Commercial air travel has made the world seem much smaller since it became widely available after the end of WWII. The use of aircraft powered by turbine engines meant that planes could make longer trips, crossing the Atlantic and later the Pacific non-stop, making a trip that used to take days in an ocean liner in only a few hours.
In the last few decades, technology has made the world even smaller with communications and data moving instantaneously across the global internet. At the same time, companies, supply and delivery chains, and markets continue to expand globally. Even with today’s technology, some companies struggle to achieve real time visibility across their supply chains because of expanding footprints, add-on growth, and conflicting technologies that actually push their companies farther apart, rather than bringing them closer together.
This is the case for a global airline manufacturer whose acquisitions of outside manufacturers brought multiple ERPs into the company…leading to challenges and communications barriers across divisions and locations, and creating distance across the company.
Multiple ERPs, More Problems
Multiple ERPs in a single company is not uncommon and can arise from a variety of reasons – one cause is legacy systems from acquisitions, as in this case. In other scenarios, different ERPs are needed because the requirements of individual business units vary and a best of breed approach seems more functional. Or finally, a variety of ERPs may be needed because different regions require different approaches. Regardless of the reason, the problems caused by the use of multiple ERPs across one company are all similar.
Because each ERP system houses its own data, it often leads to differing data structures and challenges consolidating the information. This complicates the reporting process, potentially requiring the addition of manual steps to rationalize the data across sources to deliver a consolidated view of the company’s status. Working with multiple ERPs also requires your staff to be familiar with multiple user interfaces, data structures and reporting formats.
When You Can’t Go to One ERP, Bring Your ERPs to You
While in an ideal world, it might seem best to move all new acquisitions to one consolidated ERP system, the costs, need for differentiated solutions, potential for a multi-year deployment, and level of complexity and man hours required can often make this a less than ideal solution – greatly slowing down or even eliminating any projected ROI.
Instead, think about how to bring the information your ERPs contain and the functions they perform to you. Consider what shared information you really need at your fingertips, and look for a solution that can align and consolidate this critical data.
Collaboration Software Can Speed Communication
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