Day: July 22, 2024

Private Equity Firms Need To Make This Investment Right Now

You might be focusing your investments on everyone but yourself. Your internal strategies and organization might be on the back burner. Even though your goals for the upcoming year might revolve around investing in the growth of other companies and helping them “make it”, you need to make this one investment for your own business…

Private equity firms need ERP systems

There are strings attached to your investments. You want to know your money is being spent well. Many private equity firms are investing in ERP systems to keep up with their goals of increasing revenue, reducing waste and generating healthy profit margins.

What’s an ERP system?

ERP (enterprise resource planning) systems reduce complexity across your business functions and help you make better decisions. The system is a software platform that brings all of your departments into one place and projects data that will help you determine what’s working for your business and what’s not.

NetSuite for private equity firms

NetSuite has a special platform for private equity firms. The platform supports your firm by reducing as much risk as possible. NetSuite can advise you on new solutions, costs and timelines to keep you on track with investment goals.

NetSuite’s special platform for private equity firms includes custom reporting, carve-outs, unique add-ons and platform flexibility. All of these resources help you track and decide how your money is being spent.

The next steps of your investment

CONTACT THE TPI TEAM

TPI has a dedicated team of consultants that will help you implement your ERP system, train your employees and work with you on your business goals. We help our partners get the best out of their ERP systems through personalized consulting.

Your Small Business Needs an ERP System

Some small business owners are under false pretense that ERP systems are only for large businesses and corporate giants. Small business owners and entrepreneurs actually benefit a great deal from ERP systems. Without a large manufacturing station and countless employees, planning inventory and fulfilling orders is draining.

Keep your business small and still deliver BIG

Isn’t that the dream? Maintaining your tight-knit, small business plan while still being able to serve all your loyal customers with efficiency and quality? These two goals seldom have a positive outcome without proper management of processes and streamlining your operations. ERP systems help with these functions by blending and automating key business functions such as order processing, production and finances.

Benefits of an ERP System for small businesses

Reduced complexity: Instead of each department within a small manufacturing company having their own information system, all relevant data can be shared and accessed across all departments. This essentially eliminates the need to re-enter or export data, which yields a decrease in errors, increased productivity, and reduced expenses on HR.
Better decision-making: By providing real-time data, small business owners can making difficult decisions easier and are able to quickly respond to changes in the business environment.
Flexibility, scalability and growth: Because of the increased data clarity that an ERP system provides, staff are able to adjust their attention to manage increasing volumes of business. This helps small business adjust to their growth without ever feeling disorganized or overwhelmed.

The best ERP System for your small business

Before choosing an ERP system that is the best fit for your business we recommend reading “Considering a New Business System”.

There are multiple ERP systems available for small businesses and entrepreneurs. Our preferred ERP System is NetSuite, however our specialized consultants at TPI can evaluate your business needs and help with this decision process.

How To Conquer Demand Planning for 2021

“No plan of operations extends with any certainty beyond the first contact.”

Wake up and conquer demand planning for 2021

It’s October!! And you know what that means – you’re beginning your planning cycle for next year. And how on earth do you even accomplish such a thing in today’s environment? If there’s one thing for certain, it is to execute that plan with absolute certainty, and to have the perspective and agility to move and pivot when you inevitably encounter the unexpected.

The hallmark of any business plan or operations plan bound for success is having a cadre of creative coaches to carry the load.

Prepare to fulfill your customers’ orders NOW

So let’s talk for a minute about Demand Planning.

No matter what business you are in, having a clear forecast of what volume of orders you are expecting is absolutely central to your business. There are endless resources committed to the depths and varieties of demand planning, but who has time these days to do all of the research, all of the analytics, and figure out how to use all of the tools to fit your business?

KPI’s and a good coach are your secret weapons to conquer demand planning

Listed below are 3 simple steps to get started on your demand planning process. Remember that no matter how good your starting plan is, the most critical element is to have a process that is agile enough to adapt to our changing environment, and the tools to help guide your decisions.

KPIs – Understand what is important to you and why – you know you want to use your demand planning functionality and tools, and that it can help you and your team simplify your daily work, but how do you know if you are getting better?
a. Are you trying to have the best order fulfillment rate?
b. Best lead time?
c. Best on-time delivery?
d. Lowest inventory cost?
e. Least amount of inventory space? Getting clarity on what is important and deciding how you will measure your progress is paramount.
Get a coach – as a business owner or supply chain planner, you probably already have a good idea of what you want and what is possible. What you may not have is a ton of time for analytics and setting up your business processes and systems to achieve what you want. The budget is tight, and you can’t just staff up with so much uncertainty on the horizon – you have important things to keep your focus on. Hire a coach who can learn your business and bring expertise in both the process and your business system. A coach will save you time and give you confidence in how to adapt your plan going forward.
Start today – Demand planning is not a one-and-done exercise. It is iterative, agile, and ever-
improving. It is about building habits around learning what is happening in your business, with your customers and your supply chain to meet their demands. Take the first step and commit to a regular cadence of review, learning, adoption, and progress.

That’s it!! If we could offer a simple formula for building a successful demand plan, we’d love to have your insight on where this launchpad would fall apart. We haven’t seen it fail yet and are committed to learning and adapting our ability to deliver this message effectively to those in need. Take care and happy planning!!

4 Ways To Get the Most Out of Your New ERP System

When we enter a partnership with a client we take a look at their business needs. Our team of specialized consultants pinpoint the organizational needs and obstacles that are preventing success. With that information, our team implements an ERP system such as NetSuite and other organizational tactics to help our client leap forward with their business goals.

We maintain our partnerships with clients after the initial implementation to ensure our clients will have success with their ERP sytem. This success comes from several contributing factors and we want to share the top five that will help our clients get the most out of their ERP systems.

1. Understand why you need an ERP sytem

Maybe you’re a small or medium sized business and think there are cheaper ways to navigate your business goals. You might figure only big companies are running ERP systems.

We want our clients to pin-point their business objectives and understand what they wish to achieve with an ERP system. With this understanding and having everyone on board, an ERP system will be more successful for your business. Identifying, communicating and planning for certain goals will improve the outcome of those goals.

On the technical front, it is also important to primarily understand your business needs. The various technical capabilities and software features of an ERP system are not the most vital components to your business success. What really matters is how you want your business operations to run and what your key business requirements are. Once you have this defined, you can more effectively choose the software that fits your unique business needs and customize your unique features to support your mission.

2. Commitment from company executives

When you’re implementing an ERP system for your business it is crucial to have everyone on board. Your CEO, CIO, IT director, IT staff and all other staff have to adopt this new system for optimal success. Even with the best system, plan and support consultants you could fall short on your goals if you don’t have top-management support because there are conflicting business needs and interests. Unanimous support of a core set of goals is critical for seeing success with a new ERP system.

3. Back up your new ERP system with a strong support team

A new ERP system requires strong project management support and resource commitment. An ERP system isn’t a one-time project that thrives without support. An ERP system needs a project manager and other participating roles in the project. Here at TPI we have specialized consultants that assist in those roles for our clients by providing VIP support. A strong project implementation plan and execution is key to ERP success.

4. Support your staff with adequate ERP training

With a new ERP system, you’re not just forcing change on your IT folks- you’re impacting everyone. Investing time and money into training and change management is necessary for ERP system success. If you’re working with consultants from TPI or another company this training could easily be outsourced. Ask your ERP consulting team about different available methods for on-boarding your staff.

Considering A New Business System

ARE WE EVEN READY FOR A NEW BUSINESS SYSTEM?

HOW WILL IT MAKE US BETTER?

These are just a couple of questions you might be asking yourself as you are considering how to tackle the biggest problems in your business. Oftentimes, we either jump into a solution because we believe it is going to solve our problems or we do not know what else to do, so the first option that appears seems like the right one.

A Simple Strategy For Tackling Business Needs

We recently spoke with a colleague who was considering whether a new business system could help their growing pains. They were unsure, but this is understandable. Before progressing with these decisions they need to understand their current processes, how their people are working within and where their business is heading. We help our clients process through these questions.

We like to first tackle these questions and discoveries before investing time in a system that helps their business. When we use this strategy we have a better understanding of how to simplify a client’s data flow and enable automation.

Answer These Questions When Considering A New Business System

How is our team at adapting to change – eagerly collaborating on new processes or kicking and screaming?
How much time can we allocate to improvement and growth versus firefighting?
How can we we streamline our processes or adapt our new business system to accommodate our current process?
Are there immediate steps we can take that will help us clarify and bridge to what we want the end result to accomplish?
Do we trust that they understand our business?
What makes sense to do first?

By answering questions like these and many others, you will save an enormous amount of guesswork, backtracking, time and money in the implementation process. Get it wrong, and you could easily burn up 6 months and still not be satisfied because you’re too far in to turn around.

Taking a moment to wade into the discussion and explore options can help gain the clarity and perspective needed to move forward with confidence. And that makes all the difference! Our team of industry-experienced navigators understand the intersection of Technology, People, and Innovation. They are eager to learn new businesses, new challenges, and help guide you in this important path to growth. Please contact the TPI team for assistance with these initial questions, additional consulting and how to move forward with your business goals.

TPI – it’s what we stand for. We think you’re gonna like it here!