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Introducing New Milk Procurement and Payroll Functionality

April 2nd, 2012 by admin

One of the single biggest challenges cheese and dairy producers face is the set up and maintenance of how they pay their milk suppliers. As part of our ongoing commitment to the cheese and dairy industry, we are releasing new milk procurement software functionality that is fully-integrated with the Enterprise 21 ERP system. Read More…

The new milk pay module enables cheese and dairy manufacturers to create standard route pickups for each milk supplier, develop their own milk payment grading system on a supplier-by-supplier basis, establish user-defined testing procedures for each milk supplier, define an infinite number of hold back codes and associated costs, and electronically transfer funds to the entities of the hold back codes. In addition, cheese and dairy producers can define their own milk payment methodologies based on test values for fat, protein, and antibiotic content for each lot of milk.

Perhaps most importantly, the Enterprise 21 ERP system will track each lot of milk picked up from each supplier, the quality control test values for each lot of milk, the date of pick up, when each specific milk lot was used in production of finished goods, finished good lot numbers, and all finished good lot shipments to customers, providing an end-to-end lot traceability software solution.

The new milk payroll functionality will be free to all existing TGI customers and will be sold to all future TGI customers at no additional cost when they purchase Enterprise 21 software licenses.

To learn more about Enterprise 21 for the cheese and dairy industry, please click here.


Visit TGI at ICTE 2012

March 29th, 2012 by admin

TGI will be exhibiting at the 2012 International Cheese Technology Expo April 10-12 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. TGI representatives will be on-hand at Booth #237 at ICTE 2012 to offer demonstrations of Enterprise 21 ERP, our fully-integrated food ERP software solution for cheese and dairy manufacturers and distributors. ICTE 2012 promises to offer a fantastic showcase of leading technology solutions for the cheese and dairy industry. Read More…

What makes Enterprise 21 ERP an ideal ERP solution for the cheese and dairy industry? Enterprise 21 ERP delivers:

•    Forward and backward food traceability software functionality;
•    Shelf-life and expiration date tracking;
•    Catch weight processing;
•    Fully-integrated EDI;
•    An advanced, RF and barcode-enabled warehouse management system;
•    Sophisticated forecasting and material requirements planning functionality;
•    Formula and recipe management;
•    A complete milk procurement software system to manage payments to dairy suppliers;
•    Complex customer pricing rules and methodologies;
•    Scalable batches;
•    Production scheduling;
•    Production recording;
•    Procurement;
•    Order management;
•    CRM;
•    eCommerce;
•    and business intelligence and executive dashboard functionality in a single ERP system.

For additional information on Enterprise 21 ERP for the cheese and dairy industry, please click here.


TGI to Exhibit at IDDBA 2011

April 26th, 2011 by admin

TGI will be exhibiting at the International Dairy Deli Bake Association’s 2011 show and expo in Anaheim, California June 5-7, 2011. We are looking forward to showcasing Enterprise 21 ERP at the IDDBA 2011 show for IDDBA and its members. Read More…

If  you plan on exhibiting at or attending IDDBA 2011, we invite you to visit Booth #1859 for a full-featured demonstration of Enterprise 21 ERP for you and your company. To pre-arrange a demonstration while at IDDBA 2011, please click here to register for a demo.

Enterprise 21 ERP has been recognized as an industry-leading ERP software solution for food processors and distributors and has received Food Logistics magazine’s annual FL100 award for three consecutive years. Offering a fully-integrated ERP application suite, Enterprise 21 provides food processors and distributors with:

•    Forward and backward lot traceability software functionality;
•    Production scheduling and recording;
•    A fully-integrated, RF and barcode enabled warehouse management system;
•    Quality control processing;
•    Complete inventory management;
•    Advanced forecasting and material requirements planning (MRP);
•    Catch weight processing;
•    Formula and recipe management;
•    Product shelf life and expiration date tracking;
•    CRM;
•    Order Management;
•    Purchasing Management;
•    Financial Management;
•    Business Intelligence;
•    Recall Management;
•    eCommerce, and much more.

Learn more about TGI’s food manufacturing software and food distribution software solutions.

Additional Resources and Links
•    ERP Demonstrations
•    Improve Product Safety and Traceability – TGI White Paper
•    Enterprise 21 Product Overview Brochure
•    ERP Implementation Services


ERP for the Small Business: Three Ways TGI is Making ERP Software Affordable for Small Businesses

March 29th, 2011 by admin

One of the biggest roadblocks for small businesses that are ready to make the jump from their existing software systems to a fully-integrated small business ERP solution is cost. When it comes to purchasing an ERP software system, all businesses, regardless of size, should examine both the upfront first-year costs associated with purchasing an ERP solution and the potential long-term costs associated with the ERP system, such as customer support and software upgrades. At TGI, there are three things we are doing to make purchasing Enterprise 21 ERP more affordable for small businesses that are ready for an ERP system. Read More…

1. Free Data Migration for Small Businesses that Purchase Enterprise 21 ERP. For 2011, TGI is offering free ERP data migration services to businesses that purchase Enterprise 21 ERP, and currently use a number of small business software packages. We’ve developed a series of mapping files that allow us to export data out of these systems and load the data into Enterprise 21 in a timely, efficient manner. Given that data migration is perhaps one of the most time-consuming, tedious tasks performed during the ERP implementation process, TGI’s free data migration services can save small businesses both time and money, resulting in faster, more cost-effective implementation projects.

2. Interest-Free Payment Plans. TGI offers every small business that purchases Enterprise 21 ERP flexible, interest-free monthly payment plans for software licenses. As opposed to giving the ERP vendor 50% of the total software license cost upfront, in the form of a down payment, and another 50% of the total software license cost thirty days later, TGI allows small businesses to purchase Enterprise 21 software licenses with twelve, equal monthly payments, minimizing the disruption to the organization’s cash flow and monthly budget constraints.

3. One Year of Free Maintenance and a NO Maintenance Fee Increase Guarantee. For every business that purchases Enterprise 21 ERP, TGI offers one year of free maintenance from the date of initial software installation. Given that an ERP implementation may take anywhere between three and nine months to complete, we believe it is inappropriate for ERP vendors to charge their customers maintenance fees during the first year of software ownership. For each subsequent year following the first year, TGI guarantees, in contract writing, that we will never increase our customers’ annual maintenance fees. This guarantee provides our customers with the peace of mind in knowing they will not be subjected to unforeseen maintenance fee increases and escalating yearly software expenditures. Click here to learn more about TGI’s No Maintenance Fee Increase Guarantee.


Successful ERP Implementation Starts with Successful ERP Software Evaluation

March 25th, 2011 by admin

Implementing an ERP software system represents both a significant technological and cultural change for any manufacturing or distribution organization. An ERP system changes the very nature of individuals’ jobs, roles, and responsibilities within the company. Unfortunately, the ERP industry is wrought with failed implementations or terrible stories of companies not being able to take orders, receive product, or ship orders to customers upon go-live. Read More…

Generally speaking, implementations fail for two reasons. First, the manufacturing or distribution organization’s internal ERP implementation project team was simply not committed to executing the necessary tasks to complete the software implementation in a timely fashion. Similarly, the ERP vendor was not able to deliver what it promised during the sales process or was not equally committed to completing the implementation successfully.

Secondly, and perhaps more commonly, ERP implementations fail because the organization did not select the right ERP solution and vendor in the first place. Successful ERP implementation projects do not begin with signing contracts and paying a software vendor money for software licenses; rather, successful ERP implementation projects begin with a well-structured, quantitative ERP software evaluation process that looks in-depth at each ERP system’s complete set of functional capabilities and how such functionality translates to tangible benefits and potential ROI for the manufacturer or distributor. To a degree, “selecting” an ERP system is different than “buying” an ERP system.

At TGI, we encourage each of our potential new business prospects to evaluate TGI and Enterprise 21 ERP through a thorough, quantitative ERP selection process, and we offer free ERP software selection tools to assist in this process. Depending on the nature of the industry the prospect is in, the prospect’s software requirements across various business departments and units (accounting, order entry, inventory and warehousing, purchasing, manufacturing, etc.) expected software implementation time frame, budget constraints, and countless other factors, we are often times a great fit for the prospect. Other times, however, we may not have the most viable solution for a particular business. The point is that through a thorough ERP software evaluation process, strengths and weaknesses of each software vendor and solution can be identified, allowing organizations to select the best possible ERP solution for their respective businesses while simultaneously providing a stepping stone for organizations to complete their ERP implementation projects successfully.


Pet Food Distributors Require Wholesale Distribution Software with Strong Product Recall Management and Lot Traceability Functionality

September 18th, 2010 by admin

In recent months and years, we’ve seen substantial issues with product recalls for peanuts, pistachios, and a variety of other food products consumed by humans.  Lately, there has been a lot of activity focused on the recall of pet food due to salmonella. Read More…

For those pet food distributors with strong wholesale distribution software like Enterprise 21, they are well positioned to manage this difficult situation as efficiently as possible.  When pet food is received by the distributor, the associated vendor lot numbers are recorded in the system as part of the inventory transactions.  At each step in the process, when the product is moved, picked, packed, and shipped, the given products and associated lot numbers are recorded.  Should the need arise, the complete scope of affected product can be identified through lot traceability – either forward traceability (when a vendor provides data about specific products and lots) or backward traceability (when a customer provides data about specific products and lots).

Likewise, having a comprehensive, well-defined, system-enabled recall management plan enables pet food distributors to manage the process efficiently with customers, vendors, and governmental agencies.  This includes having documented and repeatable processes and procedures and associated data available to define the scope of and execute the product recall.

Beyond strong lot traceability and recall management capabilities, pet food distributors will also appreciate Enterprise 21’s functional strengths in managing:
•    Multiple facilities for territory assignments and intra-company transfers,
•    Customer segmentation for sales analysis and customer pricing methodologies,
•    Pricing and promotions management by various units of measure, including rotation allowances and promotions with complex rule sets,
•    Order management with manual, EDI, and Web-based entry methods, and efficient customer returns processing,
•    Purchasing by managing vendors with multiple ship-from locations, vendor promotions and rebates, and vendor returns processing,
•    Inventory management and warehouse management with shelf life management, stock rotation, and multiple picking methods to support pallets, layers, and eaches,
•    Transportation management supporting route delivery plus common carrier shipping, and
•    Accounts receivable and receipt of payment including processing checks from parent organizations to pay off multiple child invoices concurrently and integrated credit card processing.

Pet food distributors will derive tremendous benefits from strong distribution management systems like Enterprise 21, including efficient management of lot traceability and recall management, while simultaneously improving operational efficiency and customer service.


Process Manufacturing Software: Key Benefits Elude Companies without Strong Inventory Control

August 11th, 2010 by admin

I met with a company recently who is evaluating new process manufacturing software.  They currently have separate systems for manufacturing and distribution.  They also have numerous processes they’re performing off-line in spreadsheets and on paper.  As a result, they don’t have one cohesive set of real-time information available for use across the enterprise. Read More…

Their #1 core business issue is that they have an inventory control problem.  This should not be surprising based on the discussion about separate systems and off-line processes;  however, in further peeling back the details behind this issue, while company management “wants” to resolve this issue, it wasn’t clear to me they were willing to do what was necessary to “make” the issue go away.

A cornerstone of strong ERP systems like Enterprise 21 is strong inventory management – a series of processes and associated data that enable process manufacturing enterprises to be able to plan and execute effective and efficient raw material and ingredient sourcing and production operations.  This means being able to buy and produce exactly what is necessary to support customer demand without incurring excess inventory, whether the business manages its production operations via make to stock, make to order, or a combination of methodologies.

Without strong inventory control and accuracy, setting and adhering to the processes and procedures necessary to know how much inventory is being held and where that inventory physically resides in the enterprise, a process manufacturing company cannot achieve strong inventory management and customer service.  Or said conversely, without strong inventory control, companies will have too much inventory overall, not enough of the right inventory to satisfy customer demand, and customer satisfaction will be reduced.

Process manufacturing systems that include fully-integrated RF/barcode-enabled warehouse management provide all the necessary software functionality to enable companies to have strong inventory control and inventory management.  However, software functionality alone is not sufficient.  Having documented, repeatable processes and procedures, training personnel to perform these operations, and requiring personnel to comply with the processes and procedures is more critical than the software functionality itself.

Having the greatest system in the world without people performing their appointed roles in the manner required will make that system useless.  In the arena of inventory control, this starts with personnel performing a system transaction for every physical task they perform regarding inventory – receipts, putaways, moves, picks, packs, and shipments.  A system task must be performed to update inventory data every time a physical task involving inventory is performed.

Even if a business were willing to put the necessary systems, processes, and procedures in place, it will be disappointed that a “new system” does not provide improved inventory control if it is unwilling to establish and manage to a culture of compliance with those processes and procedures.


When Should I Replace My Existing ERP Software?

July 6th, 2010 by admin

Let’s examine when it’s time to consider kicking off an ERP selection project replacing your existing manufacturing or distribution ERP software. There can be a number of symptoms that will help point someone to realize it’s time to evaluate and implement new ERP software. Here are some examples. Read More…

  • Current software can’t match existing business processes – this may have existed from day 1 of installing your new software if you did a poor job of selecting software the first time, and the gap may have continued to widen over time.
  • The business is changing and software can’t enable this change – as a business changes and grows, new processes can get introduced which help enable that business to be competitive in new markets with new customers.
  • Lots of off-line processing (i.e., spreadsheets, manual processes, re-keying of data multiple times) – if the existing system doesn’t allow someone to get their job done, they will tend to find ways around the system to do so. Unfortunately, these inefficiencies can eat substantial amounts of time and can create data inaccuracies as the “same” information is entered multiple times in disparate systems.
  • Have lots of “data” but can’t get “information” out of the system – analyzing information is critical to continuous improvement and attracting and maintaining good customer relationships. One can get handcuffed by having a data rich, information poor environment where they put data into their system but can’t get any information back out.
  • Can’t easily implement new functionality or technology (i.e., RF/barcode, EDI, warehouse management system, CRM software, etc.) – there may be improved efficiencies to be gained and new customers attracted by making it easy for them to do business with you. Many times, technology is a key enabler to making it easy for your customers to interact and transact business with you.  If you can’t readily adopt these new technologies, you may lose customers who are better prepared to transact business with your customers.
  • Existing software and/or underlying infrastructure is no longer supported by the associated vendors – as there have been massive amounts of acquisitions in the ERP market over the years, there are lots of ERP solutions which were thought of as “flagship” solutions that are no longer receiving an adequate level of investment to keep existing customers satisfied and to attract new ones. Your vendor may have “dropped support” for your software without formally announcing it to you.
  • Can’t keep up with business demands by writing custom software vs. using packaged software solutions – for those who continue to write their own custom software, there are so many “commodity” processes that could be enabled via packaged software while still gaining the benefits of customized software in those “competitive advantage” processes – those processes that enable a company to gain competitive advantage in its marketplace. Unfortunately, most companies who have a “build” vs. “buy” approach to software do so across all business processes, and either pay a lot for “commodity” processes or can’t get resources focused on the “competitive advantage” processes due to keeping day-to-day operations running.  Don’t allow yourself to be held hostage by your internal application development team.

While the above is not intended to be an all inclusive list, these symptoms are very common in businesses.  As symptoms continue to pop up and their results become increasingly more disconcerting, manufacturing and distribution businesses will opt to evaluate and implement new ERP software solutions to remove these barriers to future business growth.


Download the Latest TGI ERP White Paper from the TGI Resources Library

June 30th, 2010 by admin

We recently published a new white paper in the TGI Resources Library. TGI’s Extending CRM Concepts in ERP Systems white paper discusses the necessary software features an ERP system must deliver to go beyond basic contact management and extend CRM concepts throughout the enterprise. By selecting an ERP software solution that is capable of meeting such criteria, manufacturers and distributors alike will be able to arm themselves with a set of software functionality to improve customer service and satisfaction and meet individual customer’s requirements on an on-going basis.

Click here to download the complete white paper from the TGI Resources Library.


Small Business ERP Software: Calculating Concurrent ERP Users

June 9th, 2010 by admin

Virtually every small business with whom I speak has questions about how to calculate concurrent ERP system users as they evaluate various small business ERP software solutions. Many small businesses have difficulty in making this assessment due to the fact they currently use a number of different software systems across each of their organizations’ departments. Read More…

Before I go any further, let’s take a look at the difference between “named users” and “concurrent users.”

Named Users: Named users would be all users who would ever require access to the ERP system. Whether the user accesses the system once a day, twice a day, or uses the system all day long is irrelevant.

Concurrent Users: Concurrent users would be the total number of named users accessing the system simultaneously (concurrently).

On one hand, small businesses will overestimate the number of concurrent user licenses they should be purchasing because they do not know or understand the distinction between “concurrent users” and “named users.” They are under the impression that any person who ever uses the system at any point in time would have to count as a concurrent user rather than a named user, leading to inflated cost estimates and proposals from ERP software vendors.

Conversely, small businesses will underestimate the number of concurrent ERP system users at their organization because they are not used to having all business departments (accounting, sales, customer service, manufacturing, warehousing, shipping, receiving, quality control, etc.) operating on the same software platform.

Generally, when I speak to a small business owner who has questions about how he or she should go about calculating the number of concurrent ERP system users his or her business would require, I try to get the owner to think about the simple task of processing an order from start to finish. First, a sales representative contacts a prospect or customer about a product the business is offering. Then, the customer places an order either with the sales representative, an account manager, or a customer service representative. Procurement personnel purchase raw materials, ingredients, and/or components to make the product. The raw materials, ingredients, or components are then received into inventory. These items are then consumed in manufacturing to produce the finished good, and this finished good is then put away into inventory or immediately allocated to a sales order. The customer order is then picked, packed, and shipped to the customer. Accounting personnel then invoice the customer for the order. Some (hopefully short) time later, the customer pays the invoice, and accounting personnel process the payment.

Once I’ve gone through this somewhat simplified process, I tell the small business owner to think about each point in the process that would involve his or her employees entering information into the ERP system (either manually or with RF and barcode scanning devices). Finally, I tell the owner to think about the number of people who would need to be entering such information into the system simultaneously, on average. This number, in turn, is most likely the number of concurrent ERP system users the small business would have.

Obviously, the simple process of processing an order from start to finish as described above may be an oversimplification, as some businesses may require additional information to be entered into the system, such as quality control data, serial numbers, lot numbers, etc.

Fortunately, to assist businesses in calculating their number of concurrent ERP system users, TGI offers a free ERP software concurrent user estimator template. This template is part of TGI’s Software Selection Tool Kit. To download the complete version of TGI’s Software Selection Tool Kit, please click here.