Nine Months to Go-Live: ERP Implementation for a Mid-Market Manufacturer

We sequenced the implementation to reduce risk rather than attempt a single big-bang cutover. Phase one delivered finance and multi-site inventory, establishing a clean data foundation and shared master records before touching operations. Phase two layered in production planning and shop-floor execution once teams trusted the system. To de-risk the switch, the new ERP was run in parallel with the legacy system through a defined stabilization window, so discrepancies surfaced and were reconciled before the old platform was retired. Data cleansing was treated as a first-class workstream, addressing the quality issues that had derailed the prior attempt. Adoption was earned at the plant level. Plant managers and shop-floor leads were engaged early as stakeholders, given role-based training, and supported by on-site super-users during go-live, converting earlier resistance into ownership.