Do you want to ensure that your ERP project ends in disaster? No problem!
1️⃣Step 1: Do not involve employees (After all, it's an IT project... right?)
"Oh well, why waste time consulting operators, supervisors, or even managers? IT already knows everything, right? No need to involve those who will actually use the solution, we'll just patiently wait for it to fall from the sky, all ready, without any hiccups. Call me when you're done playing with your servers and configurations – I imagine all of that is just unimportant details!"
When you think about it, it's mainly the business resources that will use the system on a daily basis. By ignoring their expertise, you ensure that the system will be unusable and that they will resist change at all costs. Well done, Mateo!
2️⃣Step 2: Choose an ERP without doing prior analysis (We'll see later...)
"Oh well, all the companies of my caliber have SuperERP 3.0, but me? Nothing at all! What do I look like in my exclusive club of SME Manufacturing CEOs on the South Shore? Thanks for your recommendations, but let's be serious: I NEED SuperERP 3.0, nothing else!"
Buying an ERP without analyzing your company's needs is like buying a house without reading the detailed listing and without comparisons... We'll see once we're in! Second step of sabotage, check!
3️⃣Step 3: Do not test thoroughly (The joy of surprise!)
"Listen... my employees have already wasted enough time in your workshops answering pointless questions. They have a job to do, after all! I trust IT blindly. Why bother testing if they've already validated everything, right?"
What could be more exciting than discovering live that invoices are not generating, that stocks are divided by zero, or that the planning module is as fast as a 56K modem? Muahahaha!!!
4️⃣Step 4: Ignore employee training (it's intuitive, right?)
"Well, yes, why waste time on training? My employees are brilliant, they'll understand everything with a snap of their fingers! And SuperERP is like an iPhone: you take it out of the box and it works by itself. No need for a manual, I even saw that on Reddit, so it must be true!"
A lack of training guarantees frustration, mistakes, and a return to the old method. Hello, it's me, Excel, the Swiss Army knife of all organizations, did you miss me? :-)
5️⃣Step 5: The ERP system will solve all problems (SuperERP 3.0)
"Wait a minute… I'm looking at my dashboard, and I see that I have over 10% quality alerts every week, whereas before, I was at 5%! Yet, in the business case, it was clearly stated that SuperERP would optimize my process from A to Z, including quality management. And on top of that, Hocus Pocus, the integrated magic AI agent, is supposed to detect problems in advance… Did I miss a chapter or something?"
Thinking that an ERP system is a magic wand, why not? If there were communication issues, inefficient processes, or a lack of discipline in the company, they won't just disappear like magic. They will just be better documented in your beautiful new system. Mission accomplished, see you in a few years to start your big project all over again!
😈Conclusion
If you want to turn your ERP implementation into a disaster, these five mistakes will lead you straight there. But if your goal is rather to improve productivity, traceability, and performance in your company, then do exactly the opposite!
The three most overlooked elements are often:
1) change management
2) testing efforts
3) strategic alignment
