planning for erp in 2015 - ultra consultants · one of the largest strides ultra takes in erp...

PLANNING FOR ERP IN 2015A COLLABORATIVE WHITEPAPER FROM THE PARTNERS OF ULTRA CONSULTANTS.

At a GlanceAt Ultra, we realize the current ERP landscape for manufacturers is always changing – with a new year comes new ways to prepare for an ERP project or business process improvement (BPI). This white paper serves to provide you with the essentials of what you need to know about embarking on a new project, from valid reasons to think about a change, to the value of a new system, even a synopsis of what vendors are out there and their products that could work best for you.

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Before we get into the details of how to prepare for an ERP project, let’s talk about the market to which our suggestions are oriented. At Ultra, we deal primarily with North American mid-market companies whose annual revenues range from $50 million to $1.5 billion. Our clients fall into the verticals associated with the manufacturing and distribution industry, which has approximately 25,000 enterprises. In the past year, we have noticed some significant ERP trends in manufacturing:• 85% of the market already has an ERP system• Companies are replacing their systems and transitioning to current technology approximately every

5 to 20 years• On average, approximately 10% of companies buy new ERP systems each year. This means at any

one time, there are 2,500 companies out there evaluating new systems to replace their old systems, many of which are 10 to 20+ years old.

• Each year brings an expansion of innovative capabilities in technology and ERP solutions, such as advanced functionality, module convergence and integration, mobility and Cloud, device independence, and e-commerce and extensions, to name a few.

The Genesis of an ERP TransformationNow that you have some context behind the types of companies we deal with and the ERP trends we’ve seen in the past year, let’s explore some common reasons why companies elect to change their ERP systems.The first and most basic reason companies agree to think about a change is when they recognize their systems are outdated. This realization is more important than the system itself – companies eventually realize current and progressive technology solutions are necessary to grow and drive efficiencies within their business. They come to terms with the fact that legacy systems and manual processes are holding them back, creating a bottleneck. This doesn’t mean companies need to live on the technological bleeding edge, but staying relatively current is key. Companies that ignore this paradigm find themselves lagging behind the competition and unable to keep up with customer demands, maximize employee efficiencies, and meet overall expectations. Okay, but why is a new system so important? The truth is, many older systems have been heavily modified and are hard to upgrade due to custom interfaces, modules, and lack of robust documentation. Upgrades to new versions are difficult and companies tend to wait due to prioritizing technology against plant and equipment investments or other change initiatives. Because old systems have limited capabilities, islands of information spring up as departments find their own solutions from third parties or develop their own Access/Excel databases, usually with no involvement of IT. Legacy ERP systems also often operate in batch mode. This leads to a lag in visibility, decision making and action. These characteristics are reasons why many legacy systems have been “dead ended” by ERP companies.You might be asking, how are you supposed to know these things about old systems? We recognize technology is moving faster than most companies can absorb, hence the need for companies to invest in experts like Ultra to educate them on new best practices and to drive business improvements and help discern the technology requirements that add tangible value to the business.

“EACH YEAR BRINGS AN EXPANSION OF INNOVATIVE CAPABILITIES IN TECHNOLOGY AND ERP SOLUTIONS: ADVANCED FUNCTIONALITY, MODULE CONVERGENCE AND INTEGRATION, MOBILITY AND CLOUD, DEVICE INDEPENDENCE, AND E-COMMERCE AND EXTENSIONS TO NAME A FEW.”


The second main reason a company will agree to making a change to their systems is often due to some rather simple, underlying rationale:

“Our growth rate is going to be constrained by outdated information technology.”

or

“We have made acquisitions and we need to get everyone on a common system. Visibility to the financials and operational activities is limited and creates a significant workload to get answers to even the simplest of questions.”

Some companies worry their competition has made the right transformation and, as a result, fear their clients will become unhappy and in turn cause their business to fall behind. Others come to a rather peaceful conclusion, recognizing continuous improvement is a high priority and that only better technology will enable more change.

The Value of a New SystemYears ago, companies justified a new system mainly on its ability to improve the balance sheet by reducing inventory and day sales outstanding. Those days are long gone as most companies have squeezed as much as they can from these assets.Companies are now being more progressive in their investment decision-making processes. Those who have invested in continuous improvement activities are now looking at technology as a means to drive even more efficiency and, more importantly, higher customer satisfaction and loyalty, making it easier to do business via more competitive, on-demand solutions that meet and exceed expectations.Today, customers are seeking relationships with the companies they choose to do business with. This requires streamlined processes that deliver to promises, simplify transaction processes, and provide conversational sales experiences. The bottom line is that these relationships require real-time access to multiple data sets: accurate information, customer buying patterns, competitive analysis, production capability, supply chain visibility, and a host of business intelligence information that can be trusted.Within the manufacturing industry, we see the following factors as the value perceptions of new ERP:• Productivity improvements. Our current system is hard to use and has redundant processes,

therefore our staff is not as productive as they could be. If we make our people more productive, they will be able to do more work without the added stress of working harder as we grow. Many ERP buyers justify a new system on their belief one will improve everyone’s productivity and therefore require less overhead resources as they grow, thereby improving margins.

• Employee retention. Sooner or later, employee dissatisfaction takes over with the added stresses of business growth and inefficiency. Employees begin to see better ways to manage information and handle their day-to-day activities. Systems that are hard to use and do not have modern capabilities negatively impact employee morale.

• Access to information. We find most of our prospective clients emphasize the frustrations of not being able to get meaningful, actionable, and trusted information out of their older legacy systems. Many of those companies still rely on custom spreadsheets or special IT requests for their information. They cannot get to real-time data to convert it into information to make timely decisions, and late information or no information negatively impacts profits. They are constantly frustrated with the lack of a single source of the truth.

• Supply chain improvements. Many manufacturing companies are continuously working to reduce cost and speed up the velocity of the supply chain. There continues to be better ways to manage inventory, vendor performance, and the entire production process.

• Engineering improvements. A competitive edge in manufacturing companies is maintained through


engineering capabilities. Making engineers more productive with dynamic configurator capabilities, integrated BOM and CAD information, and PLM insights drives product innovation and speed to market, with higher quality and more competitive products. Document management requirements have become much greater and ERP systems have responded with integrated capabilities.

• Financial consolidation. Many companies have invested in acquisitions over the past few years. Often these acquisitions come with their own set of problems that stem from an older legacy system and inefficient processes. Enabling financial and performance visibility into those acquisitions requires modern ERP solutions. The ability to consolidate financials across business units and operations is key to strategic decision-making and long-term business viability. If business integration is on the horizon, ERP can serve as the enabler to achieve those goals, too.

• Quality Management. Effective visibility into the operational processes, supplier capability and performance, production capability, and supplier and customer returns with root cause analysis are all factors that comprise a robust quality management system. ERP enables this visibility on-demand and provides the insights to drive continuous improvement and target resolution to root cause issues.

• E-commerce Extensions. As supply chains consolidate, more and more companies are drawn to the direct-to-consumer channel. This requires retooling in the warehouse to support a pick pack ship operation and improved sophistication on supply chain forecasting. Integration between ERP and e-commerce must be robust and secure.

We find it becomes extremely important for companies to understand the value of a new system for the sake of the enterprise. Focusing on the business benefits with solid justification is the key to successfully moving forward with an enterprise-wide change.Another thing to realize is that ERP impacts all levels of an organization and securing support is a vital element in the transformation effort. We find companies who choose not to quantify these benefits find they have little measure for accountability and fail to meet expectations. Establishing metrics of success in business terms that extend beyond the ERP go-live event is a crucial element of sustainable success. Setting value expectations provides targets within the business that challenge them to think “future state” and cuts through the tendency to automate the legacy processes and activities.


Changing TechnologyIn the past few years we have seen continued improvements in not only ERP function, but also in deployment options (cloud), access options (browsers, tablets, smartphones), integration capabilities, and ease of use.Our advice to the 2015 buyer is to “get educated.” System capabilities change so quickly, customer expectations continue to increase, and employee capabilities are more progressive now than ever before – it is hard to keep up. As an independent advisor to our clients, it is our job to stay apprised of the vendor solutions, industry trends, and industry best practices. We conduct extensive vendor analysis, in-depth solution discovery sessions with vendors, regularly present webinars, write whitepapers, attend industry conferences, and present research-advanced manufacturing best practices to the marketplace. Most importantly, we partner with our clients and apply this knowledge and experience to implement and realize these benefits long-term. One of the largest strides Ultra takes in ERP education comes in the form of our interactive webinars. Because we believe education is one of the most important aspects of any ERP project, our 2015 webinar plan includes two webinars per month that fall into four categories: webinar series (where vendors go head-to-head demonstrating the latest and greatest of their products), industry webinars (sessions tailored towards one specific industry), vendor webinars (one vendor highlights a “hot topic” in regards to their software), and vendor briefings (one vendor demonstrates the basic facts and functions of their software offerings).In addition, the following topics can be received via webinar or a custom vendor demonstration:• Order to Cash. Ask the vendor to see demonstration of an order to cash process for your industry.• Vertical industry capability. Ask the vendor to discuss the advancements accomplished by their

customers in your industry.• Deployment options. Have a vendor describe their cloud strategy. Understand their approach to

licensing, maintenance and deployment.• Access options. See a demo of entering an order or accessing information on a smartphone or tablet.• Integration capability. See how vendor tools can be used for integrating systems.Many ERP implementations fail due to a lack of understanding and management of risks, such as selecting the wrong ERP system, failing to quantify and justify the benefits, and having ineffective communications and change management. Most manufacturing professionals have enough on their plates and find themselves unable to dedicate the time or simply do not have adequate experience in selecting and implementing an ERP system and associated best practice business processes. An ERP consultant can bring that knowledge to your team, streamline the overall process, eliminate the risks of the unknowns, and increase the speed of realizing the value and benefits of business transformation.

Vendor UpdateWe continue to see ERP vendors expanding their sales and support channels to accommodate growth. All mainstream vendors have increased the functionality and capabilities of their software. These vendors consistently invest in their products and services to keep up with the advancements in technology and business needs of their current and prospective customers.

“WE HAVE SEEN CONTINUED IMPROVEMENTS IN NOT ONLY ERP FUNCTION, BUT ALSO IN DEPLOYMENT OPTIONS, ACCESS OPTIONS, INTEGRATION CAPABILITIES, AND EASE OF USE.”


At Ultra we maintain an in-depth understanding of all the mainstream vendors in the Tier 1 and Tier 2 space along with dozens of the Tier 3 solutions that have specific industry focus. Each vendor is evaluated across their functionality and capability offering, as well as their target industry and their ability to serve customers of varying size. We also stay in tune with the technology platform each vendor promotes along with the total cost of ownership (TCO) budgets that would typically be required for various clients that may consider these solutions.Let’s look at vendors by market segment within manufacturing:• Company size above $300 million: This part of the market is typically dominated by SAP and Oracle.

Other vendor products such as Microsoft AX, Infor M3, Infor LN, and IFS battle the “big 2” for a piece of this lucrative market.

• Company Size between $50 million and $300 million: This market is wide open, as several buyers are seeking out the best vendors in their vertical industry. Here we see the “big 2” (SAP and Oracle) more on an equal footing with everyone else. There is still the historical stereotype of high cost and implementation complexity for the “big 2”, but at Ultra we believe this is unwarranted and doesn’t serve our clients well – every implementation is different, and every negotiation has unique characteristics. We see many mid-market companies (mostly above $200 million) successfully implement these systems for a reasonable and affordable cost. The rest of the vendors in this space include:• Oracle JDE• Microsoft AX, NAV, and CRM• Infor Syteline, LN, M3 and SXe• IFS• Epicor ERP, and P21• QAD• Sage X3• Plex• NetSuite

• Process Industry: While this segment is extremely complex and has market segments and verticals of its own, generally, most of the vendors mentioned above have a solution for the Process industry. We usually see Deacom, SysPro and Process Pro added to the list for companies under $100 million.

Here is a quick update on the most recent news of each vendor listed above:SAP – If you ask us what the “best” ERP package is, we may say SAP depending upon the size of your organization and your vertical industry needs. SAP offers the highest functionality for most manufacturing and distribution companies, as they “play” in every vertical. However, the software cost and implementation will be higher, especially when looking at the amount of internal time combined with the consultant’s total hours. SAP will work with partners in the mid-market who focus more on a specific vertical, in theory reducing implementation costs. The big news at SAP is HANA. It offers a leap above Oracle and Microsoft SQL databases by offering speed and features that would normally be seen in BI tools directly from the database. SAP is priced similarly to that of the Oracle database, about 12% of software costs.Oracle • EBS – This software maybe viewed as the #1 in some verticals. Oracle’s strategy

with this product is to offer a more flexible tool, which can help control implementation costs including internal time. Oracle runs on the Oracle database, which typically has more overhead than SQL and is more expensive. Oracle has many partners focused in micro verticals in the USA. Oracle is pushing the cloud as its sales team receives significantly more commission on the cloud offering.


• JDE – This is a true mid-market product originally created on the AS400, which has been converted to SQL or Oracle from DB2. Core manufacturing performs well in MTO, MTS, and process industries, as well as distribution. There are roughly 5 key partners in the USA to work with who know this product. The software is slightly less expensive and the implementation is much less than SAP or Oracle EBS.

Microsoft• AX – AX provides multiple products for mid-market manufactures and distributors.

The AX product is designed for customers who reach over $100 million in revenue with multiple sites, companies, plants etc. AX competes with the other Tier I products and offers a partner channel with specific IP to verticals. Implementation will be similar to that of SAP and Oracle EBS. The look and feel of the Microsoft product line is the key to why new companies by the product. There is a direct consulting organization but 90%+ of the sales and implementations are through the partner channel, the most extensive of which in the market.

• NAV – The target markets for this product are manufacturing, distribution and service companies yielding less than $100 million in revenue. Similar to that of AX, NAV relies on partners to provide specific IP for vertical markets. Additionally, it is sold and implemented almost exclusively through partners. NAV is a true Tier II product and will be slightly less expensive in totality than JDE both in software and services. It has an almost identical user interface as that of AX.

Infor – Infor is a compilation of multiple legacy systems, consisting mostly of the AS400 products and many Tier II ERP systems. Infor has found a direction via vertical markets – their focus is to offer the right mid-market product for the right vertical. Therefore, the direct sales force (companies over $100 million in revenue) is broken down by vertical with products assigned to each. The channel is selling two products, Syteline and Visual, to the under $100 million market. All products are implemented by the partner channel that sells the product, with over $100 million being direct. In general, their solutions will be priced similarly to that of MS AX or MS NAV depending upon the channel that is selling the product. Infor has invested heavily in their top four products both directly and indirectly. Indirectly, they have Mingle (twitter-like), Ion (integration), and Mongoose (development) which sit above all the applications. Additionally, they have launched a new Suite of cloud products called CloudSuite. Below are other Infor products:• LN (formerly Baan) is focused on Auto, A&D, and project-based manufacturing for

larger mid-market companies and has strong presence in Europe. There are partners that resell this product as well.

• M3 (formerly Lawson and Intentia) is focused on process industries, like food, beverage, and chemical, and equipment dealerships. The product has received significant investment since its acquisition a couple years ago. There are partners that resell this product as well.

• Syteline (formerly SYMIX) is focused on manufacturing general industrial (non-process, non-Auto/A&D). It is sold by partners under $100 million and direct over $100 million. Its real strength is complex manufacturing where a configurator is required.

• SXe (formerly NexTrend) is focused on general distribution and specific distribution verticals of construction suppliers, plumbing, heating, and electrical.

Sage – Sage is now selling X3 to new customers. It has a strong look and feel and just announced a complete cloud SaaS (Software as a Service) model with the same product as on premise. The focus is the under $100 million company. Sage has a small direct salesforce for larger customers and utilizes a partner channel to work with the


others. Their vertical strengths are manufacturing, MTS, process chemical and food, and general distribution. They also offer a CRM product, and have recently integrated formulation capabilities for process chemical and food companies. Sage X3 is probably the least costly solution of all the companies reviewed in this article on both software and services.Epicor – Owned by a private equity firm with annual revenues of approximately $900 million, Epicor rolled out their latest version (Epicor 10 rebranded “ERP”) with a new user interface and new capabilities for changing technology. The company has taken Tropos, its process industry solution, out of the market with the intent to add its capabilities to the next new version. We see Epicor as a very strong competitor for “make to order” companies, plus the electronics industry. Epicor is a less expensive solution versus most of the players on this list.NetSuite – NetSuite is the leading 100% cloud SaaS-focused ERP company. Their beginning was in general distribution and service industries and they are very strong in projects. A couple of years ago, they purchased and integrated general manufacturing capabilities. NetSuite is sold directly and through a channel partner system strong in accounting firms. The licensing cost comparison requires the purchaser to consider cost savings in IT staff and hardware. Additionally, the implementation costs are much less than their competitors as customers accept the capabilities offered versus customization. NetSuite’s strength is in companies less than $100 million in revenue, but as the comfort with SaaS increases, the size of the organizations taking on this approach is increasing.IFS – IFS is a solid mid-market player that prefers customers over $100 million in revenue. It is mostly sold and implemented by their direct team and is strong in most heavy industry verticals including auto, A&D, process (food, beverage and chemical), complex manufacturing, and projects. It is very competitive in pricing similar to that of JDE or Microsoft AX. They are very selective in the projects they take on to insure the success of their customers.QAD – QAD was the first product owned by formerly on premise ERP companies to get into the cloud SaaS market. They continue to sell both On Premise and cloud SaaS models. Their focus is general industrial and general distribution, with verticals including MTS, Consumer, Life Sciences and Process (food, beverage and chemical). They only offer a standard costing model, which supports their verticals well. QAD is priced competitively with the low end of the mid-market, similar to Epicor. They offer two resellers which work with companies less than $50 million in revenue, and tend to have more of a Midwest-focused customer base.Plex – Owned by private equity, Plex is the first major player in the cloud SaaS market for manufacturing, beginning with auto. In the past year, the product received a very competitive new look and feel as well as extended functionality. Their focus is small to mid-sized companies as these tend to be early adopters of SaaS cloud-based solutions. Their vertical focus is general industrial, auto, food and beverage, but they continue to build out new verticals. The implementation and annual fees will be similar to that of other cloud solutions, offering rapid implementations and reduced IT staff and hardware advantages.

Cost of a New SystemFor years, industry analysts have quoted statistics that show manufacturing companies spending 1% to 5% of their annual revenues on a new system. These are reasonable guidelines, but sooner rather than later you need to calculate your estimated costs for items like software licenses, annual maintenance fees, SaaS


subscription fees if you’re considering a cloud solution, hosting fees, disaster recovery, business continuity costs, and implementation costs. Of these costs, implementation is the broadest category, often including several sub-categories such as:• Project management• Project governance and accountability• Product education• Solution design and configuration of the new system• Testing new system• Technical assistance (data migration, customizations, system administration and security)• User documentation and training• Readiness assessments • Organization and process change management• Benefits realizationFor each of the categories above there are further guidelines to consider when estimating and budgeting a new system.

Should I Upgrade or Buy New?This is really the age-old question, but we have some answers for you. If you are currently on a maintenance plan, you should certainly consider upgrading. However, while upgrading may be the easier or most cost-effective route versus buying a new system, there are also multiple factors that must be considered before making this decision. Yes, you have to consider all of the legacy modifications you have likely invested in over the years, and understand what capabilities the vendor has added to their system that may eliminate the need for porting those modifications. In most cases, vendors have provided tools and services specifically designed to ease the transition to the new version. But depending on how many versions you are behind, this could prove to be of little benefit.If you are not on a maintenance plan, or the legacy software is unable to meet your foreseeable needs, then you should definitely invest in the research and due diligence to see what else is out there. This may add a few months to your project as you evaluate vendors and their respective solutions, but this investment will likely be well worth the effort when you consider a new solution should last you 10 to 20+ years. The good news is that by engaging with an independent expert like Ultra, this investment can often be accommodated by accelerating the overall process and getting the right technology and solution in place faster and with greater success.

Hiring an Independent ConsultantOver the last few decades, the industry has fluctuated its position on whether to hire an independent consultant for ERP and business transformation services. It has often been assumed that half the market uses a consultant and half does not. Many times, a CFO or CIO is hired to bring their knowledge of ERP to the organization to facilitate a change. Since the last economic recession, the industry has developed a new perspective. More and more services are being outsourced to allow flexibility in staffing and more importantly to take advantage of the depth of

“SOONER RATHER THAN LATER YOU NEED TO CALCULATE YOUR ESTIMATED COSTS AND FEES, SUCH AS SOFTWARE LICENSES, ANNUAL MAINTENANCE, SUBSCRIPTION, HOSTING, DISASTER RECOVERY, BUSINESS CONTINUITY, IMPLEMENTATION.”


expertise a consulting firm can offer as opposed to hiring an executive or manager with a more limited set of experience. In addition, companies are realizing the landscape of options is far too much for any one person to truly understand. Our studies show about 75% of the industry uses an independent consultant to drive the process. Why?There are two main reasons companies hire independent consultants. First of all, the responsibilities associated with choosing a right product such as project management and ERP best-practice knowledge are specialties they do not have. Another reason is they cannot spare the resources to dive into the project. An independent consultant will enable the successful realization of their strategic long term goals with more speed, less risk, and higher confidence.

SUMMARYDeciding whether to go through with an ERP project is one of the most challenging decisions a company makes primarily because there are so many aspects of the decision that are changing constantly. By providing you with the most important factors to think about in a selection process, we can explore and revisit these topics to see how they change over time.Being up to date on the software vendors and their programs geared towards your company is essential to a successful ERP project. Partnering with an independent consultant like Ultra will guarantee that you are working with the most recent ERP knowledge to ensure you find the right product for your company.

ABOUT ULTRA CONSULTANTS, INC. Ultra Consultants is an independent consulting firm serving the manufacturing and distribution industries. Organizations turn to the Ultra team for ROI-driven ERP technology expertise and business process management that improves revenue and customer satisfaction, enhances financial management and real-time decision making, improves productivity and reduces time to market. The world’s middle market companies make up the Ultra Consulting client roster including aerospace and defense; automotive; chemical; consumer goods; electronics; food and beverage; industrial equipment; medical device; metal fabrication and plastics manufacturers. Ultra Consultants offer deep experience in manufacturing process optimization. The team averages over 20 years manufacturing and process experience with professional certifications in APICS, Lean manufacturing, Six Sigma Green and Black Belt, and Project Management. www.ultraconsultants.com


COLLABORATIVE TEAMJeffrey F. Carr Managing Partner

Jeff Carr is a sought-after expert in manufacturing technology. As a leading independent voice in ERP system selection and implementation, Jeff’s organizations have helped over 1,200 manufacturing companies select and implement new information systems, earning him a reputation as the leading expert on manufacturing software vendors and their products. Jeff’s results-focused career spans four decades serving process and

discrete manufacturers. As founder and manager of Ultra Consultants, he leads his organization’s high-impact business process improvement programs that leverage today’s modern ERP technology. Jeff is a graduate of University of Illinois. His businesses have won accolades by KPMG Peat Marwick High Tech Entrepreneur organization; the Arthur Anderson Small Business Institution; Young Presidents Organization, Chief Executive Officers Association, and World Presidents Organization. Jeff regularly garners high praise from manufacturers who achieve better business outcomes such as improved operations, increased quality and higher profitability. He regularly speaks, presents and writes about ERP best practices and manufacturing technology trends.

Charlie SchloffPartnerCharlie Schloff is a 25+ year veteran of the manufacturing and IT industries with extensive experience in executive management and consultative positions. He has led initiatives across a wide range of activities, including global business acquisition and integration, project/program management, enterprise IT strategy, and change management. Charlie is a high performance, quality focused, results-driven executive/consultant with a progressive career demonstrating collaborative leadership, vision,

and business acumen. Charlie is energized by complex challenges and is committed to delivering client value, satisfaction, and overall business success. He is a true leader and has successfully managed several organizations with P&L responsibilities throughout his career. His business acumen is supported by a broad background in designing and implementing comprehensive large-scale business transformation initiatives and pervasive technologies across multi-site organizations worldwide. On top of Charlie’s traditional business and technology leadership, he also incorporates experience in managing organizations with responsibilities in product & service design, marketing, sales, finance, human resources, engineering, and manufacturing to complement his business acumen. For his clients, Charlie is dedicated to delivering sustainable value through people, process, and technology initiatives that drive the achievement of the business goals, objectives, and expectations. Charlie has deep experience within the Automotive Industry with 20 years of experience working for Ford Motor Company. While at Ford, he held a wide-range of progressive executive positions in the areas of IT Operations, System Architecture & Development, IT Security & Compliance and served as an internal implementation consultant and program manager on a range of large scale projects including ERP, CRM, HRIS, PLM, BI, and Engineering Systems. Additionally, he held responsibilities for managing advanced vehicle program development and planning activities along with serving as the Divisional Director of Six Sigma and Lean focused on quality, cost, and overall business process improvement. In the second half of Charlie’s career, he diversified his background by serving as Director of Information Technology and Process Improvement for an International Food & Beverage Manufacturer and more recently, prior to coming to Ultra, held the positions of VP of Information Technology and Director of Corporate Quality for a Global Industrial Equipment Manufacturer. In parallel with his business responsibilities, Charlie served on Advisory Boards for two major software companies and also Ultra itself before joining as a full time Partner. He has a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science from University of Michigan and an MBA from the University of Detroit. He holds the following certifications: Six Sigma (MBB), CISSP, SOX, ITIL, COBIT, and PMP.


Richard SidesPartner

Richard Sides has over 20 years technology-related operational experience assisting manufacturing and distribution organizations by improving their business processes and supporting information systems. Richard’s experience includes operational responsibilities, management consulting, ERP system implementation, and serving in a variety of senior executive management roles. Richard’s background includes significant experience in process and discrete manufacturing as well as logistics,

distribution and supply chain management. Richard started his career in 1990 with Kraft Foods and was part of the pioneering efforts to introduce integrated supervisory and process control systems to Kraft’s production lines. He finished his 6-year career with Kraft by serving as the systems lead on the pilot implementation of Kraft’s Marcam Prism ERP rollout. In the late 1990’s Richard became APICS certified and moved into management consulting, working exclusively with manufacturing and distribution companies. This experience included developing IT strategies, designing production and inventory systems, implementing business process improvements, and ERP implementation project management. He has also served the role of Senior Vice President of Information Services for a multi-site manufacturing and logistics company where he implemented a more current system infrastructure and corresponding best business practices. Richard has also served as Senior Vice President Manufacturing and Supply Chain for a leading software provider. Richard has a BS in Computer Engineering from Lehigh University and an MBA from DePaul University.

George TrudellPartner

George Trudell has over 25 years supply chain and technology experience helping mid-sized manufacturing and distribution companies improve their businesses. He worked in industry for 15 years as a Corporate Director of Supply Chain, Planning Manager, Strategic Planning and Master Scheduler. He has worked in consulting for almost 15 years, from Senior Consultant to Partner at Grant Thornton, McGladrey, and now Ultra Corporation. George has selected and implemented ERP systems at

each step in his career, leading ERP projects from both perspectives (industry and consulting). In 2010, George re-joined Ultra after working for Ultra for 3.5 years in the early 2000’s. As a consultant he has led over 40 ERP Selection and Implementation projects, working with all major ERP and CRM vendors including SAP, Oracle, Microsoft, Infor, QAD, Epicor, IFS, Sage, and Consona. His ability to lead his clients through process change enabled by ERP systems is his strength. George has deep experience with both process and discrete clients and ERP projects. George has his BBA from The University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business and his MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg Graduate School. He is APICS certified, and taught classes and spoken at conferences and dinner meetings, on the topics of Business Process Improvement, ERP Selection and Implementation.

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