Services

ERP and operations systems

For businesses comparing NetSuite, MYOB Advanced, Cin7, Salesforce, Odoo or similar ERP products, a custom operations system may also be worth considering. We deliver it in stages so each part can be used and assessed before the next is built. Plus our pricing is fair and reasonable even though its a fraction of the cost of the large multi-nationals

If you are evaluating ERP and the shortlist is NetSuite, MYOB Advanced and Cin7, there is a fourth option worth pricing. A system built for how your business runs, delivered a department at a time.

Custom ERP in a business of your size

An ERP implementation at a large company is a two year programme with a change management workstream. That is not what this is. In a business of 20 to 200 staff, an operations system covers four or five departments and goes live in stages over six to eighteen months.

Modules we commonly deliver

  • Sales orders and quoting
  • Purchasing and supplier management
  • Inventory, stock control and stocktakes
  • Production planning and scheduling
  • Warehouse, pick, pack and dispatch
  • Job costing and margin reporting
  • CRM and customer history
  • Management dashboards

Delivered in phases, so a failure is never total

The real objection to custom ERP is not cost. It is the fear of spending a year and a large sum on something that does not work on the day it is switched on.

We answer it structurally. Each phase covers one department, goes live on its own, and is paid for on its own. If phase one disappoints you, you have spent one phase and you own what was built. There is no single switch over day for the whole business.

Your accounting system stays

This is one of the first three questions we are asked, so here is the answer up front. No, you do not have to replace it. Xero, MYOB and QuickBooks handle the accounting well and your bookkeeper knows them. We integrate with the one you run. Invoices, purchase orders, payments and contacts sync both ways, and nobody rekeys anything.

The crossover point is usually somewhere between 25 and 60 users, depending on the licence you are quoted. Below it, off the shelf is normally cheaper. Above it, the licence alone will fund a custom build inside five years.

  • Purchasing, inventory, production, dispatch and job costing
  • Current stock information across multiple warehouses
  • Integration with your existing accounting system
  • No per-user licence payable to X2 Network
A typical accounting system integration may include Xero or MYOB
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Products with on hand, allocated, available and on order, and the trade pack hierarchy on every line.

Off the shelf ERP compared with custom built

The comparison that matters is not features. It is the five year cost, and how much of your process you have to give up.

Off the shelf ERP
Custom built
Licence cost over five years
Per user, per month, rising annually. Often the largest line
None. You pay to build once and to change when you choose
Fit to your process
Good in the standard 80 percent, poor in the 20 percent that makes you money
Built to the 20 percent, because that is the reason you are doing this
Implementation
Three to twelve months, largely configuration and data migration
Six to eighteen months, delivered in useful stages
Cost of a change
A customisation, quoted by a partner, sometimes not possible at all
A change request against a known codebase
Upgrades
Forced, on the vendor's schedule, customisations may break
On your schedule, or not at all
When it wins
Your process is genuinely standard, or you need it running next quarter
Your process is the competitive advantage, and you intend to keep the business

How we build it

Read the full process
1

Discovery and scope

We meet with the people who use the current process and document how the work is really being done. You receive a written specification, a delivery plan and a fixed price for the first build stage.

2

Design and prototype

We create a working prototype of the main screens and review it with your team. This gives people a chance to test the proposed workflow before development begins.

3

Build in phases

The project is divided into useful stages, usually based on a department or part of the workflow. Each stage is tested, delivered and paid for separately.

4

Go live and training

We migrate your data, train staff using their real day-to-day tasks and stay available while everyone becomes familiar with the new system.

5

Support and improve

After launch, we can continue to support the system and add improvements as your business changes. Support commitments are published and changes are quoted before work begins.

The part that surprised me was how much of the first month was spent on our process rather than on software. By the time anything was built, they understood our business better than some of our own staff.
Mia Chen, General Manager

Wholesale distribution, Sydney

CASE STUDY

Monthly stock reconciliation cut from three days to four hours.

Read the case study →

Book a discovery call

Thirty minutes with the person who would build your system. We will ask about how your business runs today, where the manual work sits, and what you have already tried. You will leave with a view on whether custom software is worth it for you, and a rough range for what it would cost. There is no charge and no obligation.

Book a discovery call

Or call 02 9100 0168 during business hours.