ERP Development & Implementation

During the pandemic, we changed how we were placing purchase orders: we placed smaller quantities more frequently. This increased the number of POs placed per year by 100%. Because the PO data was used in different spreadsheets throughout the company, often two teams would have different calculation methods for a KPI thus coming to different conclusions. Additionally, the finance team was struggling to connect supplier invoices to the originating PO. We needed a scalable ERP system that would simplify data dissemination, streamline KPI calculations, and act as a hub for cross-functional collaboration. Moreover, we had no capital to spend on a new system. 

When this issue surfaced, our company was using Monday.com as a project management tool. Given the compatibility of the data format with .xls documents, I determined that this was our best option for building a scalable ERP solution. 

This is the process that I used to build out the system: 

1. Requirements gathering
   Collaborated with leaders across the organization to determine the data and information needs of each functional team. 

2. Design
   Wireframed the final output, which included a system of boards for each function. KPI Dashboards would be made based on the data available on a given board for the function.

3. Development
   Created a system of boards in Monday.com using the wireframe as an input. 

4. User Testing
   Our team tested the process with the next season of purchase orders. These orders were the first tracked on the board. The feedback that I received was used to iterate and further build out the boards to meet the needs of my internal customers. 

5. Production
   Management of the boards was turned over to each functional lead to automate according to the needs of their processes.

Launched a scalable system of boards in Monday.com that followed a PO from placement through final invoice - thus acting as the internal ERP. 

1. Be prepared to iterate!
   In order to complete any project to the best of your ability, you must receive customer feedback and iterate. A tool for a whole team is only as useful if you receive the buy-in from every end-user. 

2. Scalability of a data system is limited by the processing speed
   With multiple people working in the same boards, there is concern that each person may overwrite the work of another. Processing speed is the time to safely transition editing from one user to another to maintain data integrity. To ensure that you scale while maintaining data integrity, you should implement a system that locks editing data lines while the data is being edited by another user.