Podcasts about erp enterprise resource planning

Send us a textOn this episode of The Plant Movement Podcast, we dive into the world of software and systems that are transforming horticulture businesses across the globe. Host Willie Rodriguez sits down with Joshua and Garrett Walsh from Emprise Agriware, a full-service ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) solution built specifically for the horticulture industry.We explore how Agriware, built on Microsoft's Business Central platform, empowers growers and nurseries by providing tools for inventory management, space planning, labor tracking, finance, and traceability. Whether you're operating on 10 acres with a small team or managing a large wholesale operation, Agriware is designed to scale with you—solving real problems from the ground up.Garrett and Josh share personal stories from their deep-rooted backgrounds in horticulture, highlight their customer-first approach, and explain how Agriware integrates with existing tools like QuickBooks and Shopify to streamline operations and prepare businesses for growth, e-commerce, and beyond.From accurate inventory counts to streamlined customer portals and mobile-friendly field registration, this episode reveals why embracing ERP technology could be the most impactful step your business takes this year.Mprise Agriware United States228 East 45th Street, Suite 9E,New York, NY 10017Call: (720) 792-0324www.mprise-agriware.comThe Plant Movement Podcast Email: eddie@theplantmovementnetwork.com & willie@theplantmovementnetwork.comCall: (305) 216-5320 Web: https://www.theplantmovement.comFollow Us: IG: https://www.instagram.com/theplantmovementpodcast A's Ornamental NurseryWE GROW | WE SOURCE | WE DELIVERCall: (305) 216-5320Web: https://www.asornamental.comFollow Us: IG: https://www.instagram.com/asornamentalnurseryThe Nursery GrowersCall: 786-522-4942Email: info@thenurserygrowers.comIG: www.instagram.com/thenurserygrowersweb: www.thenurserygrowers.comPlant Logistics Co.(Delivering Landscape Plant Material Throughout the State of Florida)Call: (305) 912-3098Web: https://www.plantlogisticsco.comFollow Us: IG: https://www.instagram.com/plantlogisticsDirected and Produced by Eddie EVDNT Gonzalez Disclaimer: The contents of this podcast/youtube video are for informational and entertainment purposes only and do not constitute financial, accounting, or legal advice. I can't promise that the information shared on my posts is appropriate for you or anyone else. By listening to this podcast/youtube video, you agree to hold me harmless from any ramifications, financial or otherwise, that occur to you as a result of acting on information found in this podcast/youtube video.Support the show

The aerospace and defense (A&D) startup scene is exploding with innovation—think next-gen drones, on-orbit servicing, and AI-powered mission planning. But amid all the excitement lies a tough reality: to win the trust of government agencies and established prime contractors, startups must demonstrate operational maturity, transparency, and compliance.In this episode, we unpack insights from The Future of Commerce's latest report on how cloud ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) is becoming a game-changer for A&D startups. We explore how these systems offer much more than back-office efficiency—they deliver built-in industry best practices, enable regulatory compliance, foster supply chain visibility, and establish the credibility necessary to partner and scale.  Whether you're an A&D entrepreneur, investor, or procurement lead, this episode lays out how cloud ERP provides the operational backbone that enables bold innovation to thrive.What You'll Learn in This Episode:

Welcome to Episode 198 of Manufacturing Hub with Vlad and Dave!This week, we're diving into a full recap of the Prove It conference—one of the biggest and most talked-about industrial automation events, held last week in Dallas, Texas. If you've been anywhere near LinkedIn, you've probably seen the buzz!What made Prove It different?A real-world factory simulation with imperfect data40 vendors challenged to "prove" their solutions in real timeHard-hitting questions: What problem did you solve? How long did it take? How much did it cost?A no-fluff format with tough audience Q&AOur Key Takeaways:✅ What It Means to "Prove It" – Success stories and areas for improvement✅ The Best (and Not-So-Great) Presentations – What set some companies apart?✅ Innovative Solutions & New Product Announcements – Highlights from HiveMQ Pulse, Litmus AI, Flow's Timebase, and more✅ The Role of Integrators – How firms like MAC Controls, JPI Solutions, and Concept Reply demonstrated practical applications✅ The Future of Prove It – What we'd like to see in 2026Join us as we break down the most exciting presentations, the surprises, the challenges, and the opportunities ahead in industrial automation.Next Month: We're diving deep into ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) in manufacturing! We'll bring in experts, consultants, and end-users to discuss ERP selection, implementation, and optimization.

EXPERTENGESPRÄCH | How to sell "beratungsintensive Produkte" online fast? Joel Kaczmarek hat sich gleich zwei E-Commerce-Experten eingeladen und spricht mit ihnen über die Kunst, beratungsintensive Produkte online erfolgreich zu verkaufen. Astrid Reintjes von Miss Pompadour und Pascal Skropke von Design Bestseller geben tiefe Einblicke in ihre Strategien - von persönlicher Kundenberatung über Content-Marketing bis hin zu technischen Lösungen. Eine Must-Listen-Folge für alle, die im E-Commerce mehr als nur Standardprodukte mit Standardservice verkaufen wollen. Du erfährst... ...wie erfolgreiche E-Commerce-Unternehmen Kundenberatung als Verkaufschance statt als Cost-Center nutzen. ...warum WhatsApp ein mächtiges Tool in der Kundenberatung ist. ...wie Content-Marketing genutzt wird, um komplexe Produkte verständlich zu machen. ...wie der Spagat zwischen persönlicher Beratung und Skalierbarkeit gemeistert werden kann. ...welche Rolle KI und technische Lösungen bei der Produktvisualisierung spielen. ...warum die "Extrameile" sich dauerhaft im Service durchsetzen wird. ...wie Preisstrategien für beratungsintensive Produkte erfolgreich gestaltet werden können. ...warum emotionale Bindung und Vertrauen im E-Commerce wichtiger sind als reine Preisvorteile. Du verstehst nur Bahnhof? Zu viel Fachchinesisch? Unser Lexikon hilft dir dabei, die wichtigsten Fachbegriffe zu verstehen:ERP - Enterprise Resource Planning, ein System für die Verwaltung und Integration der Geschäftsprozesse in Unternehmen.UGC - User-Generated Content, von Nutzern erstellte Inhalte, die in Marketingstrategien eingesetzt werden.E-Commerce - Elektronischer Handel, der Kauf und Verkauf von Waren oder Dienstleistungen über das Internet.D2C (Direct to Consumer) - Eine Geschäftsstrategie, bei der Produkte direkt vom Hersteller an den Endverbraucher verkauft werden.Logistik - Logistik ist der Prozess der Planung, Implementierung und Kontrolle des effizienten, kostengünstigen Flusses von Materialien und Produkten.Conversion Rate - Die Prozentsatz von Besuchern, die eine gewünschte Aktion auf einer Website ausführen, z.B. einen Kauf tätigen. Diese Episode dreht sich schwerpunktmäßig um E-Commerce: Dazu spricht Joel regelmäßig mit den innovativsten Händler:innen und Hersteller:innen des Landes, um dir konkrete Praxisbeispiele, Erklärungen und Handlungsempfehlungen für die sich rapide wandelnde Handelslandschaft aufzuzeigen. Wir wollen nämlich nicht, dass du angesichts von Digitalisierung, Globalisierung, Marktfortschritt und der Coronapandemie deine Felle davonschwimmen siehst. Stattdessen versorgen wir dich mit dem Wissen der Besten – egal ob stationär oder online, Mittelstand oder Konzern, Traditionsunternehmen oder Startup. Denn nur gemeinsam sind wir in der Lage, diese großen Herausforderungen zu meistern!

Welcome to the CanadianSME Small Business Podcast! I'm your host, Maheen Bari, and today we explore how ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) and digital transformation are reshaping the landscape for small businesses. In an era of rapid innovation, understanding these technologies is critical for achieving efficiency and sustainable growth.We are joined by Sam Gupta, a thought leader in ERP and digital transformation, ranked #1 in ERP and #15 in digital transformation by Thinkers360. With nearly 20 years of experience, Sam specializes in financial systems and enterprise architecture. As the leader of ElevatIQ, he works with SMEs to streamline operations and enhance their competitive edge.Key Highlights:AI-Augmented Agents in ERP:How AI agents and governance platforms are transforming ERP for SMEs.Trends in AI adoption and opportunities for small businesses.ChatGPT's Impact on Consumer Behavior:The rise of conversational AI tools and their influence on customer expectations.Adapting business strategies to meet evolving consumer demands.Managing SaaS Expenses:Strategies for reducing cloud/SaaS costs and dealing with licensing pressures.Exploring on-prem technologies as an alternative to unpredictable cloud costs.Workforce Adaptation and Digital Skills:Reallocating skillsets to align with digital demands.Balancing immediate needs with future workforce preparation.Avoiding Digital Transformation Failures:Common pitfalls in digital transformation projects.The role of enterprise architecture in ensuring a successful transition.Special Thanks to Our Partners:RBC: https://www.rbcroyalbank.com/dms/business/accounts/beyond-banking/index.htmlUPS: https://solutions.ups.com/ca-beunstoppable.html?WT.mc_id=BUSMEWAConstant Contact: https://www.constantcontact.com/landing1/new-marketer?utm_campaign=canadiansme&utm_medium=sponsorlogo&utm_source=brandIHG Hotels and Resorts: https://businessedge.ihg.com/s/registration?language=en_US&CanSMEGoogle: https://www.google.ca/For more expert insights, visit www.canadiansme.ca and subscribe to the CanadianSME Small Business Magazine. Stay innovative, stay informed, and thrive in the digital age!Disclaimer: The information shared in this podcast is for general informational purposes only and should not be considered as direct financial or business advice. Always consult with a qualified professional for advice specific to your situation.

In today's episode, we welcome Simon Bos, the visionary behind Mezze and Gravity Well. Simon, who has a deep understanding of both tech and food industries, discusses the pressing issue of technological inefficiencies in food manufacturing. He narrates the story of how Mezze was conceptualised during a collaboration with one of the UK's largest food manufacturers, which initially relied on a call centre in India for order management. By introducing a custom software solution, Mezze transformed the process, allowing customers to place and track orders online efficiently.Simon explains the function of an ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system and why many existing systems fall short for food manufacturing needs. Mezze, as an Amazon-like B2B ordering platform, addresses these gaps by providing tailored solutions that reduce administrative burdens and enhance operational efficiency. Additionally, the episode highlights the pivotal role of AI in sustainability efforts, significantly cutting down food waste by optimising order decisions based on various factors.A significant part of the discussion revolves around the benefits of early tech integration, particularly for scaling businesses. Simon backs his argument with practical examples, demonstrating how tech investments can streamline operations and reduce future headaches. The conversation also touches on government support through Innovate UK, and Simon's aspirations to expand Mezze's reach to the US market, ensuring small manufacturers can stand toe-to-toe with industry giants.Throughout the episode, we emphasise the importance of technological evolution in the food sector and how platforms like Mezze can be game-changers. We also encourage listeners to rate and review the podcast and join our community on Facebook.Timestamps: [0:00] Introduction to the episode and guest, Simon Bos.[03:15] The technological lag in the food manufacturing industry.[07:45] Origin story of Mezze from the collaboration with Adelie Foods.[13:20] Explanation of ERP systems and their shortcomings in food manufacturing.[16:45] How Mezze addresses specific needs in the food industry.[19:30] AI's role in optimising orders and reducing waste.[23:50] Impact of government support and Innovate UK's involvement.[27:15] Benefits of early tech investment for scaling businesses.[31:05] Mezze's branding flexibility and integration capacity.[34:20] Sustainable practices and carbon counting enhancements.[38:10] Opportunities and challenges for small food brands.[42:00] Plans for US market expansion and further scale-up programs.[47:30] Engagement with other technology startups and entrepreneurial ventures.[51:10] Closing thoughts and contact information for Simon Bos.Links and Resources:Website Link: https://ohforfoodssake.co.uk/FB Link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ohforfoodsakeLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/oh-for-food-s-sake/You can follow us here on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oh_forfoodssake/For industry consulting from Lucy, connect with her on Instagram or LinkedIn.Find her on Instagram or LinkedIn for further support with industry coaching and facilitation from Amy.See you next time!

Is your business constantly scrambling to keep up with the latest tech trends? You're not alone. In this episode of The Liquid Lunch Project, we bring in Ryan Pollyniak from Western Computer to help untangle the complex world of enterprise technology. With over 17 years of experience in the Microsoft Dynamics ecosystem, Ryan is your go-to guide for understanding how to leverage ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) and CRM (Customer Relationship Management) systems to streamline your operations and boost growth.  Join us as we do a deep dive with Ryan into why Microsoft Dynamics stands out in a crowded field, how small to medium-sized businesses can effectively implement these powerful tools, and what the future holds with AI advancements in the tech landscape.    Episode Highlights: What exactly is an ERP? Ryan breaks it down for the uninitiated. The edge Microsoft Dynamics has over competitors like NetSuite and SAP. How Western Computer helps SMBs integrate powerful tools seamlessly. Timing your tech upgrade: When should a company move to a more advanced ERP? The future of AI in business applications—what's coming next? Why You Should Listen: If you're a small to medium-sized business owner looking to upgrade your tech game, this episode is packed with insights that can save you time, money, and a lot of headaches. Ryan shares invaluable advice on choosing the right systems and avoiding common pitfalls. Don't miss out—your business's future tech strategy could depend on it.   Favorite Quote: You don't want to be caught flat-footed when your company starts to grow. Start planning your tech upgrade now.   Connect with Ryan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/microsoftdynamicssolutions/ https://www.westerncomputer.com   Stay Connected: Connect with Matt and Luigi on Instagram: @matthew.r.meehan @luigi_rosabianca @theLiquidLunchProject @ShieldAdvisoryGroup Visit The Liquid Lunch Project website and subscribe to The Weekly, our Friday morning newsletter, for all the latest in the world of finance, tech, small business, and more. www.theliquidlunchproject.com Make sure you never miss an episode — check out The Liquid Lunch Project on Apple Podcasts, and don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review.

This podcast centers around a discussion on the evolving cannabis industry, emphasizing the need to restore its community-focused roots amid increasing competition. The guest, Dawne Morris, a veteran of the industry and representative of Proteus 420 software, highlights the importance of education, regulatory compliance, teamwork, and operations in maintaining a thriving business. Dawne Morris software, described as an ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system, supports businesses from cultivation to retail delivery, aiming to stay ahead of industry changes. She underscores the significance of proper education for budtenders, who are akin to pharmacists in the cannabis space, ensuring they provide accurate information to consumers. Dawne Morris shares her personal background in cannabis, influenced by her father's use and cultivation for medicinal purposes. She advocates for the industry's growth, emphasizing the importance of consumer-focused business practices and continuous learning. Throughout the podcast, the spirit of community and mutual support in the cannabis industry is a recurring theme, with an emphasis on collaboration over competition.

In this engaging episode, we delve into the intricate world of ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) and Change Management. Join our expert guest as they share valuable insights into the critical role ERP systems play in modern businesses, streamlining operations, and enhancing efficiency. We discuss the challenges organizations face during ERP implementation and the pivotal strategies for successful change management. Learn about the common pitfalls, best practices, and the importance of aligning ERP initiatives with business goals. Whether you're a business leader, IT professional, or simply interested in organizational transformation, this episode provides a wealth of knowledge on navigating the complexities of ERP systems and managing change effectively. Tune in to discover how to drive your organization towards seamless integration and sustained growth.Don't forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more insightful conversations on technology and business transformation!https://greencastleconsulting.com➡️ Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/greencastleconsulting ➡️ Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/1997GACPhiladelphia, Malvern, Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Atlantic City, Wilmington, Washington D.C.

Welcome to another episode of "The Art of Consulting Podcast" with your hosts, Andy Fry and Cat Lam. As seasoned IT consultants, CPAs, and professional development connoisseurs, we aim to bring you inspiring messages to help you discover the X factor in your professional field, leading to the success you truly deserve in your career and life. In this third and final episode, Cat and Stephanie continue their insightful conversation about supply chain management, focusing on the critical aspect of data. Key Points from Previous Episodes:   Cat and Stephanie covered important considerations for supply chain implementation in the first two episodes. They explored perspectives from board members, C-suite executives, project teams, and individuals within the organization in the second episode.   Focus on Data: Stephanie introduces the topic of data, emphasizing the importance of understanding and managing data effectively in the context of supply chain implementation. Quality, Cost, and Schedule. She highlights the need to prioritize data quality for successful outcomes.   Source, Format, Language, and Content: Breaks down the elements of data quality, including source, format, language, and content. Illustrates challenges with examples like phone numbers having different formats across systems.   Sensitivity and Regulatory Compliance: Emphasizes the significance of sensitivity in data, especially when dealing with personally identifiable information and regulated data. Both Cat and Stephanie advise on the importance of complying with privacy regulations to avoid reputation damage. Involving   Legal and Consultants:  Recommends involving data teams and consultants early on, rather than starting with legal teams. Stresses the need for mapping out audit criteria, sensitivity components, and regulatory requirements.   Protecting Sensitive Data: Discusses the practical aspects of protecting sensitive data during migration, testing, and implementation. Stephanie highlights the importance of carving out specific teams or instances to handle sensitive information securely. Privacy Training and Data Sensitivity: Suggests conducting privacy training for project teams to create awareness about data sensitivity. Addresses the gap in understanding within project teams regarding the sensitivity of certain data. For the third and Final Episode Introduction: In this episode of "The Art of Consulting," our host Cat Lam and special guest for this episode Stephanie Forbes dive into the intricacies of data cleanup during ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) implementations. They stress the critical importance of understanding the end vision and ensuring a realistic alignment between existing data and desired outcomes.   Key Points:   Start with a Clear Vision Emphasize the need for a clear vision before starting the implementation process. Stephanie outlined specific Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and desired dashboards for a well-defined endpoint.   Iterative Process Stress the iterative nature of the data cleanup process. Cat and Stephanie discuss how project teams evaluate capabilities, costs, and schedules during the implementation journey.   Agile Methodology Consideration Debunk the applicability of Agile methodology in large projects like ERP implementations. They highlight the challenges of interconnected processes and the need for a systematic approach.   Stage-Gate Approach Advocate for a stage-gate approach in ERP implementations. Discourage bridging work and emphasize completing each stage thoroughly before progressing.   Data Cleanup Challenges Examine how data cleanup challenges contribute to change orders in contracts. Cat and Stephanie stress the importance of anticipating unknown work and its impact on costs and timelines.   In-House vs. External Cleanup Discuss the "it depends" scenario regarding whether data cleanup should be handled in-house or externally. The host and guest weigh the considerations for simple formatting tasks versus complex data challenges. Business Buy-In and Expertise Highlight the necessity of business buy-in during data cleanup. Illustrate the importance of domain expertise, especially when dealing with industry-specific data.   Duration of Data Cleanup Acknowledge the variability in the duration of data cleanup. Discuss factors influencing the timeframe, such as the scale of data, complexity, and organizational priorities.   Duration of ERP Implementation: Discussion about the realistic timeframe for ERP implementation. And what are the considerations for different organization sizes and complexities. The duo gave emphasis on the importance of understanding the unique challenges of each organization.   Complexity in ERP Implementations: Detailed analysis based on organization size and system complexity. Challenges faced by organizations with multiple mergers and acquisitions. The impact of disparate data sets and different coding languages on the implementation process.   Data Standards and Compliance: Importance of setting data standards in ERP implementation. The role of the CIO and data teams in determining compliance requirements. Addressing jurisdictional updates and regulatory requirements for global organizations. Corporate Vision and Future Planning: Linking corporate vision with ERP data standards. Considering future expansions, regulatory changes, and market entry in the ERP design. Anticipating scalability and ensuring the ERP system can adapt to future organizational needs. Timeline for Data Standards and Vision: The role of data standards in the Request for Proposal (RFP) process. Incorporating data standards in the development of the ERP document. Considering a realistic time horizon for corporate vision and future expansion plans.   Scalability and Design Implications: Emphasizing the importance of designing ERP systems for scalability. Discussing potential future needs, geographic expansion, and industry-specific requirements. The ease of considering design implications upfront compared to post-implementation adjustments.   Webinar Announcement: Stephanie's upcoming webinars on the greenhouse gas scope three protocol and risk management in the supply chain.  Conclusion: Navigating data cleanup in ERP implementations is a multifaceted process that demands careful planning, iterative strategies, and a commitment to thoroughness. Cat and Stephanie underscores the pivotal role of data accuracy in the success of ERP projects and encourages organizations to approach data cleanup with a strategic mindset.

Challenges of running a business, the evolving perspective on marketing, and the significance of understanding marginal costs and operational readiness when scaling a business.In this episode, Jordan West and Nathan Vazquez, shared the significant mistakes he made in selecting a 3PL company and an ERP system, resulting in six-figure losses. The discussion covers the importance of partnerships with agencies, the inevitability of business mistakes, and the value of learning from them. Listen and learn in this episode!Key takeaways from this episode:Conduct thorough research before investing in an ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system to avoid costly errors.Ensure close collaboration with agencies and partners for shared success.Explore licensing deals for business growth and revenue generation.Understand marginal costs and operational readiness for effective business scaling.Adaptability and creativity are essential in marketing strategy due to unpredictable elements.Recommended Tools/App:Klaviyo: https://www.klaviyo.com/ Sendlane: https://www.sendlane.com/ MailChimp: https://mailchimp.com/ Recommended Podcast/Audiobook:Econ Talk: https://russroberts.info/econtalk/ Bill Simmons: https://www.theringer.com/the-bill-simmons-podcastToday's Guest: Nathan Vazquez, CEO of Pipsticks spent 15 years working in finance as an options trader and market maker at Citibank. His wife, a graphic designer, started a sticker curation company called Pipsticks while she was a stay-at-home mom. Nathan supported her as she built the business, and they worked together to ship out sticker subscriptions.Connect and learn more about Nathan and Pipsticks:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/pipsticks/Email: nathan@pipsticks.com Website: https://www.pipsticks.com/ This episode's sponsor is OneClickUpsell- increases your Shopify revenue 10–20% by offering your customers highly-targeted upsells and cross-sells on every purchase. OneClickUpsell is the original upsell app for Shopify, and it's highly-profitable upsell funnels have already made half-a-billion dollars (that's BILLION with a “B”!) in additional revenue for their users! Don't miss out on another dollar in free upsells. Learn more here: OneClickUpsell Get 5 Offers for 2 Products (10 in total) along with 10 highly engaging tried and true creatives, 30 captivating headlines, descriptions, and ad texts sent to you for only $99. Go to https://www.upgrowthcommerce.com/offer and order now - this offer is only available for a limited time. We love our podcast community and listeners that we have decided to offer a free e-commerce Growth Plan for your brand! To learn more, click here: upgrowthcommerce.com/grow

In a live stream discussion, Avero Advisors CEO Abhijit Verekar, Megan Seaton Business Development Manager,  and Director of Advisory Services Robert Kornovich discussed the importance of building a robust implementation team for ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) projects. They emphasized the need for a project sponsor, a project champion, and a change management lead. They also highlighted the importance of defining roles and responsibilities early on, and ensuring that everyone is pulling in the same direction. They advised smaller organizations to spread responsibilities across different roles to avoid overburdening one person. They also stressed the importance of effective communication and collaboration within the team, and the need to address data-related challenges early in the process.

Access our training - $200K and 300 Leads in 15 Days for Woodpreneurs here: https://go.buildergrowth.io/optin-wms “I was nine and Isaac was seven, I think, around when our dad started the company. Yeah, I feel like so we would kind of help doing pretty much anything, you know, being a small shop, his projects would spike and didn't go to nothing. So we did marketing campaigns. So we drove around in a minivan and they would say, "Go put these little cards in people's mailboxes.” -Issac & Asher Welcome to a brand-new episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast. Today, your host Steve Larosiliere is joined by Issac & Asher from Hardwood Creations, a custom cabinet manufacturer based in Charlotte, North Carolina. Isaac and Asher share the inspiring story of Hardwood Creations' inception, tracing back to their father's modest one-man shop in the shed of their backyard. The brothers recount their unconventional introduction to the business, with childhood experiences that involved marketing campaigns, finishing work, and even learning the art of discretion when it came to pointing out flaws in front of clients. Listen now and get the whole story! “ we work with about six of the big high end custom home builders in Charlotte and we have a pretty good reputation with them and the designers that they work with in architects. And so we don't really aggressively go out and sell because we get our repeat business from those builders and designers.” -Issac & Asher Crafting Dreams in Wood The focus shifts to Hardwood Creations' core projects, specializing in high-end residential cabinets and millwork. The brothers shed light on their target projects—residential homes ranging from $2.5 to $6 million. Isaac delves into the joy of collaborating with clients to bring their unique visions to life, emphasizing the importance of capturing the essence of their dreams in each project. Building Efficient Operations Isaac walks us through the intricacies of their operations, detailing the meticulous planning involved in the custom cabinet manufacturing process. From engaging with high-end custom home builders to coordinating with designers and architects, the emphasis is on front-end planning and designing to ensure flawless execution in the shop. The goal: delivering exceptional products within a tight timeframe. Fostering a Positive Company Culture The discussion shifts to the vital aspect of maintaining a positive company culture at Hardwood Creations. Isaac and Asher share their initiatives, from team-building activities like ping pong and whitewater rafting to addressing employees' needs and integrating new hires into the company culture. The brothers stress the significance of employee retention and how a healthy culture contributes to the overall success of the business. Embracing Technology for Efficiency Isaac delves into the technological advancements that have enhanced efficiency at Hardwood Creations. From utilizing Google Sheets for initial organization to adopting Coda for ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning), the brothers are keen on leveraging technology. Isaac's enthusiasm for AI and the ongoing migration to Energy, a high-end millwork software, showcases their commitment to staying at the forefront of innovation. Leadership Evolution and Development The Anthes brothers share insights into their roles as leaders within the family business. Emphasizing a collaborative approach, they highlight the importance of leading by example and fostering an environment where everyone contributes to each other's growth. The focus is on continuous learning and building a team of skilled individuals who share the same vision for the company's future. Want to get in touch with Hardwood Creations? Contact them through: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hardwoodcreationsnc/

Jay and Andrew discuss the benefits and dangers of allowing people to buy on a payment plan, nurturing good relationships with vendors, reevaluating the company after the loss of a key employee, job prioritization, custom software, and calculating true cost. Additionally, they pose an important question: Does your ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system truly work for you?"

Is your data safe? All your data?Join Community IT CTO Matt Eshleman and Build Consulting Partner David Deal for a presentation on data cybersecurity for nonprofits. You may have invested in your basic cybersecurity, but how do you know if your data is as secure as it needs to be? Do you know all the tools you use that store crucial data and how that data is protectedExplore best practices to protect data, wherever it lives, in business applications such as ERP, CRM, Program Management, etc.Learn new threats to watch for Plan to enhance your data governance and securityMatt and David held a deep discussion of data security in applications such as ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning), CRM (Client Relationship Management) and other tools you use, plus some tips and strategies for data cybersecurity at nonprofits.As with all our webinars, this presentation is appropriate for an audience of varied IT experience.Community IT and Build Consulting are proudly vendor-agnostic and our webinars cover a range of topics and discussions. Webinars are never a sales pitch, always a way to share our knowledge with our community. In this webinar we will be sharing our advice and insights based on what we are seeing among our clients and in the community. _______________________________Start a conversation :) Register to attend a webinar in real time, and find all past transcripts at https://communityit.com/webinars/ email Carolyn at cwoodard@communityit.com tweet us @CommunityIT Thanks for listening.

Is your data safe? All your data?Join Community IT CTO Matt Eshleman and Build Consulting Partner David Deal for a presentation on data cybersecurity for nonprofits. You may have invested in your basic cybersecurity, but how do you know if your data is as secure as it needs to be? Do you know all the tools you use that store crucial data and how that data is protected?Explore best practices to protect data, wherever it lives, in business applications such as ERP, CRM, Program Management, etc.Learn new threats to watch for Plan to enhance your data governance and securityMatt and David held a deep discussion of data security in applications such as ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning), CRM (Client Relationship Management) and other tools you use, plus some tips and strategies for data cybersecurity at nonprofits.As with all our webinars, this presentation is appropriate for an audience of varied IT experience.Community IT and Build Consulting are proudly vendor-agnostic and our webinars cover a range of topics and discussions. Webinars are never a sales pitch, always a way to share our knowledge with our community. In this webinar we will be sharing our advice and insights based on what we are seeing among our clients and in the community. _______________________________Start a conversation :) Register to attend a webinar in real time, and find all past transcripts at https://communityit.com/webinars/ email Carolyn at cwoodard@communityit.com tweet us @CommunityIT Thanks for listening.

O futuro dos sistemas de ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) e da gestão empresarial está evoluindo rapidamente à medida que novas tecnologias e tendências continuam a moldar o cenário empresarial. No geral, podemos observar uma visão ampla que envolve a migração para a nuvem, integração de IA e automação, uso crescente de IoT e blockchain, ênfase na mobilidade e UX, análise de big data, sustentabilidade e foco na conformidade e segurança. Mas além disso, espera-se uma maior colaboração e flexibilidade nos modelos de negócios, o que impactará a forma como as empresas adquirem e usam os sistemas de ERP. A evolução dos departamentos de TI também será um fator importante, com mais foco em inovação e estratégia. Essas tendências moldarão a gestão empresarial futura e a eficiência operacional. No episódio de hoje, Romualdo convida Rafael Bitencourt e Luiz Eduardo Costa Iurk, da Sankhya, para falar mais sobre o futuro do ERP e da Gestão. Vem com a gente! Participantes do Episódio: Romualdo Silva — CEO CRMThink Rafael Bitencourt – Sankhya Gestão de Negócios Luiz Eduardo Costa Iurk – Sankhya Gestão de Negócios Material de apoio: Participe do nosso Webinar! Saiba mais sobre a Sankhya Fundada em 1989, a Sankhya Gestão de Negócios é uma das maiores empresas provedoras de soluções integradas de gestão corporativa (ERP) do Brasil. Atualmente, a empresa possui 55 Unidades de Negócio e conta com uma equipe superior a 2000 funcionários e 20 mil clientes nos 26 estados do Brasil. Em 2017, a Sankhya foi pioneira ao lançar a BIA, a primeira assistente virtual do mercado de ERP, que utiliza uma tecnologia altamente inovadora de Inteligência Artificial (IA), para auxiliar os gestores a antecipar o futuro e otimizar os processos de negócio. Conheça a Sankhya!  

Timestamps: 06:34 - Why all staff get their own shares 09:59 - Explaining how their automation works 15:45 - BLP Digital's Business model 19:56 - How they validate business ideas 29:19 - Their experience of bootstrapping About Tim Beck: Tim Beck is the co-founder at BLP Digital, an ETH and HSG spin-off that uses AI to automate ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) processes. He attended both RWTH Aachen University and Georgia Tech. Before starting BLP Digital, he worked as a strategy consultant and specialist in digital business models and automation in the manufacturing industry. He has also successfully founded and managed three other startups, including the augmented reality startup CLIPTHIS. Tim's entrepreneurial journey was shaped by his family background; his parents were both entrepreneurs, leading to daily exposure to business discussions, and it was a path that felt natural for him to follow. Despite this, he was not pressured to take over the family business and chose engineering and strategy consulting as his path. BLP Digital, co-founded by Tim and his brother Sven, started with a sound footing because of the deep industry connections and technical expertise that came fromtheir parents being a part of the same industry. They initially focused on product development and engineering, bringing in co-founders with complementary skills to expand their market presence. BPL Digital's core offering revolves around machine learning to automate ERP processes, particularly document sharing between companies. They emphasize customer satisfaction, offering clients proof of concepts with actual data before committing them to services. BPL Digital maintains control over its growth trajectory as a bootstrapped company, incentivizing employees with shares to foster a sense of ownership. Their ambition is to move from ground zero to an eventual IPO, reflecting an exciting journey ahead for the company. This episode sheds light on Tim Beck's entrepreneurial path, BPL Digital's unique approach to solving industry challenges, and their vision for the future. Memorable Quotes: “Bringing in 2 more CEOs later made sense for us when we wanted to enter the market, and find people with more valuable skills in this area”“We consider ourselves a kind of a Chat GPT for documents, as our system can read things it has never seen before.” Don't forget to give us a follow on our Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Linkedin accounts, so you can always stay up to date with our latest initiatives. That way, there's no excuse for missing out on live shows, weekly give-aways or founders dinners!

The 16:9 PODCAST IS SPONSORED BY SCREENFEED – DIGITAL SIGNAGE CONTENT What if you could use AI to make digital signage screen content relentlessly relevant? That's the premise and promise of what Korbyt calls Machine Learning Broadcast, new capabilities in the Dallas-based software firm's CMS platform. Using computer vision and machine learning, the idea is that if the platform can get a sense of what's making people stop and watch in a defined environment, then content can be optimized based on that interest. The system finds and schedules content to push to screens based on engagement metrics. How it all technically works is a bit over my shiny head, but I had a good chat with Korbyt CTO George Clopp about what's going on and its implications. We also get into what the future looks like for AI in digital signage. Subscribe from wherever you pick up new podcasts. TRANSCRIPT Geroge, thank you for joining me. We've chatted in the past. For those who don't know Korbyt, can you give me a rundown of what the company's all about?  George Clopp: Hi, Dave. It's a pleasure to speak with you again. Yeah, Korbyt is at its root an employee engagement company. So we've got roots in digital signage, but our typical use case is using digital signage at corporate campuses and to communicate to employees, to increase employee engagement as well as to communicate real-time mission-critical stats as well.  Is that pretty much the core vertical that you guys chase, workplace?  George Clopp: It is. We are heavily into the workplace, meeting rooms as well. We do a lot with retail banks, a little bit into the retail space, but it's primarily corporate campuses. For those who don't know the company, it actually goes back a long way to Symon Communications days, right? You guys were doing workplace communications long before the digital signage industry discovered that.  George Clopp: Yeah, exactly right, Dave. It precedes me. I've been here for seven years now. I can't even believe it, but that's how much I enjoy this space and the industry. I enjoy the company so much, but we had Target Vision, Symon Communications, and we've just evolved. I joined at the tail end of 2016 to develop the Korbyt platform, and obviously, we have to meet the needs of the digital signage industry, but we've had a really heavy focus on employee engagement as well. Is it interesting to see all these other companies who have more general offers, find their way into the workplace because they see that as an opportune vertical?  George Clopp: Yeah, I view it as exciting. I think it's definitely a macroeconomic trend with the pandemic, post-pandemic, the modern workplace, everything is reimagining and reinventing and re-everything these days. I think it's good. It's a legitimate macro problem that everyone's looking to provide solutions to. So, I'm really excited. I love the industry myself.  In some respects, you guys have been doing back-of-house, a lot longer than most companies would have. I mean, you're not just working in the offices, you're working in production areas and so on.  George Clopp: That's correct. Heavy in manufacturing and heavy in the contact centers, anytime where you're doing mission-critical real-time data, you're connecting to an ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning), or yard management system, and you want to change or orchestrate the display and the surroundings based on data changing, we've got a deep background in that.  Yeah, for contact centers, if I recall, years ago pre-arrival with the company, you were doing low-resolution LED readouts that were just telling people in the contact center about the average wait time on calls and things like that.  George Clopp: Exactly, and that's matured over the years and now we're doing that on the desktop and on the mobile device as well. We still have some supply chains and some yard management systems in a warehouse, where we'll do the little blinky boards over the dock doors themselves. We range from the dock doors all the way to your mobile device now.  The PR that came out about a new piece of functionality, your marketing talks about a million endpoints, 250 cloud migrations, and 100+ native integrations.  A million endpoints, that's like a lot. George Clopp: It is. Yeah, scalability and being able to expand out to touch desktops, normal, typical digital science screens, and mobile endpoints. It's been a real focus on us for the last four or five years. So we're really proud to announce that, and then the back end, like you were talking about those native data integrations, I think that's really what sets us aside from a lot of our competition is making those really hardcore authentications and then that real-time pipe between us and the source systems.  I know a lot of other software in our space that we run into, they talk about integrations. A lot of times it's really just a file, they're taking data from a source system. They're putting it into a CSV format or any kind of other format and then they're pulling that in. So that's really where we shine with that real-time data integration.  Is that important in terms of a distinction when solutions providers and users are looking at data integration and they see that a CMS says, yeah we do data integration, we can integrate with your platform? It sounds like you're saying there are different tiers of that, and there's real integration and there's just like a baseline.  George Clopp: Yeah, exactly. That's the right way to pick up on that day, for sure. When you need to orchestrate and change things in a 911 center or in a manufacturing-type environment and definitely in a contact center, speed is really the key there. So having something on a five-minute loop that's pulling a file, it's just not fast enough. So you need that real-time data, you need that high availability so that something was to break that you've got a backup in place and you can make sure that contact center, that supply chain, that 911 center is rolling smoothly. They're not just getting their data, but they're changing the experience of the data. That's another thing that we do, we pull in stats, but we also augment those stats and do value-added calculations on the stats, and then we trigger on those values to change the screen, or change the mobile device or change the desktop. So if you've got too many calls in the queue or you're running behind on this loading dock here, we'll change the entire experience for you based on that value-added stat that we do.  I also assume that when companies talk about integrations, for very logical reasons, they're going to go to the most used platforms out there, whether it's Teams or God knows what. But if you have a hundred plus native integrations you're probably talking about some pretty exotic things that nobody's ever heard of, and if a company went in and said, we can integrate with their systems and they say, what those systems are, their eyebrows are going up, because they're thinking, I have never heard of that. George Clopp: Absolutely, Dave. There are some low-level protocols where we just integrate at a TCP level with a very proprietary protocol, but I would say the bulk of it is more modern, JSON-based RESTful interfaces, for sure and we like to distinguish between data integrations, business application integrations, and SSO integrations, in three categories there. So, like a Power BI or a Tableau or something like that would be more of a business application integration, and when we're talking data integration, we're talking more low level, running SQL against a data store, running web services, running SOAP-based web services, and to that extent. And again, that's why we call it out in our marketing because we do think that's a core differentiator for us.  So just to go back to something, when you talk about a million endpoints, you're including desktops..  George Clopp: That's correct. Desktops and mobile devices, basically all of the endpoints that we talk to. Good. Back at the start of summer, you guys introduced something called, Machine Learning Broadcast. What is that? George Clopp: Yeah, fantastic question. We were involved with machine learning, and AI before it was really cool, so this was actually something we developed in 2018. We've been honing the model, and then we re-released it this year. But machine learning is a subset of AI, and we all know AI is a super big buzzword these days and when you peel that onion, there's levels of accuracy involved there, and there's a lot of hype around the world. But the reason why we called the feature machine learning broadcast is really to focus on the ML aspects of it, and it's a great business problem to solve because, at the end of the day, what we're really creating is a recommendation engine. And I think everybody's familiar with the Amazon recommendation engine, Instagram, and other social media platforms that are just, they're recommending content for you. That's essentially what we're doing here. We're using KNN Analysis, which is supervised machine learning to look at content that has some engagement with it, and that engagement could be measured by computer vision on a digital signage screen, it could be measured by interactivity with it on a desktop or interactivity with that content on the mobile device and then behind the scenes, all we're doing is we're finding out second, third, fourth-degree order content, that's related to the content that was engaging and then it's a feedback loop. We go ahead and automatically schedule that content and see how that content is engaged with so it's a self-learning feedback loop there and the whole purpose of it is to find content that's engaging and show more of that content to your employees. Could you give me a real-world kind of example of how that might work? George Clopp: Yeah, absolutely, Dave. Let's say a company's opening up a brand new office in Buenos Aires and for whatever reason, people really gravitate to that content. They look at it on the signage screen, on the fifth-floor break room, they're engaging with it on their desktop, they're looking at it on the mobile device. We learn from that engagement and say, okay, let's go ahead and find similar related content there. Let's find content related to office openings in Buenos Aires, and then let's go ahead and go further out and look at second, third-order tags. So that would be content related to South America as well. And then we automatically play that content, inject it back into the playlist, and our customers have complete control over whether it's automatic and which players actually get this content and which devices get it and then, we learn based on that content. So it's a feedback loop, and you might find in that case that your employees are really more interested in the geographic region than they are in the new office opening. So it's relentlessly relevant.  George Clopp: Exactly right, Dave, and solving a real-world business problem because one of the challenges our customers have is, it's really arduous to constantly schedule new relevant content.  The first couple of times you do it, you create a scheduled playlist. Yeah, it's okay, but it takes a long time and then, with Attention Deficit Disorder in today's modern world, people grow immune, and they tune out that same content over and over again. So, you need that fresh content injected to keep the employee's attention.  I'm guessing that somebody's going to be listening to this and thinking, that's cool, but where on earth do I get, or how do I develop all this content so that I do have this somewhat bottomless hyper-relevant content available? George Clopp: Yeah, fantastic question. Right now, in its current stance with our ML broadcast, you need to have that content in your media library. We're not automatically going out to like copyright-free areas and pulling in content. But with our release coming out next year, it's called our AI employee engagement. With that, we'll automatically be creating and sourcing content for you on your behalf.  Yeah, I saw a demo of something like that over in Germany a little while back with another company who, I'm sure you'll be happy if I don't name them, that was all about using what was available through an intranet and an extranet, and other resources to auto-generate content for screens. George Clopp: Yeah, it's opening up the whole world of generative AI. We're actually looking at both. Whether there are generative images, generative video, or generative text. Obviously, in our space, images and videos mean a lot, and there are different systems out there. There's DALI 2, there's stable diffusion. They've all got their strengths and their weaknesses. But we're combining that with templated-based content as well.  So automatically generating content that's relevant based off of a text prompt is super useful. But in some cases, it might not be the right content that's generated. So we also will have a mixture of templated content as well.  Yeah, I think templates are a big part of that. I've farted around with things like Mid Journey and so on, and you could see how it could go sideways on you really quickly if you left too much up to the machine.  George Clopp: Exactly. It gets into that whole thing of prompt engineering. You got to be really good with your prompts, and they've all got issues like generating hands and things of that nature right now. But we want to be on the leading edge of this, use it where it makes sense. An area where we think it really makes a lot of sense, a preview into our AI Employee Engagement, is on mission values and goals. We feel like that's an area where our customers just don't communicate enough to their employees, like, there's cake in the break room, let's recognize employees.  That's all part of it, but really just reinforcing, Hey, your goal in the finance department this week is to close your books three days earlier. And so, mix that text in with some great video or some great images that are created in the background using this generative AI. Yeah, I saw something on LinkedIn last night, and I commented on it because I thought it is great that there's a company that's using KPIs and messaging right on the production floor, and the person who posted about it said, this is not very sexy, but it goes to what's needed on the floor for those workers. But the problem was, it looked like hell.  It was just black and white, and they were slapping up a whole bunch of Excel charts, like a stock of them and you'd need binoculars to even see them. So it's important to think about the presentation.  George Clopp: Yeah, totally agree, Dave. I say this at all my speaking events: content is king, content is queen, and that still rules the day. When we're intermixing real-time data with content, it has to be visually appealing. You can't have 20 different stats on the screen; all of those rules of graphic design, I still think, hold true here.  Do you see a day when things like scheduling and trafficking of content are largely automated and handed off to machine learning or some variant of AI?  George Clopp: That's exactly what we're trying to build, Dave, with a release next year. With the ability, of course, to intervene, the ability for the communicator to come in and approve the content or really go ahead and bias the content and say, okay, I've got these 30 categories of content I see that I really want to bias, what the content areas could be.  “Hey, I'm a new enroll. I'm a new first-time line manager. I'm a new director. I'm a new VP, and there's content associated with that new enroll.” They might want to bias that and increase the weight on it, decrease the weight on it, or take it out altogether. So there's still going to be that human touch involved in the ability to approve content, but the AI itself will take care of making sure that content is fresh and relevant. And the big problem we're solving there is just that, again, attention deficit disorder people have, if they see the same thing on the screen, week after week, they tend to tune out. So how can we think of innovative ways to display KPIs, display goals, display things that are really important to the company and give it a great background, give it a great video so that it gets employees' attention again? We're going to talk about machine learning. You reference AI-driven camera optics. Is that basically a computer vision? George Clopp:  It is. Absolutely is, yes. Did you guys write your own, or are you using something like Intel's OpenVINO?  George Clopp: Yeah, the two big ones out there, we've used OpenCV, that is, Open Computer Vision, and TensorFlow, and they both have their strengths and weaknesses, but there are higher order problems we're trying to solve here, and not reinvent computer vision so we're using some libraries for that.  Is that just part of the mix of doing this sort of thing? Are there other technologies you can use to get a sense of dynamics in a venue? George Clopp: Yeah, I think so. Infrared detectors, pressure sensors that kind of tell you who's in that immediate vicinity. You're basically correlating that to human beings in the vicinity, how many human beings are there, and what was playing on the screen at that time. Yeah, so there are less technological ways to do this and still get some good results.  AI is being talked about a lot as you've gone through about its potential to automate presentations. Are there other aspects to a digital signage company, the way your company operates, that you can use AI to help with marketing, help with customer contact, that sort of thing? George Clopp: Yeah, without a doubt. I'm sure you're reading everything. It's revolutionizing all traditional roles, right? Not just engineers writing code. You got a chat with a ChatGPT engineer. With Microsoft's Copilot, it's going to revolutionize the way we all use Excel and Word and PowerPoint and things of that nature. It's definitely revolutionizing marketing. Building product brochures for you automatically, things of that nature, and then, that naturally progresses into, is AI going to take all of our jobs, which I don't think so, going to help us all become more productive. The employees that really change and adopt the AI, I think they're going to be even more valuable than they are today. It's just the employees that just say, I'm not going to do this, and they refuse to allow their cheese to be moved, those are the ones that I think you have to watch out for.  There's an increasing number of companies. I just wrote about one today that has gone down the path of headless CMS. The idea that you can leave the final presentation later, the interactive element, whatever it is to software developers at a large company or who works with a large company as a services company and the digital signage CMS is just the infrastructure, the foundational platform that does device management, scheduling, trafficking, all that sort of stuff. Are you seeing that demand in the marketplace?  George Clopp: We're seeing the opposite. What you're saying absolutely makes sense, especially with my background and the way we've architected our product with microservices. What we're seeing, especially with our large enterprise customers is, they want a little more white glove service. Taking on the arduous task of piecing everything together, even with a microservices framework, is putting a lot of ownership on them. But that is not to say that there's not a need out there. We just really haven't found it. We've actually gone the opposite direction on our side, which has really served us well because we've gone from zero revenue in the cloud to 2 million. We brought on a new CEO, and we quickly ramped up to 20 million. I think it's working for us so far.  Yeah, you're a very different company than maybe prior to you joining RMG Networks, that was a weird little side trip into digital out of home.  George Clopp: It was. We see the artifacts and all that, but I think it's a great group of people here now. There's not a leftover where people have bad attitudes or anything like that. So really proud of where the company's been, the talent we've acquired. We've acquired people from all over the industry. Really love working with the current team and cross-functionally, not just engineering and support, which is what I run, but in sales and marketing as well.  Yeah, it's interesting when you mentioned you've gone in the opposite direction of headless. I've heard that as well, particularly when you get into, like Fortune 500, Fortune 100 kinds of enterprise-grade customers. They want to outsource digital signage, by and large, in the same way that they've outsourced a lot of IT services. George Clopp: Yeah, absolutely. That's the same trend we're seeing, Dave too. It's a little bit of both, right? Everybody wants their cake and eats it too, right? Like they want you to have the ability to do it, but then when it comes time to actually execute on it, we typically find, Hey, we can help them get faster to market if we help augment their team. How important is security? George Clopp: Oh! It's Huge. We all know that the disaster scenario in digital signage, someone compromises your network and they put up some content images or videos that are not appropriate. Even more so with us being more omni-channel with desktop, mobile devices. We've got a data privacy officer, we're SOC 2 compliant. We do a lot of work in Europe so GDPR comes up a lot as well, data privacy. So I think it's super important.  When I think you look at the different offerings out there and the first tier, we look and sound the same. So I think what you got to do with new prospects or new customers, they just got to peel that onion more. What does that really mean? What does it mean that you encrypt your data? Do you do it at rest? Do you do it in transit? Those kinds of things, and I think that's where you can tell the difference between different offerings.  And are the people in the first and second meetings with prospective customers different than they were 7 years ago when you started? I'm hearing the IT people who used to come to meetings and sit there with their arms crossed, thinking, dear God, how long is this going to go on? They're now tending to lead these meetings.  George Clopp: Yeah, I've seen it in multiple ways. Definitely, IT is still the big persona of the buyer here. But I'm also seeing less and less about speeds and feeds and players and hardware and transmission equipment and scalers and more about the final purpose of what we're trying to do. I'm just starting to see that shift. Seven years ago, I talked to people, and it's the AV integration guy. I don't really care what's on the screen. I just care that it's not dark. I don't want a screen that's down. That's their most important thing, and now I'm seeing that shift a little bit more towards they do care about the content, and they're bringing in more of the HR and the communications group involved and making sure that the platform can grow. I can create content on the platform or I can integrate with Adobe or SharePoint or something along those lines. But I still see it, especially AV/IT as a huge influence in the buying process.  Yeah, certainly going back seven, eight years when I was doing some one-to-one consulting with enterprise level customers, that sort of thing, I would go into a first meeting, and I would say, okay, why do you want to do this? And it was always intriguing to see how often people would lean back in their chairs and say, I hadn't really thought about that. They wanted this thing, but as you say, they didn't really know what they were going to do with this thing. George Clopp: Yeah, exactly. And there's a little bit of power in that too. There's power to putting the latest and greatest screen technology in your office and giving you that modern technology look and feel but then just carry it one more step in the maturity direction and start focusing on the content too. Yeah, you can demonstrate innovation by having a big ass screen in your lobby, but if there's nothing useful on there, you're not really demonstrating a lot of innovation.  George Clopp: Exactly, and I think there's still room for that super wonderful creative experience that's human-curated that graphic designers make, and they spend a lot of time getting just perfect in those high profile areas, like the lobby of a company, and then there's also opportunity for, new content generation automatically for me so that I don't have to necessarily sit here and handle this thing. So I think we're going to live in a world where both will be applicable. So you mentioned you, you're working on new iterations of AI-driven content. Is that the big kind of roadmap item for your company over the next year?  George Clopp: Yes, it really is. Yeah. We've got a huge, large-player ecosystem, all the data integrations, and omni-channel platforms. So where our new development team is focused on is automating the content creation, automating that entire feed, if you will, so that it really takes that arduous process away from our communicator. How many folks do you have in the company now? George Clopp: We're a little under 70 people right now. So still a small company and I love it cause everybody has to wear multiple hats, do multiple roles. You have to bring a lot of energy to the company, and I just love that. I've just grown so fond of it over the last seven years.  And is most of the team in the Dallas Fort Worth area, or are you all over the place? George Clopp: Since COVID, we're mainly in Dallas, but since COVID, a lot of us have moved out a little bit. So I'm actually in Colorado. Some of my engineering leads are in the West Coast, some are in Pennsylvania. So we're really practicing what we preach, the hybrid workforce. All right, George, thank you for spending some time with me. It was good to catch up. George Clopp: Yeah, it's fantastic, Dave. Thank you so much for taking time out.

**Podcast Title:** "Mastering ERP Implementation: Insights from an OCM Expert"   **Show Notes:**   **Introduction:** In this episode of Art of Consulting, we dive deep into the world of ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) implementation with a focus on Organizational Change Management (OCM). Our special guest, Frederique Oberlin, an OCM extraordinaire with 18+ years of experience, shares invaluable insights and wisdom gained from various ERP projects.   **Episode Highlights:**   1. **Understanding Organizational Change Management (OCM):**    - Frederique defines OCM as the people side of a software implementation, emphasizing the importance of bringing employees along the project journey from the beginning rather than surprising them with a new system at the end.   2. **Challenges in ERP Implementation:**    - The conversation highlights how employees sometimes create their own processes outside of the ERP system, known as "shadow IT," due to various reasons like system limitations or lack of training.   3. **Measuring Success in ERP Implementation:**    - Frederique discusses key metrics for measuring success, such as assessing training effectiveness, tracking post-Go Live support tickets, and ensuring users are adopting the system as intended.   4. **Proactive Change Management:**    - The importance of proactive change management is emphasized, including the concept of the ADKAR journey (Awareness, Desire, Knowledge, Ability, Reinforcement) and how it aids in preparing employees for change.   5. **Hypercare:**    - Hypercare, the critical period immediately following Go Live, is explained as a time when additional support is crucial. Frederique shares strategies like deploying super users and providing a human presence for support, both in-person and virtually.   6. **Leadership's Role in OCM:**    - Frederique advises leaders to engage in candid conversations with OCM experts, understanding the expectations and requirements for communication, training, and support. Leaders' active involvement in training can significantly impact the success of the project.   **Conclusion:** Organizational Change Management is a vital aspect of any ERP implementation, and proactive planning, effective training, and leadership involvement are key to a successful transition. We appreciate Frederique Oberlin for sharing her expertise on this essential topic. Connect with her on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/frederique-oberlin-86251712/     Stay tuned for more insightful episodes of Art of Consulting as we continue to explore the world of ERP and business transformation.  

Whether you are an SMB or a non-profit looking to scale up, don't tie yourself to QuickBooks, warns today's guest of the “Listen” podcast, Ben Cole – the president of ERP Connect. Ben explains why it's important to use the right tools that will allow you to grow without compromising your ability to be efficient and what those tools are. When it comes to your accounting operations, you need a well-oiled ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system that doesn't consist of an Excel spreadsheet. ERP automation is at the core of what Ben's company offers. Implementing it will allow you to be extra efficient with all your financial tracking and reporting needs, including facing audits with no fear. Thank you for listening! Please subscribe and give us a rating. - Need marketing strategy? Go to alpenglo.digital/ - Contact Jean: alpenglo.digital/get-in-touch/

Linda speaks with Ralph Hess about business technology in the Lifesciences industry. Ralph Hess is the Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Navigator Business Solutions, a computer software company that provides cloud-based ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) business solutions. As North America's number 1 SAP cloud partner, Ralph is making strides with hands-on, problem-solving leadership in the technology industry. He prides himself on his ideology of "technology for business sake" so that his solutions are designed to meet the needs of businesses.    Ralph has over 30 years of experience helping companies solve their business problems with technology and is well-known within the SAP Eco System because of his success. His company has achieved 25% growth over the last two years and has served over 500 clients since its founding 15 years ago.     Ralph began his journey as an entry-level programmer in the early 80s and never looked back. He "caught the bug" and left college for a $5/hour programming job. From there, he founded his own firm in 1994, working as an IBM reseller. Ralph also has experience as a Microsoft and Epicor reseller. His first was one of the founding reselling channel partners for SAP, establishing the channel in the SME marketplace in 2004.    Ralph and his team have helped companies grow exponentially. As a company, Navigator Business Solutions helps businesses plan for growth with enterprise resource planning software and by optimizing company processes. Navigator Business Solutions brings a personal approach to understanding their clients' business to know where they are, where they want to be, and how to get them there. They focus on a few specific industries, including life sciences, consumer products and distribution for supply chain optimization.  

The Business of Meetings – Episode 158 – Intentional Growth with Ryan Tansom The Business of Meetings – Episode 158 – Intentional Growth with Ryan Tansom Today, we have the great pleasure of speaking with Ryan Tansom, the Co-founder of Arkona!  Ryan knows a lot about acquisition entrepreneurship! He joins us to share his insight along with a wealth of experience building and selling businesses. He dives into how to create value, different types of exits, and everything else you need to know when planning to sell a business. Bio Ryan Tansom started his entrepreneurial career at his family business where he was the executive vice -president and responsible for the strategic, operational, and financial strategy of a $21 million company. Ryan helped turn the company around and bring intentional focus to the right strategies, which enabled it to be sold for eight figures to a local competitor in 2014. Ryan took his experience and founded Arkona to create the Intentional Growth Framework, which helps owners grow the value of their company with the end in mind, through educational training, fractional CFO services, and strategic planning. Ryan is a passionate, energetic, and highly-skilled communicator who loves his work and the message he delivers. Both of the keynote presentations he frequently delivers are near and dear to his heart because they tell the story and solutions to the challenges he had when he was running his family business. Since founding Arkona, he has been able to teach other entrepreneurs and business owners what he wishes he had known before they sold their company, which was how to clarify a path to a more valuable business with an end in mind. He wants business owners to turn their visions into reality. Ryan also hosts the popular Intentional Growth Podcast, which has 280+ episodes and 380k+ downloads, with Todd Herman, Bo Burlingham, Jack Stack, Gino Wickman, John Warrillow, Dan Martell, and Alan Beaulieu. Ryan's journey Ryan is on a mission to make the entrepreneurial journey worthwhile for everyone. Through Arkona, he offers education and services to help people with their businesses and business finances.  It all stems from Ryan's experience growing up in a business his dad started from the ground up. At the end of 2009, their family business lost $940,000.00 and they had to choose between doubling down to make it worthwhile keeping or selling the business and shutting it down entirely. They decided to keep going. Over the next five years, they sold two branches, built out the managed IT services and software automation, rolled out a new ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system, replaced most of their employees, and rebranded while juggling a $240,000 payroll every two weeks. In 2014, they sold the business because they could not align their goals and strategies. What do you want? When people call Ryan to say they want out of their business, he asks them whether they want out of their job or assets. Mostly, they are sick of all the duties associated with their role in the business.   Reverse engineering an equity valuation Many entrepreneurs don't even know if what they are doing is worth it, and their goals are often based on revenue, which is not a good indicator of whether or not they have made it. Ryan likes to ask entrepreneurs what target equity value they want for their business at a point in time, regardless of whether or not they want to sell. (If a company is viewed and run like a financial asset, it needs to grow in value!) What business owners need to have in place and do: A dashboard to monitor their numbers A goal Hire people and delegate Make it unnecessary to be in the business themselves Ryan's 5 Intentional Growth Principles  Ryan has adopted five principles to bring clarity to business owners and crystalize and synthesize the questions they often ask:  Your vision; What do you want from the business, and why?  Your financial targets (target annual income, asset net worth, and the equity value of the company) Exit Options (Internal - Management/Family/Partners, Acquisition Entrepreneurs ESAPs, Private Equity, Strategic Buyers) Creating sustainable, predictable, and transferable cash flow (The more sustainable, predictable, and transferable the cash flow, the more intrinsic value the business will have.) Team of advisors (Hire experts to advise you on optimizing all aspects of the business.) The best outcome When most business owners consider the best outcome, they tend to gravitate toward a number. A better option would be to focus on growing the intrinsic financial value based on the cash flow valuation because that will likely guarantee five multiples within the ESOP.  (Employee Stock Ownership Plan) The benefits of ESOP If you're in an ESOP and sell your company, you can put up to 15% of the rolled equity back into your company. You also get to be a paid CEO, make all the decisions, and do not pay taxes. What is happening in the market? Private equity raised almost a trillion-and-a-half dollars in capital, they are charging investors 2% to manage that money, and they have not yet bought anything.  Enterprise-purchasing power The US technically has 8 million dollars of enterprise purchasing power to buy companies that comprise only 4% of the market. That creates a problem for those who want to sell and for those who have invested in private equity. So private equity companies are now readjusting all their models. Prices will drop, and people will get higher earn-outs, more equity, and less debt.  A great opportunity A great opportunity exists for people to buy companies, grow value, and monetize when they want to exit.    Connect with Eric On LinkedIn On Facebook On Instagram On Website   Connect with Ryan Tansom Arkona On LinkedIn

If you've been in the power industry workforce for any significant length of time, you may have asked your supervisor at some point “Why am I doing this?” regarding a task that you were assigned, only to have them respond, “We've always done it this way.” That's because the power industry has a reputation for being stuck in its ways of doing things. As long as a process is safe, reliable, and reasonably cost-effective, the feeling is often, “Why change?” But just because something works, doesn't mean its efficient or the best practice. Sometimes you have to step back and consider, “Is there a better way?” And sometimes you have to spend money to make money. The old English saying goes, “Penny-wise and pound-foolish,” which is intended to keep people from being too careful with small amounts of money, while missing out on large windfalls. Implementing new technology typically requires an initial investment, which in many cases can seem substantial. For power companies, that often means justifying the expense to the purse-string holders. “If we think about the focus on operating expense [OpEx] versus capital, within the U.S. sector at least, looking at leveraging cloud or other SaaS [Software-as-a-Service] solutions that may come across as an unwelcome operating expense can definitely hinder the speed of adoption of some of these newer technologies,” Casey Werth, general manager for the Energy industry with IBM Technology, said as a guest on The POWER Podcast. “We work closely with a lot of our clients on how to address these and build out business cases that can show that even if you have an increase in OpEx, for instance, the downstream reduction of OpEx cost far outweighs the OpEx increase of the solution.” Werth offered an example based on IBM's Vegetation Management solution, which he helped a transmission and distribution (T&D) customer implement. “Veg management is a massive operating expense on any T&D operator's budget that can be optimized or improved upon to have a better outcome,” Werth said. IBM's website touts Vegetation Management as an end-to-end solution that leverages artificial intelligence (AI), satellite images, Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR), and more to regularly assess and monitor vegetation. It says the solution helps improve work prioritization and decision-making from planning all the way through work inspection and auditing. Werth said IBM has leveraged “advanced technology to better automate the identification of potential areas of risk due to foliage, and then helping better plan and then audit those veg processes to ensure the best outcome for our clients.” Texas-based Pedernales Electric Cooperative is reportedly a satisfied customer. It expects to reduce the number and severity of vegetation-related outages, improve safety and reliability, and cut overall vegetation management costs by having implemented the solution. Among other ways Werth said technology can improve operations is through “process mining.” The goal of process mining is to gain complete process transparency using data from a business's own software systems, such as ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) and CRM (Customer Relationship Management) software. Process mining also aims to pinpoint inefficiencies and prioritize automation by impact and expected return on investment to drive continuous process improvements. It does that by triggering corrective actions or generating Robotic Process Automation (RPA) bots. “If we could identify four or five steps of a discrete process that could be either automated or removed, the potential OpEx savings, or just operational efficiency from that process on the other side, has really powerful impacts,” said Werth. “But, if you can't run the tools to find those wins, then that win sort of stays hidden.”

Our guest on this week's episode is  Kenny Vieth, president and senior analyst at Americas Commercial Transportation Research Company - better known as ACT Research. He discusses his company's predictions of an economic recession in the first half of 2023 and how the trucking industry is already teetering on recession. What does this mean for freight markets, and what can companies do to survive and then prepare to thrive once the recession ends?Logistics firms are adopting 5G technology, but in a different way than consumers. Instead, they are  implementing private 5G networks that cover only their facility or port area. These secure networks provide fast data processing throughout the property.New research reveals how many companies are looking at their ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) systems and what they want and expect from ERP vendors. Findings show it is very important to find a strategic long-term partner to help with implementation and ongoing support.DC Velocity's sister publication CSCMP's Supply Chain Quarterly  offers a podcast series called Supply Chain in the Fast Lane.  It is co-produced with the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals. The second season has now launched and focuses on supply chain digitalization.  Go to your favorite podcast platform to subscribe.Articles and resources mentioned in this episode:Profit.coTrade groups applaud executive order on rail talksNearly nine out of 10 online shoppers will abandon their virtual shopping carts if they see poor delivery termsVisit DCVelocity.com for the latest news. Visit Supply Chain QuarterlyListen to CSCMP and Supply Chain Quarterly's Supply Chain in the Fast Lane podcastListen to Supply Chain Quarterly's Top 10 Supply Chain Threats podcastSend feedback about this podcast to podcast@dcvelocity.com.Podcast sponsored by:  SchneiderOther linksAbout DC VELOCITYSubscribe to DC VELOCITYSign up for our FREE newslettersAdvertise with DC VELOCITYTop 10 Supply Chain Management Podcasts

Vincent Tang, Regional Vice President, Asia at Epicor Software speaks with Ibrahim Sani about the Importance of ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) in Business.

Hace un tiempo, participando en un webinar sobre “El nuevo perfil del prevencionista” organizado por el IRSST de Madrid y el Observatorio de Recursos Humanos (ORH), surgía una interesante cuestión entre los asistentes que preguntaban si, una herramienta tipo ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning), tecnología Workflow o BPM,(Business Process Management, herramientas de BI (Business Intelligence) o ICRM (Integrated Customer Relationship Management) podría ayudar a las organizaciones a integrar la gestión de la seguridad y salud laboral y mejorar la comunicación entre los distintos procesos y partes de una organización. Lee el artículo en https://prevencontrol.com/prevenblog/evolucion-de-la-gestion-integral-de-la-seguridad-y-salud-en-las-organizaciones-a-traves-de-los-software-de-gestion

Dr. Lehmann has successfully built businesses from $10 million to $2 billion annual sales. As a leader and member of the management team he has experience in many aspects including strategy development and business investment, research and product development, engineering, operations, supply chain innovations, ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning), sales and marketing, overhaul and repair, and customer services.

O Sistema de gestão integrado ERP da SAP chega ao universo das flores Com projetos bem estruturados e já adaptados ao novo mundo pós-pandemia, a CVH está dando um passo importante na redução de custos e no desenvolvimento e aumento da produtividade da Cooperativa com a implementação do seu novo ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning), sistema de gestão integrado. Para saber mais sobre este ambicioso projeto e detalhes deste importante avanço digital recebemos o gerente de TI, Rodrigo dos Anjos, para um esclarecedor bate-papo com a gerente de marketing e produto Thamara D'Angieri. Vamos acompanhar!?.

过去40年，中国能够发展如此之快，得益于改革开放政策，得益于中国人的勤劳和勤奋。当然，也得益于管理。未来40年，我们要靠什么？我们更应该靠管理。所以，我今天想和各位朋友分享一个主题《用EBC（企业业务能力），向管理要效益》。我将用三个故事来讲述。第一个故事，华海通信。2020年，新冠肺炎疫情刚刚爆发的时候，我们突然接到一个任务：华海通信（原“华为海洋”），原来用了10多年的国外系统不能再继续使用，需要用本土系统。在此情况下，金蝶奔赴天津，正好赶上疫情爆发，任务非常紧，但是华海和金蝶一起用68天上线基于工业互联网平台的全业务场景协同解决方案。2020年4月份完全替换（华海）的184个国外系统，覆盖华海的LTC（Lead to Cash 从销售线索到回款）、PTP（Procure to Pay 从采购到付款）、ITR(Issue to resolution 从问题到解决)、IPD(Integrated Product Development 集成产品开发)四大核心业务流程，以及全业务场景：研发、销售、工程项目、生产制造、供应链、售后服务、财务、人力资源和办公管理等，确保了每一位员工在信息系统的链接下更高效地工作，保障了其业务的连续性。第二个故事，云南中烟。尽管云南中烟的数字化项目时间短，任务重，但是金蝶云·苍穹仅耗时98天，完成12个领域全面替换国外某系统，实现核心业务、基础技术、卷烟供应、业务数据等一体化集中管控，推动云南中烟高质量发展。并且，金蝶云·苍穹系统于2021年1月1日上线运行，成功完成了ERP（Enterprise Resource Planning 企业资源计划)软件的国产化替代，获得了阶段性成果，这是云南中烟信息化建设的历史性时刻，也是烟草行业ERP系统国产化替代的重要进程。以金蝶云·苍穹平台为统一的技术底座，云南中烟实现各单位独立自主完成创新应用的开发和迭代。第三个故事，华为的全球人力资源项目。华为全球人力资源项目一期已正式上线，金蝶与华为将持续推进、共建面向未来的数字战斗力。以上只是众多案例当中的3个，我们还有招商局、华大基因、褚氏农业等各个行业的客户，它们在各个方面都应用了金蝶的系统。在金蝶云·苍穹上构建的系统，我们把它称之为EBC(Enterprise Business Capability 企业业务能力)。像刚才讲的案例，我们还有超过400家大型企业，3万多家中型企业正在借助于EBC重构数字战斗力。 一、EBC，互联网3.0时代的主旋律1.什么是EBC？大家知道，互联网进入了以管理为主题的3.0时代。1.0大概是2000年，主要是链接，每一个企业把产品和服务的目录放在网上，供访问者随时地访问；2008年左右，互联网进入了以交易为主题的2.0时代，淘宝、京东等电商开始崛起，此时的企业之间、商家之间的买卖和交易成为互联网的特点；现在，互联网进入了管理3.0的时代，互联网的浪潮汹涌澎湃，从消费者端到交易，再到现在，进入了企业的内部，到了我们每一个人的脚下。管理，成为互联网的新主题。这3个阶段，我们可以看到ERP（Enterprise Resource Planning 企业资源计划)的变化，1.0时代称之为“ERP+”，ERP的发展范围没有什么变化，更多的是对外进行链接；2.0时代，除了ERP核心系统、信息系统没多大变化外，客户体验平台、合作伙伴平台，以及物联网平台逐渐衍生出来，这些衍生出来的平台都是在云上，我们称之为“云ERP”时代；到了现在，进入3.0时代，即EBC(Enterprise Business Capability 企业业务能力)。每一个企业的数字化，每一个场景的数字化，已经不仅仅是一个工具、一个系统，而是数字化的技术和业务、场景融合起来，变成一个个的业务能力，所以企业的数字化系统演变成企业的业务能力，我们把它称之为战斗力，特别是疫情当下，企业的业务能力更是一种战斗力。EBC平台是由五大平台组成，我们把它称之为EBC五大平台数字战斗力。这五大平台分别是：客户体验平台：链接和服务客户的能力，客户从“价值交易者”变成“价值共创者”，利用客户体验平台，全流程参与价值创造。生态系统平台：链接和赋能伙伴的能力，在战略上转型为生态企业，价值创造的载体从价值链升级到价值生态网络。物联网平台：链接和管理万物的能力，链接力将成为未来企业的核心能力，通过物联网平台，实现人人、人物、物物互联互通。数据与分析平台：数据驱动业务的能力，未来的企业将逐步演变成软件企业、数字企业，数据成为核心资产，通过智能化的数据分析平台，为客户创造个性化的场景价值。信息系统平台：链接和赋能员工的能力，科层制组织转型为平台型企业，企业演变成“可组装式”的企业，组织能力平台化，人人CEO，激励个性化，组织以大平台+敏捷团队为核心架构。EBC发展的过程中，Gartner（ERP理论的提出者）又提出了新的概念——PBC。PBC是可打包的业务能力，它的特点是以业务为中心的模块化、自治、可编排和可发现。模块化，就是一个个组件，这些组件可以搭建起来；自治，意味着自给自足，依赖性最小，确保组合的灵活性；可编排，打包并通过API、实践通道或其他技术手段组装流程或复杂事务；可发现，语义清晰并且经济化，可供业务和技术、开发者和其他应用访问。简而言之，就是一个个业务场景可以变成一个个颗粒化的“积木”，比如说企业里面的库存管理、采购、规划和销售规划就是公司的“积木”，你可以通过对“积木”进行不同的组装，打造一组新的应用程序以应对外部环境的变化。EBC五大平台就可以变成一个可组装的战斗力，让每一个企业插上腾飞的翅膀！数字化发展到今天，如果每一个企业能变成一个可组装的企业，无论外部的环境有多么不确定，企业都可以以不变应万变。2.如何应用EBC？在公司中，我们如何应用EBC？如何通过管理提升效益呢？有两个途径：第一，通过数字化来运营优化，可以借助于EBC的五大平台来不断提升客户体验的水平、员工的效能、生态的协同、万物的互联、分析决策的能力。数字化运营优化，它解决的问题就是以响应市场需求、渠道变化等，或者增强业务的核心竞争力为目标，通过数字化运营以后，企业端到端运营的效率将会显著提升，战斗力也会提升。第二，用数字化进行商业创新，可以形成自己的数字化产品，这些产品在网上或者是互联网平台上，可以变成流量收入，最后也可以形成企业的数据产品，从而形成平台经济。数字化创新，让企业有了全新的产品或服务，新的收入来源或计费模式，商业模式发生了根本改变。这两个途径，每一个企业都可以根据自己的情况来采用。第一个途径“用数字化来运营优化”，风险小，转型程度低，这对多元化的企业以及成长性业务，或者说没有被颠覆风险的行业是比较适合的；第二个途径“用数字化进行商业创新”，风险大，转型程度高，这对于多元化企业的孵化器业务，或者是正在被颠覆的行业，或者主动颠覆自身所在的行业是适合的。当然，商业化创新带来的价值要比数字化运营优化更高。金蝶从2016年开始打造金蝶云·苍穹，金蝶云·苍穹作为企业级的PaaS平台（Platform as a Service，平台即服务），已经成为EBC的超级数字化底座。我前面讲到的3个成功的案例，以及400多家大型企业和3万多家中型企业，金蝶云·苍穹发挥了它的作用，我们也携手3000多家生态伙伴打造“共创、共赢”的苍穹生态。我们不是一个人、一个企业在作战，我们是一群人、一个生态在作战，金蝶希望帮助企业在疫情不确定性环境下提升战斗力。 二、数据就是金钱，体验就是生命30多年前，经过蛇口的人都知道有一句口号“时间就是金钱，效率就是生命”。中国过去40多年的改革开放，经济的飞速发展，就得益于这样的口号，得益于我们每一个人、每一个企业对时间和效率的高度重视。但我在想，现在和未来，我要倡导这样一句——“数据就是金钱，体验就是生命”。在金蝶的金蝶云·星辰和精斗云的产品上，我们设计了一个信用科技的模块，通过EBC的企业数字化转型，在未来，全世界的经济都会在一个数字账本之上。通过金蝶旗下的信用科技公司，每一个企业可以自愿把你的数据（比如财务数据）放到区块链上，上链以后，企业就不能改，但可以给企业累计信用，让企业的数据变的“可见”；通过区块链技术，让数据变得“可信”；通过信用科技，让可见可信的数据，变成信用融资机会，变成企业上下游更多的生意机会，在这个过程中，数据就通过EBC的力量，变成了金钱！另外一句话“体验就是生命”，金蝶这几年来的转型，我深刻感受到了“客户的每一次体验，就是企业的每一次生命”。我在2018年开始，开启了我的公众号——“徐少春个人号”，每天可以收到上千封客户的来信。客户的每一次声音，都是对我们的鞭策，所以我深深地感到，客户的每一次体验，都是企业一次重生的机会。我们在端到端的流程里面，如果把每一个基础点的体验做好，让数字化、让EBC、让每一次体验都变成是一次次有效的链接或者是价值的链接，或者是愉悦的体验，每一个企业就会显著增强战斗力。我的微信服务号在2018年开设以来，客户满意度从原来的80%增长到了91%。 三、EBC的应用，是一场哲学变革彼得·德鲁克曾说“大变局时代，企业最大的危险不是变化本身，而是采用昨天的逻辑去应对变化”。EBC的应用，是一场哲学的变革。我也常常提到这个EBC转型公式：Capability（企业业务能力）=Mindset（思维模式）XTechnology（数字化技术）XPractice（企业实践）在这里面，每一个因素都是一个很重要的因子，特别是思维模式。那么，我们应该用怎样的心智模式去构建数字化愿景？数字化转型就是“事”，如果只在“事”上用功，收效甚微。如果我们表现出更大的智慧、胸怀和能量，在“德”上用功，就收效颇丰。在道上用功，就必然成功。但是求一个“德”，也许需要十年的时间，修一个“道”，也可能终其一生，捷径就是在我们的“心”上用功，如果我们的每时每刻，每一个动念，都是围绕客户，围绕他人，我们不断明心和净心，就能找到最好的数字化的美好愿景。小贴士：“心-道-德-事”四部曲我在很多场合，都跟大家分享过“心-道-德-事”四部曲。我们若想重构企业数字战斗力，做好数字化转型，除了技术要对标之外，其实根本的是要进行思维模式的转型。过去六年我们金蝶的云转型，如果只是在“事”上用功，我相信收效甚微。但是我们跳出了“事”，在“德”上面用功。转型过程当中需要勇气、智慧、胸怀、需要新的格局，所以过去几年我不停地砸，其实是告诉我们团队，告别过去，放下小我，我们才能面对一个未知的世界，所以在德上用功就是收效会更好。还有比“德”更有效的，就是在“道”上用功。我常常问大家，问我很多的朋友“什么是道”，“道”就是每个人表现出来的境界和格局，但是境界跟格局又源自何处？其实源自内心当中的每一刻起心动念，就是你的哲学思考。如果我们心中的“念”为了客户，我们没有做不成的事，所以在“道”上面用功，就是要在心中的每一刻的起心动念都要强调“以客户为中心”，“念”是为了客户好，然后在“道”上用功必然成功。求一个“德”，我们需要十年；求一个“道”，也许我们终其一生。有一个捷径，就是跳跃“道、德、事”，直接在“心”上用功，这个方法就是“明心”和“净心”。“净心”就是净化我们自己的心灵，不断地反省，反省过去我们转型当中到底为什么不能赢得客户信任，为什么采用这个技术不能满足客户的需要。这就是“净心”。还有一个方法就是“明心”，“明心”就是相信办法总比困难多，相信我们心中有无尽的宝藏。战斗力的来源来自于哪里？根本上来自于我们每个人内心，我们这颗心是一切事物的源泉，所以我们心中有无尽的宝藏。一份耕耘一份收获，相信行为的作用和反作用，我们种下因一定收获结果，所以“明心净心”让我们重构数字战斗力，从一个不可能的事情可以变成一个必定能够取得成功的事情。如果一个企业的数字化领导者能够实时地、每时每刻在内心激发内心的力量，你就会感染你的团队，感染你的全体员工，你就会形成使命、哲学、战略和技术。所以“心-道-德-事”四部曲就是金蝶过去几年的收获，希望对大家能够有所帮助。 四、访谈对话1.问：今年ERP国产化替代到了什么程度和阶段，目前存在哪些困难和挑战？徐少春：第一，去年到现在，我们初步统计完成了44家大型企业的国产化替代，把国外的ERP系统替换成了金蝶的EBC系统。第二，我们发现中国的大企业，对包括金蝶这样的本土厂商越来越有信心。第三，金蝶从2016年开始打造苍穹平台，我们在技术上、研发上的投入每年都持续增加，累计已投入50个亿。当然，我们这28年，也在这个行业积累了丰富的经验，特别是积累了很多企业数字化的场景、最佳实践和模型。第四，卡中国企业的脖子，对我们实施制裁，给我们形成了很大的压力。但是任何事情都可以转化，化挑战为机遇。我们可以看到中国企业在各个领域实现国产化替代，实现技术的赶超，甚至引领。在我们这个行业应该说正在由超越向引领转变。当然，我们也是倡导开放包容的文化，纵使有打压，但是能合作的地方还是要学习与合作。例如Gartner这家国际机构总部也在美国，他们在这个行业里的洞察、观点，我们认为好的地方要拿来消化，并且跟业务结合起来。在竞争当中合作，在合作当中竞争，这两者是相辅相成，互相促进，最终带动行业高速发展。2.问：您个人认为管理软件国产替代化的历史进程是刚开始还是进入到了深水区？徐少春：如果把它分成三个阶段的话，我觉得现在还在初始阶段。这个事情在初始期是刚刚萌发，第二阶段是到成熟阶段，第三阶段是逐渐衰退的阶段，我觉得现在还在初始阶段。国产化替代看似是用一个国产的产品来替代国外，实质来讲是一个文化。早期中国企业学微软和学IBM，我们的管理都是学他们的。过去，在我们中国人的内心深处，认为国外产品的品质就是好，现在我们对国内产品品质的自信在上升，当然还没有达到一个最理想的程度。所以这也是中华民族伟大复兴未来十五年甚至二十年三十年的进程，我们的自信心会越来越强，中国产品在各个领域无论是硬件还是软件都会越来越好，很大程度是一个文化的问题——你内心相不相信中国人能研发出世界上最好的产品，能不能提供最好的服务，你自己去买商品的时候是怎么考究的。我认为这才是深层次的问题。3.问：作为头部厂商，金蝶经常砸掉过往，经常砸掉过去很骄傲的产品，什么动力让金蝶愿意打破自己原来很擅长的东西？徐少春：第一，对于高科技行业、企业软件行业，可以说是日新月异、变化多端，有挑战、有压力，但是也有机遇。因为我们感受到了挑战和压力，有来自于客户的，有来自于同行的，有来自于这个行业的，逼迫我们要不断地进取，这是化压力为动力，所以“砸”其实就是一种我们对市场作出的反应。第二，创业28年，我们内心当中有一种美好的愿望“要让这个世界变得更加美好，让阳光照进每一个企业”，我们拥有这么多技术、经验、知识，我们要分享。因为有这种动力，所以我们必须要改变。第三，“砸”有不同方面的含义，向客户是一种承诺；向同行是一种宣誓和引领；向内部员工来讲就是告诉大家我们没有退路了，我们已经通通“砸”掉了。2017年，砸掉ERP，销售人员问我们卖什么，你不能再卖ERP这样落后的软件，我们没有退路了，必须要研发新的产品。至此，金蝶云有一款款的产品出来，先有金蝶云·星空，后来有金蝶云·苍穹、金蝶云·星辰，今年又有金蝶云·星瀚，我们的云是一朵朵砸出来的，我们全体员工背水一战在云方面要取得成功和突破。4.问：为什么会去做“徐少春个人号”，是什么样的企业家精神在支撑着你？徐少春：坦率讲过去离客户太远了，现在每年也拜访一些客户，但是毕竟数量还是很少的，我们大大小小的客户有680万，很多客户我听不到他的声音，他也听不到我的声音。创业这么多年其实一直在想，我们仅是为客户提供产品和服务，除此以外没有别的东西吗？事实上，我们不仅是商业的往来，更是一个新型的链接，我们在这个世界因为产品结缘。有这份缘分，那么我就想除了产品和服务之外还能做什么，我就想通过微信服务号“徐少春个人号”跟客户说一些心里话，能够帮助他成长，彼此成长，成就他人就是成就我自己。开设了徐少春个人号，我回答了很多问题，也收获很多，受到他们很多的鼓励和激励。所以，徐少春个人号看似是我聆听客户的心声，其实也是聆听社会的心声，让我不脱离这个社会，到了这个阶段和这个年龄能够利于更多的人，能够共同成长的想法。

The CRM, or Customer Relationship Manager, is an application that helps manage many marketing, pre-sales and sales functions. Its potential expands, however, when it can be integrated into other parts of your company, like your ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system, financial or accounting platforms, productivity or time tracking software, shipping and distribution and much more. In today's episode we explore how businesses can be thinking bigger about their CRM and share some real world examples of how CRM integrations have made 1+1 = 3.

The ERP ( Enterprise Resource Planning) application often acts as the brains of an organization, connecting different and disparate business units, priorities, initiatives and objectives through technology and data. In today's episode we're exploring what the ERP is, best practices for getting more out of your ERP, and how the right integrations into other systems, platforms and applications your organization is using can create enhancements with tremendous power to increase efficiency and speed up business outcomes.

Sběr, distribuce nebo zpracovávání informací k řízení, plánování či rozhodování, komponenty: lidi, procesy, hardware, software, údaj, informace, znalost, Public Information Systems - veřejně přístupné, SMIS - sociální sítě EIS - Enterprise Information Systems - 1) univerzální - ERP - Enterprise Resource Planning, PDM - Product Data Management, PLM - Product Lifecycle Management PIM - Product Information Management, HRM - Human Resource Management, BI - Business Intelligence, SCM - Supply Chain Management, MIS - Management Information System, CRM - Customer Relationship Management, MES - Manufacturing Execution System, APS - Advanced Planning and Scheduling, DWH - Data Warehouse, ECM - Enterprise Content Management, EAM - Enterprise Asset Management 2) systémy určené pro speciální účel - nemocnice - AIS, rezervace letenek, e-learning, UIS - Univerzitní informační systém, ISAS - Informační systém administrativy soudů - okresní soudy ČR 3) systémy na míru - Opencard, SIS (Schengenský informační systém), IZIP - elektronická zdravotnická knížka - Ministerstvo zdravotnictví, Systémová integrace - ERP - CAD - PLM, PDM, výroba - SCM, APS, MES, někdy: CRM, větší organizace - BI, HRM, PIM, ECM, systémoví integrátoři, vývoj - 1)definice požadavků - 2) Návrh sytému a software: úvodní studie, analytické modelování, systémový design, objektový design 3) implementace a testování částí: implementace, zkušební provoz 4) testování celku - nasazení

Today I chat with Todd Crandall, who has vast experience in project management and ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) implementations. We talk about how to plan large projects and how to manage people to motivate them and guide them through large changes in an organization. We also discuss things like negotiation and meeting agendas to keep everyone focused and efficient. Finally, we finish the episode by hearing some of Todd's life advice he would give to his 20-year-old self. Credit to Noah Derr for Intro/Outro Music - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnYoA11YpswhsXCLSKX_Vng

Custom ERP software solutions are specially designed mainly for enterprise and enterprise requirements. For businesses looking to update their enterprise, custom ERP software development is becoming an ever-popular choice. The major purpose of implementing ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) solution is to improve operational efficiency and add significant value to your business. For this to materialize, enterprise companies with multiple business segments require a customized ERP application development that not only addresses their priority needs but also empowers them to expand in the future. Customization is wanted because nobody knows your company and your clients higher than you do so retaining that in thoughts if you deliver them regular software this is fulfilled by every other business enterprise however customized based totally requirements may be achieved best with skilled and top companies. Thus, Indglobal Digital Private Limited guarantees outstanding viable effects for the commercial enterprise through imparting strong Custom ERP Software Development. For More: https://www.indglobaldigital.com/service/erp-software-integration-development-company/ Contact Number +91-974-111-7750 Mail ID: info@indglobaldigital.com

This episode is full of acronyms. Here's a quick list for reference. A brief explanation of each Industrial Revolution follows the list.CNC: Computer Numerical Control. It's a computer controlled machine that uses pre-programmed software to direct the movement of machining tools and 3D printers.ERP:  Enterprise Resource Planning. The ERP system runs the entire plant.HMI:  Human Machine Interface. It's a touchscreen on a machine that displays the data on that machine.IIoT:  Industrial Internet of Things. IIoT is the extension of the Internet of Things (IoT) in industrial sectors and applications. The digitization and digitalization steps to use data to make good business decisions.IIoTA:  Industrial Internet of Things Appliance. An appliance that easily connects IT and OT and transfers data directly and natively without the need for generic communications.IT:  Information Technology. The Enterprise side where the data servers & databases reside.KPI: Key Performance Indicator. It's a measurable value to illustrate effectiveness.MES:  Manufacturing Execution System. MES is the manufacturing leg on the ERP system.Modbus TCP:  Modbus is a data communications protocol. TCP is Transmission Control  Protocol.OA:  Overall Availability. It's a process based Key Performance Indicator.OEE:  Overall Equipment Effectiveness. Also a process based KPI.OLE:  Object Linking and Embedding. Invented by Microsoft in the '80's. The OLE principles for process control begat OPC.OPC:  Open Platform Communications. A generic, common language that runs in a PC environment and is used to communicate with PLCs on the plant floor. Some folks say stands for "Oh, Please Connect!"OT:  Operational Technology. The plant floor. When talking about machines think operations.PC:  Personal computer. In manufacturing when a PC is brought into the system, it becomes an IT asset. The IT Department must then protect it.PLC:  Programmable Logic Controller. Controls the majority of manufacturing equipment. Capable of gathering and generating data from the machines on the plant floor, OT side.The Industrial Revolutions in manufacturing:Industry 1.0 - the mechanization of manufacturing with the introduction of steam and water power.Industry 2.0 - the mass production assembly lines using electrical power.Industry 3.0 - automated production using electronics, programmable logic controllers (PLCs), IT systems, and robots.Industry 4.0 - using "smart factory" autonomous decision making of cyber physical systems using machine learning and big data analysis. Interoperability through IoT and cloud technology.During this episode, Brandon discusses:Each of these terms - what they mean and how they relate to an effective manufacturing grade IoT system.The differences between Digitalization and Digitization.The basic goal of most industrial IoT implementation.Some pitfalls that elliTek has been asked to solve.OPC and why some folks say it stands for "Oh Please Connect!"Quality data - what it is and some reasons for skewed data.How elliTek is able to overcome these industrial IoT struggles - The Trick!Watch the "Two Minutes To Data" video. Read more about how an MES Gateway Appliance opposes OPC and industrial PCs.

ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) software is used in every industry. It’s been developed for certain verticals in cannabis and hemp, however there hasn’t been an ERP focus for extractors and processors yet. Our guest is Paul Coble, CEO of Thalo, a platform to manage processor data and metrics for key insights into yields, efficiencies and decision making. Schedule Wayne 1-on-1 call (Office Hours, Fri 2-4pm PST)

Custom ERP software solutions are specially designed mainly for enterprise and enterprise requirements. For businesses looking to update their enterprise, custom ERP software development is becoming an ever-popular choice. The major purpose of implementing ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) solution is to improve operational efficiency and add significant value to your business. For this to materialize, enterprise companies with multiple business segments require a customized ERP application development that not only addresses their priority needs but also empowers them to expand in the future. Customization is wanted because nobody knows your company and your clients higher than you do so retaining that in thoughts if you deliver them regular software this is fulfilled by every other business enterprise however customized based totally requirements may be achieved best with skilled and top companies. Thus, Indglobal Digital Private Limited guarantees outstanding viable effects for the commercial enterprise through imparting strong Custom ERP Software Development. For More: https://www.indglobaldigital.com/service/erp-software-integration-development-company/ Address: #511, 3rd floor, 10th cross, Gollahalli Main Rd, Shikaripalya, Electronic City, Bengaluru, Karnataka 560100 Contact Number +91-974-111-7750 Mail ID: info@indglobaldigital.com #erp #erpsoftware #indglobal #erpconsulting #customerp #erpservices #erpsme #besterpsoftware #organization #erpmigration #erpsystem #ERPimplement #ERPapplicationdevelopment #applicationdevelopment #ERPsoftwaresolutions #Enterpriseresourceplanning

内容来源：2020年4月15日，由腾讯云联合千帆课堂举办的“企业如何迈出数字化转型第一步”。讲者：彭双全 思为科技创始人兼CEO1、疫情对于房地产数字化的推动是暂时的还是持续的？今年，凤凰云、碧桂园、融创、华润、卓越等一些头部企业，基本上都在往地产数字化方向走，而且在疫情之前就已经启动起来。大家在分析房地产行业的时候，觉得这个行业盘子足够大、规模足够高、盈利能力足够强，但是为什么数字化程度相对而言如此滞后？之前，房地产行业的红利比较大。但今天这个行业遇到一些新的困境，最大的困境在于供需关系的反转，就是客户变少了。整个房地产市场由卖方市场变成买方市场，所有开发商去争夺客户，这个时候，客户的争夺已经前置了，如何理解？如果观察房地产客户全生命周期，我们会发现，从一个客户最开始了解项目，到线上到访，再到他认购成交的全流程，整个数字化都是先从最右端ERP端（Enterprise Resource Planning即企业资源计划，ERP端为企业资源管理软件）开始逐步往前进入CRM端（笔记侠注：Customer Relationship Management客户关系管理）。头部地产企业在线上做的实践，本质上是想弥补它之前的不足。在这个过程中，我们先从购房者的角度去看这个问题，这个红圈意味着什么？从上海的数据来看，上海现在平均一个客户购房的平均成交时间是四个月。如果拆开来看这四个月的用户行为，我们会发现一个特点，客户前三个月有可能都在线上进行比较，第四个月才来线下，那就意味着什么？意味着你如果不能进入线上战场，你后面是拿不到这个客户的，客户很有可能被其他率先进入到这个战场的公司提前获取到。2、打通房地产影响的最后一公里线上和线下之间不是一条线，而是一个鸿沟。这个过程中，我们要把线下的所有业务场景在线上进行重构，再反馈到线上进行整个线上场景的补全，线上线下一体化拉通。这个事情做起来非常有挑战，一旦做起来以后，就意味着我们打通了营销的最后一公里。如果打通了房地产营销的最后一公里，接下来会是一个什么样的情况？①品牌重塑：品效合一，空地一体克里斯坦森讲了一句话，“用户其实并不是购买产品或服务，而是为了让自己的生活有所进步”。过去几年，开发商在渠道不断变强的过程中，也是开发商品牌能力不断变弱的过程。之前，开发商对品牌的重视度不是不够，因为品牌的投入很大，并且并不能直接为它所受益。有可能品牌打出去以后成交会起来，但是渠道占比不会降低。整个数字化地盘打通以后，要做的第一件事情就是空地（天空陆地）一体，就是在品牌端的投放，线上和线下都是打通的。同时在这个过程中，我们能做到品效合一。客户看到小程序以后，我可以把优惠信息进行前置。在这个过程中，通过开发商重新掌握定价权回到主战场。客户扫完二维码领取优惠券以后，客户信息可以第一时间被沉淀。客户不用到线下，开发商在线上可以率先锁定客户，完成整个客户的转化。在这个过程中，我们可以把整个过程中的客户全生命周期的洞察、销售的全流程管控，以及业务全流程真正闭环掉。②赋能一线：从结果到过程，从管控到赋能对于房地产领域，真正的核心抓手是在置业顾问端，我们以微信为载体，帮助置业顾问连接客户，把他的产品、内容、营销活动可以直接推送给客户。如果客户到了线下以后，我们可以把前序的线索拉回来，线上线下打通，对客户的来源进行判定，对客户的分配进行更加精准和科学的分配。在这个过程中，对顾问端的管理从以前的单纯的结果管控转变为后果管控，从以前的管控转变到后面的赋能。③客户洞察：从封闭，到透明在地产营销最核心的抓手始终是回答一个问题：我的客户从哪里来，到哪里去，我在哪里精准找到我的用户。前后端没有打通之前，我们对客户的行踪可以用一个词来形容——“来不知所以，去不知所踪”。前后端被打通以后，都可以提前知道每个到访客户关注我哪些内容、对我的哪些地方感兴趣、购买意向是A还是B还是C、这一类型的客户找哪个顾问接访比较合适。在这个过程中，客户洞察可以实现从封闭到透明的过程。④智能管控：从不确定，到确定通过数据化把整个营销的全链路打通以后，管理人员可以根据数据做精准营销动作的分析和营销结果的反馈，进而再去推动下一阶段的反馈。在这个过程中，提升了他整体管理上的闭环能力和迭代能力。从这个点来讲，我们认为营销是没有捷径的。营销的核心问题就是：解决怎样能够快速贴近市场、快速反馈、快速闭环，日拱一卒，功不唐捐。最后我也想引用毛主席的一句话：“武器是战争的重要因素，而不是决定性因素，决定性的因素是人，不是物”。

内容来源：2020年4月15日，由腾讯云联合千帆课堂举办的“企业如何迈出数字化转型第一步”。讲者：彭双全 思为科技创始人兼CEO1、疫情对于房地产数字化的推动是暂时的还是持续的？今年，凤凰云、碧桂园、融创、华润、卓越等一些头部企业，基本上都在往地产数字化方向走，而且在疫情之前就已经启动起来。大家在分析房地产行业的时候，觉得这个行业盘子足够大、规模足够高、盈利能力足够强，但是为什么数字化程度相对而言如此滞后？之前，房地产行业的红利比较大。但今天这个行业遇到一些新的困境，最大的困境在于供需关系的反转，就是客户变少了。整个房地产市场由卖方市场变成买方市场，所有开发商去争夺客户，这个时候，客户的争夺已经前置了，如何理解？如果观察房地产客户全生命周期，我们会发现，从一个客户最开始了解项目，到线上到访，再到他认购成交的全流程，整个数字化都是先从最右端ERP端（Enterprise Resource Planning即企业资源计划，ERP端为企业资源管理软件）开始逐步往前进入CRM端（笔记侠注：Customer Relationship Management客户关系管理）。头部地产企业在线上做的实践，本质上是想弥补它之前的不足。在这个过程中，我们先从购房者的角度去看这个问题，这个红圈意味着什么？从上海的数据来看，上海现在平均一个客户购房的平均成交时间是四个月。如果拆开来看这四个月的用户行为，我们会发现一个特点，客户前三个月有可能都在线上进行比较，第四个月才来线下，那就意味着什么？意味着你如果不能进入线上战场，你后面是拿不到这个客户的，客户很有可能被其他率先进入到这个战场的公司提前获取到。2、打通房地产影响的最后一公里线上和线下之间不是一条线，而是一个鸿沟。这个过程中，我们要把线下的所有业务场景在线上进行重构，再反馈到线上进行整个线上场景的补全，线上线下一体化拉通。这个事情做起来非常有挑战，一旦做起来以后，就意味着我们打通了营销的最后一公里。如果打通了房地产营销的最后一公里，接下来会是一个什么样的情况？①品牌重塑：品效合一，空地一体克里斯坦森讲了一句话，“用户其实并不是购买产品或服务，而是为了让自己的生活有所进步”。过去几年，开发商在渠道不断变强的过程中，也是开发商品牌能力不断变弱的过程。之前，开发商对品牌的重视度不是不够，因为品牌的投入很大，并且并不能直接为它所受益。有可能品牌打出去以后成交会起来，但是渠道占比不会降低。整个数字化地盘打通以后，要做的第一件事情就是空地（天空陆地）一体，就是在品牌端的投放，线上和线下都是打通的。同时在这个过程中，我们能做到品效合一。客户看到小程序以后，我可以把优惠信息进行前置。在这个过程中，通过开发商重新掌握定价权回到主战场。客户扫完二维码领取优惠券以后，客户信息可以第一时间被沉淀。客户不用到线下，开发商在线上可以率先锁定客户，完成整个客户的转化。在这个过程中，我们可以把整个过程中的客户全生命周期的洞察、销售的全流程管控，以及业务全流程真正闭环掉。②赋能一线：从结果到过程，从管控到赋能对于房地产领域，真正的核心抓手是在置业顾问端，我们以微信为载体，帮助置业顾问连接客户，把他的产品、内容、营销活动可以直接推送给客户。如果客户到了线下以后，我们可以把前序的线索拉回来，线上线下打通，对客户的来源进行判定，对客户的分配进行更加精准和科学的分配。在这个过程中，对顾问端的管理从以前的单纯的结果管控转变为后果管控，从以前的管控转变到后面的赋能。③客户洞察：从封闭，到透明在地产营销最核心的抓手始终是回答一个问题：我的客户从哪里来，到哪里去，我在哪里精准找到我的用户。前后端没有打通之前，我们对客户的行踪可以用一个词来形容——“来不知所以，去不知所踪”。前后端被打通以后，都可以提前知道每个到访客户关注我哪些内容、对我的哪些地方感兴趣、购买意向是A还是B还是C、这一类型的客户找哪个顾问接访比较合适。在这个过程中，客户洞察可以实现从封闭到透明的过程。④智能管控：从不确定，到确定通过数据化把整个营销的全链路打通以后，管理人员可以根据数据做精准营销动作的分析和营销结果的反馈，进而再去推动下一阶段的反馈。在这个过程中，提升了他整体管理上的闭环能力和迭代能力。从这个点来讲，我们认为营销是没有捷径的。营销的核心问题就是：解决怎样能够快速贴近市场、快速反馈、快速闭环，日拱一卒，功不唐捐。最后我也想引用毛主席的一句话：“武器是战争的重要因素，而不是决定性因素，决定性的因素是人，不是物”。

Hoy nos encontramos con Marcelo Garza experto en desarrollo de software a la medida en 180 Devex. Ellos se encargan de crear un ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning), adaptan el sistema para las empresas según sus necesidades. Explicamos las diferencias entre los sistemas ya existentes y los diseñados a la medida en cómo pueden beneficiar enormemente a la empresa que lo aplica. Nos cuenta un caso de cómo el uso de un software hecho a la medida beneficio a uno de sus clientes a subir sus ventas entre un 30% y 40%. Marcelo nos da una recomendación muy importante. Si no te actualizas, por más que tengas el mejor producto o modelo de negocio, hay más competencia hoy que hace 20 años, debes actualizarte. Hablando de negocios creados hace tiempo que aún siguen manejando los mismos procesos solo porque “funcionan”. Si no tienes un levantamiento de datos en los diferentes periodos puedes estar haciendo tus procesos mal o enviando cotizaciones mal, lo cual puede afectar a tu negocio. Un sistema te puede ayudar a conocer toda esta información y permitirte ayudar a mejorar. Si no hay información de donde partir para compararte en tu desempeño con algún periodo anterior. Estas obsoleto, no tienes a ni idea de a dónde vas. 180 DEVEX Development Experts https://www.180devex.com/ Correo: mgarza@180devex.com

ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) software can have tremendous benefits for small wholesalers. We define ERP and how it particularly solves problems that wholesale distributors run into when they are growing.

Joining me on the show today is Maryse Benhoff, president of BG Communications, a translation firm focused on providing quality linguistic services for over 25 years. Maryse is also the Chair of the ISO/TC37/SC5 committee, which handles standards for translation and interpretation. We talk about the importance of structure and standards to translation workflows, how ISO has been instrumental in helping the translation industry self-regulate worldwide, and how Maryse and her team have coded their own translation ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system.

Durante el proceso de evolución y crecimiento de una compañía se usan programas de computador que permiten evolucionar los procesos hasta llegar a un punto en donde la escala de los mismos debe ser apoyada con software especializado y acondicionado para cada lógica de negocio y cada compañía. Estos sistemas de información se conocen como sistemas ERP que son las iniciales de la frase en inglés Enterprise Resource Planning Durante una conversación con Carlos Manuel Rodríguez dedicamos este episodio de Transformación Digital a revisar los aspectos mas importantes que deben ser tenidos en cuenta para llevar con éxito la implantación de un sistema ERP, se describe lo necesario a tener en cuenta para la planificación y se muestra la visión genera de proyecto de gran impacto para una compañía como lo es la implantación de un sistema que soportará el negocio de una compañía en un herramienta de software que es el sistema ERP. Comparte este podcast, deja tus comentarios y escríbenos que temas quisieras escuchar en este espacio de Transformación Digital. Invitado: Carlos Manuel Rodríguez Conducen: Ricardo Villegas Londoño email: r_villegas@hotmail.com Alejandro Peláez Rodríguez email: alejandropelaezr@gmail.com Producido por: Alejandro Pelaez Rodriguez Web site: https://www.apelaez.com/podcasts/transformacion-digitalBlog: https://www.apelaez.com/blogemail: alejandropelaezr@gmail.com Redes SocialesInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/alejandropelaezrYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/alejandropelaezrTwitter: https://twitter.com/apelaezFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/alejandropelaezr CreditosMusic by: Fontanez / Doug Maxwell - Urban LullabyFotografia: Juan Jose Alvarez Calle https://www.kreafoto.com

Durante el proceso de evolución y crecimiento de una compañía se usan programas de computador  que permiten evolucionar los procesos hasta llegar a un punto en donde la escala de los mismos debe ser apoyada con software especializado y acondicionado para cada lógica de negocio y cada compañía. Estos sistemas de información se conocen como sistemas ERP que son las iniciales de la frase en inglés Enterprise Resource Planning Durante una conversación con Carlos Manuel Rodríguez dedicamos este episodio de Transformación Digital a revisar los aspectos mas importantes que deben ser tenidos en cuenta para llevar con éxito la implantación de un sistema ERP, se describe lo necesario a tener en cuenta para la planificación y se muestra la visión genera de proyecto de gran impacto para una compañía como lo es la implantación de un sistema que soportará el negocio de una compañía en un herramienta de software que es el sistema ERP. Comparte este podcast, deja tus comentarios y escríbenos que temas quisieras escuchar en este espacio de Transformación Digital. Invitado: Carlos Manuel Rodríguez Conducen: Ricardo Villegas Londoño email: r_villegas@hotmail.comAlejandro Peláez Rodríguez email: alejandropelaezr@gmail.com Music by: Fontanez / Doug Maxwell - Urban Lullaby Fotografía: https://www.juanjalvarez.com Producido por: Alejandro Peláez RodríguezPodcast URL: https://apelaez.podbean.com/Web site: https://www.avenetsa.comemail: alejandropelaezr@gmail.com

The ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) is a misnomer, as it should have been ERM (Enterprise Resource Management). ERPs became prevalent back in the 80's to operate supply chains and remain the 'transactional core' of most larger companies. However, ERPs are now undergoing deep changes to cope with newer supply chain practices as well as newer IT practices that have emerged during the last two decades.

What would Scott Harms do? We all have people we look up to, and take cues from in our lives. For Saunders, of course, that person is a machinist. Saunders got to TOUR of MetalQuest in Hebron, Nebraska, so keep an eye out for that on his youtube channel Teaser: This guy is positive AND realistic! It’s a story of slow growth, but it’s very relatable as an entrepreneur.  GOOD VIBES Even though Saunders was only at MetalQuest for the day, he got some real mellow vibes from Scott and the employees. Saunders and John talk about what makes a good work environment.  PLUS the company has their own ERP system! So processes are smmmooootthhh ERP = Enterprise Resource Planning. An ERP system is “a modular software system designed to integrate the main functional areas of an organization's business processes into a unified system” - Reference Aka. Lots of things are AUTOMATIC GOOD PROCESSES So, basically all you need is robots. Grimsmo and Saunders talk about how they’re improving their own processes lately (hint: drilling concrete is involved). But remember, money spent one place, can’t be spent somewhere else.  GOOD INVESTMENTS Real-estate and machines are top of mind for Grimsmo and Saunders, and the Grimsmo Team has FINALLY found a new shop and is SCALING-UP! The two Johns talk real-estate advice, and how to negotiate when leasing a new building. You can often talk to the landlord to improve a space in general if the improvement adds value to the property.  “You can often negotiate a tenant allowance” - Saunders  “If your broker isn’t totally comfortable talking about this, you need to find a new broker” - Saunders  Goodbye Erin, it was nice! Hope you find your paradiiseee  Erin leaves the Grimsmo shop to go to Africa and throw herself into freelancing. Fraser is the latest addition to the Grimsmo team!  Keep an eye out for the RJ Cylinder Shop Tour on Saunders’ Channel 

Episode 15: A Financial Consolidation is an Analytics project! Financial Analytics is an important branch of the field of Analytics. It involves data management, modeling and reporting. A Financial Consolidation system is a Financial Analytics project that brings together data from one or more ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system together with a financial model with the purpose of producing consolidated financial reports. Not only are these obligatory for regulatory reporting, but they can also be a strategic asset. Shorter month-end closing cycles, coupled with detailed product/segment/regional/entity/etc reporting made available quickly, to front line managers WITH the ability to drill down for more detail in an intuitive and interactive manner … can all translate into business value. In this episode we tell the story of how a real QueBIT customer moved beyond Excel spreadsheets and implemented a robust enterprise financial consolidation system using a combination of a relational data art and a special purpose multi-dimensional database technology. Along the way, we cover some of the fun stuff that needs to be considered on a journey like this, and hopefully convince you that it is worth the effort!

Episode 13: The Evolution of Analytics Solutions Guest: Gary Corrigan 15 years ago, when Gary Corrigan first sold analytics technologies, customers were looking for technology platforms. Today the landscape has changed, and customers are now looking for solutions to their specific business problems. That’s a significant change! It’s as though customers have gone from wanting to buy a truckload of bricks to shopping for ready-built houses – and Gary has had a front row seat! In this week’s podcast conversation, Gary articulates very clearly what the value of analytics technologies are to businesses, and how they are not a luxury add-on to an ERP (“Enterprise Resource Planning”) system, but an absolute necessity for any company to survive and thrive in today’s business environment. Among other things he talks about the importance of listening to and connecting with customer needs, and how it is just as important to figure out early that you are not a good fit, as it is to close a deal. At the end Gary shares valuable practical advice for both sellers and buyers of technology. In the podcast, Gary references these resources: - Lou Diamond’s Thrive Loud podcast - Gary Corrigan’s LinkedIn blog post: The Quarter-End Conundrum This episode is sponsored by QueBIT, the Trusted Experts in Analytics.

Začínajúce e-shopy často riešia fakturáciu, účtovníctvo, sklady, personalistiku a financie čisto manuálne bez akejkoľvek automatizácie. Čo sa dá relatívne v pohode zvládať pri jednotkách až desiatkach objednávkach mesačne, je však prakticky nemožné pri stovkách, tisícoch a desaťtisícoch objednávok za mesiac. Ak teda nechcete zamestnávať armádu administratívnych pracovníkov. Vtedy vstupujú do hry tzv. ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) systémy, ktoré dokážu zásadným spôsobom ovplyvniť efektivitu a ziskovosť firmy a to najmä vďaka automatizácii, prepojeniu všetkých kľúčových procesov v rámci firmy a reportov, ktoré dokážu zásadným spôsobom zlepšiť riadenie firmy. Viac o tom, prečo kedy a ako uvažovať o automatizácii procesov v e-commerce, prezradil v rozhovore Viktor Pieš, Executive Director spoločnosti Solitea Slovensko a.s.. V rozhovore sa dozviete: 00:20 - čím sa zaoberá spoločnosť Solitea a čo je jej cieľom 1:00 - kedy by sa mal e-shop začať zaoberať automatizáciu fakturácie, účtovníctva, skladov 3:20 - čo všetky je možné v e-shope zautomatizovať a akým spôsobom 4:40 - je výhodnejšie spravovať obsah e-shopu priamo v admine shopu alebo cez ERP-čko a dáta synchronizovať 7:10 - čo je najdôležitejšie pri výbere ERP a aké sú najčastejšie chyby v rozhodovacom procese 9:20 - ako si spočítať, koľko financií mi vie automatizácia procesov ušetriť 10:20 - ako komunikovať zavedenie alebo zmenu ERP interne medzi zamestnancami 11:10 - ako sa pohybujú orientačne investície do ERP a automatizácie a s akými produktami začať 14:00 - koľko klientov využíva jednotlivé produkty spoločnosti Solitea (iDoklad, Money S3, Money S4, Money S5) 14:45 - na ktoré e-commerce riešenia už má Solitea pripravené napojenia 16:40 - je možné napojiť na ERP aj krabicové riešenia ako Shoptet či Biznisweb? 17:30 - sú súčasťou ERP-čka aj pokročilé dátové reporty a prehľady? (Business Intelligence) 18:55 - je možné dáta z ERP-čka napojiť do externých BI nástrojov 20:35 - v ktorých odvetviach podnikania sú ERP systémy najviac prínosné 21:55 - aká je dlhodobá vízia spoločnosti Solitea a na čo sa plánuje sústrediť v ďalšom období 23:25 - ako zabezpečiť, aby projekt nasadenia nového ERP-čka bol úspešný Budeme radi za vaše postrehy, prípadne doplňujúce otázky a verím, že vám video pomôže posunúť vaše on-line podnikanie na ďalší level.

David A. Duryea is business improvement veteran with more than thirty-two years of experience in practical business improvement and technology innovation. He has led more than sixty business improvement and innovation projects in sixteen different industries. As a legal expert witness for failed technology and business innovation projects, David has performed project forensics on failed implementations for over a dozen large-scale projects. A popular speaker on business improvement, he has been featured at Computerworld, InfoWorld, and industry conferences. His articles in the area of ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) and advanced technology implementation practices have been featured. David holds a patent from the United States Patent Office, degrees in business administration and computer science, and an MBA with a focus in project management. David is happily married with seven children, four of whom were adopted from China. He and his family live near Cleveland, Ohio. When not studying the intricacies of business improvement, he enjoys hiking, bicycling, baseball, coaching, and investing time in activities with his children. His Business-Improvement Model Part 1: Business Strategy Structure Step 1 Understand the Law of Business Reality Organizations serve customers in a profitable way (balancequality and efficiency) or cease to exist. Step 2 Understand the Target—The Core Business Model Why organizations generate profit different from their competitors. Step 3 Influencers of the Core Business Model Pressure and Enhancers on Performance Step 4 Embrace Business Strategy and Structure Basis for Improvement—Whether Leaders Know It or Not Part 2: Business Process Structure Step 5 Common Processes and Functions of a Business Model The Law—Inherent to Process, Functions, and Operation Step 6 Industry Processes of a Business Model Developing Industry Common Process Structure Step 7 Core Business Model Processes Embrace for Uniqueness and Profitability Step 8 Business Processes Influencers Influencing Process Structure, Performance , and Profitability Step 9 The Business-Improvement Objective Change Operations to Further an Organization’s Core Business Model Step 10 Business and Operational Performance The Performance Goal—Core Business Model Productivity Step 11 True Operational Performance Measurement Measure the Goal: Core Business Model Productivity Part 3: Business Enablement Structure Step 12 Business Process Enablement: Resources to Realize the Core Business Model The Interview Transcript Interview with David Duryea Hugh Ballou: It’s Hugh Ballou again. My guest tonight is a man I met through another person, his publicist. We talked a little bit, and I discovered we had a lot of values in common and we do similar work. We are going to talk about David Duryea’s new book that is out. I have a copy of this book, and it’s really good. It’s 200 pages of really, really well-researched, well-written content. The book is called- I’m getting to the cover. I’ve started reading and I am deep down into it. The cover is a light bulb, and it says Do the Right Thing. My guest on this podcast is David Duryea. David, tell people a little bit about yourself and what inspired you to want to write this really great book Do the Right Thing. David Duryea: Well, first of all, Hugh, thanks for having me on again. It’s been a great conversation and connection with you as well. Basically, Do the Right Thing is doing the right thing in business improvement, including process and technology. I would have to say that I came up with the idea, or at least the inklings of the idea, somewhere around the late ‘90s, believe it or not, when we were in the heydays of putting in a lot of different technologies. Dot coms were coming up as well, and we were doing a lot of implementations. I also saw at the same time a very high failure rate. Some of my background is integrated in that. Not only have I been working in this industry for almost 32 years—I have done a lot of researches, I have been on over 60 different implementations and projects myself—I was also called on the courts to be an expert witness for failed projects. What that means is I was in project forensics. I would go in, figure out why the project died, what caused it, and where the bones were buried. I wrote the reports and submitted it to the courts. During that process, there was a lot of things that came to light. I saw a lot of different failures, and I also saw a lot of different reasons. What happened was all of those projects converged into a similar idea and concept. Those are the concepts I have highlighted in the book. I put a lot of these concepts into different phrases so people could really understand them and use them in their insightful way. The first thing was the law of business reality. The law of business reality is how an organization is created basically to serve their customers in a profitable way. The law says that if you don’t serve your customers in a profitable way, you will cease to exist. All organizations are under that principle, that law if you will. A core business model, which is a big part of the book, is a subset or derivative of the law of business reality. That is an organization serves its customer uniquely in its industry in a profitable way. Every organization needs to understand exactly why they are there, how they serve their customers, and how they do that in a profitable way. If you cannot serve your customers, and you cannot be profitable in some way, then you will cease to exist. Hugh: You say in the latter part of the book that “You understand how crucial it is to have a good understanding from the law of business reality to your organization’s own core business model to a sound, functional, and cost-effective enterprise establishment strategy. It is a cascading relationship that starts with the essence of the organization.” “It is a cascading relationship that starts with the essence of the organization.” That is a profound paragraph. David: Hugh, the core business model is what an organization is all about. It transcends all the mechanics and knowledge and things people want to do with their business. It is the heart of why you’re there. Very successful organizations have those. If you look around at the most successful what I would call start-ups or large organizations, like Apple, Netflix, FedEx, even Amazon right now. Amazon is really in the news right now with what it did with its acquisition that it’s impending on. They know exactly who they are, how they serve their customers, and the customers themselves know who they are and how they will serve them. When you have that essence, when you really understand yourself—you are not just going through the motions of “Hey, this is serving up a service or a product, and here you go,” but you really have that passion for it—then your organization emulates that as well. The connection point between the core business model of the organization, all of the operations that need to activate if you will your core business model, all of that is- In the book, it is described as three major pieces: your marketing and sales, your product or service development and delivery, and your administration to support those. All of those have different activities and processes that they need to go on. The essence is something that permeates all of those things. The core business model turns into core business processes, and then they also turn into core business enablement. And we discuss that all the way through the book so you understand when you buy a certain type of technology, if it doesn’t further your core business model, then you will have a real problem serving your customers in the way they want to be served. Just to give you a quick idea, Hugh: When we were doing implementations, one of the root causes of the failures was because they actually purchased software, which is called ERP software, that was really designed for a different industry than the industry they were in. For instance, this was a distribution company, and they bought software that was about manufacturing. Those were a mismatch; therefore, the software didn’t fit them real well. The project failed. In this case, the project failed, and it brought down the organization. It literally sent the company into chapter eleven. Hugh: Oh my goodness. You talk about that as well: “You can see the direct relationship of how it affects not only your business, but also every business. It’s the reality-based improvement that so many organizations seem to try to ignore or circumvent. Now that you have the insight to the misguided leadership styles, failed establishment initiatives, and disintegrated operational models that have led to failed projects and bankrupt companies, you in turn have the methods to directly drive your company to be one of the industry leaders.” How did you come to the essence of all of these moving parts? There are a lot of them, and you address all of them in the 200 pages of this book. I find it easy to grasp because it is laid out so cleanly. I hate books that are all just copy, but you have it laid out so it’s really easy to grasp the concepts visually, which means in my simple mind, I can internalize it. Tell me about your background of how you assimilated all of these components and put them together in this really good book. David: Because I was not only doing the implementations for business, but I was also doing forensics, I could see it from both ends. I was speaking not only to people that were in the operations side, but I was also speaking to the business side and boards of directors and investors. It gave me such a broad-based perspective of exactly every level of the organization and which level has an impact or influence on it. I also spoke to some customers. I also got the unique perspective of understanding how the customers looked from the outside in, and also from the management and leadership from the inside out. Because of that broad base or that holistic viewpoint I was able to glean out of so many different engagements, I was able to clearly put all of these concepts together, and also I saw how they all connected and they were all holistically and synergistically connected. Hugh: I like that word “synergy.” My company, as you may know, is called SynerVision. I took Synergy and Vision and put them together. As you may also know, I spent 40 years as a musical conductor. We create the culture of high performance, which we call ensemble. SynerVision is what resembles ensemble in a culture that is not a music culture. What you talked about, about your core model, I relate everything to the orchestra, the choir. There is a core model for how we function. It is a very high-performance model. You either cut it, or you don’t play. It’s a very high standard indeed. I’ve yet to find that kind of standard in any other organization that I work with, whether it’s a mid-cap organization or a smaller nonprofit. I don’t find that system anywhere. This core business model driving to higher performance, expand on that a little more, if you think there is some synergy with what I just talked about. David: Absolutely. I have been nowhere near the level of music talent that you’ve been, but I certainly have played an instrument. I was all the way through college in the marching bands. If you can’t play in tune, you’re out. You know it instantly when someone is out of tune. You’re always nudging the guy next to you and saying, “Hey, what is wrong with you?” In the same side of it, in the marching band, if someone isn’t in line, you know that, too. In fact, the whole audience sees that. The idea of the core business model is exactly what you said, Hugh. It actually is not only the essence, but it is also the goal. It gives you the idea of exactly what you need to do. As you say, you’re a conductor. Everybody in the orchestra needs to look at you. Everybody needs to know where they are in the music. Everybody needs to know what’s coming next. It’s the same thing as the core business model. Everybody understands what it is they are driving for. This is the model; this is the goal; this is what we need to do. They all know their places in the organization, whether it’s in the process of marketing/sales/service; administration; or service/product deliverability. They all know their individual roles, and they all know how they fit together so the whole operation runs at the same time. Believe me, Hugh, they know when the sales and marketing isn’t in sync with the product deliverability because someone is overselling the features or just the product itself, the features aren’t doing what they said they did, and it’s not in alignment with the core business model. All the way down to your attorneys. If your attorneys are not expressing the contracts they need to, it emulates who you are at a core business model. All of it together is either in sync or out of sync. And guess what? Your customer is going to know immediately. Hugh: That is so critical. Under your business improvement model on page 162 in your book, step one under part one of the Business Strategy Structure, Understanding the Law of Business, the footnote, the description underneath it is, “The organization serves customers in a profitable way (balance, quality, and efficiency) or cease to exist.” In the next one, Understand the Target of the Core Business Model: Why Organizations Generate Profit Differently from Their Competitors. We want to serve customers in a profitable way. It’s really the balance that is important. Talk a little bit more about those. We get off track. Some companies are so focused on profitability at the expense of the customer experience that it really hurts their company. Talk about this balance a little bit under the law of business. David: That’s a great point, Hugh. The whole idea of the core business model is about balance. You have to serve your customers, and you have to earn profits; otherwise, you are not sustainable as an organization. You cannot continue to serve your customers in the way they would like if you cannot make the profits that you need. At the same time, we know you have to earn some sort of profits not only to maintain but also to pay all of your expenses and to earn a little bit of investment. You have to have some investment; otherwise, you can’t be sustainable. At the same time, if you take advantage of your customer, or even basically take them for granted, I see that so often in businesses. Taking a customer for granted, that they are always going to be there. Well, because of the invent of all the things of social media, online purchasing, it will take you all but 30 seconds to lose a customer. In the book, I actually highlight the cost of losing customers and how that has an impact and how much of an impact on market share and things like that. You definitely do not want to take advantage of your customer, and you certainly don’t want to take them for granted. That takes a lot of effort and investment on the other side. You have to be efficient at serving that customer. If you are not efficient, you won’t be profitable enough to serve your customers in the way they expect. The balance is constant, where you are constantly trying to serve, constantly trying to be efficient, and constantly trying to do both at the same time. If you don’t keep that focus of constantly balancing, one of them is going to get out of balance, and then you are going to start to slide into unprofitable situations or you will lose market share and customers will run to a competitor who is serving them in the way they want. Either way, it’s going to slide the company into probably dissolution. Hugh: Absolutely. You should send a copy of this book to the major airlines. Let’s let that one slide. How does focusing on an organization’s core business model help drive higher performance? Going back to the musical analogy, to me, the core of who we are is our performance. It’s not the theory of what we do; it’s how we actually perform the day-to-day operations. We do make a profit because we provide value to our customers. How does focusing on this core business model drive higher performance? David: The first thing you want to do is understand why you are serving your customers, why they are coming to you. It’s not, “Hey, this is what we’re offering you. You need to come to us.” That’s not the way it works. The way it works is the customer says, “Hey, you’re serving me in the way I want. I like that, and you’re giving it to me for a fairly good price that I can work with.” The idea is the performance side of it is first you have to lay out how you are going to serve your customer. From that, there are processes and functions. You also need to enable those processes and functions. The number one enablement right now is technology, as everybody knows. Technology is a big deal. But the issue is now technology is extremely expensive. Furthermore, it can be complex to work with. The company needs to keep a very good focus as to what kind of technology they need and their own customer value. When you are driving in performance toward the back end of the book, I have actually laid out how you can measure the performance of the processes in something I call core business productivity. There is a way you can measure that and then compare that with a new operation you want to put in. That is a good way for most organizations to understand whether a new piece of technology, a new vendor, or even a third-party outsourcer—I am constantly being asked if we should keep something in-house, or should we give it to a third party? Remember this. Any time you take a particular function and move it outside of your organization, it is going to dilute your core business model because somebody else is doing it. If there is a way you can maintain that, then it’s fine. But most of the time, if you keep it in-house, you have total control, but it could be more expensive. So you are constantly balancing those pieces of how you are going to enable your process and your operations to perform it in a higher way. Performances can be measured in the core business model productivity. This helps you understand what keeps you in balance all the way through from the top part of the organization down to the lower ends, where you are actually in contact with your customers. Hugh: Productivity = F:E. Is that the shortened version of it? Core business productivity = Core business model functionality and efficiency performed. David: Yes. It’s basically functionality times efficiency. The reason why it’s laid out that way is that the functionality piece is the functions you want to perform for your customers. It’s literally what it is that needs to get done. The efficiency side is how efficient are you at performing those functions. That’s the balance. You have these functions that need to be done, and the efficiency, how well you are performing those functions. If you multiply those two together, then you get what is called productivity. If one goes out of balance, meaning you are not doing the functions you need to, then your productivity goes down. If you are not doing the functions efficiently, then your productivity goes down. See how those balances balance out? Hugh: Yes. What I was thinking is this ought to be mandatory reading for anybody starting a business. We get off track because we look at the existing models of ineffective, inefficient productivity and not really valuing the customer experience. I guess you are familiar with the Gallup poll that says 70% of employees are either disengaged or actively disengaged. David: Correct. Hugh: Which adds to negatively impacting their performance. David: Exactly. They are not- I’d love to be able to do some research on that to peel back the layers on the onion here and try to understand why that 70% exists. Why is it so persistent out there? I bet you those people are not connected to the organization’s core business model. They are not invested in what’s going on. They don’t seem to understand how they fit into the tonal model. Hugh: My experience is you’re spot-on. I do the people part of that. How do we integrate it into performance? It’s the culture piece that I work with. We call it leadership, but very few people understand leadership. What you are giving us is a solid framework to educate us on what it should look like and how we measure it. I am going back to if we are starting a business. A lot of people start a business, and many of them fail. Dunne and Bradstreet said 90% of entrepreneurs fail because they don’t have the skillset to run a business. They call it manage-to-manage. It’s leadership, and as John Maxwell says in The Law of the Lid, the organization can’t go any further than the leader’s ability to lead it. What you are giving in this book from what I have seen—and I have not digested it, it’s a lot of really useful content that I was not willing to rush through, but the parts that I have seen I resonate with a lot. Your listing of citations in the back, your attributions, you did a lot of research in addition to your own personal experience. So it’s not just you shootin’ from the hip. It’s well-thought out, well-researched. It took you five years to put this together, I believe you said. David: It took me five years to write it. Again, it was a part-time thing. But it probably took more like 15 years to actually be able to solidify and legitimize all of the concepts in the book itself. But yeah, it was pretty rigorous, but I wanted to be comprehensive. I wanted it to be something a business leader or someone in the trenches could pick up and say, “Okay, I understand this piece. I know how this works for me.” Like you said, it is step by step. It is like a handbook, but also something people can pick up and understand the concepts and how those concepts fit in their own organization. Hugh: I found that to be very true. What do you see as the major issues as to why organizations do not perform or projects that do not attain the target of performance? David: Well, I would say the biggest reason is the leadership really doesn’t understand their own core business model. This one, Hugh, was a big revelation for me. I even have a story in the book of how I sat down with a business leader and asked him the question, “So why do the customers buy from you?” And he said that I was the very first consultant that ever asked that question of him. He said many consultants come in and talk to him about all kinds of performance models and analytics and things like that, but I was the first one to ask him why the customer buys from them. Instinctively, he knew his core business model. It was a private organization, and a lot of private organizations know that instinctively. A lot of leaders and organizations do not understand their core business model, and they get into some ideas how they want to expand the company. They don’t even realize some of those initiatives go against their core business model. That is very problematic, and we have seen that a lot. The first thing is why do businesses or some project initiatives fail? That is because they don’t understand how those initiatives are going to affect their core business model. I would say the next thing is the companies don’t understand how their own products and services fit into their core business model. One of the great cases I would think of is the Apple computer. If you think of the history of the Apple computer and what they have been able to do, and they have changed a lot over the years, but what hasn’t changed is their core business model. People don’t even realize this, but they take technology and make it simple. That’s what they do. On top of that, they make it, if I will, cool. And that is how they have been able to add on all products, not just computers, but also their phones, their pads, their iPods. Everything they do is all about taking some technology and making it easy to use and then making it real fun. They really understand their products and services and how all of their products would fit inside their core business model. I would say another big one is the misnomer that technology will automatically further an organization’s core business model. Not necessarily. You have to get the right kind of technology. The next one is the big one I work with almost every day. That is innovation will automatically further an organization. Those two sound a little bit the same, but they’re not. There are all kinds of innovation that comes out, but sometimes organizations don’t necessarily mesh with the innovation itself. Here is the biggest one of all: Organizations that don’t even realize that their industry has been changed by innovation. They don’t grasp that. Hugh, that dovetails very much into what you do with leadership and the skills and things you are talking about. They didn’t have the skillset to realize what the impact of certain innovation is going to be on their organization and in their core business model. I see that a lot these days because these things are changing very well. Hugh: I agree with you. It’s partly that leaders don’t understand their role and the consequences of their actions. They think they have to be the boss. They have to make all the decisions rather than using the expertise around them. I bought a little camera store in Florida and grew it from $12,000 a year to $1.4 million and owned commercial photo in that part of central Florida over the years. I had five distinctly different Kodak dealerships. At that point, Kodak owned the imaging business. They were the big guy on the block. They totally ignored Fuji and the innovation of dealership. As you know, they ultimately went into bankruptcy. Now they are just a very different minimal player instead of a major player. The leadership was really blind to the status quo. This innovation thing can really distract you or not. It can kill you. That’s a huge point you just made. David: Exactly. Hugh: I’m curious: What instrument did you play? David: Trumpet. Hugh: Ah! I won’t tell you my trumpet player jokes because you will probably come back with conductor jokes. There is some synergy in the core business model and the orchestra; I want to use an orchestra because there are so many different kinds of distinct personalities. Brass players are very different from the woodwinds, for example, would you say? David: Absolutely. Hugh: So the leader nuances all of those, but your core business model is your culture, and your core business model is the structure, which is a very analytical, highly mathematical structure, which then provides the basis for structure to be created. In that core model of the orchestra, we have the strategy of the music itself, the piece of paper, but it’s the connection and integration of that and performance that really makes something happen. The core business model and the understanding of it is what’s missing and the different players understanding their role. We serve the music, we serve the client, which is the audience. We focus on what makes a good user experience. Is there an analogy there that fits what you’re talking about? David: Absolutely. What you are talking about, analogies with music, and we were talking the other day about that- it really does fit similar to that as well is that the model itself gives the goal of where the organization wants to go. The other people, as in musicians, know how to play that instrument. They need that sheet of music to know how they fit altogether. If they fit altogether, and they are doing the right thing, they sound fantastic. If they don’t, then we are out of tune, out of key, and some are coming in when they are not supposed to come in on the music. I only make that analogy because I had a professor constantly tell me- He was a stickler for making sure you were coming right exactly on the downbeat where you should be. And he knew, within milliseconds, or that’s what it seemed like, whether that was accurate or not, but all of those things together, if you don’t come together, then you sound awful. Just like the core business model, if you don’t have everyone together, which sounds like an amalgamation of the culture and the structure and operation all working in concert together. When they do, then it’s working very well. You will be able to instinctively know how to serve customers and balance that quality and efficiency that you need to maintain profitability and sustainability. Hugh: This fits my podcast “Orchestrating Success: Converting Passion to Profit.” The profitability, as you said earlier, drives what we do. I am amazed at how many people don’t realize that even in charities we have to make profit. We are focused too much on profit, or we don’t do that critical balance that you talked about. This is helpful. What steps can an organization take to help improve their performance? David: Well, the first thing they need to do is they need to implicitly understand their own core business model. If they don’t know, they need to figure that out so they can figure out the effects on the operation itself. Once they understand that, they need to understand exactly how their profit generation is tied to their core business model. They need to understand that customer and why they are buying from them. They will be able to understand how that is affecting the model and the generation itself. I really think that businesses need to constantly review industry trends and changes that might impact their core business model. They need to sift them, if this is really moving this or if it’s not. Further technology and innovation, or even a lot of it, is- what about a disruptor? A particular company that is coming in and they look like the start-up, father/son, if you will, and they come up and all of a sudden they dissipate out. An organization that understands why their core business model is there and why that customer is purchasing from them will understand whether a particular disruptor is going to impact them or not. So organizations need to really understand the disruptors and any new innovation and technology that is coming in and sift that with their own core business model. They might need to make the moves, to make the changes. Right now, there is a huge change in what we call the financial advisory industry. Those organizations are starting to really feel the impact, and actually a number of them are starting to file bankruptcy because they did not change, from the impact of how innovation is making it move from an active management model to a more analytical and technology-driven model to reduce costs and make them more efficient. Huge changes that are going on in there. That is just to name one of those impacts. Those pieces themselves constantly looking at what their core business model is, why customers purchase from them, how they can constantly improve that model, and further their customers is the best way to understand how to improve the business. Hugh: This brilliant book that you’ve created, Do the Right Thing of Business Improvement and process and technology. How does the book help organizations to improve? Where can they get the book? David: Okay. The way that it helps them be able to improve themselves is the book is laid out, as you mentioned, Hugh, in a step by step process. It is organized in three areas from top to bottom. It goes from the strategy side to the process of execution side, and then it even has a section on enablement, which is how to evaluate resources for your organization. Basically it goes from A to Z. You can pick it up and read it, and with the stories and research in there, I try to make it more interesting than just a book of definitions, then hopefully you can pick it up and understand the concepts a little bit better. Where they can get the book. It’s on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and my publishers’ website at Westbone.com. It is under the name Do the Right Thing of Business Improvement with my name of David A. Duryea. The other thing they can do is if they like the book and some other resources out there, then they can go to my website, davidaduryea.com, and out there, we highlight those core business model ideas. We have other resources that folks will be able to download, a bunch of white papers, if they are interested in strategy, innovation, and even disruption. Hugh: Love it. David Duryea, you have created a book that should be a standard in anybody’s business library. It’s not only a learning experience, but it’s also a good reference tool to go back to to keep current. I suggest to clients they get good books like this and they read it through with a highlighter and then six months or eight months later, go back and read it again with a different colored highlighter. We find that we have learned enough that we are ready to learn the next thing. This book has enough depth to it that there is more to learn when you go back and review the content. It’s many years of sweat, and it’s really practical advice. Practical content. And very usable content, I find. Thank you for sharing your wisdom with the listeners of Orchestrating Success. We are people who are making a difference in the world, and it’s content like this that empowers us to make a difference. As we close out this interview, is there something we didn’t cover that you’d like to mention briefly? Finally, what is a tip or thought you’d like to give people as we do a summary at the end here? David: The one thing I wanted to do is to make sure that your audience understands that the core business model- There are a lot of ideas, but the one takeaway they have is understanding a core business model in their organization is to serve the customers in a profitable way. They keep that in the forefront of themselves. This is the tip: always keep that in the forefront. Every time you think about an improvement or something you want to do to add a product or a service, keep that in the forefront. Your organization will not get off the rails. It will keep to the core business model. I believe they will be able to sustain a high level of success in all they do. Hugh: David Duryea, thank you for sharing your wisdom with our listeners today. David: Thanks for having me, Hugh. It’s been my pleasure. Thank you so much.

If you need to track all of the pieces of a business and don't want to use 15 different tools then you should probably be looking at an ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system. Unfortunately, a lot of them are big, clunky, and difficult to manage, so Rushabh Mehta decided to build one that isn't. ERPNext is an open-source, web-based, easy to use ERP platform built with Python.

Jacob Goodman is the founder of Fresh Prints. They set out to do one thing: help make it insanely fun for people to order custom apparel. Fresh Prints is known for their honest and fun approach to business. They have 80+ campus ambassadors that earn an average of $8,000/YR. I highly recommend you check out their unique designs because they’re incredibly creative: https://freshprints.com/product/gallery   On this episode we learn: How Jacob did not fit inside the box at school and what he did to overcome that obstacle. How Jacob convinced his father to loan him $50,000 to invest in his first business. How Jacob ran two business at the same time. We dive deep into the hiring process for campus ambassadors. Jacob calls the hiring process the “secret sauce” to Fresh Prints. (During the interview process he tries to get them to quit and over 80% of applicants drop out in the first round.) How Fresh Prints separates themselves from their competition.  Why/how they strategically place their printers across the country.  How they handle a print order that goes wrong. The unique refund policy Fresh Prints has. The lessons learned from building their own ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) software.  Why Jacob doesn’t think you should follow advice from other’s.  Why Jacob is like Richard Branson!   Thank you so much for listening to Teenage Entrepreneur! For more details on this episode or resources and support on building your business, please visit www.teenpodcast.com We have built a community of entrepreneurs from all around the world to help you on your journey.     

Get out your scuba gear, we’re taking a deep dive today! In this episode of Making Chips Jason and Jim are with a guest, John Berard who has a ton of experience in the research and implementation of ERP (Enterprise Resource Management) systems in manufacturing businesses. John’s got a lot of actionable advice for both the small and larger size manufacturing operations about how to determine your ERP needs, how to find and choose and ERP system, how much budget to set aside for the purchase, and what to expect during the implementation and transition period. This episode could help you take that bold step into a more streamlined way of managing your machine shop. What is an Enterprise Resource Planning system? (ERP) An ERP is business management software—typically a suite of integrated applications—that a company can use to collect, store, manage and interpret data from many business activities. It might and probably will include other software systems (known as MRP - Materials Resource Planning systems). Some of the things a good ERP may include are systems that track product planning and costs, manufacturing or service delivery, marketing and sales, inventory management, and shipping and payment. It sounds complex but once you have the right ERP solution chosen and implemented in your business, the long term benefit is cash savings on a daily basis. Find out more about ERP systems from our guest today, John Berard as he discusses the topic with Jim and Jason. How does an ERP system work? ERP provides an integrated view of your most essential business processes, allowing you to see a “big picture” of what’s going on in your manufacturing operation from many different levels. It also allows you to “drill down” into those broad categories to see the details you need to make better business decisions. A good ERP often does this work for you in real-time, using common databases maintained by a database management system integrated into the program. The applications that are a part of the system share information across the various departments of your operation (manufacturing, purchasing, sales, accounting, etc.). Hear the benefits your business could derive from implementing a good ERP system by listening in to this conversation. How should you start the process of finding and implementing a good ERP system? John Berard, today’s guest on Making Chips, recommends that the owner of the manufacturing company NOT try to make this decision on his own. It’s vital that everyone involved in the collection and use of data within your company be a part of the process. The combined knowledge of the particular facets of your business will enable you to make accurate and helpful decisions about what kind of functionality you’ll need from an ERP system. John’s got some very practical suggestions about how to stage and manage those conversations and how to go about finding the right company with the right solution for you. If you’re considering an upgrade to an ERP system, the basics John shares could save you tons of time and money. Be sure to listen. There are 3 main ways you can mess up the implementation of your ERP system. John Berard has seen many implementations of ERP software and has some “horror stories” about how you can mess it up. #1 - Ignore your people. You have to listen to those you’ve entrusted with the areas of your business. They will have the information and hands-on experience to help you make a good decision. #2 - You want to listen to your peers who have done an ERP implementation in the past. They will have “lessons learned” that will be of great benefit to you, so don’t let the bells and whistles of a fancy ERP system and a smooth talking salesman lead you down a path that a peer is saying may not be the best. #3 - If you have a gut feeling that the software consultant is not serving your best interests by highlighting the bells and whistles of the software that don’t really apply to your operation, listen to that feeling. You don’t want to make a huge mistake on this crucial decision. Find out more from John’s experience on this episode of Making Chips. Outline of this episode [1:05] Welcome and introduction to this episode with John Berard. [3:27] What is the direct function of a ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning tool) or MRP (Materials Resource Planning tool) system? [6:00] How do you bring all the “islands” of MRP systems together under one system? [9:05] An example: a small CNC machine shop, business is good, how do they formalize a plan to bring everything together? [12:13] Success stories of how this transition works. [14:15] Finding an ERP software solution to fit your needs. [15:51] A disaster in ERP implementation solutions and 3 ways you can mess up the transition. [17:28] Avoiding the bells and whistles the salesman might point out so you can apply the system to your typical jobs. [19:37] What should a small manufacturer budget for this type of software? [21:31] How long does it take to implement these software solutions? [21:56] John’s advice to those considering implementing an ERP solution for your company. Links mentioned in this episode John’s podcast: http://www.podcastformakers.com/ www.MakingChips.com/contact Or call us at 312-725-0245