Choosing an ERP system often seems like a software issue. What features are available? How much does it cost? Can it be linked with the systems we are already using?
Those are relevant questions, but they come later.
The most important question is: how do you ensure that the new ERP system makes your business work better? For that, clear objectives, good processes, and strong leadership are needed.
Without that foundation, an ERP project quickly becomes an attempt to replicate the old software. Then you have new software, but still the old way of working.
1. Ensure strong leadership and a clear mandate
During an ERP project, everyone wants something. The sales department wants better order information. The warehouse wants extra controls. Finance wants different reports. An employee mainly wants their daily routine to remain unchanged.
That is understandable, but the business interest must remain paramount.
Without strong leadership, no real choices are made. Everyone then gets their way as much as possible. The result is a system with exceptions, extra fields, differing rights, and custom solutions for individual preferences.
A strong project leader therefore monitors the company's objectives. Not the wishes of one department or employee.
The question is not:
How do we get the new software exactly the same as before?
The question is:
How do we organize the company so that we can work better, faster, and more reliably?
A good Odoo project approach therefore starts with clear responsibilities, an agreed scope, and someone who can make decisions.
2. Start with the revenue model of your company
An ERP choice does not start with a long list of features. The toughest question comes first:
What does your company make money with?
From that follow the most important processes. For a wholesaler, these are, for example, purchasing, inventory, sales, delivery, and invoicing. For a manufacturing company, production planning may be a larger component. A service provider may primarily look at sales, planning, projects, hours, and invoicing.
Only when you know which processes create value can you properly assess requirements and wishes.
For that, use the MoSCoW principle, for example:
Must have: necessary for the primary process, continuity, or legal obligations.
Should have: important, but temporarily solvable in another way.
Could have: useful, but not decisive for the result.
Won’t have: does not currently fit the objectives or scope.
A wish of an individual user is therefore not automatically a must-have. The classification must be tested against the business objectives.
3. Put processes and scenarios on paper
An ERP project without a blueprint has no shared vision of the desired outcome.
Therefore, describe in advance:
how a process currently runs;
how the process should run later;
which exceptions occur;
which departments are involved;
what information is needed;
what outcome the process should deliver.
Also put concrete scenarios on paper. For example:
a customer orders a product that is not in stock;
a supplier delivers partially;
a sales order is changed after approval;
an invoice must be checked by multiple people;
a return leads to a credit invoice.
These scenarios will later be converted into acceptance tests. This checks whether the setup matches what you agreed upon in advance.
What is not on paper, you cannot build, test, or assess properly.
In our project approach we therefore translate processes into a blueprint, project plan, acceptance scenarios, and training needs.
4. Choose a targeted ERP system and then a partner
You can compare ERP systems for months. That does not automatically mean you make a better choice.
In practice, it is often wiser to choose a system relatively early that likely has most of the required functionality. After that, the more important part begins: determining whether the implementation partner fits your organization.
A good partner must be able to do more than demonstrate software. The partner must understand:
how your company makes money;
hoe je processen werkelijk verlopen;
what challenges employees face;
which changes are feasible;
which choices are good for the whole.
A partner who only executes what every employee asks does not always help you move forward. Sometimes you need someone who says: “That’s possible, but why do you actually want this?”
Plan daarom een gerichte Odoo-demo waarin je eigen processen en scenario’s centraal staan. Een algemene rondleiding door de software zegt maar beperkt iets over de geschiktheid voor jouw bedrijf.
5. Use standard as the norm
Standard functionality should be the starting point. Adapting software to every old habit is usually not a good strategy.
For example, we see that companies spend dozens of hours recreating an invoice from the old software. Extra fields are also added to orders because people want to maintain control.
But more fields do not automatically mean more control. Often, good master data management is a better solution.
The same applies to user rights. Do not automatically give employees the same rights as in the old system. Reassess who needs what information to do their job.
Customization can be meaningful, but there must be a clear business case. Does the adjustment yield time savings, fewer errors, better information, or additional revenue?
Are you in doubt? Document the request and see if it is still needed after three months. Sometimes it is not a software problem, but a matter of getting used to.
Lees ook meer over onze visie op Odoo-maatwerk.
6. Determine the scope from the core processes
The first phase of an ERP project should focus on the core processes of the company.
The client's project leader determines the scope. However, it must be checked in advance whether processes outside the scope can temporarily continue to operate in the old way.
If that is not possible, a broader scope is needed. Sometimes everything must be done at once.
A phased implementation is therefore not always better. It only works when the business operations can responsibly continue outside the first phase.
7. Find the most profit in manual work
Start with processes that involve a lot of manual actions and controls.
Think of:
retyping data;
entering the same information in multiple systems;
Excel files alongside the ERP;
paper approvals;
double checks;
manually compiling reports.
That often holds the fastest improvement. Not only because employees save time, but also because errors and discussions about the correct version decrease.
Excel is not inherently wrong. It becomes a problem when Excel takes over the actual administration or process control outside the ERP system.
8. Calculate the total investment
The costs of an ERP project consist of more than just licenses and implementation.
Also consider:
time for training;
acceptance testing;
involvement of key users;
data control and migration;
temporary double work;
support after going live;
hypercare and resolving teething problems.
An organization should not only reserve budget for the software, but also for the time needed to learn how to work with it.
9. Choose software that can grow with you
You acquire an ERP system to become more efficient. Often you want to grow afterwards to stay ahead of competitors and maintain your existence.
The digital world is also changing rapidly. Customers expect more speed, better information, and digital services. Therefore, software must be able to grow with:
more revenue and employees;
new locations or countries;
changing customer expectations;
new integrations;
further automation;
new digital working methods.
Scalability is therefore not just about more users. It is about whether the system continues to support your business when the way of working changes.
10. Learn from other companies
A reference visit is intended to learn how the implementation actually goes.
For example, ask:
How did the collaboration with the partner go?
What was disappointing?
Where did resistance arise?
What choices would you make differently now?
How much time did training and testing take?
What happened after going live?
What tip would you give to the next company?
What should you definitely not do?
Only go on a reference visit when you are sufficiently convinced of the software. The goal is not to have another general product demo, but to gain insight into the implementation, the partner, and the expectations.
Check our customer references and especially ask reference customers about their experiences with the collaboration and implementation.
An ERP choice requires leadership
An ERP system is a means and not an end.
The best choice arises when management and project leadership:
monitor the business objectives;
document processes and scenarios;
dare to set priorities;
take standard as a starting point;
critically assess customization;
guide employees well;
take testing and training seriously;
choose a partner who is also willing to disagree.
