We are living in an era of digital transformation in which you have to decide if your business is going to lead or be left behind. Nowadays the size of the company is becoming less and less important for its success. So digital transformation, which was a must for large companies in the past, is equally important for SMEs today. If you haven’t decided on your road map for digital transformation yet, this interview will shed light on your digital journey.
Chris Pinaire, Consulting and Application Director at Global Shop Solutions, shares with us his vision about the steps you should take and challenges you might face within your digital transformation journey as an SME. Also, he talks about the secret behind the success of Global Shop Solutions, how it became an influential player in the ERP industry and the future strategies of the company.
Can you tell us about the advantages of being a privately owned company in a competitive ERP industry?
As
a private company, the largest advantage we have is that we are extremely
agile. We can adapt to demands or
changes quickly and efficiently because the owners are involved in our decision
making. Whether it is a new product, a
change in standards, or making key decisions, these things happen faster than they
do in a public company. Additionally, we
have more stability in our management teams, which leads to a more comfortable
employee base that supports our customers. No new private equity regimes are
turning the business upside down to increase profits, which can lead to
employee dissatisfaction and customer anxiety.
Could you give us some information about the global structure of Global Shop Solutions? Are there any planned global expansion moves in 2020?
Our
largest markets are in North America, but we have continued growth year over
year in our international markets as well.
Central/South America, the United Kingdom, and Europe, Africa, Southeast
Asia/Pacific, Australia, and New Zealand continue to grow each year. We will
continue to nurture our international markets, but we still have a large
opportunity right in our back yard, domestically.
As the Director of Consulting and Implementation, how do you visualize the future of the company in terms of growth and technology adoption?
For
future growth, we are continually improving processes to adhere to an ever-changing
technology-based world. We are proactive instead of reactive.
In the
coming years, we will look to use more automated metrics to track
implementations. Data helps you make better decisions, and we plan to build
more metrics that will assist in those decisions. We have to be fast, reliable
and automate where we can. The smartphone has taught us, people, to demand
information now.
Digital transformation is crucial for companies that want to stay competitive and relevant. How do Global Shop Solutions’ products and services support your customers’ digital transformation journeys?
A large number of our new customers are using
our Cloud ERP, which allows them to access and collaborate with real-time data
from any place on the earth. Our software provides greater resource management
with instant access to important information like open quotes, orders, history,
utilization, costing, financials, and KPIs.
Additionally, our approach to implementation
includes not only the tools but looking for ways to improve the process as
well. Remaining competitive through digital transformation requires a critical
review of current processes. Our society has become more dependent on
information at their fingertips over the last several years; Global Shop
Solutions is constantly developing products to keep up with these demands.
To
support the demand for automation, we have developed streamlined integrations for
EDI, machine integrations, CAD integrations, and more. Our software is
constantly changing based on feedback from our customers and their needs.
How do you think SMEs can catch the digital transformation wave? Can we say SMEs have the most to gain from digital transformation?
All
businesses can benefit from digital transformation, from Fortune 100 companies
to SMEs. All require the same basic business principles to succeed, just on a
different scale. SMEs have to realize the benefits to digital transformation –
better visibility to make quicker, more informed decisions. SMEs should utilize
tools to create automation and replace manual processes. As an example, SMEs might realize the benefit
of understanding the costs of their products and their profit margins and
decide to grow a particular product or change their offering. There is
substantial time and cost savings for the organization by automating processes
and creating immediate visibility into the metrics for the products they make.
How should SMEs determine the steps they should be taking for their digital transformation? What are the obstacles SMEs can face during this journey?
First,
you have to identify your objectives. Why are we going to invest time and money
into this transformation? What is our
current state and why does it need to change? Will it lead to increased sales
or a quicker time to market? Better
products at a cheaper cost? Can we automate or integrate our vendors/customers
into a streamlined system for increased visibility and improved
experience? Do we hope to make better
business decisions with our data? You
have to make sure you have a clear strategy in place that will positively
disrupt your business to make these changes.
Second,
determine a budget for your transformation project. This will help prioritize your
transformation as well as identify technology that can be purchased or developed. Additionally, do not forget to weigh the
technology cost to implement against the benefit. If there are items that would help your teams
but would be cost-prohibitive, realize that. Don’t try to implement things that
are “cool” but will take years to pay back. You must keep your eyes on the
overall initiative.
Third,
plan out the rollout and training. It’s smart to be realistic about what areas
of the business this is going to affect.
Most likely, everyone will have some sort of change to their business
processes. You will need a communication plan identifying who and how it will
affect your teams. Like all company initiatives and projects, it’s important to
be adaptive. In agile environments, you are constantly taking feedback to improve
transformation or training. Make sure your team does not have blinders on, but
rather takes the feedback and uses it for improvement.
Finally,
don’t stop with your first transformation project. Digital transformation, like
the implementation of many large projects, is an ongoing effort. Always look
for ways to streamline and improve your processes. Additionally, technology and the availability
of new tools changes every day. Keep up with the ever-changing technology
landscape and adopt it into your change initiatives.
Obstacles
SMEs could encounter might include the ability to control your online business
identity, hiring the right employees with the right digital backgrounds, or
dealing with a segment of the workforce
that is close to retirement and does not want to learn the new way of doing
business. Creating a digital culture takes time. It’s becoming much easier to
get 3rd party applications to market, which is great, but it can be difficult
to stay up to date with all of the integrations. Work with ERP consultants
to identify the best things to implement and ensure you get the right benefits
for your business.
Additionally, buy-in and
adoption from employees can be a challenge. We often see teams underestimate
the amount of work it takes to successfully implement change, especially
digital, across an organization.
What do you think is the challenge of getting SMEs connected to global digital supply chains?
The world can be a very complex place when it comes to
connecting people digitally. Of course, technology
in certain areas may be cost-prohibitive to implement. Additionally, technology standards and availability
in one country may be different than the availability in another country. Other
external factors such as government oversite and stability could also play a
role.
When it comes to large vs. small organizations, smaller
workforces mean that employees are already taking on multiple responsibilities
within their organization. Transforming their processes and systems requires an
investment of time that can be difficult to take on.
What else can SMEs do to stay competitive and profit from digital transformation?
It’s always important to keep an open mind and try new things.
Think big. You never know what new ideas may save your company time and
money!
Don’t be afraid to join groups and forums to stay up to date on
trends and new tools or go to conferences and network. The next big thing may
get created on a napkin or in a garage.
The alternative is the status quo; staying in the mindset of
what has always worked limits an organization from growing in ways that may not
have been anticipated.
Why should a manufacturer choose Global Shop Solutions over the competition?
Service.
When we partner with a customer, we expect to be partners for life. We want our
customers’ businesses to grow as we continue to grow. Our employees take care
of our customers, just as our management team does for our employees. We know that implementation can be a
challenge, but we strive to make it as pain-free and efficient as possible.
By
selling, developing, implementing, and supporting our software with our employees
rather than a VAR or other outsourced solution, Global Shop Solutions can
seamlessly guide customers through the entire process and relationship of our
partnership.