Distributors around the globe face similar challenges with inventory. These common problems put distributors at a competitive disadvantage as customer expectations rise.

Common challenges include:

• Too much of some products – excess inventory and dead stock lead to decreased turnover and profitability.
• Stock-outs of other products – resulting in backorders, lost sales, and dissatisfied customers.
• Knowing what is in stock – the on-hand quantity in the computer system does not agree with what is actually on the shelf in the warehouse.
• Material misplaced in the warehouse – material is "out there somewhere" but can't be found when it's needed.

Effective inventory management A systematic plan to achieve effective inventory management will allow you to meet and exceed customers' expectations of product availability. In addition, effective inventory management will maximize net profit by minimizing total inventory investment. Effective inventory management results from the balance of inventory control and inventory management.

Inventory control is managing the inventory that is already in your warehouse, stockroom, or store, including:

• Knowing what products are "out there" and how much you have of each item.
• Knowing exactly where each piece of each product is located in your warehouse.
• Ensuring that all inventory remains in salable or usable condition.
• Storing products to minimize the cost of filling customer orders.

Inventory management is determining when to order products, how much to order, and the most effective source of supply for each item in each warehouse – that is, ensuring that you have the right quantity of the right item in the right location at the right time. Inventory management includes all of the activities involved in forecasting and replenishment.

Customers expect you to know what is in stock and when you can ship. Let us help you find the right balance of effective inventory management with a financial management system that helps you deliver on time and on budget.

As an owner or manager of a small or mid-size business struggling to keep up with technology and changing business environments, it's easy to get overwhelmed. Should you keep limping along with multiple, unconnected systems, or bite the bullet and implement an ERP system? The ERP evaluation process isn't easy, but with a few guiding principles you can prepare your company for the future.

Practical advice for ERP selection

1. Define critical requirements first – Don't get sidetracked with the bells and whistles of the applications you review. Before you start, define the functionality that is critical to your organization and stay focused. Communicate your requirements to your vendors and require that they focus on those requirements in their presentations.
2. Double check references – Go the extra mile when you check references provided by a vendor. The more clients you speak to, the better picture you will get of not only the vendor's products, but also their level of customer service for all their clients – and not just their best clients.
3. Don't overthink it – It's easy to get into "analysis paralysis" with such an important decision. Once you have decided to take the plunge into ERP, keep moving forward and find the best fit for your requirements. Create a realistic project timeline to maintain momentum and keep the project on track.
4. Choose the evaluation team carefully – Choosing a new ERP system is a business decision, not an IT decision. While IT should be involved, the evaluation team must make certain that the product fulfills the critical business elements that are needed for the organization's success.
5. Partner for project success – Once you have found the right solution for your organization, make sure that you have the right partner as well. The implementation partner you choose will make the difference between success and failure. Choose an organization that understands your business.

Prepare for the future Selecting an ERP system is a big step for a modest business organization. Choosing the right ERP system will build the foundation for growth for many years to come. Find out how you can transition from spreadsheets and disconnected software to a fully integrated ERP system. Call us today.

ERP Drives Manufacturing Innovation It's the start of a new year and 2012 forecasts for manufacturers are starting to look more promising. To stay ahead of the competition, you need to respond to the market with innovate product additions. A fully integrated business management system should enhance innovation to improve your responsiveness to the market.

Improve innovation When you can identify opportunities for new products at an early stage, you can respond with new, innovative products or product variants. Your ERP system should provide you with information from across the organization, with deep insight into product preference trends. With industry-specific and customer-specific KPIs delivered to your key decision makers, you can get a jump on the competition to meet changes in customer preferences.

Innovation in most manufacturing environments requires collaboration between outside partners as well as multiple internal departments. Spending time fighting outdated systems makes it hard for teams to keep communication lines flowing. An ERP system that integrates with collaboration solutions like SharePoint and common applications like Office gives teams the tools they need for easy collaboration.

Reduce time to market Fast and accurate planning is a must for the innovative manufacturer – budgeting and planning cycles can't last weeks and months anymore. Real time inventory, production, and supply chain information presented in one easy-to-use dashboard gives managers the tools they need to plan and execute quickly.

Coordinating multiple facilities and departments to support new products from production to delivery requires an integrated ERP system. Automated workflow ensures that products move from development to production environments by eliminating delays and miscommunication. A fully integrated ERP system will support new products entering the production schedules and adjust inventory levels at key distribution points.

Get ready for leaps of innovation in 2012, and improve your responsiveness to the market with a fully integrated ERP system. Call us to talk about how we can help you build a better business.

Productivity is one of the fundamental building blocks of profitability. In New Year planning sessions around the globe, a common theme is how to enable current employees to achieve more in less time. For companies using Microsoft productivity tools such as Office and Exchange, the strategic advantage of an ERP system that fully integrates with those applications is clear.

Productivity tools are just the beginning Day in and day out, your employees work with productivity tools like Microsoft Word to create forms or Microsoft Excel to analyze data maintained in a SQL Server database. All of these applications share the Windows platform and present a familiar look and feel to users. An ERP solution that works like and with these productivity tools and server products can unlock a new level of value. The whole becomes greater than the sum of its parts.

The Line of Business (LOB) applications that your organization uses to manage core business processes are probably built on the Microsoft platform. Choosing an ERP solution that runs on the same platform could simplify integration and shorten your time to benefit. The broad acceptance of the Microsoft platform also encourages competitive pricing among alternative LOB applications and technical support services. With a single platform focus, IT resources can dedicate time to improving business processes instead of integrating and troubleshooting disparate applications.

The value of Microsoft Dynamics ERP The Microsoft Dynamics ERP product line provides the foundation to build on the Microsoft platform for flexibility and ease of use. Facilitating the flow of information between the many parts of your business, you’ll connect financial management and business intelligence to LOB and productivity tools. Productivity will improve through:

• Fast, easy integration with your existing technology systems,
• Quicker and better decision making with central business intelligence,
• Fast, universal adoption to drive down costs and boost efficiencies.

As your organization plans for 2012 and beyond, consider the productivity gains you can achieve with connected systems that are familiar to your employees. Making employees’ lives easier will pay off with improved operating margins and increased cash flow.

Call us today to find out how you can increase employee productivity.

When you sign up for Office 365 it’s important to understand the sender limits restrictions and how they could affect your business. In a 24 hour period, each Office 365 account can send to a maximum of 500 recipients (1500 for Enterprise). For most users it’s never an issue, but if your business sometimes sends mass email there’s an easy way to manage the restriction.

While many small businesses evaluate moving their productivity applications to the cloud, it’s important to understand and manage restrictions that may affect your business processes. The Sender Limit in Office 365 was set up to deter spammers from abusing Microsoft’s cloud solution. A noble cause we can all support. But some organizations have legitimate reasons to send bulk emails from one account.

Distribution Groups count as one recipient
By using distribution groups you can easily stay under the 500 recipient limit even when you need to send the same email to a large group. Use distribution groups or dynamic distribution groups when you send messages to large numbers of recipients. Groups are counted as a single recipient toward the Sender Limit.

For example, if you send a message to 100 recipients by adding each of those recipients on the To:, Cc:, or Bcc: fields, that counts as 100 recipients toward the recipient rate limit. But if you add those same 100 recipients to a distribution group or dynamic distribution group, and then send the same message to the group, that counts as one recipient toward the recipient rate limit.

Most organizations already use distribution groups to streamline email productivity. With Office 365, you may want to build a few more internal or external groups to manage the number of recipients for high volume email senders. A little planning can eliminate any concerns about the daily Sender Limit.

Office 365 is a cost effective solution that can fuel growth by retaining capital for your small business. We’ll be happy to sit down with you and talk about solutions that support the growth and success of your business.

When evaluating ERP systems, most companies analyze the TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) as part of the decision process. TCO includes the full cost of implementation and maintenance over a period of time, often 3-5 years. Factors incorporated into the analysis generally include software license, implementation, and software maintenance costs.

Well managed implementation will deliver results quickly

In the Analyst Insight "ERP: Is High ROI with Low TCO Possible?" released by Aberdeen Group, researchers found that the actual TCO realized by companies is more dependent on the Best-In-Class use of the ERP systems than TCO alone. Return on Investment (ROI) derived from the ERP system will offset costs when companies implement ERP efficiently to quickly achieve cost savings through productivity gains.

For their research, Aberdeen Group measured those benefits on the following criteria:

• Number of days to close the month
• Days sales outstanding
• Percent of orders delivered complete and on-time
• Growth in operating margins year over year

These basic factors are indicators of the operational efficiency and productivity gains that a company is typically trying to achieve with the implementation of an ERP system.

Key recommendations from the Aberdeen Group report include:

• Establish specific ERP implementation benefit goals, and measure results.
• Initial implementation should focus on achieving results in critical areas.
• Continued measurement of ERP results leads to increased business value.

Find out more about the Aberdeen Group's research on the benefits of ERP implementation. Download the report here.

Contact us today to find out how your organization can realize productivity improvements of a Best-In-Class ERP implementation. Dynamics ERP delivers high ROI with a low TCO.

During your evaluation of ERP solutions, support should be a key element of all conversations. Ultimately, the value of the system will be reflected in the productivity gains of your employees. System users who have continual training and a community to share best practices will make the greatest strides.

An extraordinary resource CustomerSource, the Microsoft Dynamics customer portal is the gateway for Dynamics users to find all the resources for success in one place. An award-winning online portal, CustomerSource provides access to free training, support, links to user communities, and much more. CustomerSource includes:

• Self-support tools: Reduce costs with around-the-clock self-support tools that can help resolve many of your day-to-day technical support issues, so your people can stay productive.
• Critical information: Stay current with the latest developments for your solutions and future technology with access to product roadmaps, documentation, the Microsoft® Knowledge Base, and a wide variety of training resources.
• Online training: Reduce the learning curve by gaining access to customized training, tailored specifically to your individual organization's requirements, in multiple languages and addressing multiple product lines.
• Online communities: Read about news affecting your business and industry, share tips with other Microsoft Dynamics customers, get answers to your technical questions, and find additional solutions for your business.
• Information about updates and upgrades: Microsoft makes significant investments to add new functionality and features. CustomerSource helps you stay on top of new service packs containing the latest updates and upgrades—and easily view the status of your licenses and service plans.

When you invest in Microsoft Dynamics ERP, your employees will have access to an extraordinary resource. CustomerSource will help your employees keep your solution running smoothly—and protect your investment. Let us demonstrate CustomerSource to you today.

When is it time to replace your aging ERP system? According to a new Aberdeen Group Analyst Insight report, an older ERP system could be holding your organization back.

Use it or lose it One of the biggest drawbacks of an aging ERP system, according to the report, is the declining use of modules over time. When business processes and requirements change and the ERP system doesn't keep pace with the needs, employees find ways to get around the system. Spreadsheets start to replace centralized information which limits insight into information needed for effective decision making at the top.

Expensive support Older ERP systems generally require more IT support, from a limited pool of talent. As technologies emerge, IT support people must keep up with the new and can't focus on outdated systems. Outsourced support may be impossible to find, and dedicated internal resources are expensive.

New options for old systems While you may have been plugging along with an outdated ERP system, there is no better time to start evaluating options. ERP cloud solutions can help you avoid capital costs while at the same time eliminate IT support costs you've been spending on your old system. Investing in business process realignment and training will deliver the highest ROI on your ERP investment, according to multiple Aberdeen Group reports.

Find out how you can move to the next level without breaking the bank. Download the full Aberdeen Group report “Aging ERP: When Old ERP is Too Old” here with our compliments.

In a recent Aberdeen Group Analyst Report “To ERP or Not to ERP: It Isn't Even a Question”, the top reasons cited by business managers for not implementing an ERP system include:

• Internal effort to implement
• Can function without ERP
• Cost of software and services
• We are too small
• Systems are too complicated

Which one is keeping you from implementing ERP?

The same study found that performance of non-ERP organizations lagged significantly behind ERP companies in areas from inventory accuracy to on-time shipments. Customers expect a lot these days, and if your organization is not providing service on par with your competitors, they will leave. The Internet has made it very easy for consumers and business purchasers to find new sources who can serve their needs consistently.

With the survival of your business at stake, it's critical for you to re-evaluate your organization's need to move to ERP. So, how can you overcome the concerns of your management to help them feel confident in taking on an ERP implementation?

• Internal effort to implement – Find an implementation partner who works with your type of organization. They will understand your business and be able to carry some of the project load.
• Can function without ERP – Measure your current customer retention and repeat business to objectively evaluate your current situation.
• Cost of software and services – Cloud based ERP options are growing and can deliver significant savings in IT support and hardware costs.
• We are too small – If you have aspirations of growing your company, ERP provides the business intelligence to help you spot opportunities that will fuel growth.
• Systems are too complicated – Not all ERP systems are created equal. Dynamics ERP solutions are easy to use and have the familiar user interface that your employees use with Microsoft Office every day.

Talk to us today to find out how easy ERP can be. Download the full Aberdeen Group report "To ERP or Not to ERP: It Isn't Even a Question" here with our compliments.

In a recently released white paper, the Aberdeen Group looks at the benefits that SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises) are realizing through their implementation of ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning). The report provides an in-depth evaluation of the processes, procedures, and technologies that SMEs are using to achieve best-in-class performance compared to their peers.

Best-in-Class Performance Aberdeen researchers identified best-in-class performance of top SME companies, including:

• 2.69 days to close a month (including financial statements),
• 33.11 Days Sales Outstanding (DSO),
• 96% complete and on-time delivery of products and services,
• 21% growth in operating profit margins over past two years.

How does your performance compare? If your organization is not performing at these levels, what steps do you need to take to improve? Suggested actions from the Aberdeen researchers include implementation of ERP systems that deliver information quickly to decision makers and standardize business procedures. Other recommendations include:

• Set organizational, process, and technology standards,
• Properly train new employees on ERP after the initial stages of implementation,
• Provide all customer information to sales and marketing employees.

Affordable Microsoft Dynamics ERP with best practice recommendations from a partner you can trust will move your organization to the top of the class. Let us show you how the familiar interface and modular approach of Microsoft Dynamics ERP will get your organization up and running with an ERP solution that fits the way you do business.

Download the full Aberdeen Group report “ERP in SME 2011” here with our compliments.