Why adopt best-of-breed technology?

Why adopt best-of-breed technology?

Charlotte Diener, vice president and general manager of global supply chain management, ON Semiconductor

Managing far-flung global supply chains, shorter product lifecycles, customer demands for ever-increasing functionality and lower costs, intense competition, and the need for better productivity are only some of the challenges corporations face today. Developing innovative solutions to these challenges demands critical thinking from experienced individuals.
Furthermore, every corporation has its own external market and internal culture, so technology solutions must draw on state-of-the-art tools, but be implemented in a manner that fosters user acceptance.
As such, the popular choice among supply chain and logistics professionals is to adopt an enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution so you have "one throat to choke." ERP systems are an effective solution to many, but not all, business problems.
Software implementation must be a collaborative process between the company looking to solve a specific problem, and the software provider looking to offer agreeable solutions.
In many cases, companies do not have the internal expertise to effectively analyze a process, deploy a software tool, and gain user acceptance. Companies, for example, will pay for an ERP solution, but only deploy small portions of its functionality.

ERP systems can be viewed as general practitioners—everyone should have one. But to solve chronic problems, one needs a specialist: a best-of-breed provider.

Through continuing relationships with these providers, we continue to improve our processes and tools. We have maintained a state-of-the-art supply chain system by actively participating in the i2 User Group, for example. We share our problems with i2, and serve as a beta site for its new software applications.
Ultimately, different companies at different stages of maturity face varying problems. Finding appropriate solutions—whether ERP or best-of-breed—to a specific problem is the responsibility of management and should never be outsourced.

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