WBSRocks: Business Growth with Enterprise Software and Digital Transformation

Send us a textCOVID has taught us that Supply Chain issues can shake the whole economy. And everyone is attacking Supply Chain issues from their perspective. And sometimes it’s very hard to understand how these solutions will collectively solve the overarching issues within Supply Chain. One of the most critical perspectives that are often missed when we talk about production scheduling is of the buyer who is responsible for procuring materials and ensuring that the shop floor has the materials timely. But managing the procurement process while optimizing the inventory is easier said than done.In today's episode, our guest, Richard Lebovitz, who shares his insights into procurement prioritization and its impact on scheduling and inventory. He also compares and contrasts various systems such as S&OP, IBP, P2P, and vendor collaboration software and where procurement-focused systems such as LeanDNA fit in the architecture. Finally, he discusses how the underlying data and business and the configuration of the business and information model may have an impact on your procurement and production processes.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 textIf you cut any materials on your shop floor, you might have nesting software to reduce waste. But the admin efforts increased by a standalone nesting software might eliminate the benefits of reducing waste. Also, if you have multiple software on your shop floors, such as MES, QMS, EAM, nesting, SPC, etc., it might be harder to create the roles and responsibilities of different systems with a clear source of authority. This is especially harder due to the amount of back and forth churn involved for each job order with these integration flows. So what are the best practices for incorporating nesting processes and software into your shop floor?In today's episode, we invited a panel of cross-functional experts for a live interview on LinkedIn who brings significant expertise to discuss Nesting best practices. We discussed what the nesting process is and which industries are likely to use it as part of their production process. Finally, we discussed the pros and cons of integration architecture around the nesting process and the place for nesting software in the integration architecture.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 textBigCommerce is the name you will hear in the B2B space. But does BigCommerce have the same options as some of the other sophisticated platforms such as Magento, with a security layer to enable procurement flows, quoting functionality, and catalog release process? Even for the omnichannel experience, you might need an external POS. But one thing it does offer is a very strong variant layer, which might be helpful for brands that might offer customizable options for each style. These variants might also be helpful for industrial brands that might have dimensional inventory. BigCommerce also has headless options to work with other best-of-breed options, such as using it with WordPress. So which companies would appreciate BigCommerce and which one would not?In today's episode, we invited a panel of cross-functional experts for a live interview on LinkedIn who brings significant expertise to discuss BigCommerce capabilities. We discussed their capabilities in the B2B market and if they are comparable with other B2B platforms in the market. Finally, we discussed their unique capabilities for the B2C market and why these capabilities would be critical for those segments.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 an ERP system uses a specific buzzword or something that customers might relate to, it's typically the marketing hype. And not really the strength of the product. For example, several cloud products might include a "cloud" word, even if they might be legacy products. Just to prey on uninformed customers! But there is one system that really lives to its name called Infor Visual. That has similar visual capabilities and organization that is rare to find in smaller software packages. Also, most of the smaller packages targeted for job shops typically exploit the broken processes of the customers. Infor Visual is surprisingly an exception there as well. But is Infor Visual a fit for every business out there?In today's episode, we invited a panel of industry experts for a live discussion on LinkedIn to conduct an independent review of Infor Visual's capabilities. We covered many grounds, including its unique capabilities and where it’s likely to be the strongest fit. Finally, we discussed the challenges with its roadmap and why the product is likely to be sunset soon.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 textThere are many different business models for how each ERP vendor promotes its products. Some like to go direct to the customers with their own professional services team while the others only sell through their partners. While not common, some vendors also have OEM arrangements, which is similar to the technology licensing business model, where a distributor may have exclusive rights to modify the product and white label with their branding. This additional layer of complexity may add another layer to the already confusing ERP buying cycle. So what do you need to know about the OEM business model?In today's episode, our guest, David Taylor, shares his insights into the pros and cons of the OEM distribution model for ERP systems. He also discusses the nuances of Australian geography and how different states might have different statutory and compliance requirements related to vendor payments, e-invoicing, and bank integration. Finally, he discusses why the data model for the Australian market may be different from the US and why the products targeted for the North American market may fall short in the Australian geography.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 consultants have been the most enthusiastic about the importance of product configurators. How this is a need for every custom manufacturer. But product configurator comes in many shapes and sizes. A product configurator could be a simple form on a WordPress site that sends out an email to the backend team. Or a 3D configurator with a live product experience. Just like the way you would experience in the Virtual Reality world.  But while talking about configurator experience is easy, executing on it is very hard. As that requires a complete alignment of product, pricing, and BOM data across systems. So what are the best practices for implementing product configurators?In today's episode, we invited a panel of cross-functional experts for a live interview on LinkedIn who brings significant expertise to discuss Product Configurator best practices. We discussed why product configurators matter and which businesses would be the right fit to enable the configurator experience. Finally, we discussed the challenges in selecting and implementing configurators including the balance between the IT and business users, setting clear boundaries across systems, and the perceived benefits of a configurator.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 textIf you were to name the top 2-3 eCommerce platforms, I am pretty sure you would have Magento on your list. Sure there are always going to be pros and cons of every single platform, but you might find a lot more pros with Magento than cons. The pros are going to be especially applicable for businesses with complex products and catalogs. The businesses that are B2B are likely to benefit from Magento's capabilities. But can Magento be a good replacement for companies exploring enterprise-grade platforms such as SAP Hybris, Oracle Commerce, HCL Commerce, and Salesforce Commerce? If not, what would be the limitations of the 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 Adobe Commerce/Magento capabilities. We discussed their strength of being open source and which organizations will be the right fit for Magento. Finally, we discussed their unique capabilities such as B2B features, product model, shared catalogs, and workflow capabilities.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 textSage 50 is the household name for companies that might be in the revenue range of up to $10 million. In fact, there was a time when Sage 50 literally meant that the software was designed for companies with up to 50 users. But some companies may use it even after they outgrow that mark. Sage 50 competes with QuickBooks desktop and will have all the problems that QuickBooks Desktop is likely to have. These problems are likely to become severe with the interaction of offline and online channels. This is especially true when multiple users may be using the file from multi locations. Is that the reason why Intuit decided to move away from its desktop licensing model? And how long would it take for Sage to do the same with their Sage 50 software?In today's episode, we invited a panel of industry experts for a live discussion on LinkedIn to conduct an independent review of Sage 50's capabilities. We covered many grounds, including their target market and data integrity issues with multiple users. Finally, we compare their capabilities with other competitors in this segment such as QuickBooks Desktop and Xero.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 textCreating good content takes time, effort, and investment. But targeting the right content for the right target buyer and prospect is even harder. Because how do you know which prospect might care for which piece of content? Also, even if they might care about a specific topic today, they might move on from that topic in the future. And this makes engagement marketing super hard. But artificial intelligence is changing that in helping curate content and distributing to the appropriate channels as per the preferences of your readers.In today's episode, our guest, Erica Salm Rench, shares her insights on how AI can be used to improve customer engagement. She also discusses the challenges around email marketing and how AI can reduce the time in compiling the newsletters in an automated fashion to reduce the costs of marketing. She also shares her insights into the technical underpinnings of the AI technology of her platform and the emerging AI trends and technologies that will change how we interact with our customers.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 textOutside process management is a critical process for manufacturers. It's hard for them to run their operations without the support for this process. But you will be shocked how many ERP systems don't support this process natively. Despite their claims that they all are designed to work for any industry. So what are the nuances when it comes to outside process management? And how involved does it get across the industries? Can you manage it outside of the ERP?In today's episode, we invited a panel of cross-functional experts for a live interview on LinkedIn who brings significant expertise to discuss Outside Process Management best practices. We discussed the nuances and best practices of Outside Process Management processes and how they might vary in different industries. Finally, we discussed the overlap and boundaries of Outside Process Management processes across systems and functions.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.