Your ERP is not the problem. The spreadsheets around it are.
Manufacturers often blame the ERP for slow, error-prone work and start shopping for a new one. Usually the ERP is fine. The trouble lives in the spreadsheets, inboxes and habits that fill the gaps around it.
We hear the same story often. The ERP is slow, nobody trusts its numbers, the team works around it in spreadsheets, and the owner is wondering whether it is time for a new one. A replacement would take a year and cost a great deal, and everyone dreads it.
When we look closely, the ERP is usually doing its job. It records orders, stock, jobs and invoices reliably. What is failing is everything that happens before information reaches it, and after it leaves.
The shadow system
Every manufacturer we have worked with has a second system running alongside the ERP, made of spreadsheets, shared inboxes, whiteboards and memory. It typically includes:
- a schedule in a spreadsheet, because the ERP's planning screen is too rigid for how the floor really works;
- a customer part-number cross-reference, kept by the order desk;
- a delay log, or several, each kept by a different person;
- a quote tracker, because quotes do not live in the ERP until they become orders;
- a parts list for maintenance, owned by one technician.
None of these are mistakes. Each one was created by a capable person solving a real problem. Together, they are where most of the retyping, the disagreements and the lost information happen.
Each spreadsheet was created by a capable person solving a real problem. Together, they are where the retyping happens.
Why replacing the ERP rarely fixes it
A new ERP arrives with the same gaps, because the gaps come from how the business works, not from the software. Within a year the spreadsheets are back, now built around a different set of screens. Meanwhile the business has spent a year of its best people's time on the migration.
How to find the gaps
- List the spreadsheets Ask every team which spreadsheets they would be lost without. Write down who owns each one and how often it is updated.
- Follow the copying For each spreadsheet, ask where its information comes from and where it goes. Every arrow that a person carries by hand is a gap.
- Find the arguments Which numbers get disputed in meetings? Disputed numbers usually mean two copies of the same fact.
- Rank by pain Frequency, errors and how much depends on one person. The top one or two are your first projects.
How to fix them without a replacement
Most gaps are closed in one of three ways. Connect: move information between the ERP and the other system automatically, so nobody carries it. Capture: give the shadow spreadsheet a proper home, a small app with a clear owner that feeds the ERP instead of competing with it. Read: where information arrives as documents (orders, quotes, delivery notes), read it automatically and present it for checking.
Each of these is a weeks-long project, not a year-long one, and each leaves the ERP in place doing what it is good at.
Connect, capture or read
| Gap | Fix | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Information carried by hand between two systems | Connect | Stock levels copied from the ERP into the website |
| A spreadsheet that holds data the ERP should have | Capture | A maintenance log or a quoting sheet with its own small app |
| Documents typed into the ERP | Read | Purchase orders, delivery notes and supplier invoices read automatically and checked |
When a new ERP is the right answer
Sometimes it genuinely is. If the vendor has stopped supporting your version, if it cannot handle a way of working that is central to your business (such as make-to-order with configured products), or if it is impossible to get data in and out of, replacement may be necessary.
Even then, closing the gaps first helps. You go into the migration knowing exactly how your business works, with clean data and fewer spreadsheets to move.
Questions people ask
- When should we replace the ERP?
When the vendor has stopped supporting your version, it cannot handle a way of working central to your business, or data cannot get in or out. Even then, close the gaps first.
- How many spreadsheets is too many?
There is no number. A spreadsheet that people copy from into the ERP every day is the one to start with.
Count your spreadsheets. If the number surprises you, that is where to start. We are happy to look at the list with you and tell you which gap we would close first.
Canonical URL: https://ugibo.com/blog/your-erp-is-not-the-problem