Draft for Tamir's review. Not published.
Compare what you can judge yourself
Ask each bidder for the names of the people who will do the work, and for a customer like you to call. Ask for everything excluded from the price, such as data migration, training, interfaces and changes. Ask what happens if go-live fails: who pays, who fixes it and how long it takes.
Name one person in your company to own the system, and have them sit in every meeting. Ask both bidders for a small design phase before you commit to the whole project.
Test your real production, beyond the category
A specialist ERP and an enterprise suite with extensions are both claims until you test them. Run the same production, traceability and financial scenarios with both bidders. Include variable yields, purchases by weight and sales by pack, scrap, co-products and retrospective quality adjustments.
Separate standard functionality from configuration and new development. Count every workaround needed to close a production order. Each custom extension carries upgrade and support costs for as long as you run the system.
Depending on your seat
If you're on the board, don't pick the system yourself. Require a comparison on criteria the business cares about, with evidence from reference customers, and approve the process that produced it. Ask for total cost and risk over five years for each option, including implementation.
If you're the owner and one offer comes from a friend's firm, run the same questions for both offers. If you run IT, check group reporting and local operating requirements with their owners, alongside plant fit.
What to check before you decide
- Ask management to agree the criteria before comparing vendors, and bring the criteria to whoever approves.
- Ask each bidder for the names of the people who will do the work and a similar customer to call.
- Ask for a list of everything excluded from the price, such as data migration, training, interfaces and changes.
- Run the same production, traceability and financial scenarios with both bidders, using your real transactions.
- Separate standard functionality from configuration and new development, and compare upgrade costs for the extensions.
- Ask what happens if go-live fails: who pays, who fixes it and how long it takes.
- Name one person in the business to own the system and attend every meeting.
Questions people ask
Our board must approve an ERP choice and management is split, how do directors decide without technical knowledge?
Directors should not pick the system; they should require a comparison on criteria the business cares about, with evidence, and approve the process that produced it. If management cannot agree on the criteria, that is the problem to fix first. It depends on what the company needs from the system in five years and on who in management will own it.
Two ERP offers for my family manufacturing company, how do I compare them without an IT expert?
Compare them on three things you can judge yourself: who exactly will do the work and whether they have done it in a plant like yours, what is in the price and what is extra, and what happens if it goes wrong. Price and friendship come after. It depends on how different your processes are from the standard and on who in your company will own the system.
Can standard ERP handle variable yields and multiple product units?
Test real production transactions before accepting standard-fit claims. Fit depends on variable yields, co-products, corrections, and whether conversions preserve inventory and financial meaning.
Should our food business choose a specialist ERP or an enterprise suite?
Compare complete business workflows rather than product categories. It depends on demonstrated food manufacturing fit, group requirements, local support, and the amount of customisation each option needs.
How I can help with this decision
- Ask or talk (Free)
- I give my view on how to read both proposals, and the questions and workflow that make the real differences visible.
- Review (Pay if it was worth it)
- I write an independent comparison of the offers on people, scope, terms, customization and fit to your plant. I recommend one, with the conditions to attach.
- Retain (When it makes sense)
- I stay available through the project to review milestones, cost reports and design changes before you approve them.