WBSRocks: Business Growth with Enterprise Software and Digital Transformation

Send us a textIf you are building or upgrading your e-commerce capabilities, you are likely to evaluate several platforms. This evaluation needs to be comprehensive, covering factors ranging from legal contracts, deployment issues, customer experience needs, product model complexities, and your teams' skillset. If you chose a platform without performing due diligence, you might experience cost overruns with your ecommerce budget. In today's episode, we have our guest Erin Courtnay and Eric Landmann from Earthling Interactive, who discusses the strategies and considerations to evaluate e-commerce platforms and architecture. They also discuss how the e-commerce needs differ between B2B vs. B2C and among different industries. Finally, they discussed several other nuances that drive the cost and design, including product models, search filters, and the technology ecosystem.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 textCash is the lifeblood of a company. Cash forecasting is the discovery process to predict your future cash needs. How would you feel if you discovered that you had four months of cash left to operate? I am sure you will lose your sleep. Thus, cash forecasting and understanding your balance sheet are essential. It is especially vital for cash-intensive companies such as manufacturers. In today's episode, we have our guest Alok Ajmera, who discusses the corporate performance management (CPM) function and breaks down its processes into the tactical cost-saving and strategic components. He also touches on concepts such as continuous and consistent planning. Finally, he explains the role and interactions of CPM and ERP software and what value each of these tools adds to an SMB 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 textIf you focused on the metrics for each employee where they contributed to the organization's overall improvement, it could result in millions of dollars of savings. But finding the areas of improvement is easier said than done. It requires you to perform gap analysis and trace the Gemba. It requires you to perform a deeper study of data, identify appropriate KPIs, and continuously measure to become operationally resilient.In today's episode, we have our guest Tamar Nelson, who discusses why an organization needs to become operationally resilient to combat uncertainty. She also describes why a gap analysis is required to identify the areas of improvement and start on the journey of operational resiliency. Finally, she shares several stories where she has made transformational changes to the organization by tracing the Gemba through data, surveys, and process mapping.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 textRFID technology has been available for a long time, but its adoption has been limited to high-value assets. Most manufacturers might not believe that RFID technologies can track commodities and be an excellent replacement for barcode labels. Unlike barcode labels requiring warehouse and production workers to hold the pointed gun and scan each item, RFID tags could significantly save time while expediting the scanning process. They will also provide you real-time visibility and replenishment of the inventory.In today's episode, we have our guest Andrew Johnson, who discusses the evolution of RFID tags and how RFID technology is no longer limited to tracking high-value assets. He also touches on the old-school vendor-managed inventory approach and how RFID technology enables manufacturers to enable true Just-in-time tracking in real-time across products. Finally, he touches on the several logistics associated with enabling RFID to manage your vendor-managed inventory, including the cost of printing RFID labels, their limitations, and strategies for their adoption.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 textEnergy has always been one of the heaviest line items on a P&L for manufacturers. While manufacturing executives are acutely aware of the energy costs, they have struggled to enforce energy-saving procedures. In fact, the push for quality and productivity could have counterproductive effects on energy consumption. To find the cost-saving opportunities available through energy, the executives need to consider comprehensive approaches, including factoring energy costs into product costs and performance metrics like product quality and quantity. They also need to adopt industry 4.0 technologies to provide historical data to capitalize on cost savings available through energy.In today's episode, we have our guest Mike Nager, who discusses the organizational metrics and KPIs that completely ignore the cost savings opportunities available through control and policies. He also touches on trends in other countries where energy prices may be higher. Finally, he shares several stories and describes several technologies that companies could use to accelerate industry 4.0 adoption, which will help companies save on energy costs and help them grow faster.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 textMaterial requirement planning helps in keeping the appropriate inventory levels that you need for manufacturing. If the MRP processes are not optimized, it could result in surplus inventory or component shortages that could halt your production. While several technologies are available to implement MRP, the biggest challenge is the cross-functional nature of the MRP processes as multiple business units and departments may be involved. This challenge makes the implementation difficult and causes operational disruptions.In today's episode, we have our guest Marcia Williams, who discusses various components of MRP planning and where MRP fits in the process. She also discusses the differences between MRP and DRP and why MRP processes are challenging to implement in an organization. Finally, she shares several stories of complex MRP planning, including performing MRP planning in a multi-entity scenario, planning when multiple locations may be involved, and when the BOMs may have complex dependencies.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 new trends and technologies such as additive manufacturing and experimental design, it's never been this easy to launch and disrupt a hardware product category. The traditional manufacturers that are slow in taking advantage of these trends run a risk of being disrupted and become irrelevant in their market. The new trends require manufacturers to get inspired by the newer disruptive companies from their markets and be corporate intrapreneurs by changing their internal R&D workflows and capabilities.In today's episode, we have our guest Kevin Mako, who discusses how experimental design and additive manufacturing can help mitigate financial risks with innovative projects. He also discusses several technologies and trends that have been driving faster innovation in the manufacturing sector. Finally, he discusses what financial executives look for in a pitch and how engineering workflow changes with additive manufacturing methodology.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 other industries such as banking or logistics have successfully differentiated purely because of technology, manufacturers treat digital technologies as their stepchild, especially in the SMB space. SMB manufacturers and distributors rarely have internal IT or use external research to augment their business or digital transformation initiatives. What could manufacturers do to learn from other industries and create a compelling customer experience using technology?In today's episode, we have our guest Shari Lava, who discusses the importance of partnership with your tech vendors and external research. She also talks about various trends that executives should know and how they have changed because of COVID. Finally, she touches on how to read research reports and why it is essential to have an organized methodology to lead large transformation initiatives, and how their digital frameworks can help.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 textRunning a machine shop is complicated with complex parts, heavy precision needs, and tricky materials handling requirements. With cost pressures from customers, rising material costs, and shrinking margins, one inaccurately estimated job could wipe out the profits for the whole month. Also, customers are savvy with their evaluation as they now want to vet your end-to-end business processes to validate the claims on your sales collateral.In today's episode, we have our guest Paul Van Metre, who discusses how machine shops can use their business processes as a sales tool in their sales and marketing collateral. He also describes the nuances of running a machine shop efficiently from his own machine business experiences. Finally, we have had a chance to discuss several scenarios and their implications on your efficiency and profitability, including the most realistic timeline and practical strategies for an ERP implementation for a machine shop.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 textCost accounting is a complex topic. You have so many different choices, and sometimes it's hard to decide which method may be appropriate for your business. If you choose an incorrect accounting method, you may get a significant variance and require more admin effort to discover the source of variance and tweak the processes to reduce it. The incorrect costing method could also mean that you don't have a true sense of profitability for your products.In today's episode, we have our guest Christiano Gherardini, who discusses the importance of costing granularity and why it is crucial to understand your products' profitability. He also talks about various costing scenarios and the implications of choosing an incorrect costing method. Finally, he has had a chance to talk about multiple costing concepts, including macro and micro variance analysis, costing layers, backflushing, rework, costing concurrent resources, and much more.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.