Top 5 Challenges SMEs Face With ERP

ERP is essential infrastructure for growing SMEs—but many projects hit avoidable roadblocks. Below are the five challenges we see most often, how they show up, and what practical steps keep your rollout on track.

1) Unclear Requirements & Scope Creep

Symptoms: endless meetings, changing targets, “we’ll decide later,” and a backlog of custom requests.

Why it happens: processes aren’t documented, stakeholders disagree on priorities, and teams try to automate everything at once.

Fix it:

• Capture MVP processes only: quote→order→invoice, purchase→receive→pay, inventory, and basic reporting.
• Run 2–3 discovery workshops per department; write user stories with acceptance criteria.
• Freeze scope per phase; park non-critical items in a Phase-2 list.

2) Data Migration & Data Quality

Symptoms: mismatched SKUs, duplicate customers, opening balances that don’t reconcile, wrong units of measure.

Why it happens: legacy spreadsheets, multiple POS/accounting sources, and inconsistent naming.

Fix it:

• Define single source of truth for customers, items, chart of accounts.
• Standardize codes (SKU, UoM, tax) and build a mapping sheet.
• Trial-load a golden dataset into a staging environment; validate with finance & operations before go-live.

3) Change Management & Training

Symptoms: “the system is slow,” shadow Excel sheets, missed transactions, low adoption.

Why it happens: people issues, not software—insufficient training, unclear roles, no incentives.

Fix it:

• Nominate power users per function; include them in UAT.
• Create short SOPs (1–2 pages each) and role-based checklists.
• Plan hypercare: daily check-ins for 2 weeks after go-live.

4) Over-Customization

Symptoms: delays, upgrade blockers, vendor lock-in, and fragile code.

Why it happens: trying to replicate old workflows 1:1 instead of adopting standard best practices.

Fix it:

• Adopt configure over customize: fields, forms, approvals, and reports first.
• If custom dev is needed, keep it isolated (extensions, APIs) and documented.
• Review each custom request with a business case and owner.

5) Integrations & APIs

Symptoms: manual re-entry, mismatched totals, failed sync jobs.

Why it happens: unclear master/child relationships, timing issues, and no monitoring.

Fix it:

• Define data ownership: where customers, items, prices, and invoices originate.
• Use webhooks/queues for near real-time; schedule fallbacks for nightly sync.
• Instrument logs & alerts; reconcile with control reports (daily).

SME ERP Readiness Checklist

• MVP scope, user stories, and success metrics agreed.
• Clean master data & golden dataset validated.
• Role-based training completed; SOPs published.
• Customization register with owners & ROI.
• Integration design with monitoring & rollback plans.

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