WBSRocks: Business Growth with Enterprise Software and Digital Transformation

Send us a textThere are several systems and choices available to support the needs of your functions and business processes. Best-of-breed options offer much deeper functionality and system designed for specific groups of users. But communication and integration could require significant resources and maintenance from your organization. The Full-suite options can get you the basics to get you going but might outgrow if a department has complex needs for its operations. As a business user, you need to decide how many apps you will be using in your enterprise architecture, balancing integration costs and flexibility.In today's episode, we invited an expert panel of cross-functional experts for a live interview on LinkedIn who brings significant system integration and implementation, manufacturing, and distribution, and finance. But most importantly, a manufacturer who has owned several manufacturing companies and integrated several applications as they grew. 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 is perhaps the most visited site for e-commerce, and its product filters will probably be the most used feature on its site. Product filters help you find the products you are looking for without going through thousands or millions of products that the site might carry. Well-designed websites understand your journey deeply, and they are guiding you as you use the site. On the other hand, poorly designed websites either have too many or too few filters and ignore the user's viewpoint while designing the site. Irrespective of whether you are a B2B or B2B business, you need a sophisticated product filter strategy to provide the buying experience that your customers desire. In today's episode, we invited an expert panel of cross-functional experts for a live interview on LinkedIn who brings significant expertise with product filter design and e-commerce to discuss the best practices of designing product filters. We also have a chance to discuss the competing features such as onsite search, voice, and several other trends such as AI and how they would redefine the place for product filters. Finally, we have had a chance to discuss real-life scenarios of poor filter design and its implications on the user experience.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 teams report problems in the production line and the capacity, their answer is often additional machines or people. Unfortunately, solving each problem with an additional body or machine results in unused capacity and unnecessary spending when the problem could be somewhere else. While there are tons of data available from machines and processes to make prudent financial decisions, interpreting data requires experimentation, design, and understanding each variable that may cause deviations.In today's episode, we have our guest, Martin Davis, who discusses the strategies to improve your manufacturing facilities' capacity and increase the overall equipment effectiveness of your equipment. He also discusses several stories where he used data to pinpoint the actual bottlenecks in the process, which saved millions of dollars in savings in unnecessary additional equipment purchases of equipment. Finally, he discusses several issues around data quality, describes the difference between operational and business technologies, and how each of these components fits in the enterprise 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 textWith IIOT devices on the shop floor capable of altering the state of machines through exposed endpoints for hackers, operational security is vital for manufacturers or distributors. While security issues could be frightening, and you might opt to take the approach of not connecting your shop floor with the internet, you might be missing out on the benefits that industry 4.0 machines and devices offer. With careful planning and processes, operational security is manageable.In today's episode, we have our guest, Denrich Sananda, who discusses how operational security is vital to ensure that your plant is always available and operational without any danger to the lives inside the plant. He also describes the difference between operational and cybersecurity and how to plan for the security of your facilities. Finally, he describes various concepts related to operational security, such as the interplay of networks, machines, and touchpoints and where you may have security holes in your premises.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 textHave you heard the news where a large aerospace manufacturer won a large contract for several planes? While it's exciting news, it could be equally challenging for suppliers who are part of that ecosystem and asked to staff overnight to meet the demand of their key customer. Or you run the risk of losing the relationship. In addition, the quality requirements and stringent processes make it even harder for these suppliers.In today's episode, we have our guest, Mark Evans, who discusses the manufacturing and engineering processes of a Boeing Supplier. He also discusses how to manage the expectations of large customers where your key customer may have thousands of suppliers in their ecosystem. Finally, he discusses key nuances and processes of the aerospace manufacturing industry and how it is different from other 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 textThe software and technology world is evolving daily, and so are the software contracts. As pricing becomes easier to start using software for small-to-medium-sized businesses, the incremental costs could be unexpected if you don't understand the new pricing models. While technology is making it easier to create and sign contracts, it also provides software vendors freedom to create contracts that may not have legal binding or might change even after signing the contract. In today's episode, we invited an expert panel of cross-functional experts for a live interview on LinkedIn who brings significant legal, software, and IT contracting, manufacturing, sales, and ERP implementation expertise. But most importantly, a manufacturer who has owned several manufacturing companies and lived through the contracting challenges over many years. We also invited a guest who appears on several expert witness cases should there be a conflict between the software vendor, implementation partner, and the customer.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 I was planning for this episode, I had a conversation with a friend that I could never forget. She was planning to resign from her company. So I inquired why she was planning to resign. To give you a little background, she was very well established in her career, spent roughly 20 years, and held an executive position at her current company. Her company had experienced massive growth. And there was a high chance that she could get promoted to a much higher position. It didn't make a ton of sense why she wanted to resign as she will have to build her credibility from scratch in the new company. I asked if she wasn't happy with the compensation. She responded with a resounding no. Then I thought maybe it was probably the role or responsibilities with which she might not be happy. But that wasn't the case either. Then I asked. Do you not like your current team or co-workers? She said that she loved her team. Huh? I was clueless as to why she would want to move out.After several more questions, she said my biggest problem is that I am never allowed to go to the board room for meetings even though I am an executive. So I thought, how come meetings could be such a big deal and a potential reason for dissatisfaction at the workplace. I was reflecting on why anyone would lose their life savings for a bunch of meetings. So I asked her why these meetings were so important to her. And what was the primary reason to leave the organization?She said, "to be able to perform my job effectively. I need to be in those meetings." She continued, "I am OK even if they don't let me speak there. Even just listening to them would help." So I asked if she ever tried to approach her superiors and shared her concerns. She said, "she tried numerous times, but the conversation didn't go anywhere." They always brushed her off by saying that you don't want to be in that room with those men. Personally, since I always worked in fairly inclusive workplaces, that didn't make a ton of sense to me. Sure, there would always be minor issues here and there. But I never thought that you would not be allowed into the board room just because you were a female. That got me thinking that although we might be in 2021, we are not over the issues from the 1960s. By not being inclusive and not selecting your teams based on merit, you are only hurting yourself. This story is a reminder that we all need to do our parts of spreading education about inclusiveness in the workplace and how that could impact digital transformation initiatives and growth.When I was planning for the 100th episode of our wildly popular podcast, I had many offers from high-profile celebrities that we could have hosted. But then, I would not be doing my part. So I decided to dedicate this episode to Six amazing women doing fantastic work to promote women in digital transformation. Each of these women has several initiatives to support and encourage women. So no one feels left behind.In this episode, we discussed the factors that are most important to build a digital team. We also discussed several stories where keeping the information in the board room and not including key users resulted in failed digital transformations. Finally, we discussed the importance of communication and why the leaders need to immerse themselves with users to truly understand their needs and not just being lip service and promoting the culture of open and honest communication without fear.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 textIrrespective of whether you are an owner who would like changes in your organization or a leader trying to convince the owners or boards for transformational changes, the journey of change is lonely. You might come across super enthusiastic collaborators who will lose interest if they don't see an immediate return. You might also come across several detractors who will take every effort to shut you down. The change requires a deep understanding of the mindset and what drives people to identify the right team to lead the change initiatives.In today's episode, we have our guest, Laura Goodrich, who discusses how and where to begin the journey of change, especially if you have been facing resistance from your team. She also describes how to identify the initial champions and build the right team to take accountability to lead the change and not be discouraged by detractors. Finally, she discusses strategies to lead change in various organizations, including where the team may be facing resistance from the owner or vice versa. 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 textAn average manufacturing facility may have ten operations to produce a part. The process of creating a chip goes through at least 500 steps. Some of these processes use significantly expensive machines and materials. They also require timely preventive maintenance and sophisticated scheduling. Operational improvements at such facilities could mean a massive difference to your bottom line, while bottlenecks could mean increased operational overhead and product cost.In today's episode, we have our guest, Julie Hopkins, who discusses how she could bring significant productivity improvements in semiconductor facilities by setting the 10x goal. She also describes the manufacturing and quality processes of a dry etch semiconductor fabrication facility and how it is different from other manufacturing sites. Finally, she shared several stories of how to find hidden items that may reduce the operational availability within your process.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 textPlanning through growth inflection points is difficult. You have to figure out how to find revenue. And then, if you are not able to fulfill the demand, the growth may fire back. Planning for growth requires you to build your multi-year sales and operating plan. But the most crucial part is its execution. The more alignment you have across your cross-functional groups, the easier and more natural the growth will feel without growing pains.In today's episode, we invited an expert panel of cross-functional experts for a live interview on LinkedIn who brings significant finance, sales, operations planning, logistics, and warehouse expertise. But most importantly, a manufacturer and distributor who has been part of the growth journey for her company from $10M to $200M and experienced it first-hand.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.