WBSRocks: Scaling Growth with AI, Enterprise Software, and Digital Transformation

Send us Fan MailThe add-ons come in various shapes and sizes. Some of them were so well done (and tightly embedded with some of the most popular packages) that they became gold standards. The process industry is particularly unique, with each micro-vertical having its nuanced needs. And there aren't a ton of solutions out there that are particularly suited for the process industries, especially with the native experience and robust functionality like BatchMaster.In today's episode, we invited a panel of industry experts for a live discussion on LinkedIn to conduct an independent review of BatchMaster ERP capabilities. We covered many grounds, including their corporate strategy, how they evolved as a solution, and where they are really strong. We also covered unique capabilities such as super jobs, safety capabilities, and the NPD and PLM capabilities that might typically reside in a PLM system.For more information on growth strategies for SMBs using ERP and digital transformation, visit our community at wbs.rocks or elevatiq.com. To ensure that you never miss an episode of the WBS podcast, subscribe on your favorite podcasting platform. 

Send us Fan MailB2B companies have very different needs for eCommerce than B2C. In some B2B verticals that might be slightly service-oriented, even the product model might not be defined. But to be successful with B2B eCommerce initiatives, having a refined product model is essential. By the way, that’s not the only challenge. The bigger challenge would be the integration of eCommerce with ERP. And while you might feel that it might be plug-and-play, it rarely is because of the ever-changing interfaces and APIs.In today's episode, our guest, Arno Ham, discusses the importance of pre-integrated eCommerce platforms for ERP systems. He also discusses the challenges with ERP and eCommerce integration, such as the need for eCommerce to be real-time while the ERP systems require downtime for maintenance and upgrade. Finally, he discusses the industries that are fit for the configurator and B2B commerce business model.For more information on growth strategies for SMBs using ERP and digital transformation, visit our community at wbs.rocks or elevatiq.com. To ensure that you never miss an episode of the WBS podcast, subscribe on your favorite podcasting platform.

Send us Fan MailThere will always be a divide in opinions about who should lead the design of business software. ERP platforms designed by CPAs argue that CPAs design the best software. The manufacturing packages designed by shop floor owners tend to argue that they design the best manufacturing packages. The firms started by software engineers and architects might be perceived as disconnected from the needs of business users. Like it or not, software design fundamentals still matter, and most standard packages that scale follow the core software engineering and database design fundamentals. So where does BizAutomation stand?In today's episode, we invited a panel of industry experts for a live discussion on LinkedIn to conduct an independent review of BizAutomation ERP capabilities. We covered many grounds, including their strength with their design and architecture. We also converted their weaknesses, such as their infrastructure and documentation.For more information on growth strategies for SMBs using ERP and digital transformation, visit our community at wbs.rocks or elevatiq.com. To ensure that you never miss an episode of the WBS podcast, subscribe on your favorite podcasting platform. 

Send us Fan MailHow different could electrical and HVAC industries be? Shouldn’t their processes be as simple as distribution and field services? What is so complex about their eCommerce processes? Well, electrical and HVAC industries are unique as their products need to be aligned with the trade associations. If they don’t follow the same coding standards, there might be issues in integrating with the buying groups and other collaborators. They also have unique processes such as electronic signature and dispatch to delivery confirmation.In today's episode, our guest, David Gordon, discusses the eCommerce challenges for the electrical and HVAC industry. He also discusses why these industries are lacking compared to their peers in innovating their processes and providing a cutting-edge customer experience. Finally, he discusses why these industries are unique in their ERP needs and why the vanilla system would fail for them.For more information on growth strategies for SMBs using ERP and digital transformation, visit our community at wbs.rocks or elevatiq.com. To ensure that you never miss an episode of the WBS podcast, subscribe on your favorite podcasting platform.

Send us Fan MailThe debate between what's an add-on vs. what's an ERP is not new. The add-ons will never have the traceability requirements that regulated industries such as Med Device and Pharma require. But unfortunately, due to the limited technical background of auditors, they can't distinguish whether a record is traceable inside the system. Or would it require manual steps to establish the linking? Also, because of the fragile integration between QuickBooks and Sage50, there are likely to be significant data integrity issues. Most QuickBooks add-ons suffer from the same problems, but they all have a tendency to call them ERP. So where does QT9 stand?In today's episode, we invited a panel of industry experts for a live discussion on LinkedIn to conduct an independent review of QT9 ERP capabilities. We covered many grounds, including their strength with document management and quality workflow processes, including how it compares with other life sciences-centric ERP systems such as Deacom, Blue Link, and Sage X3. We also converted the weaknesses with their data model and how it will suffer from the same traceability issue as other Quickbooks add-ons such as Katana MRP.For more information on growth strategies for SMBs using ERP and digital transformation, visit our community at wbs.rocks or elevatiq.com. To ensure that you never miss an episode of the WBS podcast, subscribe on your favorite podcasting platform. 

Send us Fan MailWhile ERP systems have done a wonderful job in providing the traceability of transactions in the four walls of the factory, the traceability across the industry is limited. The limitation exists because of so many factors, such as technology limitations, disparate datasets, political control, and data-sharing agreements. Technical concepts such as digital material and blockchain technologies are powerful to help provide visibility for shippers, trade finance companies, or any other stakeholders involved with the end-to-end supply chain transactions.In today's episode, our guest, Arnoud Star Busmann, discusses the importance of Supply Chain at the industrial level. He also discusses the importance of digital material and how that helps track the expensive commodity across the supply chain. Finally, he discusses how blockchain technologies are helping track supply chains across non-traditional datasets where there might be political issues with data sharing.For more information on growth strategies for SMBs using ERP and digital transformation, visit our community at wbs.rocks or elevatiq.com. To ensure that you never miss an episode of the WBS podcast, subscribe on your favorite podcasting platform.

Send us Fan MailIf there are any departments that have seen the majority of automation, they are AR and AP. Most companies, even QuickBooks, would use some form of automation to manage their AR and AP. The automation could be auto-parsing and capturing the PDF documents to manage their entire workflow. The experience around AR and AP processes has changed as well because now, even the customers expect their invoices in one place. So which KPIs do AR and AP need to use to measure their efficiency?In today's episode, we invited a panel of cross-functional experts for live interview on LinkedIn who brings significant expertise to discuss the Top KPIs for AR/AP. We discussed the differences between these roles and how the roles might differ per geography, size of the company, and industry. We also discussed the top KPIs that they need to be successful in their roles.For more information on growth strategies for SMBs using ERP and digital transformation, visit our community at wbs.rocks or elevatiq.com. To ensure that you never miss an episode of the WBS podcast, subscribe on your favorite podcasting platform.

Send us Fan MailBuying software is hard, especially business software. There might be companies that might appear to be rated relatively well by the affiliate sites. But when you look under the hood, they might be completely different. Affiliate sites are not necessarily looking at the demo of the product or are experts at reviewing the ERPs. Software companies are also really smart at not posting their demos publicly, which could be even hard for customers to know if they have a real product. Or if they have an outdated product. These decisions could fire back as bad as not going live. So how does Multiview ERP compare with other mainstream ERP software?In today's episode, we invited a panel of industry experts for a live discussion on LinkedIn to conduct an independent review of Multiview ERP capabilities. We covered many grounds, including their capabilities for service-centric industries such as healthcare and non-profit. We also covered the issues associated with the lesser-known software packages for ERP buyers.For more information on growth strategies for SMBs using ERP and digital transformation, visit our community at wbs.rocks or elevatiq.com. To ensure that you never miss an episode of the WBS podcast, subscribe on your favorite podcasting platform. 

Send us Fan MailAI is changing the world. You have an infusion of AI at every step in the process, whether you talk about the first mile or the last mile. Whether you talk about AI being used to intelligently and automatically capture paper-based invoices or to enrich, augment, and predict incomplete data. But you can’t get results from AI if you have data silos. In fact, AI initiatives might fire back if you trained your models with the wrong data.In today's episode, our guest, Claus Jepsen, discusses why AI and ML solutions are less effective if businesses still have data siloed. He also discusses Unit4 stories and their unique approach to the cloud. Finally, he discusses issues with the first and last mile of AI and how they each offer unique challenges.For more information on growth strategies for SMBs using ERP and digital transformation, visit our community at wbs.rocks or elevatiq.com. To ensure that you never miss an episode of the WBS podcast, subscribe on your favorite podcasting platform.

Send us Fan MailThe hate of ERP systems is not new. Every time a new kid in the town challenges how they are making the ERP systems easier. There are some companies that have approached this in the right fashion, such as Odoo or Acumatica, by understanding how ERP systems work and why they need to have layered complexity. The others have simply eliminated the necessary details for them to have a scalable data model. These systems are great poor man's ERP solutions as you might not be able to afford the consulting dollars and change management at that stage. And that is OK when you are small. But you can't go very far with them without understanding how to model your customers, vendors, items, BOMs, and chart of accounts to get the tangible business benefits with costing, inventory, supply chain, and scheduling.In today's episode, we invited a panel of industry experts for a live discussion on LinkedIn to conduct an independent review of Katana Manufacturing ERP’s capabilities. We covered many grounds, including their strength and weaknesses and where they fit with their target market. We also convered their capabilities on the MRP, their approach for costing and allocation, their data model, and how that drives which customers would be the right fit for them.For more information on growth strategies for SMBs using ERP and digital transformation, visit our community at wbs.rocks or elevatiq.com. To ensure that you never miss an episode of the WBS podcast, subscribe on your favorite podcasting platform.