How to avoid ERP failures

Before you can begin to avoid ERP failures, you have to know what an ERP is. ERP, which stands for Enterprise Resource Planning, is an information system that integrates all manufacturing and related applications for an enterprise. An ERP is a great idea for manufacturers, as long as it is done right. On the other hand, ERP failures can be a big problem because it involves a lot of money, but success can help the company make a lot of money.

Here are the steps you will need to follow to avoid ERP failure.

Step one:
You need to learn what causes ERP failure. There are many different causes of ERP failure, but regardless the causes of ERP failure can be the result of any of the following elements acting on their own or in combination with one another. Some of those elements are trouble in installation, business related issues, and reluctance of end users.

Step two:
Take a closer look at the main causes of ERP failure so that you can learn what you can do to avoid ERP failure. By looking closer at the causes, you can learn what things can be done to eliminate any chances of it happening to you.

Step three: Trouble in Installation
If the beginning stages of implementation are not done correctly, you are going to have a higher chance of ERP failure. In order to avoid this cause of ERP failure you will need to change things in accordance with the needs and modalities of your company. You also need t make sure that everybody who is involved in the installation of ERP is aware of the changes that you are implementing. This is important because if the people involved are not made aware of the changes what can happen is their actions can defeat the purpose and functioning of ERP. By making them aware of the changes you can ensure that the process is going to go smoothly and the customizations that ERP goes through are going to be beneficial.

Step four:
The areas of change that you want to look out for include changes that affect the organizational policy; funds allocated and stipulated or allotted time. The reason for this is that the confusion at this stage of the process is going to affect if ERP is properly implemented, so you want to make sure that your properly test it before it goes live, which doing this will eliminate confusions.

Step five: Business Related Issues
With ERP, you are going to need to modify your business process, but beware of the fact that ERP systems are not always suited to stay in tune with the difficulties in the market. Because ERP is not suited to stay in tune with the market this can mean that ERP function is meaningless or it can put the survival of the business into question. The only way to correct this problem and avoid ERP failure is to make sure that your system is flexible enough to deal with the changes of the market that you are in.

Step six: Reluctance of end users
This is actually the biggest cause of ERP failure because people won't use it, even after you have implemented it. There are varieties of reasons why your staff will refuse to use ERP even if you have decided to implement it. What you are going to need to do is address as many concerns as possible of your staff so that they will not be afraid to use ERP. Most of the concerns can be handled by giving your staff the proper information, so that they understand how it works and are not afraid of the change. Something else that leads to failure is wrong usage or improper training. To avoid this you will need to make sure that you train your staff on how to use the system. You should also teach them how ERP is going to positively affect them, so that you can reduce these chances of ERP failure.