Hirschfeld Consulting

Technology Corner

Why is there a technology column in a magazine that professes to be non-technical? Because functional managers are assaulted with technological terms and are asked to make decisions involving technology every day. Furthermore, the manufacturing systems that are the common link among our readers are technological beasts and the providers of these systems proudly and loudly proclaim their technological advantages. In self-defense, functional managers must have at least a passing familiarity with technology and be able to wade through the hype.

The primary purpose of this column is to define technology in terms that are meaningful to the non-technical manager and to put things in perspective. It is important for suppliers to develop and offer new technology, but managers need to know if and how these new technologies can deliver real benefits. Only then can they make informed decisions about what to buy and how to use it.

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Midrange ERP 

Midrange ERP is a controlled circulation magazine for managers in mid-sized manufacturing companies that use or intend to use commercially packaged Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software to manage their business information.

It is our intention to be the definitive manager's guide to the effective use of commercial ERP systems in the mid-sized manufacturing community. Our focus is on management issues - production and planning, materials and procurement, finance and accounting, sales and marketing, and engineering. We will not ignore the technical aspects of ERP systems (hardware and software), but these will be addressed only to the extent that they impact operational issues and always with a decidedly non-technical approach.

Midrange ERP targets the fastest-growing segment of the ERP marketplace-manufacturers with revenues between $20 million and $500 million. Advanced Manufacturing Research (AMR), the industry's leading research organization, calls this mid-sized market "largely untapped," and predicts huge growth potential for it over the next five years. In a recent report, AMR said it "expected to see mid-range companies expand their market share considerably as vendors increasingly focus on this new frontier."

In the past year alone, many of the vendors that previously concentrated their efforts on Fortune 500 companies have extended their product range and their sales efforts into the midrange, as the market among $500 million-plus manufacturers approaches saturation. Together with a well-established group of vendors with roots in the midrange, they offer a rich set of solutions for this burgeoning market segment.

But the growth of midrange manufacturing applications also presents midrange managers with a large and often bewildering array of options, as well as a whole new group of methodologies and technologies. For those who master it, the new world of midrange ERP solutions holds the promise of greater productivity and higher profitability in an increasingly competitive environment. Those who ignore it risk losing markets and seeing profits wither.

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