FAQ's M&M Business Solutions
1. Strategy? Strategic Planning? That sounds expensive and complicated.
M&M Business Solutions has been working with small and mid-sized companies since the late 1980s. Through that experience, we’ve learned to adapt “big company” ideas and techniques to our fast-paced, value-conscious clients. The purpose of this exercise is simply to develop a blue-print for success, one that helps define the desired future state and a means to get there.
2. Who’s involved in this type of planning?
Oddly enough, we spend very little time discussing the “bits and bytes” when helping a client develop an IT Strategy. Instead, we spend our time with the business executives and IT leadership. In addition, we frequently will consult with key customers and suppliers.
3. Why do I need a consultant to help me select business software?
Most companies select and implement a new business software system, whether “ERP”, “CRM”, or similar, every 8-12 years. As a result, in many companies, the individuals that selected the existing system is frequently no longer with the company when it becomes time to replace it. More commonly, the employees chartered with selecting a new business software system, especially in a small or mid-sized company, have never done this before.
If your employees have experience prior selecting business application software and have the time in their schedule to lead such an effort, you may not need a consultant. For our clients, M&M Business Solutions’ consultants fill the experience void, and we also provide a set of temporary, additional hands to ensure the project is completed quickly.
4. The business software industry is dominated by a few big players. Why shouldn’t I just buy software from one of them? After all, they advertise about their abilities to support small and mid-sized companies.
The business software market has been consolidating dramatically over the past decade. It can be unnerving and expensive to learn that your business software provider has been acquired or gone out of business. For that reason, the large Tier 1 business software providers provide the comfort and feeling of assurance that they’ll be around to support your use their software. And, if you’re a multi-mode, multi-site, and international small or mid-sized business, the Tier 1 vendors will provide some appealing features in their software. But, even among that handful of Tier 1 products, there are subtle, but substantial differences in features and technology.
M&M Business Solutions helps its clients frequently with the “why not Oracle?” question. We frequently help our clients compare large, comprehensive package solutions with niche packages, those best-of-breed solutions with specific features for specific industries.
5. What about Activity-Based Costing?
Many of M&M Business Solutions clients express an interest in the concept of Activity Based Costing (ABC). In those cases where ABC is truly applicable, M&M helps its clients implement these parallel cost accounting methods and systems.
In many instances, however, our clients simply need assistance in re-casting and better detailing of their labor , machine, and overhead application rates. Many times, these cost accounting components were developed when the client operated with a different business model. They may not, for example, include the impact of increased importing activities and the associated burden on imported materials such as duties and customs.
6. Some people tell me to upgrade my ERP system, and others tell me to throw it out and implement Lean Manufacturing. How do I determine what I should do?
M&M Business Consultants have been helping clients with the “Lean vs. ERP” dilemma for many years. We believe that much of this debate and controversy was spawned by people and firms that have ulterior motives, such as selling software or selling a specific business process methodology prior to analyzing the problem. It reminds us of the old adage that “if your only tool is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail.”
M&M’s holistic approach provides us with the belief that Lean Manufacturing tools and techniques AND ERP software tools can be complementary and can and should co-exist. In fact, most Lean tools (other than the pull system mentality and tools) have only a positive affect on ERP system use and maintenance.
We frequently work with clients attempting to implement pull systems on the shop floor for inventory control and replenishment. The clients are typically perplexed by the inherent conflicts of the use of their Work Order system for production control. M&M Business Consultants have helped many clients rationalize these inherent conflicts between a pull-oriented Kanban system and a push-oriented Work Order system, and we’ve devised and implemented ways for our clients to achieve the best of both worlds.