BroadbandX president Brian Tumbler called Preet Zayan, the top ERP implementation lead candidate, in July in a large North American city. Broadband-X, an ECM firm, required a new tracking system to satisfy all departments and improve cross-departmental and customer communication. Tumbler chose an ERP system to standardize, simplify, and connect organizational activities after considering numerous solutions. Tumbler bought and implemented an ERP package, like QuickBooks accounting software a few years before. After two unsuccessful deployment efforts, Tumbler realized he could not lead the ERP installation and would wind up with a pricey ERP system that was underused unless he changed his approach. He hired an in-house project manager. He wondered whether he could examine current systems, interview staff to identify issues and priorities, and establish an implementation strategy and project plan while waiting for Zayan to react. Ten years ago, Tumbler established Broadband-X. Risky ECM startups used pricey equipment. He understood ECM enterprises had low profit margins in a turbulent industry with many failures. He used his MBA and technical skills to balance financial planning and sales. Broadband-X started in a metropolitan suburb with one SMT line, a few staff, and a few clients. Over the next decade, Broadband-X added 4 SMT lines to serve several dozen customers with 4060 staff, depending on demand. Broadband-X bought an urban industrial zone to expand. ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 13485:2016 (medical) certifications assure product quality at Broadband-X. Broadband-X purchased ERP software to coordinate its production, sales, accounting, and shipping processes. ECM developed PCBs for mobile phone and appliance brands. ECM businesses developed, tested, and manufactured PCBs. Electronic PCBs. Phones, LED bulbs, and TV remotes have PCBs. PCB technology advanced greatly. Early staff hand-assembled and soldered all components (transistors, resistors, capacitors) on boards. Manual assembly became costly as electronic components shrunk. SMT assembles and solders most PCB "SMT components" (Exhibit 2). Experts created and soldered larger components SMT lines couldn't handle. Large-scale assembly of "thru-hole components" (Exhibit 2) may need expensive equipment. ECM companies created generic products using blank PCBs, SMT, and thru-hole components from client designs. High-labor-cost nations like these produce ECMs HMLV. Many sectors may order thousands or millions of customized PCB designs from ECM companies. PCBs remain popular. ECM customers tested prototypes. After several modifications, the corporation purchased things for market launch. If the product was effective, market demand would increase order quantities, allowing ECM customers to develop specialized lines or transfer orders to larger Asian ECM enterprises for economies of scale. Smaller ECM companies in high-labour-cost countries may have resumed manufacture when demand dropped. ERP SYSTEMS In the 1960s, industrial organizations realized the potential of computers and began using material requirement planning (MRP) software to estimate material needs and schedule deliveries to boost efficiency. Companies embraced bookkeeping, accounting, and finance software. In the 1990s, prominent software firms created enterprise-wide software systems with a central database to record all company operations from receiving to inventory management, production scheduling to shipping, HR to finance. They were called "enterprise resource planning" because they combined data from most departments and locations. Large manufacturers pioneered ERP. After 30 years, hundreds of ERP software/service vendors were still developing internationally as firms from all sectors updated or deployed new systems. ERP decreased departmental information silos. They developed efficient real-time data-sharing technology. ERP systems built transactional data warehouses for decision-making data analysis. Business processes may promote ERP adoption. Broadband-X's ERP provider handled estimate and quoting, sales, shop floor control, BOM, engineering, scheduling, MRP, inventory management, shipping, purchasing, receiving, accounting, finance, HR, CRM, and quality management. Before the ERP, Broadband-X utilized QuickBooks for quoting, sales, payroll, buying, accounts payable, and receivable. Manufacturing wasn't QuickBooks's purpose. Thus, spreadsheets controlled quality, scheduling, and production. Production and support communicated manually. QuickBooks expense accounting was done manually by the bookkeeper. A barcode scanner and few keyboard strokes in the ERP system allow employees to switch work order tasks. Human engagement was time-consuming and sometimes abandoned on the shop floor. After completing a work and shipping the items to the client, some unused electrical components were noted on a spreadsheet. QuickBooks inventory numbers were erroneous because staff did not manually reduce used parts. Workers searched hundreds of spreadsheets for parts. Zayan assumed ERP's inventory, BOM, and MRP modules would solve their issues. After a year, Tumbler picked Zayan. Tumbler concerned about losing time and money since many ERP implementations failed due to system cancellations or package modifications. Tumbler thought all ERP systems were great from advertising and sales pitches. He reviewed numerous ERP product demos. He tried many on the corporate server and discovered that most were not Broadband-X-ready. Market research led Tumbler to a foreign ERP system. Affordable, design-to-order, open database for updates, and superb customer support. Broadband-X maintained ERP annually. Tumbler was confident because he had implemented QuickBooks accounting software years earlier. After utilizing ERP, Tumbler found it more comprehensive than QuickBooks. Implementation needs a committed person and company-wide project management. Customers and goods increased due to market demand. Tumbler swapped projects. Delay ERP. After a year, Tumbler recruited an ERP project manager. Zayan knows ERP systems, particularly manufacturing. He managed MRP, databases, and projects. Tumbler interviewed Zayan for ERP. Interviews ensued. Zayan and Tumbler resolved ERP installation issues swiftly. Tumbler and Zayan chose quickly. Zayan installed ERP three weeks after joining Broadband-X. Zayan spent two weeks studying the quality management system documentation, historical data, and staff interviews. To choose ERP modules, buy them, and determine whether modification or process enhancements were needed, he had to grasp the full system. Zayan and Tumbler initially considered two execution strategies. First, prioritize useful ERP modules. ERP systems fail because they connect ERP components for show rather than to meet a business need, according to study. Another alternative was keeping transaction data. Pre-ERP data was in two systems, making reporting difficult. Historical data transfer was difficult and error-prone, outweighing reporting issues. Broadband-X's major issue was the quote-buy-manufacture gap. After prospect/customer RFQs, account managers analyzed labor, material, and time expenses to propose a price and delivery date. To avoid losing business to rivals, sales, buying, and manufacturing's poor email communication delayed quotes by two to three days. Experienced account managers quote fast to prevent losing a deal and commission. Account managers estimated material costs online using the RFQ client BOM. Production gave a simple labor cost formula. They overestimated lead time to estimate customers without production or procurement. Fast procedure produced issues if job was won. Online pricing searches were less dependable than buying department quotes. Online pricing didn't ensure component availability. Thus, the company overpaid for parts or had longer lead times. Second, manufacturing delays delivery unless hastened. Employee shortcuts and departmental miscommunications cost the organization money. Zayan assumed changing the ERP's estimating and quotation module would address the issues. Since the module lacked interdepartmental communication, they had to build a database application before quoting. Customers may edit the ERP database and construct communication apps within constraints. Tumbler coordinated sales for account manager cooperation. Tumbler thought the CRM feature would simplify lead processing and improve account manager connections using CRM data. Account managers recognized Tumbler's market insight. Communication enhances decision-making, customer happiness, and understanding consumer demands. Broadband-X's quality manager, Ratna Anand, methodically guaranteed ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 13485:2016 (medical) compliance. She organized procedures and work instructions well, but she failed to collect and assess production quality data including product failures at various stages, customer return material authorizations (RMAs), preventive maintenance planning and execution, and corrective action requests (CARs). She required ERP quality control and preventative maintenance data. Finally, Broadband-X's raw material and finished product coding systems complicated BOM deployment. Engineering, manufacturing, and inventory management standardized coding. Zayan found no Broadband-X management meetings. The management team met to resolve challenges because he wanted all managerssales, accounting, buying, production, quality, and inventoryon board periodically to hear input as the project progressed. Since ERP was company-wide, he needed a place to share progress and get departmental buy-in. Zayan found Broadband-X made using SOs. QuickBooks SOs without production management tracked shop floor operations. ERP systems need tagged work orders (WOs). Engineers were perplexed by the new WO/SO numbering scheme. Most spreadsheet users disliked ERP input interfaces, reports, and dashboards. Zayan acknowledged ERP failures. Zayan employees wanted spreadsheets like SO and WO dashboards, BOM and router analysis reports, BOM mass-entry sheets, and PO mass-entry sheets. Syncing spreadsheets with the ERP database to develop tools simplified workflow for many workers. Broadband-X's ERP payroll violates local legislation. Tax laws are problematic. ERP business estimated months or years to repair. Broadband-X couldn't switch mid-term since QuickBooks' accounting, payroll, and finance were unstable. until the ERP met national regulations. The company wished to quickly move ERP bookkeeping data to a cheaper QuickBooks version for payroll and accounting. Automation reduced duplicate entries and saved accountant time. Finally, order status updates were criticized. Customers received order status and shipping updates by email and phone. Tumbler thought the ERP would provide customers real-time work order data. Real-time manufacturing process and ERP scheduling module management would boost efficiency, but Tumbler didn't prioritize it. Zayan's ERP provider's maintenance agreement included training manuals, videos, user forums, and fast-response support. These technologies can implement ERP and educate new hires. He developed Broadband-X ERP-specific training. Tumbler felt Zayan's IT skills and Broadband-X's outsourced assistance would be adequate to implement the ERP. ERP vendors offered cloud solutions. Tumbler implemented on-site because cloud solutions were immature and worried about business data security. Zayan managed Broadband-X's ERP. A backup server would automatically backup the ERP database at night. Zayan reviewed and obtained project suggestions. (Exhibit 2). Broadband-X could handle the ERP revamp. Before going live, he realized the company needed to operate parallel systems (i.e., incremental ERP module rollout while the old system worked). Running two accounting systems worried him until the ERP provider suggested a country-specific solution. A new paper included his implementation plan and project timetable.

suggest solutions to the previously identified problems/issues and opportunities to the management of the firm. The solutions should be well justified, be practically viable and reasonable with due recognition of the firms strengths and weaknesses. Ensure that proposed solutions are clearly linked to the identified problems and opportunities. Outline in detail an action plan for the implementation of your chosen set of recommendations.