WBSRocks: Business Growth with Enterprise Software and Digital Transformation

Send us a textIf you are a growing siloed organization, you will have puddles of data sitting inside every department. You could also have hundreds of unused reports on top of your ERP system that you might not even be aware of. If you want to avoid growing pains because of data, you need centralized ownership and strategy with clearly identified systems for their roles and responsibilities.In today's episode, we invited a panel of cross-functional experts for a live interview on LinkedIn who brings significant expertise to discuss enterprise analytics planning. We covered many grounds in this episode, including identifying enterprise datasets, their ownership, and appropriate systems to host them. Finally, we discussed the importance of data lakes and their importance in an organization, and how to avoid too many reports on top of ERP systems as they could be expensive.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 textMastering SEO is no longer optional for ecommerce companies and manufacturers. If you are starting on your SEO journey, you will need to make decisions between SEO and PPC strategies. You will also need to understand the nuances of keyword strategies to identify the right targets that will help you meet your goals. Finally, you need to understand how to compare various channels such as PPC and SEO.In today's episode, we invited a panel of cross-functional experts for a live interview on LinkedIn who brings significant expertise to discuss SEO strategies. We covered many grounds in this episode, including the SEO framework and signals that Google cares for. We also discussed SiteMap, machine-generated content, information architecture, and indexing and crawling patterns. Finally, we discussed why keyword research matters and how to choose between SEO vs. PPC strategies.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 are ready to expand your e-commerce footprint, you have several choices. For example, suppose you have been selling to the most popular channels, such as Amazon in North America. In that case, you might want to explore other channels such as Walmart, Alibaba, or Etsy. Or you might want to explore some of the international markets such as the UK, India, or Brazil. But the decision is not as simple as that as you need to compare the channels in each country, understand regulatory nuances, and cultural synergies to be successful in each marketplace and market.In today's episode, we have our guest, Paul Sonneveld, who discusses the marketplace expansion strategy for e-commerce sellers or manufacturers aspiring to expand their footprint through digital commerce. He also describes visibility into the marketplaces around the world and their nuances. Finally, he discusses the unique requirements of each country and the resources available to them through the marketplaces ecosystem and service providers.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 journey of ISO could feel overwhelming with the amount of standardization and documentation required. But if your machine shop never served a regulated industry, it could be a great start as you expand your market to other sectors such as aerospace, defense, or automotive. You will not only be required to change your processes and procedures, but you need to game up on training and documentation.In today's episode, we have our guest, Derek Hall, who describes the importance of ISO compliance and why it's necessary for shops to grow. He also discusses what non-ISO shops need to know about ISO compliance and how the processes of ISO-compliant shops differ from non-ISO shops. Finally, he shares important concepts such as audit requirements and the importance of visual cues on the shop floor.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 textDue to how companies function in the startup phase and evolve, most of them operate in silos because it's hard to find cross-functional talent. In addition, the cross-functional processes are perceived to be slow. It's also tough to train people in multiple disciplines. As a result, most SMBs will have one person responsible for each function: sales, purchasing, AR, AP, HR, etc. While this siloed nature may help you sail through the startup phase, it's the cross-functional alignment that will help propel your growth.In today's episode, we have our guest, Pam Fox Rollin, who discusses how to drive cross-functional clarity in a siloed organization. She describes the entire process of driving this clarity, including setting the shared promise and how it differs from a shared vision. Finally, we discussed several stories of executives who may be afraid of driving this clarity in fear of disruption to their organization.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 textManaging digital projects have never been easier. While there have been tons of attempts to improve the process with Agile methodologies, the timeline, budget, and scope are still tough to manage. There are several explanations as to why digital projects are harder. For example, each digital project is fairly unique, even if it is repeatable ERP implementation. Then you have the problems of invisibility. Managing digital projects have always been art and science. That's probably the reason why the success of these projects varies so much.In today's episode, we invited a panel of cross-functional experts for a live interview on LinkedIn who brings significant expertise to discuss planning for digital projects. We covered many grounds in this episode, including capturing the appropriate scope, iterations, and phases. We also discussed the pros and cons of using process templates from various vendors. Finally, we discussed several stories to identify the initial beachhead for e-commerce success and ongoing measurement and development.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 textE-commerce opportunity is highly lucrative. As an executive responsible for e-commerce success, you will come across several options and opportunities. But if you don't know how to plan for e-commerce, you might be out of cash without knowing what went wrong. For example, it could happen as you overcommitted in channels that didn't perform to your expectations. Or you stocked too much inventory in the hope of getting significant traffic from your e-commerce efforts. E-commerce budgeting requires comprehensive planning across channels.In today's episode, we invited a panel of cross-functional experts for a live interview on LinkedIn who brings significant expertise to discuss e-commerce budget planning. We covered many grounds in this episode, including the cost buckets that need to be considered for e-commerce budget planning. We discussed the framework of e-commerce spend in many industries and ratios of how they plan for e-commerce spend. Finally, we discussed several stories to identify the initial beachhead for e-commerce success and then ongoing measurement and development.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 are a small business operating as a single entity with one warehouse and site, most of your suppliers will have a handshake relationship. But as you grow, you are going to add more sites. Each site may have its procurement functions and may manage its supply chain. This is where having accurate supplier intelligence and a comprehensive risk profile of suppliers becomes important. In today's episode, we have our guest, Matt Keyes, who describes the importance of supplier intelligence and how that helps uncover supply risks before it's too late. He also discusses how centralized relationships can help companies save money through centralized contract and supplier profiles. Finally, he describes supply chain risk concepts through the stories of his recent engagements.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 textEvery user in a company has different needs when it comes to completing their jobs. The warehouse users, in particular, are worried about how fast they can move the goods and organize accordingly. Therefore, to be effective with warehousing operations and organization, you need tons of data that can help you analyze the most efficient way of running them. In today's episode, we have our guest, Roy Strauss, who describes WMS systems and how they can help meet your operational operating goals. He also discusses how to build an operating plan and how WMS systems can help monitor and measure the KPIs. Finally, he describes WMS concepts through the use of several stories from his client engagements.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 textAutomation technologies are advancing at a rapid pace. There are tons of options available whether you are looking to automate some of the operations of your production process. Or you may be automating process steps such as trailer unloading that are essential but may not be billable. And the more repeatable tasks you can automate in your facility, the better quality products you can produce, and the more cost-effective your products will be. But to take full advantage of these technologies, you need your information systems to be fully connected and integrated.In today's episode, we have our guest, Jake Hall, who discusses the current state of automation and challenges with its adoption in manufacturing industries. He also discusses the reasons for the success and failures of automation initiatives and describes several automation technologies available for industrial manufacturers and distributors. Finally, he shares several stories of where automation technologies make sense and where they might be overkill.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.