Choosing the Right ERP Partner

Decision Resources’ latest free e-book resource, Leveraging ERP Solutions for Food, Beverage, and Chemical Manufacturers, contains the critical information for manufacturers in these key industries to respond to and position for COVID-19 challenges and opportunities. However, your manufacturing company’s response and positioning require more than information—this endeavor necessitates the right partnerships to enable the right solutions for moving forward. 

As you consider implementing or upgrading ERP software for your food and beverage manufacturing or chemical manufacturing enterprise, we’re sharing the essential considerations from our e-book on what to look for in your ERP partner. 

When choosing an ERP service provider for your business, it is imperative to engage with a partner who first and foremost understands your unique and business-specific requirements of scalability, functionality, and complexity. Your ERP service provider needs to demonstrate a proven track record of helping companies like yours achieve the operational excellence required to realize business goals and optimal profitability, so they can set your manufacturing business up to do the same. 

Here are our top recommendations on what to look for in your ERP consultant, from Leveraging ERP Solutions for Food, Beverage, and Chemical Manufacturers. 

1. Your ERP partner needs to support a wide range of capabilities. Your first concern should be selecting ERP software that addresses your company’s specific needs. Your service provider should enable your business to augment existing capabilities by providing a robust ERP platform. You must also consider the caliber of your solution partners as well as any third-party ISVs in your provider’s ecosystem.
2. Your ERP partner should demonstrate their years of experience and expertise. Shortlist top services partners with deep expertise with successful ERP implementations. An experienced ERP consultant will have encountered all issues previously and can easily predict and solve problems before they arise. Dive into a discovery process to see how each of them measures up against your defined criteria.
3. Your ERP partner should be prepared with solutions that integrate and support preexisting systems. Before settling on a provider, be sure that they can support existing systems that you intend to maintain. You likely have Customer Relationship Management, or CRM, software, as well as Business Intelligence tools in place. These tools will require data integration. Ensure your ERP service provider has an excellent track record with other ISV solutions, should you need them now, or should you need them in the future.
4. Your ERP should have exceptional references that can relate to your business or industry challenges. An ERP service provider with many outstanding references is most likely a reliable partner. Make sure to request references with similar situations, industry, or challenges that relate to yours so you can feel confident that your chosen ERP consultant can manage and support your unique needs. 

The ERP experts at Decision Resources are ready to provide the partnership your food, beverage, or chemical manufacturing enterprise needs to streamline functions, improve productivity, and introduce and maintain an integrated and more efficient way of doing business. We want to see your manufacturing business succeed. If you’re ready for a partner to help you to take a step toward transforming your business with an ERP, please get in touch through our online contact form, call 412-562-9660, or email us at info@decision.com.