WBSRocks: Business Growth with Enterprise Software and Digital Transformation

Send us a textConsulting companies have never been good at selling products. IBM is a classic example. They have always struggled with their true identity. While they were one of the strongest engineering organizations, just like BlackBerry, product marketing is a different skill. And that's probably the reason why they ended up selling all of their software assets to other organizations.' WebSphere Commerce is one example. At one point in time, WebSphere Commerce used to be the gold standard for the enterprise commerce platform. But they ended up selling to HCL. Wait, but what is HCL doing with a software product? You would think that this is probably a "mainframe" strategy with a deliberate intention to buy legacy assets. So they can make charge a premium on their billing rate. But if you review the rearchitected version of HCL Commerce, you will be pleasantly surprised how fine of a job they have done with the product.In today's episode, we invited a panel of cross-functional experts for a live interview on LinkedIn who brings significant expertise to discuss HCL Commerce capabilities. We discussed their strengths and weaknesses and how the HCL acquisition has done wonders to the legacy product that was once the leading product for enterprise commerce for large brands. Finally, we discussed unique capabilities such as mock search, the ability to pin the products on a web page, retrieving the DAM assets using APIs, and the version control of DAM assets.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 textERP systems get a bad rap for being biased toward manufacturing. So manufacturers must feel comfortable using the mainstream ERP systems out there. Right? Well, at least that's not true for job shops. Job shops are unique in the way they think and work. They have a tendency to feel that they have unique business processes and workflow that require them to use a unique ERP system. But if you review the ERP systems that job shops typically appreciate, you will begin to notice a trend. That these ERP systems were created because the job shops were not willing to change how the other manufacturing businesses run. And that's probably the reason why most job shops very rarely cross the inflection point of $25-50 mil of lifestyle businesses. And one software that is extremely popular in the SMB job shop community is ECi M1, which promises a lot for them. But it's so unique and different that you might face migration issues if you ever grow to cross the inflection point.In today's episode, we invited a panel of industry experts for a live discussion on LinkedIn to conduct an independent review of ECi M1's capabilities. We covered many grounds, including their strength of functionality for job shops and why these capabilities were born to support the broken processes that job shops are not willing to change and streamline. Finally, we reviewed their screens, workflow, and key features such as scheduling, job manipulation, and BOM structures.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 textRecent economic events have taught us that Supply Chain is much deeper than most people think. These events, regardless of whether macro- or micro-economic, have the potential to throw off Supply Chain planning. And it requires careful calibration and cross-functional collaboration. So the Supply Chain professionals have data they need to take preventive measures to ensure that you are prepared for Supply Chain disruptions before it is too late.In today's episode, our guest, Michael Van Keulen (MVK), shares his insights on the current supply chain trends and opportunities. He also discusses the procurement maturity model for companies at various stages and what companies that are successful with their procurement and supply chain do differently. Finally, he discusses macroeconomic trends and their impact on the supply chain planning for the company in the short- and long-term.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 companies would rather give a product for free than worry about reverse logistics. Especially when the cost of the supply chain may be higher than the product itself. By the way, reverse logistics is not as simple as printing a shipping label and sending it to your customer. It could include getting a product to your facility and then recycling it or sending it to the vendor for repair. Managing these transactions could be even more difficult when multiple systems might be involved in your architecture. So what are the best practices of reverse logistics?In today's episode, we invited a panel of cross-functional experts for a live interview on LinkedIn who brings significant expertise to discuss Reverse Logistics best practices. We discussed the nuances and best practices of Reverse Logistics processes and how they might vary in different industries. Finally, we discussed the overlap and boundaries of Reverse Logistics 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.

Send us a textThe debate about whether a platform should be more business vs. developer-friendly is classic. Even the platforms that might claim to be friendly for business users might struggle with aesthetically pleasing interfaces. But Episerver takes a very different approach with their rich CMS that is already integrated with several ERP platforms popular in the industrial space. The B2B space also has very different needs with customer-specific pricing and the availability of products for specific customer groups and divisions. So how is Episerver positioned among other headless vendors and the enterprise-grade platforms such as SAP, Salesforce, and Oracle commerce cloud?In today's episode, we invited a panel of cross-functional experts for a live interview on LinkedIn who brings significant expertise to discuss Episerver Digital Commerce/Optimizely’s capabilities. We discussed their strengths and weaknesses and why they have one of the friendliest CMS for B2B mid-market companies. Finally, we discussed their evolution, acquisition journey, their limitations compared to other enterprise platforms, and how their A/B testing might be different.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 think of the distribution business as buy-and-sell. But distribution really gets really complex in the industrial space. You have challenges such as price and rebate management, buying groups, rush orders, and millions of SKUs. Unlike manufacturing, you might have very different planning for your warehouses, including push and pull-based replenishment. The bin structures are so complex that they may contain layers and layers of information to ensure that the warehouse crew is able to manage their operations smoothly. So what do industrial distribution businesses need to know about selecting software? Also, how do industrial distribution software such as Epicor Prophet 21, Epicor Eclipse, and Infor CloudSuite Distribution SX.e differ?In today's episode, we invited a panel of industry experts for a live discussion on LinkedIn to conduct an independent review of Infor CloudSuite Distribution/SX.e's capabilities. We covered many grounds, including their strength in the industrial distribution space and why it is purpose-built for certain micro-verticals of industrial distribution industries. Finally, we discussed their capabilities such as universal search, push, and pull-based replenishment, rebates, order types, and bin structure.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 textWhether to go for iterative deployment or the big bang is always subject to debate. But one factor that is often missed is the number of issues you might get on the day of deployment. As well as, the number of resources that you may require to avoid and control the impact of business disruptions. Most consulting companies would often advise against massive rollouts. The smaller the deployment, the more manageable it is. But that may not always be possible due to the system architecture. And the amount of additional temporary overhead that may be required to support a phased deployment.In today's episode, our guests, Nate and Jess Schisler share their insights on Lululemon’s case study of a massive rollout of their ERP and WMS. They also discuss the specific decisions that led to them opting for the one-weekend rollout despite their system integrator advising otherwise. Finally, they share details about the architectural considerations and resulting inventory issues that required months of hyper-care post-deployment.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 RMA? Well, for me, I always feel that I have a fundamental right to return any product as I so please. However, if you think about the people and businesses that have to enable processes such as store credit, refund, sending the shipping labels, and getting the merchandise repaired,  you might no longer feel like returning a product. Each of these processes could be so involved that it might require its own ERP systems for each area. Also, RMA processes could have an impact on your profitability. And most issues with RMA can be traced back to engineering or production. So what are the best practices of RMA processes?In today's episode, we invited a panel of cross-functional experts for a live interview on LinkedIn who brings significant expertise to discuss RMA best practices. We discussed the nuances and best practices of RMA processes and how they might vary in different industries. Finally, we discussed the overlap and boundaries of RMA 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.

Send us a textWhen people think of SAP Hybris, they are definitely not thinking of the modern stack such as React, headless, or PWA. But SAP Commerce has come a long way in its capabilities and stack. While it might not be as headless as some of the newer breeds of the tools, not many tools can match the enterprise-grade infrastructure capabilities of SAP Commerce Cloud. SAP Commerce Cloud has one of the most robust B2B features that other platforms can hardly match. And it is also a nice blend of headless with enterprise security in mind.In today's episode, we invited a panel of cross-functional experts for a live interview on LinkedIn who brings significant expertise to discuss SAP Commerce Cloud, SAP Hybris, 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 discussed their different approach to headless and why that may be slightly more sensible way of approaching headless due to the cybersecurity concerns of the modern stack, as well as for the regulated 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.

Send us a textSage 300, also known as Accpac, is the household name for many companies when they think of an ERP system. It has always been a powerful accounting package, especially for SMBs. It has also been very strong with construction, real estate, and field service verticals. Especially very deep functionality for unions, cost codes, retainage, submittals, and commitments. While most people might think that any package that might have project-centric functionality may be suitable for construction. That's not true at all. So, would Sage 300 be any different than most construction packages?In today's episode, we invited a panel of industry experts for a live discussion on LinkedIn to conduct an independent review of Sage 300's capabilities. We covered many grounds, including their strength in the construction and real-estate industries. Finally, we discussed their construction-specific functionality such as union reporting, retainage, submittals, and transmittals.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.