SPONSORED BY OCHIBA BUSINESS SOLUTIONS
SEPTEMBER 2019 IT IN FOCUS
BUILDING
STRONG FOUNDATIONS
ERP Implementation: The Technology Driver for Industry 4.0 and how to make it a reality
CONTRIBUTOR OCHIBA BUSINESS SOLUTIONS
At the outset of a project, much of the
emphasis is placed on the ERP provider. They
are busy gathering requirements and helping
the business to analyse how to get as much
benefi t as possible from the new system.
However, as the project progresses, the burden
of e ort inevitably shifts to the manufacturer.
At this point a strong implementation team will
make all the di erence as they battle day to day
business issues against the pull of the project.
At Ochiba, we do everything we can to help
potential and existing customers. We make
sure that they understand time demands by
providing an overview of the project tasks
and a potential schedule up front. We then
support the customer in delivering these to
their business. The most successful projects
are those where the key stakeholders within
the company really take ownership of the
project. They can see the potential benefi ts
that the new system will bring and are happy to
champion the change throughout the business
in partnership with their ERP provider.
www.businessoneexperts.co.uk – 0114 299 9430
Industry 4.0 is discussed a lot these days and it has a number
of specifi c areas that need to be considered for manufacturing
companies wanting to embrace the technology. The most
crucial place to start is the underlying database, as this will
a ect the future and the migration to a next generation ERP
system based on artifi cial intelligence (AI). The SAP HANA
database that SAP Business One utilises has built in intelligence
to help with this. It will analyse data in real time and provide
automatic commentary and insights into the information you
are looking at. SAP HANA and SAP Business One will essentially
give you the answer before you ask the question. It’s always
best to base insights on huge volumes of data, such as real time
information from the shop fl oor. This allows AI to provide much
more detailed insights into trends and solutions.
After implementing SAP HANA, our customers who
manufacture equipment can embed devices in their products
which feedback vast amounts of real time data. This means they
can keep track of information about the usage and condition of
their devices in the fi eld. This simply wasn’t possible before SAP
HANA and it means they now benefi t from a huge customer
service advantage. This type of advantage only used to be
possible in the realm of blue-chip companies, however it now
comes as standard for SMEs with the latest o ering from SAP.
With all these lofty aims, manufacturers often struggle
to understand the amount of e ort required on their part to
introduce a new ERP system. The due diligence required in
selecting an appropriate solution alone is considerable, and it
doesn’t stop there. It’s important to assemble key stakeholders
and make sure they have a complete understanding of the
process. The fundamental keystone of the project is making sure
everyone understands exactly what you want the system to do.
At Ochiba we start every project with education. It’s vital
that everyone knows how a project is going to run, and they’re
comfortable with the checks and controls in place to keep things
moving. Then, the stakeholders from around the business need
to give their valuable time and share their business knowledge,
because they know best how the critical activities for that
company need to take place. They have to educate the ERP
provider about their specifi c system requirements, gather and
cleanse data, test the system in a sandbox environment and
provide feedback.
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