There’s never a perfect time to upgrade your ERP system. You either lack the time, people, or budget. And, despite vendor claims, often the upgrades aren’t worth disrupting the business. However, sometimes the disruption is more than worth it. Those times are rare, but they occur when market conditions and technology advancements are so compelling that you would be foolish to skip the upgrade opportunity. 

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As the only US-based manufacturer of cookie cutters, Ann Clark, Ltd. had a variety of needs to stay ahead of lower-priced competition from China. The company sought to transform from a (pardon the pun) cookie-cutter manufacturer to a differentiated manufacturer whose cookie cutters stood out from the competition to lead the kitchen products market in fashion, consumer sensitivity, and quality.

Today, with the increasing impact of eCommerce on distribution companies, it’s more important than ever to have a systematic approach for both importing and managing your inventory in Macola. In this post, we describe the typical best-practice approach to doing so.

We’re excited to announce that Brigit Shea and Bill Plunkett have joined our talented team. As our growth in customer services – especially SAP Business One, ECi Macola, and WiSys supply chain solutions – is increasing exponentially, we realized we need to expand our consulting staff.

Many businesses realize they need supply chain automation to compete in their industry. The old ways of managing and sharing data via paper-based or manual electronic processes (like email) are simply too slow. Pressure to keep manufacturing on time, respond to last-minute demand changes, and manage numerous other ‘modern’ tasks of an eCommerce-driven world require certain capabilities.

When companies implement a new ERP system, they often have to give up their unique business processes to meet the limited or inflexible programming environment of the platform. WiSys Agility for Macola changes that by providing code-independent flexibility on numerous fronts so you can run your business the way you want.

The business world relies on automatic email notification – routinely getting advice about shipments, payments, orders, stock levels, deliveries, invoices, and more – because people expect real-time business transactions and 24/7 updates. Yet many ERP users, especially those with older systems, still don’t provide real-time information to customers. Why? Because those systems were based on paper (e.g., printed invoices) and are costly and inefficient at meeting contemporary customer expectations.

How bad is the dehumanizing environment in some manufacturing companies? Consider the recent article in The Atlantic, In Praise of Short-Term Thinking, which states, “Machines do replace humans. In fact, replacing humans is often entirely the point.”

In managing your business during this time of sustained economic growth and low unemployment rates, you know the top challenge: retaining good employees.