Before you start building, create a blueprint ...
In construction it is usual to make a building plan before you lay the first stone. After all, you know what you get, and execution is faster due to the fact to possible bottlenecks have been considered upfront. No discussion about materials to be used, they fit for purpose.
Unfortunately ICT is often different. Especially in the world of MOM (Manufacturing Operations Management) solutions are created without a building plan. The object itself usually works, however integration with other systems is a challenge. Modifications and extensions are difficult to apply, resulting in delays and budget overrun.
The good news is tools are available where specifications can be written in plain language! So easy and unambiguous construction drawings can be prepared. These tools solve the traditional business and ICT gap. So there is no more reason to skip the stage of the construction planning. The construction plan can be made fast, and the advantages are obvious.
Grip on rules in your software, it’s possible!
Several control buttons exist to manage your company. They allow you to control working capital, inventories, work in progress and creditors. Other functions like sales, margins and customer orders also have these control buttons. Unfortunately these buttons are often indirectly. If you enter a sales order is a price table by the system. Based on customer group, order size, volume, delivery and order history, the customer gets a discount. How do you determine whether this calculated discount is correct? Basic data is stored in tables in the ERP package. Or this crucial data is still in Excel spreadsheets. You need to mine all these data sources to see if the outcome is correct. The ability to analyze these sources applies to all business functions, purchasing, sales, production etc.
Analysing each order to its source is not feasible. What you need is a clear "rules engine". A report that shows which rules apply, even if the rules are "stacked", as in sales group, volume discounts, order size etc.
The good news is that there is software that can do this, and in plain language! So using real sentences in English or Dutch. The tool provides you the confidence to operate the buttons that manage the company. Operating the buttons is not a gamble anymore, you can be sure your information systems really work as they should.