a)Understand what functions are required by your business before you buy any SCM product. How the product integrates with the other IT systems in place now or in future in your business should play a major role in determining the buy. Let’s straightaway start with a generic example. If you are planning to buy a Merchandising Software from one software vendor and already have a different Warehouse Management Software, make sure that the merchandise software can be integrated with the Warehouse Management Sofware. Another decision making criteria is whether the SCM software you are going to buy can integrate with the ERP system in place.
b)Most often than not, best-of-breed SCM software providers keep adding newer functionality to their base products by constantly taking the best custom features asked by the customers. These may suit your business needs which keep on changing and while fine-tuning your supply chain, you may need a new functionality which is already there in the software but has been switched-off at the time of delivery because it wasn’t asked for.
c)Keep in mind that an SCM product which suits a big player like WalMart may not suit everyone else.Just because WalMart has bought a certain product from an SCM software provider doesn’t mean that the product would be suitable for your business. Walmart is able to invest huge amounts of money in getting the product customized to suit its business. The customized product may more often than not nowhere resemble the base product sold by the SCM software provider. So never go by reputations. Your SCM problem could be unique and if you have luck on your side, a niche player could very well solve your business needs.
