The beverage industry, like any other, relies heavily on efficient management to remain productive and profitable. In the landscape of technology and digital transformation, one tool stands out for the numerous positive impacts it can have on operational efficiency – beverage ERP (enterprise resource planning) software. But, as many organizations worldwide have come to find out, the benefits of a successful ERP implementation do not come without a company deeply invested in its success.
If you’re wondering if your bev-alc business is ready for an ERP system, you’re in the right place. Below, we have collected the top questions to ask yourself and your fellow business leaders before embarking on a search for a software solution.
Beverage ERP Readiness Evaluation
We’ve divided this questionnaire into five key areas for evaluation. Taking the time to answer these questions will help you determine whether your company is prepared to invest the time, resources and brain power necessary for a successful beverage ERP implementation.
baseline reasoning
- Why do we want an ERP system? How will a new system align with and enable our long-term goals and/or exit strategy?
- Do we plan on hiring additional headcount to help hit our growth goals or scaling with a smaller team using high-powered software?
- Do we know what we need? Have we documented the functional and technical requirements we want our solution to address?
- What’s the priority of the project? What, if anything, is more important?
Prework
- What is our budget for the entire system throughout its life cycle — implementation, training and optimization, plus ongoing maintenance costs?
- Where are our biggest pain points and inefficiencies?
- Are our processes documented and standardized? Which processes contribute to our competitive advantage?
- What is the current state of our data? Is it clean, organized, complete, accurate and ready to be input into a new system?
Project Management
- Will we integrate with any existing systems — and how complex are they?
- Who’s in charge? And, why are they in charge?
- Who on our team has experience with an ERP implementation?
- Is there enough in-house expertise to manage a project of this scope correctly?
- Are project leads appropriately backfilled so they can focus on driving success?
Risk & Change Management
- What is our risk management plan? Have we identified the real risks of implementing a system and ways to mitigate them?
- How much time will the implementation require, and from whom?
- How will we manage the change for our employees — and ourselves — to ensure the best outcomes?
- What is our communication strategy? Who will create, own and deliver messaging about the new system to our employees, customers, vendors, partners, investors and other stakeholders?
Success Measures
- How will we define success? How — and when — will we measure it?
- What is our ROI timeline?
- How will we celebrate?
Are We Ready for Beverage ERP?
Investing in ERP software is a huge endeavor for companies of any size. Selecting and implementing the new system will require careful planning and allocation of financial and talent resources. These questions can serve as a guide as you work with your leadership team to decide how and when you’ll pursue new beverage ERP software.
If you ultimately decide that the time is right for a game-changer, contact us. We can discuss your specific operational goals and help you craft a plan to enable strategic growth and success.
