent review of Kibo Commerce’s capabilities. We covered its strengths such as unified commerce capabilities, the omnichannel experience for retailers with a physical presence, and the integrated mobile POS experience. Finally, we compared its weaknesses such as poor documentation because of acquired products, inconsistent UX experience, and legacy programming model for some of its acquired technologies.For more information on growth strategies for SMBs using ERP and digital transformation, visit our community at wbs.rocks or elevatiq.com. To ensure that you never miss an episode of the WBS podcast, subscribe on your favorite podcasting platform.

Send us a textDo you know an ERP system that was once considered SAP from the USA? Do you know an ERP system from Oracle that has enterprise-grade capabilities for complex manufacturing organizations? Do you know an ERP system from Oracle that is still supported but may have an uncertain future? Do you know an ERP system from Oracle that has super-deep functionality for F&B and pharma-centric industries? If you have guessed Oracle JD Edwards, then you are right.In today's episode, we invited a panel of industry experts for a live discussion on LinkedIn to conduct an independent review of Oracle JD Edwards’s capabilities. We covered many grounds including its product architecture, evolution, release deadlines – and how it compares it with other products in Oracle’s portfolio. Finally, we discussed its strengths with complex manufacturing functionality such as several layers on OEMs, lot and serial numbers, and the process manufacturing functionality.For more information on growth strategies for SMBs using ERP and digital transformation, visit our community at wbs.rocks or elevatiq.com. To ensure that you never miss an episode of the WBS podcast, subscribe on your favorite podcasting platform.

Send us a textWhen you think of industry4.0 technologies, maybe you are thinking of them as increasing operational efficiencies. Or reducing waste. But did you know that industry4.0 technologies can drive customer experience and sales? And we are not talking about the companies that might be selling industry4.0 components to system integrators or OEMs. These are upsell and crosssell opportunities by simply gathering data from devices and overlaying that with your CRM data.In today's episode our guest, Rob Rastovich, shares his insights into how industry4.0 technologies can drive customer experience. He also provided his insights into the industry4.0 company that he ended up selling to Amazon. Finally, we discussed the differences between machine-to-machine IOT, pub-sub model and where MQTT would be a fit in the architecture, and what is required to replicate industry4.0 workloads on cloud farms.For more information on growth strategies for SMBs using ERP and digital transformation, visit our community at wbs.rocks or elevatiq.com. To ensure that you never miss an episode of the WBS podcast, subscribe on your favorite podcasting platform.

Send us a textProduct traceability is extremely complex to implement. If it is mandated by the regulations, you might not have much of a choice. But to shoulder the administration overhead imposed by traceability processes. It could be so challenging that it might break your processes while inputting serial numbers during your receive operation. There is also a very thin line in deciding between lot numbers and serial numbers. Finally, the recall management might require you to have the infrastructure set up for the entire recall process.In today's episode, we invited a panel of cross-functional experts for live interview on LinkedIn who brings significant expertise to discuss Product Traceability and Recall Management best practices. We discussed the nuances associated with deciding between when to use the lot vs serial numbers. Finally, we covered many stories related to product traceability and recall management from several industries.For more information on growth strategies for SMBs using ERP and digital transformation, visit our community at wbs.rocks or elevatiq.com. To ensure that you never miss an episode of the WBS podcast, subscribe on your favorite podcasting platform.