Frequently Asked Questions

An independent ERP consultant works for you, not your software vendor or implementation partner. We keep your vendor accountable, protect your timeline and budget, prepare your data, and make sure the system is configured for how your shop floor actually runs. We take no vendor commissions, so our advice is aimed at one outcome: your project succeeding.

We work across a range of manufacturing-focused ERP platforms including Epicor, SAP Business One, Microsoft Dynamics, Infor, Acumatica, and others. Our value isn’t in knowing one system inside out, it’s in understanding manufacturing operations deeply enough to hold any implementation partner accountable.

Vendor consultants are trained on the software and motivated to keep you on their platform. We’re trained on manufacturing operations and motivated by your outcomes. We don’t get paid by the software company. We get paid by you, which means our advice is always in your interest, not theirs.

Ideally before you sign. An independent consultant can help you run a thorough discovery and on-site process mapping before you commit to software and services, so gaps and add-ons surface while you still have leverage in negotiation. If you’re already mid-implementation and behind schedule, we can step in there too. Read more in I Trusted your Sales Team…

Both. Many of our engagements are primarily remote with periodic on-site visits for key milestones, workshops, or go-live support. For embedded engagements where day-to-day presence matters, we’ll discuss what makes sense for your team and location.

We work best with small to mid-size manufacturers, typically companies with 50 to 500 employees who are serious about operational improvement but don’t have a large internal project management or IT organization. If you’re bigger or smaller than that range, reach out anyway, we’ll tell you honestly if we’re the right fit.

Typically within one to two weeks of an initial conversation. We don’t have a long onboarding process. Once we understand your situation and agree on scope, we get to work.

Engagements are scoped and priced based on what you actually need. We don’t publish a rate card because a 30-day data migration engagement looks very different from a 9-month embedded implementation. Contact us for a straight conversation about scope and budget.

A well-run implementation for a mid-sized manufacturer should take about 8 to 10 months. Projects that run longer tend to lose momentum, and teams burn out. Data is one of the biggest schedule risks: cleanup takes months, not weeks, so start preparing your data about six months before the project begins. See We are Cancelling the Implementation for how.

In our experience, overruns usually come from a few predictable problems: data that wasn’t cleaned up before the project started, requirements missed during sales and discovery that turn into add-ons and customizations, and project teams stretched too thin by their day jobs. We help you catch these early by preparing your data ahead of time, owning discovery before you sign, and watching scope throughout the project. Read more in I Trusted your Sales Team…

No. Every engagement, whether it’s an On-Site Operations Assessment, Embedded Support, or ongoing Advisory work, is scoped and billed on its own terms, not locked into a contract you can’t get out of. We work by project, by phase, by day, or by hour, and we scale up or down as your needs change. If the engagement isn’t earning its keep, you’re not stuck in it.