This time up, we highlight our conversation with representatives from eBECS.

About eBECS

eBECS is a global technology company that delivers Microsoft AX solutions for lean-thinking ERP users in the discrete manufacturing industry, as well as distribution, oil and gas, general heavy industry and professional services.

The company has its headquarters in the UK but also enjoys a strong North American presence.

In terms of ERP application development, eBECS was the author of the lean modules that are now part of the Microsoft Dynamics AX ERP system.

Lean and ERP

eBECS is noteworthy as they are often considered leaders in bringing lean and ERP together, with their focus on Microsoft Dynamics AX and Microsoft Dynamics CRM solutions.  In fact, from its origins in the 1990s, eBECS has been very much involved in the lean movement – capitalizing on the opportunity to build and deliver lean-enabling technology solutions for the global manufacturing market.

eBECS’ development efforts are based in their large offshore development center in Jordan, and all told they employ about 200 staff members throughout the globe.

One of their more noteworthy clients includes ElectroCraft, global manufacturer of application-engineered specialty fractional-horsepower motor and motion products.  eBECS is deploying the Microsoft AX suite in all of ElectroCraft’s operations.

As part of their commitment to lean technology, the company is active in the online community Lean Center of Excellence.  With nearly 800 members, the online community is a collaborative resource for members looking to use Lean concepts and practices with a focus on Microsoft Dynamics AX.

Noteworthy Features, Function

• We were impressed with eBECS’ complete automotive industry solution. This sector is especially committed to lean manufacturing principles. eBECS provides automotive-specific tools and information support needed to streamline processes, reduce waste, enable demand-pull operations and promote continuous improvement.
• We also saw value in the constraint management features offered in the solution, using a production flow that simplifies a routing. In the production flow, the system automatically flags constraints.  The software automatically defines an event KanBan form to an order tied to the flow, so the user can instantly view the status visually with a pegging tree.
• eBECS’ base level functionality will be useful to any manufacturer committed to Lean. Functionality. The comprehensive functions include Kanban, Subcontract Kanban, Kanban Call-off, Purchase Kanban, Transfer Kanban, Manufacture without PO’s, Kanban Board, Kanban Inventory Overview, Takt Meter, Bar codes, Lean Order Schedules, Heijunka Board, Sales Schedules, Cost Substitution, and Value Stream Mapping.
• Finally, we were impressed with the robust Supply Chain Management features offered by eBECS.

Final Thoughts

eBECS is one of the few in the ERP space that brings together lean and ERP.

Sometimes, a company sees lean and ERP as two separate initiatives and struggles with putting the philosophy into practice. This is an issue we’ve addressed before with our clients.  In fact, we offer a white paper entitled  “Lean, Six Sigma & ERP: Putting It All Together” which offers additional insight.

As we work with our clients embarking upon a lean journey, we can see the role they can play, especially for those evaluating ERP systems as they begin their lean continuous journey.

eBECS brings deep technology knowledge of ERP software as well as lean industry expertise – many on their team have decades of deep experience in implementation of lean processes in manufacturing environment.  This is a powerful combination for many manufacturers.

Management teams traditionally look to Lean, Six Sigma, and ERP to support these efforts.

Instead of seeing these approaches as “mutually exclusive,” our ERP consulting team finds that the most successful companies understand how Lean, Six Sigma, and ERP work together. They are able to make improvement progress more quickly and more efficiently.

Looking at Six Sigma

ManuSix Sigma is a business process improvement strategy originally developed by Motorola. The methodology seeks to improve quality by reducing variability and improving processes.

Today Six Sigma enjoys widespread application in many sectors of industry, but often is not in sync with the ERP system.

The term “Six Sigma” comes from a field of statistics known as process-capability studies. The term refers to the ability of manufacturing processes to produce a very high proportion of output within specification.

Goals of Six Sigma

Six Sigma’s implicit goal is to improve all processes to a consistently high level of quality.

Ultimately, Six Sigma is about being customer-centric.  To enhance customer satisfaction, manufacturers want to deliver consistent and predictable services and/or products with near zero defects.

Six Sigma seeks to improve the quality of process outputs by identifying and removing the causes of defects (errors) and variability in manufacturing and business processes.

The Six Sigma approach uses a set of quality-management methods, including statistical methods, and creates a special infrastructure of people within the organization (“Black Belts,” “Green Belts,” etc.) who become experts in these methods.

Bringing in Lean

Lean manufacturing is another business approach we often see being implemented without thought of coordinating with the ERP selection process.

An Industry Week article entitled “Can Lean and ERP Work Together?” has made the case that there are often conflicts between lean and ERP.  Specifically, the article notes that ERP implementations have a top-down approach, focused on sales forecasts for materials planning. They note that lean adheres to a pull-based production-scheduling mantra, with inventory kept to a minimum via an in-plant Kanban system that replenishes materials and parts as needed.

Despite this friction between “push” vs. “pull” manufacturing, the article cites examples of manufacturers that find ways for lean initiatives and ERP systems to work together.

Additional Resource

Ultra offers a free resource to explore this topic further.

Download the white paper “Lean, Six Sigma, and ERP: Putting it All Together for Improved Performance.”

The paper showcases how ERP, Lean and Six Sigma can be combined to create the perfect environment for continuous improvement

You’ll see that when Lean, Six Sigma and ERP implementation are in sync, the journey of continuous improvement will be a journey that never ends.

This post summarizes a recent briefing with Oracle representatives on the latest advancements to a number of Oracle products.

Our previous post took a look at the latest release of EnterpriseOne.

Today, we turn our attention to various applications including Oracle’s CRM product Fusion One, as well as other applications in the Oracle family.

Fusion CRM

We had the chance to see comprehensive features for sales management and CRM management, coupled with the enterprise integration ability that our clients will find useful.

Some stand-out features of this CRM solution include the role-based user experience so sales executives, sales managers, and sales reps can easily find and view the information they need to do their jobs.

The system is available as an on premise model, or a SaaS model that takes on Salesforce.com fairly aggressively.

Fusion CRM puts an industry focus on Health & Safety; Fulfillment Management; and Project Manufacturing organizations.

From all appearances, Fusion CRM will be a good option for our clients to consider against Salesforce.com.  It offers deep CRM functionality, can is part of the Oracle ERP suite or integrate with existing ERP, and offers ease of use, which is helpful to the sales team member who needs to get productive fast.

Oracle Agile PLM

We’ve been watching with interest Oracle’s acquisition strategy, and how their efforts will benefit those manufacturers who turn to Oracle for ERP.

As an example, Oracle acquired Agile, a provider of product lifecycle management (PLM) software solutions. The offering we looked at is Oracle Agile PLM.

Agile had a focus on high-tech, life sciences, industrial manufacturing and consumer-packaged goods. Now, with the acquisition, companies get easy access to an integrated enterprise PLM solution.

Our tour demonstrated that Agile is a feature rich, sophisticated PLM product that can easily manage the entire product process – from the idea stage in an engineering environment, to research and development, to production and ultimately product retirement.

What’s noteworthy is the level of collaboration teams can enjoy within the complete Product Lifecycle Management process.  We see many cases where companies, particularly industrial manufacturers, will benefit from features that support a cross-functional team approach to planning, developing, delivering and servicing complex industrial products.  Users will be able to plan and execute simultaneous projects in order to manage resource allocation, cost, schedule, deliverables and key performance indicators.

Again, the PLM solution is flexible because it is not only suitable to purchase with new ERP, it can also add on in a fairly straightforward way to existing ERP already in house.

Thoughts for Manufacturers

What’s intriguing about these products, and others from Oracle including Taleo for recruitment and human resource management, and Oracle’s new acquisition Eloqua for marketing automation, is the flexibility a company now has when it comes to ERP implementation.

We would suggest a manufacturer look at these Oracle products to offer greater capabilities than might be available with standard ERP.  Certainly in the case of CRM and PLM, the additional products work to deliver greater capabilities than other stand-alone tier two ERP packages.

A company can potentially gain richer, specialized features, which ultimately can be a more cost-effective approach.

To compete and thrive in today’s economy, leading manufacturers focus on continuously improving business processes, eliminating waste and reducing costs.

Through the decades, our ERP consulting team has seen companies implement various approaches to support these important efforts, including Lean, Six Sigma, and ERP.

Selecting the best approach is not an “either/or” proposition, however.

We have found that when companies put Lean, Six Sigma, and ERP together, they make improvement progress more quickly and efficiently.

Looking at Lean

Lean – aimed at eliminating waste – is all about producing more at less cost. Lean manufacturing transforms the way a company produces and delivers products to its customers.

Lean techniques are proven to deliver business process improvement results to a range of sectors including manufacturing, health care, consumer goods, and industrial equipment among others.

Despite the proliferation of Lean, there is still a large performance gap between those companies that are simply using Lean techniques versus those that have built a culture based on Lean thinking.

Characteristics of Lean

Researchers have found that those companies with optimized Lean operations share three key characteristics:

A commitment to the fundamentals such as streamlining processes, creating a well-ordered work environment, and ongoing continuous improvement programs.

Use of Lean-enabling technology to manage the speed, volume, and complexity of business transactions. The IT environment must streamline communication and information exchange across departments, supply chains, time zones and the entire enterprise.

A shared understanding of Lean throughout all levels of the enterprise – from shop floor personnel to the executive suite.

With Lean, the expenditure of resources for any goal other than the creation of value for the end-customer is wasteful and a target for elimination.

 Additional Considerations

A lean philosophy should come into play when companies undergo ERP selection.

Want to explore this topic further, and examine how the goals of Six Sigma can also work with ERP at improving quality, reducing variability and improving processes?

Download the free white paper “Lean, Six Sigma, and ERP:  Putting it All Together for Improved Performance.”

You’ll see that when Lean, Six Sigma and ERP implementation are in sync, the journey of continuous improvement will be a journey that never ends.

What’s the best way to effectively compare and contrast ERP systems?

How about if the top vendors come directly to you, and display system features specific to the make-to-order manufacturing industry?

That’s the idea behind Ultra’s ERP Vendor Webinar Series taking place next week, June 10 – 13, 2013.

Manufacturers may register at no cost for the ERP vendor webinars made up of eight two-hour presentations at two presentations per day.

Participating ERP vendors SAP. Oracle, Microsoft, Infor, IFS, Epicor, ABAS, and Jeeves.

4 Reasons to Register

1. Tailored to make-to-order industry:  Unlike other ERP comparison events, the webinar series focuses on the make-to-order features and functions specifically needed in this industry.
2. Reduces your risk: For most manufacturers, ERP selection is fraught with risk. You’re never quite sure if you are obtaining the information you need to make an informed decision. Now, manufacturers reduce risk via live and on-demand webinars hosted by our team of independent ERP consultants. We guide the conversation, and make sure your time is well spent learning about leading ERP vendors in your industry.
3. More cost effective option: These no cost, no travel demos are by far a more effective option for ERP selection teams looking for ERP education. Each past participant has found these events extremely valuable.
4. Less hassles: Companies avoid the hassle and disruption of traveling to an on site event. Instead, participants view online “end-to-end” business process demos, plus access archived presentations for on-demand view with selection teams, all from the convenience of their own locations.

Not Too Late to Register

The next series is coming up soon and we’d love to host you.

Manufacturers should reserve their spot now for the June 10 – 13, 2013 ERP Vendor Series –a must for companies looking to see what is possible with modern ERP technology.

The last thing a busy make-to-order manufacturer needs is to disrupt their operations for ERP vendor selection.   It doesn’t make business sense to pay for the team to travel to an off-site event to look at ERP systems.

Not many businesses can afford the disruption to their business, or the overall costs.  Our ERP Consulting team has heard about your concerns and we’ve listened.

That’s why we designed the ERP Vendor Webinar Series. Taking place June 10 – 13, 2013, top ERP vendors come directly to you, via online demonstrations showcasing how their systems meet the needs of make-to-order manufacturing.  View the demos right from your own location. Those attending can then view archived presentations on demand at their convenience.

Manufacturers may register at no cost for the ERP vendor webinars made up of eight two-hour presentations at two presentations per day. Participating ERP vendors include SAP, Abas, Epicor, Jeeves, infor, Microsoft and Oracle.

Smarter ERP Selection

No-cost, no-travel demos are a smarter option for ERP software selection than other programs a company might choose.

Invite as many team members as you need.  You don’t have to hassle with travel or other costs. ERP selection team members are welcome as needed, including:

• CEO/COO
• CFO/Controller
• VP/Director Operations/Manufacturing
• VP/Director Supply Chain
• IT Management

Right from your own location you’ll view online “end-to-end” business process demos, plus access archived presentations for on-demand view with selection teams, all from the convenience of their own locations.

Register Today

Manufacturers should reserve their spot now for the June 10 – 13, 2013 ERP Vendor Series — a must for companies looking to see what is possible with modern ERP technology. 

Registration includes six-month access to on-demand demo archives, which can be shared throughout your organization.

Our team of independent ERP consultants specializes in assisting heavy equipment manufacturers and dealerships drive value to the bottom line by improving business practices, processes and technology.

In our work with a range of companies, we have found that the right process and access to information can improve productivity, improve decision-making, reduce inventories, and increase sales.  This effort leads these companies to sustained business process improvement.

In the equipment market, there are multiple revenue streams that need to be accounted for including:  sale of the equipment, warranty, rental or lease, service/maintenance (in the field and at the on-site facility), and parts.  All of these equate to a mini-business model, which needs to be managed both costs and revenues.  

The Role of Technology

The industry must be smart about employing technology solutions that help companies manage equipment selling, dealer operations, equipment and service operations, lifecycle managing and field service. A key is to manage these areas as an integrated business process to help manage costs and resources.

Service is an especially challenging management issue for this industry. Large dealerships have large fleets and manage hundreds of machines.  The ability to service all of this equipment is critical to the profitability of the dealership and the relationship with their customer.  These processes are important to keep in mind during the ERP selection process.

Complimentary White Paper

Ultra offers a free resource to help make sense of the best practices available to the industry, along with the available technology.

Download the white paper entitled “Infor M3: A Review of Features and Functions for Equipment Dealerships and Manufacturers”.  The white paper showcases how Infor M3 meets the needs of this market.

You’ll also see the best practices to put in place with advanced technology, and Ultra’s five factors for success when reviewing ERP software.

For further information about how heavy equipment manufacturers and dealerships can drive value to the bottom line, contact Ultra today.

Those companies saddled with out-dated legacy ERP systems simply can’t keep up.

You’ve told our ERP Consulting team that you face these challenges and we’ve listened.

That’s why on June 10 – 13, 2013, you have the chance to see top ERP vendors in convenient online demonstrations of how their systems meet the needs of make-to-order manufacturing.  Those attending can then view archived presentations on demand at their convenience.

Manufacturers may register at no cost for the ERP vendor webinars made up of eight two-hour presentations at two presentations per day. Participating ERP vendors include abas, Epicor, IFS, Infor, Jeeves, Microsoft, Oracle and SAP.

A Better Approach to ERP Demos

No-cost, no-travel demos are a more effective option for ERP selection than other programs a company might choose.

Past participants in the Ultra ERP Demos have found these events extremely valuable.  Recent feedback includes:

• “Very informative – I was pleasantly surprised by what I saw and learned.”
• “Our ERP selection team viewed the archived demos and found them very informative.”
• “Our entire team was assembled for all of the sessions and it has provided us with a great education prior to launching our project.”

Invite Your Entire Team

Don’t worry about whom on your ERP selection team you can afford to send to an on-site vendor comparison.  Invite as many team members as needed, including:

• CEO/COO
• CFO/Controller
• VP/Director Operations/Manufacturing
• VP/Director Supply Chain
• IT Management

You’ll avoid the hassle and disruption of traveling to an on site event. Instead, participants view online “end-to-end” business process demos, plus access archived presentations for on-demand view with selection teams, all from the convenience of their own locations.”

Save Your Spot

Manufacturers should reserve their spot now for the June 10 – 13, 2013 ERP Vendor Series –a must for companies looking to see what is possible with modern ERP technology.

Remember – your registration gives you six-month access to on-demand demo archives, which can be shared throughout your organization.

I hope you’ll join me Wednesday, May 22, 2013 at 10:00AM PDT / 1:00PM EDT for an informative “Manufacturing Roundtable” Webinar.  Presented by Ziff Davis, I’ll be teaming with Sage ERP for a close look at how midsize organizations gain value from fully integrated enterprise resource planning (ERP).

Despite the prevalence of ERP throughout the manufacturing sector, some midsized companies fail to understand the full potential ERP can deliver for greater business insight and competitive advantage.

The webinar is geared to these organizations, and will showcase rapid advances taking place with cloud computing and mobile technology.

An effective ERP implementation can dramatically improve everything from forecasting and projections to supply chain management and customer service.  That’s the end goal – using ERP for business performance improvement.

During this live and interactive roundtable,  we’ll take the time to understand the options and determine what makes the most sense for your business.

Gain insight into market conditions that drive the need for the flexibility of integrated cloud solutions.

• See why mobile technology can be optimized to increase productivity and maximize business insight.
• Explore how your business can make better decisions based on a more complete view of their business, by leveraging business intelligence features.

Register now for the May 22 Executive Roundtable Webinar, Attendees will benefit from a timely, informative perspective on The Hidden Value of Integrated ERP for Midsize Businesses.

It’s an interesting time for Sweden-based Jeeves due to their growing North American presence. In June 2012, Jeeves was acquired by North American-based Battery Ventures, a multi-stage investment firm focused on technology and innovation. Note that Battery Ventures is the former owner of the global ERP developer Consona.

With this major investment in the Jeeves ERP product, the vendor is now in a good position to become the “new kid on the block” here in North America.

About Jeeves

Founded in Sweden in 1992, Jeeves develops ERP systems for small to medium sized companies with 5 to over 1000  employees.

Globally, Jeeves has over 4600 installed companies using the system.  Of those companies, 45% are in the process and discrete manufacturing sector; about  35% are distribution companies , and the remaining installed users are in services and retail .

As of today, only about 30 North American manufacturers use the Jeeves product, so with the growing North American resources and partner network, the company is on the threshold of some dramatic growth with their new parent.  Jeeves distributes their products through a small North American partner network.

ERP System Overview

Jeeves ERP systems integrate seamlessly across multiple manufacturing styles to facilitate planning, decision-making, execution and measuring. In terms of the user experience, all application areas and functions have the same look and feel. We noted the interface was similar to what is available from other vendors like Epicor and Microsoft.  Data integration and real time tracking is key to users. Business information is updated dynamically as transactions occur, which helps companies improve decision making.

The Jeeves Universal product is suited to engineered-to-order, made-to-order, job shop and repetitive manufacturers, among other production environments where work order tracking and labor reporting are essential requirements.

Built on the IBM X Series platform, Jeeves uses the Microsoft SQL database structure and Microsoft technology stack

Jeeves comes in two “packages” for ease of use.  The “out of the box” package offers selected processes and menus. The Enterprise Process Templates are geared to medium sized businesses. Both packages are based on the same platform. This allows the company to seamlessly grow between systems as needed.

Noteworthy Feature, Functions

As we noted earlier, Jeeve’s navigation capabilities are similar to Epicor and Microsoft, with standard screen layouts and ease of use.

The system offered various capabilities that are noteworthy, including:

• Tab Views:  It’s very easy for a user to set up new tabs to view key data that is important to them.  No programming or complex coding is needed for this ability.
• Form Design:  Again, users will find it very easy to drag and drop form fields to build their own custom form.  There is no complex programming needed in custom forms development.
• Search:  This was a particularly innovative feature.  Users can search within the system database far more easily and intuitively than other ERP products we’ve reviewed.  For instance, when a user displays a data table, they simply click on the fields to immediately search.  This “dynamic search” feature is helpful when drilling into data or tracking exceptions.
• Integration with QlikView:  Jeeves offers a robust Business Intelligence capability which is fully integrated with QlikView, i a pre-packaged decision support system that compiles the transactions from the ERP system to clear and relevant information. Easy to read tables and charts offer an up to date overview of business operations within sales, purchasing, inventory, finance and manufacturing. With a simple mouse-click images can be filtered and angled to show different dimensions, and be broken down into detail to illustrate the different perspectives.  What’s key here is the flexibility. Jeeves Business Intelligence can be run either as an integrated part within the ERP system or separately in any web browser.
• User-defined portals:  Ease of use is again a plus here.  I viewed a dashboard that was a Mashup of sales reports,  work list, queues, and other relevant data reports.  It’s a simple matter to pull in outside third party widgets into an end user’s desktop as needed
• Field Service:  Managing service out in the field is a real strength of Jeeves, which is helpful to service companies and others.

We were also shown Jeeves’ Warehouse Management System integration, their “light” PLM compatibility, a comprehensive CRM toolset, and as one would expect from global vendor, multi-language, multi-company, and multi-currency feature sets.

We felt pricing and ERP implementation fees were within the range of fees charged by typical tier two ERP vendors.

References

Our colleagues at Jeeves’ North American Partner ComputTec provided these two North American companies as referenced users of the systems.

• Ivarson – Wisconsin-based processing and packaging equipment manufacturer
• Vitamin Resource Products – North American-based nutritional supplement retailer

Learn More

As part of our commitment to serving manufacturers with ERP selection services, we are always on the lookout to staying current with the vendor landscape.

Note – Register now to see live demos of the Jeeves system in the upcoming ERP Vendor Webinar Series June 10 – 13, 2013.

Contact us today for more information on today’s modern ERP solutions, including Jeeves ERP.