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PSSI Blog
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Click the links below to access last month's articles from the PSSI Blog.
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This is just a sample of the topics covered in the "PSSI Blog." You may review the entire collection of business observations at: pssiusa.wordpress.com
Also, watch your email For the "PSSI Blog Log" summary of all of the recent PSSI Blogs.
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 Letter From the President
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 | | Brian Sittley |
Last week I was privileged to be the featured speaker at the monthly meeting of the local chapter of APICS, the Association for Operations Management. There I had the opportunity to convey the latest findings on how ERP helps companies rise to the level of "Best in Class" and, likewise, how those Best in Class companies use ERP to become even better! (Of course, I was speaking to the choir - these were APICS members after all!)
So it's only fitting this month that in his newsletter comments Ted delves into the topics of collaboration, business intelligence and just what is this thing called ERP. Timely indeed.
We earn our living here helping small business deploy ERP systems to gain competitive advantage. I hope our comments herein pique your interest about how YOU can improve your operations and your profits - and when they do, let us know. Questions, problems...? We're here to help!
Regards,
"Providing Mission-Critical Information Systems for Business Since 1987." |
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"If you want to be incrementally better: Be competitive.
If you want to be exponentially better: Be cooperative."
~ Anon
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Business News
You Can Use...
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May, 2012
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Hi ,
This month we're off on a tangent or two: stuff we hate, stuff we like, and stuff that may need explaining. There are no software commercials this month, nor any overt nagging reminder about the June deadline for enjoying the tremendous discount on the powerful, ever-popular Microsoft Dynamics NAV software. But, it's all about business - kinda - and we believe in sharing.
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| Buzz Word Du Jour: Collaboration | |  "Buzz words" are annoying! Recently, it seems that every software article I read discusses "collaboration." I get real tired of hearing and seeing the word collaboration, but building on the concept is critical to success in business.
There are certain words that are (mis)used so much, you begin to cringe every time you hear them: LOL, Viral, 24/7, cloud, GIGO, etc. With Collaboration approaching that level of annoyance for me, I began to question the 2012 business meaning of collaboration. Essentially, as I understand it, collaboration refers to companies harnessing the innovative power of shared knowledge by making information and knowledge more available.
Nobody can know everything about everything - although some people may think they do. It used to be that workers kept their knowledge to themselves; job security, we used to call it. We hoarded information. We hid it in file cabinets or hard disks. We, and only we, knew where to find it.
Today, with the growing number of tools available for information sharing, business associates geographically distant, and the ever increasing volume of information available, it's becoming necessary to learn to share. (Your mamma taught you that sharing is good. Right?)
In 2008, IBM published an excellent white paper, "The new collaboration: enabling innovation, changing the workplace." If you're interested - and you should be if you intend to continue to participate in business as a "knowledge worker," You can download a copy of the paper from the PSSI web site by clicking here: The New Collaboration. It's a quick read - 16 pages - and well worth the time investment. |
| Business Intelligence | |  Business intelligence aims to support better business decision-making. If you're already making all of the right moves, please ignore... Why is there a need for analytics to enhance an ERP system?
In many organizations, monitoring performance never
goes beyond basic reporting. Analysis of financial metrics may be done occasionally, but to be effective, performance measurement needs to consider all key functions and be visible and accessible at all times.
There are three key concepts behind using analytics
to improve performance.
- First, performance must be constantly monitored to convey information instantly, without the need for data integration and manual reporting.
- Second, ad-hoc analysis is required when performance falls short or exceeds expectations to uncover trends, issues and opportunities requiring attention.
- Third, analytics should be used as a management tool - to keep teams on track, to use in coordinating and collaborating, and to assess resource allocation.
The chances are that your accounting/manufacturing/distribution has analytic capabilities built in. Remember that "dashboard" that was mentioned in the system's promotional literature? That is the delivery mechanism for your Business Analytics or Business Intelligence. Your system has the capability of giving you much more meaningful information than it probably is today.
Read the "Adding Value Through Analytics: The Business Case," white paper. Although it was written by the folks at Zap Technology, aimed primarily at people using Dynamcs NAV or CRM software, the same concepts apply to you in your current software situation. Read the paper, then contact us to learn more about expanding the usage of your existing software. |
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What Is ERP?
| |  We have been talking about "ERP" for a long time. Do you really understand what it is and how it can help your business.
(Note: ERP is not to be confused with URP.)
CIO Magazine says, "Enterprise resource planning software, or ERP, doesn't live up to its acronym. Forget about planning-it doesn't do much of that-and forget about resource, a throwaway term. But remember the enterprise part. ERP's real function is to integrate all departments and functions across a company onto a single computer system that can serve all those different department's particular needs." Oh, and CIO is an acronym for Chief Information Officer.
In the distant computer past of 20+ years ago, each departments might have had its own computer system optimized for the particular ways that the department does its work. Or, it may not have had a system at all - just spreadsheets or manual records. But ERP combines them all together into a single, integrated software program so the various departments can more easily share information and communicate with each other.
That integrated approach can have a tremendous payback if companies install the software correctly. ERP eliminates the old standalone computer systems in finance, manufacturing, the warehouse and HR and replaces them with a single unified software system. Each department still gets it own software "module" but now the software is linked together. Sharing the information in the system eliminates a lot of paper handling and the implied errors, and provides company-wide visibility and access to the information.
PSSI has been implementing these integrated systems for our clients since 1987 - probably before some of our readers were born. The systems have changed a lot over the years, evolving into sophisticated systems that surpass the capabilities of the systems even the biggest companies were using a few years ago. If you haven't talked with ERP professionals or looked at the new ERP systems, you should. You might be amazed at the functionality provided and the benefits to be derived from them.
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, thanks for subscribing, thanks for reading, and thanks for being a friend of PSSI.
Sincerely,
Ted Myers
Marketing Manager 574-239-2444 Productivity Strategies & Solutions, Inc.
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