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Aptean Food & Beverage ERP
A Thorough
Adoption Process
is Crucial for a
Successful ERP
Implementation
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For a project as large
and far-reaching as
implementing an ERP
solution, you’ll need all
of your employees to
buy in on the idea and
approach the process
with enthusiasm.
Has your food business settled with “good enough,” keeping around old pen-and-paper record keeping and
outdated legacy systems for years past their usefulness? If that’s the case, you may not know what you’re
missing.
An industry-specific, fully integrated enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution can radically transform a
company’s operations in a number of positive ways. More efficient processes, smarter and faster decisionmaking, greater reliability, fewer errors and total visibility—it could all be at your fingertips.
Of course, it’s not so simple as picking the right product off the shelf and installing the new system. If your
business is ready to take this massive step forward, though, it’s worth doing—and it’s critical that you do it right.
Turning Skepticism to Optimism
For a project as large and far-reaching as implementing an ERP solution, you’ll need all of your employees to
buy in on the idea and approach the process with enthusiasm. You’ll also need to educate them on the new
system and encourage them to take ownership of their role in what will be a huge collaborative effort.
Let’s look at the nine most important steps to take:
Whitepaper | A Thorough Adoption Process is Crucial for a Successful ERP Implementation
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1. Choose an ERP vendor with a cultural match
Not all ERP vendors are created equal—far from it, in fact. As you’re shopping around, ask yourself: “Does this
company ‘get’ us? Do they ‘speak our language’?” You’re going to want to be able to answer those questions
with a firm “yes,” because you and your employees will be interacting with this vendor on a near-daily basis.
2. Involve management in the adoption process
Members of your management team will be among the most important individuals for the success of this
undertaking. They might not be doing all the work themselves, nor will they always be the end-users of the new
system, but they need to be united in their mission and convey that ambition to the rest of your employees.
Create a step-by-step process, let
everyone know who they should go
to with questions, and encourage an
interactive learning experience.
3. Form a project team with key users
This won’t be a project that you can leave to the IT department. Everyone will be involved, but you need a team
dedicated to this project alone so that individuals feel accountable and responsible for the outcomes. It’s best if
the team is made up of folks from various departments—and better still if you can choose someone with a fresh
perspective to lead the group.
4. Reserve enough resources
You know this implementation will take time and money—but have you thought about what other resources will
be necessary? Make sure everyone has the support they need, including someone to go to when they have
questions. And if critical employees are getting taken off tasks to contribute to the project, involve others to
cover for them so your business doesn’t miss a beat.
Whitepaper | A Thorough Adoption Process is Crucial for a Successful ERP Implementation
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The best ERP software is
designed to be customizable
and scale with your business,
and you’ll want to take
advantage of those features.
5. Communicate the change from start to finish
A company-wide deployment of a brand new system is not something you want to spring on anyone. Before
you’ve even made your purchase decision, everyone should know the mission and the purpose behind it. Hedge
on the side of over-communicating as the process progresses. If your employees are able to meet in person,
that’s ideal for big updates—but email and video calls can also serve to keep everyone up to speed.
6. Detailed training and personalized work instructions
What comes with the introduction of new software? Training. It should be comprehensive, but also
personalized—your employees will need to know what functions and interfaces they’ll work with most frequently
so they can focus their attention. Do not, however, overwhelm your people by dumping the whole user manual
in their inbox. Create a step-by-step process, let everyone know who they should go to with questions, and
encourage an interactive learning experience.
7. Celebrate the successes, even the small ones
Gathering together in-person is a great way to mark the milestones along the path of implementation. That’s not
always possible in today’s world, though, so schedule regular virtual events to get together and have a little fun
along the way to your ERP solution’s successful installation.
Whitepaper | A Thorough Adoption Process is Crucial for a Successful ERP Implementation
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8. Don’t stop developing after the handover
Think you can wipe your hands clean after delivery and everyone will march along with no setbacks or
suggestions for improvement? Think again. The best ERP software is designed to be customizable and scale
with your business, and you’ll want to take advantage of those features. As with the implementation, there
should be a team dedicated to assessing what’s going right and what could be improved so that you can take
advantage of everything your new system has to offer, including artificial intelligence capabilities and data
visualizations.
9. Be flexible
Putting an ERP solution in place is a long road, and it’s sometimes bumpy one, too. Both your business and your
vendor will need to approach it with an open mind. Stay nimble. Be patient. Remind your team that they’re all in
this together, and their collective power will help win the day.
Are You Ready to
Learn More?
Reach out to us to hear about the gamechanging Aptean Food & Beverage ERP and
just what it can do for you.
About Aptean
Aptean is one of the world’s leading providers of industry-specific software. Our enterprise resource planning and supply chain
solutions are uniquely designed to meet the needs of specialized manufacturers and distributors, while our compliance solutions
serve specific markets such as finance and life sciences. With both cloud and on-premise deployment options, Aptean’s products,
services and unmatched expertise help businesses of all sizes, across many industries, to scale and succeed.
For more information, visit www.aptean.com.
Copyright @ Aptean 2021. All rights reserved.
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