Here are a few sobering statistics on how IT automation has eliminated non value adding tasks – from Quartz magazine.
- Between 2000 and 2010, the jobs of 1.1 million secretaries were eliminated
- In the same period, the number of telephone operators dropped by 64%, travel agents by 46% and bookkeepers by 26%.
- “Two-thirds of the 7.6 million middle-class jobs that vanished in Europe were the victims of technology”.
Let’s talk about your ERP system. If you use an IT ERP system like SAP why are you hiring outside consultants to bring in their own solutions which aren’t nearly as effective? Why aren’t you creating an SAP center of excellence and developing your best people to eliminate non value added tasks and literally save millions of dollars?
- SAP is a top asset once you develop a clear roadmap with your executives on why, where and how to apply it. Proper SAP data mining to track inventory costs or eliminating manual batch management can save you millions of dollars and bring incredible efficiencies.
- Stop hiring outside experts that try to convince you that their fancy data and charts are the key to your problem. Your SAP system has all the information you need. Once you properly extract that SAP data your business will have the right information to grow tenfold.
- People will tend to bash SAP because they don’t fully understand its incredible potential. Once your executives and key players are on board they WILL see the potential. Build a comprehensive supply chain roadmap with them and show them real examples of where huge changes are possible. Stop being afraid of change and embrace it.
- Keep it simple. Stop making your SAP solutions complex by developing homegrown reports or programs. Use the standard tools you already have in SAP. If you truly need fancy reporting that requires developers than do so, but keep in mind that you will lose standard integration and it requires extra testing.
- To become a top asset SAP needs top people. Your internal SAP experts need to inspire and motivate your executives to embrace the potential of SAP. Improving large areas of the supply chain requires people that can create a compelling vision and communicate that vision. Develop and train (and pay) your internal people to become game changers in your business. And always remember, without great people skills your internal SAP experts WILL fail. Don’t forget to develop them to become industry leaders.
Terry Vermeylen continues to be a featured speaker to present Supply Chain, Sales and Operation and SAP excellence points of view at the Logistics and Supply Chain Management industry events in Orlando, Las Vegas and has been asked to speak in Europe.
He has been a natural leader in Aerospace and Pharmaceutical and has traveled extensively to ensure both Aerospace vendors and SAP teams execute to the highest level of excellence.