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

Send us Fan MailBalancing your day job and executing a transformation project in parallel could be frustrating. Your team might look up to you to make the most crucial decisions when you might not fully understand the implications of those decisions. To avoid this uncomfortable situation, you might want to outsource your role as a sponsor to a third party. But this approach typically fires back as they may create their version of your vision. Additionally, they might not fully understand your business as they may not be living it.In today's episode, we have our guest, Tim Morton, who describes the role of sponsors in a digital transformation project and why it's crucial. He also discusses the implications of outsourcing it to a third party such as a system integrator and how sponsors can deal with situations when they might not have experience executing digital transformation projects. Finally, he describes several change management terms and how data can help with alignment among teams.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 MailAs a plant manager or an executive responsible for the P&L of a manufacturing plant, you will need to make several decisions to improve your internal capacity. They could be adding more bodies, equipment or adding a new location. Unfortunately, if you don't have data to substantiate them, it may feel as if you are investing money in improving your capacity but not realizing tangible benefits. In today's episode, we have our guest, Dave Westrom, who describes the importance of understanding the true internal capacity for manufacturers and how that could assist with decision-making in your plants. He also discusses how to go from point A to point B to create a data-driven plant and build a culture of continuous improvement. Finally, he shares several stories of manufacturers from his recent engagements where he improved the internal capacity.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 you are a growing siloed organization, you will have puddles of data sitting inside every department. You could also have hundreds of unused reports on top of your ERP system that you might not even be aware of. If you want to avoid growing pains because of data, you need centralized ownership and strategy with clearly identified systems for their roles and responsibilities.In today's episode, we invited a panel of cross-functional experts for a live interview on LinkedIn who brings significant expertise to discuss enterprise analytics planning. We covered many grounds in this episode, including identifying enterprise datasets, their ownership, and appropriate systems to host them. Finally, we discussed the importance of data lakes and their importance in an organization, and how to avoid too many reports on top of ERP systems as they could be expensive.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 MailMastering SEO is no longer optional for ecommerce companies and manufacturers. If you are starting on your SEO journey, you will need to make decisions between SEO and PPC strategies. You will also need to understand the nuances of keyword strategies to identify the right targets that will help you meet your goals. Finally, you need to understand how to compare various channels such as PPC and SEO.In today's episode, we invited a panel of cross-functional experts for a live interview on LinkedIn who brings significant expertise to discuss SEO strategies. We covered many grounds in this episode, including the SEO framework and signals that Google cares for. We also discussed SiteMap, machine-generated content, information architecture, and indexing and crawling patterns. Finally, we discussed why keyword research matters and how to choose between SEO vs. PPC strategies.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 you are ready to expand your e-commerce footprint, you have several choices. For example, suppose you have been selling to the most popular channels, such as Amazon in North America. In that case, you might want to explore other channels such as Walmart, Alibaba, or Etsy. Or you might want to explore some of the international markets such as the UK, India, or Brazil. But the decision is not as simple as that as you need to compare the channels in each country, understand regulatory nuances, and cultural synergies to be successful in each marketplace and market.In today's episode, we have our guest, Paul Sonneveld, who discusses the marketplace expansion strategy for e-commerce sellers or manufacturers aspiring to expand their footprint through digital commerce. He also describes visibility into the marketplaces around the world and their nuances. Finally, he discusses the unique requirements of each country and the resources available to them through the marketplaces ecosystem and service providers.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 journey of ISO could feel overwhelming with the amount of standardization and documentation required. But if your machine shop never served a regulated industry, it could be a great start as you expand your market to other sectors such as aerospace, defense, or automotive. You will not only be required to change your processes and procedures, but you need to game up on training and documentation.In today's episode, we have our guest, Derek Hall, who describes the importance of ISO compliance and why it's necessary for shops to grow. He also discusses what non-ISO shops need to know about ISO compliance and how the processes of ISO-compliant shops differ from non-ISO shops. Finally, he shares important concepts such as audit requirements and the importance of visual cues on the shop floor.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 MailDue to how companies function in the startup phase and evolve, most of them operate in silos because it's hard to find cross-functional talent. In addition, the cross-functional processes are perceived to be slow. It's also tough to train people in multiple disciplines. As a result, most SMBs will have one person responsible for each function: sales, purchasing, AR, AP, HR, etc. While this siloed nature may help you sail through the startup phase, it's the cross-functional alignment that will help propel your growth.In today's episode, we have our guest, Pam Fox Rollin, who discusses how to drive cross-functional clarity in a siloed organization. She describes the entire process of driving this clarity, including setting the shared promise and how it differs from a shared vision. Finally, we discussed several stories of executives who may be afraid of driving this clarity in fear of disruption to their organization.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 MailManaging digital projects have never been easier. While there have been tons of attempts to improve the process with Agile methodologies, the timeline, budget, and scope are still tough to manage. There are several explanations as to why digital projects are harder. For example, each digital project is fairly unique, even if it is repeatable ERP implementation. Then you have the problems of invisibility. Managing digital projects have always been art and science. That's probably the reason why the success of these projects varies so much.In today's episode, we invited a panel of cross-functional experts for a live interview on LinkedIn who brings significant expertise to discuss planning for digital projects. We covered many grounds in this episode, including capturing the appropriate scope, iterations, and phases. We also discussed the pros and cons of using process templates from various vendors. Finally, we discussed several stories to identify the initial beachhead for e-commerce success and ongoing measurement and development.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 MailE-commerce opportunity is highly lucrative. As an executive responsible for e-commerce success, you will come across several options and opportunities. But if you don't know how to plan for e-commerce, you might be out of cash without knowing what went wrong. For example, it could happen as you overcommitted in channels that didn't perform to your expectations. Or you stocked too much inventory in the hope of getting significant traffic from your e-commerce efforts. E-commerce budgeting requires comprehensive planning across channels.In today's episode, we invited a panel of cross-functional experts for a live interview on LinkedIn who brings significant expertise to discuss e-commerce budget planning. We covered many grounds in this episode, including the cost buckets that need to be considered for e-commerce budget planning. We discussed the framework of e-commerce spend in many industries and ratios of how they plan for e-commerce spend. Finally, we discussed several stories to identify the initial beachhead for e-commerce success and then ongoing measurement and development.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 you are a small business operating as a single entity with one warehouse and site, most of your suppliers will have a handshake relationship. But as you grow, you are going to add more sites. Each site may have its procurement functions and may manage its supply chain. This is where having accurate supplier intelligence and a comprehensive risk profile of suppliers becomes important. In today's episode, we have our guest, Matt Keyes, who describes the importance of supplier intelligence and how that helps uncover supply risks before it's too late. He also discusses how centralized relationships can help companies save money through centralized contract and supplier profiles. Finally, he describes supply chain risk concepts through the stories of his recent engagements.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.