Do you really need this? Walk through your office. If your staff is manually re-entering customer orders in a cut-list, CAD, or accounting program you are losing costly hours. If they are preparing quotations on software that is not tied into the actual purchasing database the mistakes could bankrupt you. If your shop-floor documents are just a copy of the customer’s order pray that you have superstar supervisors who will never quit. If you don’t get cost rollups based on actual and real-time factory performance, you’ll never understand what "no surprises" management is about. Enterprise software can be summed up by its goal of one data entry - from quotation to cash. One database is used for all business functions and the system automatically translates and transfers information to stand-alone tools such as panel optimizers.

If you are a small company you can manage by "walking the floor": don’t over-computerize. You can get by with a simple spreadsheet to monitor material and labor on each job plus a low cost accounting package with rudimentary invoicing and purchasing functions. If you don’t fit into this category and want to prosper now and at the turn of the century, read on!

Do you really want this? It is comparable to root canal. Not an exciting prospect, but necessary for chewing. This may be the hardest purchase you’ll ever have to digest and take the longest. At the end, hopefully, you’ll smile, look back, and say: "It is the greatest thing that ever happened to our company". Or, you may be really unfortunate, ending up with another cash draining sore. Here are tips for minimizing the pain and gaining a winning smile:

Determine real needs. The "old-timers" who started your business operated it successfully from their hip pockets with minimal systems and their basic approach may just need updating. It’s a different story if their customers were content with three months’ delivery and yours want three days. Have vision: think ahead ! Autocad can be more than a faster drafting pencil; your panel saws might be replaced by CNC machining centers with sawing capabilities; your stock products may mutate into custom; your mother, who runs the office and keeps everything in her head, might retire; etc.

Follow the paperwork trail! It starts with the quotation, winds its way though engineering, the factory, and finally ends with customer payment. Talk to all the players who make it happen - in the front office and in the factory. Then, condense their wish lists into a one page summary of what you want to accomplish, now and in the future.

Find the right sources. Look for proven industry experience rather than a "one size fits all" approach (suitable for both mousetrap and airplane manufacturing). Ask yourself : "What competitive advantages will I gain from the proposed system?" "Does this supplier really understand my needs?" Ask not: what this system did for other companies; but what can it do for mine? One source may not have it all, but perhaps they can work with another company so the combined solution is just what you need. Do not assign the task of preliminary review to just one person or you’ll get a bias towards a great Autocad, traditional MIS or accounting system and other functions will be left in the lurch.

Take time for a reality check. Computers are wonderful toys but remember, regardless of your product, you are in the woodwork business not the computer business! A system is only a profit building tool. A small shop can probably get by with a $200 accounting package and schedule manually. Conversely, a company with a hundred workers needs a fully integrated system to maximize their capabilities. The mid-size company (30 or more shop employees) needs to start building a solid foundation of system modules to grow with the company. Make sure the computer skills and responsibilities rest with the people that need them (the saw operator doing optimizing, the production manager scheduling, etc.). If your staff isn’t capable of using computers and can’t accept the responsibility for making decisions, then your company isn’t ready for a new computer system.

Commit to an implementation team. "Who will work with the selected vendor to install the system and who will operate it?" These systems are not "out of the box" products and start-up depends on freeing your team from their day to day tasks. Realistic expectations are important: build your team from cheerleaders and change agents rather than doomsayers!

Test drive the system. In an empty office set up the software with the appropriate hardware, close the door and stop the phones to avoid interruptions so your team can operate it for a day. (If you can’t get your team to give the potential vendor a day’s worth of exclusive time you’ll probably never find the time to install any system.) If you are still not sure, arrange an extended test with the vendor, (a month or so), during which you can enter actual customer orders and bills of material to compare them with your present system. Listen carefully to user comments and separate resistance to change from real problems. This is a test not only of an as-is system, but how the vendor delivers on promises and the quality of his start-up and support teams. The system and personal chemistry both have to be great before you pick up your pen to sign a check.

Develop realistic dates for a phased implementation. If your team is going to be available only one hour a week, it’s going to take forty times longer before the system gets started. (The longer it drags, the more enthusiasm wanes and payback dwindles.) A "cold turkey" changeover where you just pull the plug on the old system could be suicidal, but running parallel for a long time is a sure slow death. Those who are comfortable with the old system will continue to find reasons to delay the changeover. To avoid swinging in the breeze; focus on one module at a time, start with easy ones, such as purchasing, and stick to your dates. If necessary, get additional temporary help to operate both systems during the changeover.