Sometimes the case for buying a new manufacturing ERP system or replacing your existing one is clear. Other times it\u2019s not. There are reasons you might not upgrade. Let\u2019s look at those first.<\/p>\n
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Regardless of its age, your ERP is still serving your business needs if you aren\u2019t often buying new software to plug the gaps in its functionality. Also, if you don\u2019t have an ever-growing feature wish list, count yourself among the lucky.<\/p>\n
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Some vendors want you to believe once a piece of software has reached a certain age, it has outgrown its useful life. That is not true. Once again, age alone is not a reason to replace the system, if you and your team can count on it day in and day out, and the hardware it\u2019s running on is also working without interruption.<\/p>\n
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Many times, as ERP systems age, their maintenance costs increase exponentially. This is especially true if the system runs on older hardware that becomes harder and harder to source or it uses an obsolete programming language few developers know. Then, any time you need to replace a piece of hardware or change the software code to fit your current needs, you\u2019ll wind up spending exorbitant amounts of money. If this happens repeatedly, the cost of maintaining your system becomes much higher than replacing it. Still, assuming your system runs well and meets your needs, maintenance costs alone also are not a reason to replace your current accounting or ERP system until they outweigh the cost of implementing a new system.<\/p>\n
If all three of the above attributes describe your current your system, and there are no other glaring issues with it, you\u2019re likely safe to hang onto it for a while longer.<\/p>\n
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Chances are, if you\u2019re reading this, you\u2019re like most small and medium sized manufacturers who at some point find themselves in a less than ideal situation with your current software. You might think you\u2019re saving money by putting off your upgrade. But this is a shortsighted view which ignores the many lucrative opportunities passing you by each day you cling to outdated systems.<\/p>\n
Here are just a few of them:<\/p>\n
Crunch the numbers. It\u2019ll soon become painfully clear just how deeply holding onto an outdated system can affect your business. Often, the money you save in new licensing and implementation costs is insignificant compared to what you\u2019re losing by overlooking opportunity costs like these.<\/p>\n