WBSRocks: Business Growth with Enterprise Software and Digital Transformation

Send us a textMost people underestimate the differences in taxes and localization and their implications on the ERP processes. Some countries may have requirements such as reporting on pollution or privacy standards. But countries such as Mexico have completely transformed their taxation system to prevent corruption and bribery in the market. This transformation, however, creates unique challenges for the companies implementing an ERP system as they not only need to comply with the admin overhead registering their product and services with the govt, but they also need to automate their processes to integrate with the govt system in order to remain profitable.In today's episode, our guest, Agustín Cruz Lozano, shares his insights into the taxation and localization nuances of Mexico and why the vanilla ERP would fall short for Mexico. He also discusses concepts such as electronics invoicing, unique numbers for each submission, and the differences in the tax filing processes. Finally, he discusses how the Mexican market is overly regulated with strict requirements such as each product and service needs to be registered with the govt authorities before companies can start selling them.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 textShop floor scheduling is always the hottest debate in the ERP community. In fact, it is so complex that most SMB companies end up managing their scheduling on spreadsheets. Also, the problems are much worse when multiple systems might be involved in the architecture. They each might claim how inadequate the other system is. With no clear consensus on what works when it comes to scheduling. One of the problems often discussed on the root causes of scheduling is the number of exceptions that the shop floor has to manage. And the ever-changing nature of the schedule. So can you ever fully automate shop floor scheduling? Or would it always require manual interventions? And if scheduling is this hard, how do larger companies manage their plants where the schedule of one plant may impact the other.In today's episode, we invited a panel of cross-functional experts for a live interview on LinkedIn who brings significant expertise to discuss shop floor scheduling best practices. We discussed scheduling issues for different industries and product categories. Finally, we discussed several stories related to scheduling where we discussed concepts such as how WIP could impact scheduling, why material availability is equally important, and how multiple streams affect shop floor scheduling.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 it comes to enterprise platforms, it's hard to meet the expectations from all fronts: performance, customization, developer experience, and functionality. Most platforms can perhaps check a couple of these boxes. Salesforce Commerce Cloud might be able to check a lot of them. That's probably the reason it's the leading platform for enterprises. It has deep industry-specific capabilities in both B2B and B2C space. For example, localized OEM-managed sites for dealers. Or, a HIPAA-compliant web store for hospitals and healthcare facilities. Some people may argue that headless should be able to solve the customer needs of most industries.But some of these features could be so deep that unless your data model supports it, it might be harder to build on vanilla platforms. So, where does Salesforce Commerce Cloud stand as of today in comparison to the headless and legacy platforms?In today's episode, we invited a panel of cross-functional experts for a live interview on LinkedIn who brings significant expertise to discuss Salesforce Commerce Detailed Independent Review. We discussed their strengths and weaknesses and where they might fit in the eCommerce architecture for both B2B and B2C business models. Finally, we compared their B2B and B2C capabilities and the flexibility of each solution.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 textEpicor Eclipse has a more loyal community than crypto and Metaverse. But why is that? Based on the amount of technological innovation happening, you would guess that any school grad might be able to write ERP software. Right? So then why do technologies such as Mainframe, AS400, and Epicor Eclipse still exist? Is it really because change is hard. But change is hard for whom? For companies that are using it or companies that are selling it? Or is it because customers are unwilling to change because of their strong affinity with a technology or product? If so, why should we blame the companies trying to sell and support what customers are willing to buy? Epicor Eclipse has a loyal community for a reason. But what are those reasons?In today's episode, we invited a panel of industry experts for a live discussion on LinkedIn to conduct an independent review of Epicor Eclipse's capabilities. We covered many grounds, including their strength in HVAC, plumbing, and trade contracting industries. Finally, we discussed why companies are so loyal to this solution despite it being a legacy solution.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 textAutomating a process is easy. But understanding which process is the right candidate for automation is more difficult than most people think. Also, not every process is the right candidate to be hosted inside an ERP. By the same token, not every process can be as ad-hoc as RPA. There is one category that is in between the enterprise-wide cemented processes of ERP and ad-hoc processes automated by RPA technologies. It’s called workflow automation. Workflow automation inherits approval and transaction elements of ERP and ad-hoc elements of RPA. And that’s perhaps why the workflow automation category is so hot. But which processes are the right candidate for workflow automation technologies?In today's episode, our guest, Ravi Vaidya, shares his insights into workflow technologies and where they fit in the enterprise architecture. He also compares several technologies such as iPaaS, BPM, P2P, and RPA, and why workflow automation deserves its own category. Finally, he compares several workflow technologies such as BoomiFlow, Microsoft Power Platform, and ServiceNow and how these technologies can help automate the ad-hoc processes that drive data and process issues in an organization.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 textThe bill of materials becomes complex when you might have multiple layers of costing and sub-assemblies. But you need to be at a different level when you might have co-products and by-products involved as part of your manufacturing process. The co-products can help you optimize your production process and allocate costs appropriately. The by-products can help you measure the yield percentages accurately. But unless your SKUs and BOMs replicate the physical production processes, your costs and yield percentages may be all over the place. So what are the best practices for capturing by- and co-products appropriately as part of the production process?In today's episode, we invited a panel of cross-functional experts for a live interview on LinkedIn who brings significant expertise to discuss Co-products/By-products best practices. We discussed their definition and how the definition and their treatment might vary in different industries. Finally, we discussed these concepts from many different perspectives such as costing, scheduling, and in-process testing.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 might not even pay attention to the location in the digital world. We can hire workers from any country remotely. We can trade with most countries easily. But when it comes to eCommerce and ERP systems, location is still a huge factor. The solution from North America may not work well in Europe. The solution from Latin America might not work well in North America. There are challenges such as payment providers or taxation being different. But even if a platform may support these integrations, the solution may still feel alienated due to the localization issues, whether we talk about product or documentation. One such platform is VTEX, which is highly advanced in its headless capabilities. But it still carries its Latin American roots, which might be a barrier for North American countries, even if the platform may be technically advanced. So which companies would most benefit from the VTEX platform?In today's episode, we invited a panel of cross-functional experts for a live interview on LinkedIn who brings significant expertise to discuss VTEX Detailed Independent Review. We discussed their strength and weaknesses and where they might fit in the eCommerce architecture. Finally, we discussed their geographic limitations for global customers, react-based development standards, and their unique strengths with the franchise-based business models.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 businesses take a reactive approach to their banking needs. They are likely to default to the bank that has the lowest fee. Also, they might have several exposure points for attackers to get access to your accounts. But does the lowest fee always mean the best strategy for your business? What if someone gets unauthorized access to your account and drains all the funds? Well, you will be able to get your money back. But it might take several months. And during these months, you might have to deal with the cash flow challenges. So a solid bank integration strategy is essential for businesses.In today's episode, our guest, Matt Bernot, shares his insights into the nuances of bank integrations and considerations for ERP buyers. He discusses the differences in several options that might be available from banks and through the ERP integration and how that might impact business. Finally, he discusses bank integration concepts such as positive pay, NACHA files, and exposure points.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 textJust like ERP, the Bill of Materials is perhaps the overused and oversold term. A BOM could be the assembly of two materials like wrapping a gift for your birthday. Or it could be the manufacturing process of the whole spaceship. But what if the process of manufacturing a spaceship resulted in waste material that could turn into a nice lamp. Would this whole process be captured as part of the bill of materials? How would the cost be accounted for each of them? Does the BOM differ for different teams? How much engineering data does the BOM need to carry? How much financial data does it need to carry? Can it also help procurement teams with their scheduling? Can it produce Gantt charts? Can it compute your contribution margins? These are the questions you are going to have if you are structuring BOMs for your manufacturing shop. If you don’t configure the BOMs right, your costing, scheduling, inventory, supply chain, eCommerce experience, and profit margins will be all over the place. So what are the best practices for structuring the BOMs?In today's episode, we invited a panel of cross-functional experts for a live interview on LinkedIn who brings significant expertise to discuss the bill of materials best practices. We discussed several types of BOMs and their misunderstanding could result in operational implications for companies. Finally, we discussed several train wrecks and horror stories due to the poor structuring and governance of the bill of materials.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 texteCommerce is easy when you are managing a couple of stores and selling in 6-figures. But it becomes increasingly difficult when you have to manage millions and billions of transactions. While also managing the transactional depth of a complex business with thousands of channel partners. When you grow at that level, you will need different search engines for different areas of your eCommerce business. You will also need to manage a centralized CI and CD pipeline to manage the promotion of your changes in a controlled manner. You might also plan to launch your own marketplace where you might allow your distributors to sell through your platform. This would require you to complete control of the data, pricing, and product to avoid channel conflict issues. So what would be your options if you have such complexity in your business?  Well, Spryker is one such option. They are leading the headless and marketplace movement for the enterprise space.In today's episode, we invited a panel of cross-functional experts for a live interview on LinkedIn who brings significant expertise to discuss Spryker’s capabilities. We discussed their strength with the enterprise and B2B features. Finally, we discussed their punchout integration capabilities, product catalog features, and how they are different from other headless platforms.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.