WBSRocks: Business Growth with Enterprise Software and Digital Transformation

Send us a textThere are many different apps out there in the eCommerce space. Some go by eCommerce operations platform. Some call them multi-channel management platforms. Some can do warehouse management and proof of delivery. Some even claim that how they are going to change the industry by replacing the bigger daddies of the enterprise software world, such as SAP, Oracle, Microsoft, Infor, and Epicor. But most of these apps are present in the QuickBooks or Xero ecosystem just because these businesses can't afford the full-blown ERP implementation. Or don't have experience in running a larger organization or standardizing processes to grow past the QuickBooks inflection point. So, where does Flowtrac fit in the architecture, and which size of the businesses would be the right fit for this app? And how would they play along with the other apps in the QuickBooks and Shopify ecosystems?In today's episode, we invited a panel of cross-functional experts for a live interview on LinkedIn who brings significant expertise to discuss Flowtrac’s capabilities. We discussed their strength and weaknesses and where they might fit in the eCommerce architecture. Finally, we discussed their journey, the product strategy and roadmap, and their alignment with a few niche industries and ERP ecosystems.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 is a very thin line between mainstream and project-based manufacturing. Is software development manufacturing? How about constructing a house? The manufacturing systems that are designed for mainstream manufacturing, such as make-to-stock, made-to-order, configure-to-order, and engineer-to-order, are very different. While they might claim to do project-based manufacturing, they hardly have a costing wrapper to track different jobs for that project. It's almost like once in a while if the bicycle company needs to also manufacture the bike store, the system should be able to handle it. But that doesn't make this system suitable for companies that are only building bike stores, and maybe once in a while, they might assemble a bicycle to send a gift to their customers. These two are different scenarios and business models. So, where does Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central fit?In today's episode, we invited a panel of industry experts for a live discussion on LinkedIn to conduct an independent review of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central's capabilities. We covered many grounds, including its depth in warehousing and project-centric manufacturing. Finally, we discussed its limitations for other industries such as industrial manufacturing and distribution.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 textWhile Sales and operations planning is the shared responsibility of both sales and operations. Sales typically have far more clout while procurement with very little to no say in it. And as a result, most SMB organizations end up stocking the inventory far more than they need. And this overstocking results in the locking of cash and profitability issues. This is especially common with SMBs that are smaller and don't have PE or VC investment with them. In today's episode, our guest, Anna McGovern, shares her insights into the procurement maturity model and governance framework. She also discusses the role KPIs play in setting the governance framework. Finally, she describes the ownership of various cross-functional responsibilities and how to ensure the accountability of supply chain KPIs. 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 most people think of integration, they just feel that as long as you have APIs, you should be good. Well, the integration projects could be harder than building software from the ground up. When you build or implement software, you speak one language. On the other hand, when you integrate two software, you speak two, if not more. One option to integrate two software would be to have them talk without a translator. While this might be OK in some scenarios, the problems become bigger as the system complexity and order volume increase. You will also have constraints such as different maintenance schedules for different software or 24X7 transaction processing. So how to decide which integration pattern is the right fit in which scenario?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 pros and cons of iPaaS vs. point-to-point integration. We covered many grounds, including different integration patterns and strategies, the need for centralizing of integration code, and the differences in various iPaaS solutions out there in the market. Finally, we discussed when the businesses are ready for an iPaaS solution, the challenges with newer licensing models, and the importance of integration flow design for integration projects.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 textDid you know that only 10% of the sellers on Amazon generate over $100,00 a year? And while 90% of these sellers have the same complexity as their peers at $100 million, they don't have the same deep pockets to spend the money on integration and IT. While the options may not be perfect, they need a quick way of synching data from across the channels and system. Also, at this scale, the strategy to somehow manage with a fragmented set of apps and web hooks-based integration is probably OK, as your order volume is not as high. But how long can you survive on these apps? And when you might need to move to a slightly better system like ERP to have superior financial and inventory control.In today's episode, we invited a panel of cross-functional experts for a live interview on LinkedIn who brings significant expertise to discuss Webgility Detailed Independent Review. We discussed their strength and weaknesses and where they might fit in the eCommerce architecture. Finally, we discussed their synching processes, their integration with other ecommerce solutions, and which eCommerce businesses will be the right customers for Webgility.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 Infor is the largest ERP vendor that no one knows about, SAP Business ByDesign is the product from the largest ERP vendor that no one knows about. Some even doubt if there is any future for the product. The SAP resellers like to cannibalize products from their own portfolio in the hope of getting much higher license dollars from customers, even if it means that they might feel overwhelmed with the larger product. So does SAP even care for SMBs? If they do, have they done anything to change the image of SAP Business ByDesign? So what are the core reasons why SAP Business ByDesign never got any traction when SAP BusinessOne was a massively successful product?In today's episode, we invited a panel of industry experts for a live discussion on LinkedIn to conduct an independent review of SAP Business ByDesign's capabilities. We covered many grounds, including its depth in finance, audit trail, configuration management, and project-centric businesses. Finally, we discussed the reasons why SAP Business ByDesign doesn't receive as much traction as some of the other SAP products, SAP's commitment to the product, and recent development for the product portfolio.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 textInventory and on-time delivery are two major factors that show that your processes may require transformational change. These issues could lead to long production meetings chasing late orders or raw materials. They could also lead to ad-hoc arrangements and process inefficiencies that might be the implications of the band-aid solutions implemented to cure short-term operational problems. Having accurate inventory and a controlled supply chain requires a holistic understanding of the processes and data.In today's episode, our guest, Paul Vragel, shares his insights into the operational challenges and quick fixes to deliver desired KPIs for a chemical company. He discusses the core challenges, such as releasing the order to the production floor without checking the critical components and starting the setup operation, and how inventory accuracy could impact the operations of a company. Finally, he shares his insights into why the ad-hoc arrangements, such as creating lost inventory, may not be the best solution to fix your core problems.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 textDiscrete manufacturing space is crowded with several solutions. But there are only a few that are really good at process manufacturing and agriculture verticals. The process manufacturing has unique nuances with requirements such as traceability, sub-lots, sub-batches, and formulation management. These verticals also have unique reporting and audit requirements. Managing them could be a challenge with a vanilla ERP. And it might turn out to be extremely expensive. So why is Sage X3 so good at food and agriculture verticals and what are the unique features that matter for this industry?In today's episode, we invited a panel of industry experts for a live discussion on LinkedIn to conduct an independent review of Sage X3's capabilities. We covered many grounds, including their depth in the process manufacturing, their focus on finance, and why they are one of the few ERP systems in the market that have logistics capabilities. Finally, we discussed several unique features in the X3 solution, such as product families, rider management, multi-legislation, and multi-journal 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 textMost people don't understand the importance of requirement management when it comes to ERP. ERP should be as easy as dumping your SKUs, customers, and vendors inside the ERP system. And that's it, right? Well, the ERP system could quickly become the black box, similar to the tribal knowledge sitting in people's heads. So what are the best practices for managing ERP requirements? And how to ensure that the critical decisions are well-documented?In today's episode, we invited a panel of cross-functional experts for a live interview on LinkedIn who brings significant expertise to discuss ERP requirements management. We covered many grounds, including the importance of requirements management during the sales process and the impact it might have on the implementation. Finally, we discussed several other topics, such as how to do an ROI analysis, how to logically segment the requirements, and how to manage the requirements using a tool.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 textSelling on multiple channels is hard. They all have their rules and unique business models. Also, the channels and marketplaces are evolving on a daily basis. If you were to manage each of the channels manually, it could quickly become your day job to manage them. Also, even if you were able to do that, you might still run into scenarios of stockouts and struggle to maintain consistent pricing across channels. You not only need the centralized management of your product data. You also need the centralized management of all of your channels from one place. This is where your multichannel platforms are super handy to help manage your multichannel business.In today's episode, we invited a panel of cross-functional experts for a live interview on LinkedIn who brings significant expertise to conduct an independent review of Zentail's capabilities. We discussed their strength and weaknesses and where they might fit in the eCommerce architecture. Finally, we discussed their PIM and multichannel listing or listing capabilites and why they might be overextending themselves by focusing on the operational problems that typically don't reside in channel-specific solutions.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.