WBSRocks: Business Growth with Enterprise Software and Digital Transformation

Send us a textThe announcement about the end of life of an ERP system has fired back every single ERP vendor. Whether we talk about Oracle announcement for JD Edwards, SAP announcement of ECC, or Microsoft announcement of GP, the vendors that have a lot of solutions in their customer base without very strong communities can typically sunset their products very easily without much noise. But that is not possible when you are a vendor such as Microsoft. And you have one of the most adopted ERP solutions with over 40K installations. So MS may keep extending its deadline for EOL for GP. But how long? Would it have a clear direction for the cloud just like other products in the MS portfolio like Dynamics BC and F&O?Does it make sense to buy GP in 2022? Does it make sense to stay on GP and wait until Microsoft officially sunsets it? If so, what would be your alternatives? But which businesses would be the right fit for Microsoft Dynamics GP?In today's episode, we invited a panel of industry experts for a live discussion on LinkedIn to discuss major stories in the ERP and digital transformation space and an objective and independent review of Microsoft Dynamics GP's capabilities. We covered several grounds, including its history, technology evolution, product roadmap, strengths, and weaknesses. Finally, we reviewed which industries and market segments are using Microsoft GP as of today and which segments are going to be the best fit.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 textPricing and discounting will always be a religious debate in the organizations on who controls it. For pricing and discounts to work, you need your inventory and master data to be in order. Or the pricing strategies may fire back due to the inconsistent customer experience. Pricing and discounting are even trickier when multiple systems might be controlling master data and pricing and discounting. The multiple systems could be CRM, eCommerce, PIM, ERP, pricing software, etc. So what are the best practices when it comes to pricing and discounting across systems?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 pricing and discounts business processes and best practices. We covered many grounds, including stories related to the nightmare with pricing and discounting, the impact of master data and inventory on pricing, and the implications of ad-hoc pricing arrangements in certain industries. Finally, we discussed the architectural implications of keeping pricing information in multiple systems, integration issues with CPQ and specialized pricing software, and each team's pricing workflows and boundaries.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 textFor an eCommerce business, inventory is everything. If you don't have enough inventory, you might lose on opportunities. If you have too much, your cash may be locked with the inventory. If you are working with vendors, they will not work with you unless you are willing to work with their preferred minimum order quantity. But those MOQs must make sense for your business as well. In fact, MOQ will drive your sales and product bundling as well as you need to have enough margins and determine the appropriate MOQs that will make sense for your business.In today's episode, we invited a panel of cross-functional experts for a live interview on LinkedIn who brings significant expertise to discuss MOQ and how to calculate it. We also discussed the differences in MOQ calculation for B2B vs. B2C, the difference between MOQ and EOQ, and how MOQ calculation is different in the DTC world. Finally, we discussed the correlation of MOQ and lead time, the best practices of MOQ when multiple vendors may exist for the same SKU, and the magic formula for coming up with appropriate MOQs for both buying and selling. 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 textAmazon could appear like a massive opportunity. But to be successful on Amazon, you need a comprehensive strategy starting from SKUs to pricing and to your fulfillment. While Amazon could come across as frightening due to confusing terms and business models, Amazon provides several opportunities for sellers at different levels, including taking care of your entire fulfillment process. So what do you need to know to create Amazon as a successful channel?In today's episode, our guest, Will Haire, shares his insights into Amazon's business models. He also describes the business model differences of vendor and seller central, FBA vs. FBM, seller fulfilled prime, and hybrid strategy. Finally, he discusses several strategies such as Amazon's price check and how that impacts your relationship with Amazon, inventory and warehouse processes of Amazon and their expectations from each seller, and finally, the channel conflict and its implications if you or one of your vendors tries to sell the same product at a much cheaper price on Amazon.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 audit procedures require end-to-end traceability and visibility into your processes. While they might vary a bit across industries such as medical or aerospace, the fundamentals are still the same. They are the same in how you vet your suppliers, how you ensure that the due dates are accurate on your POs, and finally, how you deliver to your customers with consistency. So how do you ensure that you are not going to get any red flags during the audit process?In today's episode, our guest, Anna Reyes-Potts, shares her insights into the audit and quality processes for machine shops. She also discusses the differences in the quality and audit process for various industries. Finally, she discusses how the processes of a machine shop differ from generalized manufacturing, including inventory, inspection, procurement, and supplier quality control.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 is one thing do you know about Salesforce fans? Well, for one, they absolutely love the salesforce platform. Me included! The love is so intense that they will do anything and everything to remain on Salesforce. And why not? There is not a single CRM platform that comes close to matching the depth and object hierarchy while not being as limiting as the ERP systems? But how would you feel about running your entire business on Salesforce? Nice idea, right? Irrespective of whether you will get Salesforce like experience on the entire platform or not, one thing is certain that it will carry a very expensive price tag salesforce is known for. One such platform that can provide this experience is Rootstock which started as an MRP but seems to have transitioned into a full-blown ERP. But which businesses would be the right fit for Rootstock?In today's episode, we invited a panel of industry experts for a live discussion on LinkedIn to discuss major stories in the ERP and digital transformation space and an objective and independent review of Rootstock's capabilities. We covered several grounds, including their no-code/low-code approach, history, and current strength. Finally, we reviewed their scheduling capabilities, the platforms they integrate with most often, their most common customers, and which industry verticals would be most suitable for 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 textHow much of an impact might UoM conversions have on an ERP implementation? Well, if you asked a seasoned guy who has been part of a large implementation, UoM conversions fire back pretty bad. In fact, at times, they could be a make or break for the ERP implementations. The UoM conversions not supported the way your business processes are structured could be the birth of ad-hoc and excel-based processes. So what are the pitfalls when it comes to UoMs? How to find the UoMs that will be a bottleneck to your implementation and 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 UoM conversions business processes best practices. We covered many grounds, including concepts such as sales, consumption, purchase, and usage-based unit of measure and their interactions as you process different transactions. Finally, we covered the differences in the unit of measure best practices across several industries, the impact of the unit of measure on SKUs, and how the inconsistencies across different systems might impact the unit of measure.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 struggle with providing consistent pricing across channels. Even when we think of static pricing, the systems and departments are not connected in how they price the product. The accounting may set the cost standards. But sales and marketing might maintain the pricing completely separately in a siloed manner in eComm. The inconsistent pricing experience can come across as alarming for customers. If you charge too high, then you will be missing opportunities. If you charge too low, then you will be setting the wrong expectations that they can expect these products at this price even in the future. The dynamic pricing trends require systems and inventory to be connected for the algorithm to work. Incorrect dynamic pricing may be worse than static or fake pricing. But how difficult is it to implement dynamic pricing and improve customer experience through that?In today's episode, we invited a panel of cross-functional experts for a live interview on LinkedIn who brings significant expertise to discuss dynamic pricing. We discussed various topics, such as how different industries and systems handle dynamic pricing and the factors that drive dynamic pricing. Finally, we discussed the customer experience implications of dynamic pricing, how that is perceived by the consumers and the risks that brand managers need to be aware of before incorporating dynamic pricing as part of their strategy. 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 textBOMs inside ERP systems are not designed to track specification data. If you have several variables associated with your BOMs, then you might need to track specifications separately. Even if you have PIM or PLM, you might still need the specification software as that can not only help in creating the product model faster, but it can centralize your specification data, especially if you might be using multiple systems in your architecture. The centralized specifications could also provide insights into data and analytics you might need to optimize your procurement or to pursue sustainability initiatives.In today's episode, our guest, Matthew Wright, shares his insights into specification management for manufacturers. He also discusses what specification is and how it differs across industries. Finally, he discusses concepts such as the difference between specification management software vs. PLM vs. PIM vs. BOMs vs. CAD add-ons that remove duplicate part data, user journies for specification management software, and how the analytics software differs from the operational software.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 your physical and digital inventory may not be aligned and you don't have KPIs to track your excess inventory and obsolescence, you might be carrying aging inventory, and you might not be aware of that. Also, while some of the inventory may appear aging, if that is the critical inventory for their machines or operations, there may be a chance that you may not have these parts when you need them the most. Planning for inventory excess and obsolescence is hard as you not only need to look at the global planning, but you also need to make sure that you are monitoring the inventory at the plant level. So what are the best practices to track and optimize inventory excess and obsolescence?In today's episode, our guest, Pete Grett, shares his insights into inventory excess and obsolescence. He also discusses the critical metrics to track inventory obsolescence and how global planning might drive the inventory needs. Finally, he discusses concepts such as the critical components and ad-hoc warranty processes that might disrupt the inventory planning, hub and spoke model and how the supply chain network needs to be mapped to discover cost savings opportunities, and finally, how DTC customers that might be seeking Amazon-like experience may require micro-fulfillment centers as the traditional regional DC model may be too expensive for them due to the supply chain costs.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.