Author Archives: Brett Mundell

About Brett Mundell

Brett has more than 20 years of business software sales and company management experience. Brett has been involved in more than 300 ERP projects. His passion is customer satisfaction, making sure every client is more than just satisfied. Brett wants our customers to be driven to refer their friends and peers because we offer the best services and technology available and because we exceeded their expectations.

Leverage Technologies Wins 5 Awards at the Sage Partner Roadshow 2018

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Attending the Sage CEO Circle in Mexico this year cemented Leverage Technologies as one of the premier partners for Sage Business Cloud Enterprise Management in Australia and across the world.

At the March 2018 Sage Partner Roadshow at the Four Seasons Hotel in Sydney, Leverage Technologies was also awarded 5 (yes 5!) Sage awards for partner excellence.

An outstanding result, achieved by a collective effort of the whole team and absolute dedication to Enterprise Management implementation excellence and customer service.

Remaining at the forefront of an industry that is being disrupted

The Sage Partner Roadshow kicked off with a keynote session from Kerry Agiasotis, Executive Vice President at Sage Asia Pacific.

Kerry opened up the event with an overview of the transformations affecting today’s business environment and the disruptive trends we are all witnessing on a daily basis.

The new opportunities presented by the Cloud means a whole new way of doing business is now a reality.

Problems are getting solved in different ways and new efficiencies can be unlocked in almost every area of our businesses. As an example, the linear supply chain is evolving into a complex, connected value chain where internal processes interface directly with external business systems and stakeholders, enabling real-time decision making and proactive actions.

One thing is sure. The way our businesses operate today has changed dramatically. We are at a point where even a small team can disrupt an entire industry.

This is because of the advent of new platforms, marketplaces and systems which have enabled businesses to leverage global resources at a local level.

What this means to you?

Being a “connected business” is the new normal. A business environment where data, information and insights flow seamlessly between finance, production lines, supply chain, customer service and other internal business units but also externally through to customers, third party suppliers and stakeholders is the new norm.

From Kerry’s introduction speech, one thing is clear.

Thriving in a world where change happens in real time, means partnering with world-class organisations that can truly empower your business.

Sage is uniquely positioned to enable your organisation to become a “connected business”. With more than 13,000 staff worldwide and industry-leading alliances, Sage can truly deliver value to Australian businesses at a global and local level.

In Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands region, Sage has enjoyed tremendous growth and success within the small, medium-sized and larger businesses, supporting more than 26,000 customers.

The Sage Partner Awards ceremony

During the same night, Sage announced the winners of its Partner Awards for 2017.

In front of an audience consisting of Sage management, staff and Partners, Kerry Agiasotis, Executive Vice President at Sage APAC, announced Leverage Technologies as winners for the following categories:

Highest New Revenue, Enterprise Management 2017
Highest Revenue % Growth, Enterprise Management 2017
Highest Overall Growth 2017
CEO Circle Winner 2017
Sage Partner of the Year 2017

“An outstanding result, once again showing that Leverage Technologies is fully committed to supporting Sage, our customers and our team” commented Brett Mundell, Managing Director at Leverage Technologies.

With the largest and most highly certified Sage Business Cloud Enterprise Management team in Australia Leverage Technologies can offer all aspects of Enterprise Management implementation and support including:

Technical and database;
Functional;
Cloud;
Business requirements and scope;
Development and integration;
Support.

Our Enterprise Management pedigree, now stronger than ever, includes access to 26 Enterprise Management certified consultants.

Conclusion

Thriving in a world where change happens in real time, means partnering with world-class organisations that can truly empower your business.

Leverage Technologies is Australia’s leading Enterprise Resource Planning implementation company and together with Sage are uniquely positioned to assist your business in driving growth across all parts of your organisations including, Finance, Customer Management, Distribution & Logistics, Manufacturing, Services, you name it!

For more information or to speak to one of our consultants call 1300 045 046 or email [email protected].

Leverage Technologies invited to the 2017 Sage CEO Circle in Mexico

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Sage, the market leader in cloud business management solutions has recently invited Leverage Technologies to the 2017 Sage CEO Circle at the Rosewood resort in Mayakoba, Mexico.

The Sage CEO Circle is a program that recognises the top 50 Sage partners worldwide. Winning partners are selected as a result of their outstanding performance in serving Sage customers and their commitment to advocating the Sage solutions.

A centre of excellence to discuss strategy, market trends and innovation

The top-performing partners met the senior Sage management over a week to discuss the key technology and innovation trends in the market. The ultimate goal was to create a centre of excellence to share thought leadership and learn from one another, in a collective effort to bring about positive outcomes to the Sage customer base.

Jennifer Warawa, EVP of Partners, Accountants and Alliances at Sage said, “I have seen true dedication and commitment to the Sage brand throughout the year, as well as an overwhelming customer obsession and sales excellence. I am very proud to have our business partners as part of our amazing extended partner team.”

From launch in 2013 to the largest Sage X3 consultancy team in Australia and New Zealand

After launching its Sage X3 division in 2013, Leverage Technologies have experienced massive growth year after year, winning some of the most prestigious Sage awards including Highest Software Assurance Renewals, Highest Revenue Award and Net New Sales Excellence and Growth.

The Sage X3 team at Leverage Technologies is now the largest Sage X3 consultancy team in Australia / New Zealand with 26 Sage X3 certified consultants available to implement and support Sage X3 for our growing customer base.

The Sage CEO Circle is another great win for all Leverage Technologies and our customers.

Leverage Technologies’ Managing Director, Brett Mundell and Executive Vice President at Sage Asia Pacific, Kerry Agiasotis at the 2017 Sage CEO Circle in Mexico

Brett Mundell, Managing Director at Leverage Technologies commented: “This award is a great win for all Leverage Technologies’ customers. The Sage CEO Circle participation cements Leverage Technologies as one of the premier partners for Sage X3 in Australia and across the world. Our access to senior management and technical resources at Sage, in Australia and overseas, is a real positive for our customers. As always, the team at Leverage wants to provide the best possible resources, solutions and advice to help our customers grow their businesses. Being acknowledged as a premium partner for Sage helps us achieve these goals.”

Leverage Technologies Managing Director Brett Mundell at the 2017 Sage CEO Circle in Mexico

Full Press Release available here.

For more information call us on 1300 045 046 or email [email protected].

A Brief History of ERP and the Impact on Business (2018) INFOGRAPHIC

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In this post, we are going to explore the ERP history and how this has impacted the way businesses operate.

Enterprise Resource Planning has evolved dramatically over the years. From basic Material Requirements Planning to Business Intelligence and forecasting, the change has been exponential.

This has impacted the way businesses operate, allowing a single integrated platform to manage all aspects of the operations and create a competitive advantage at scale.

ERP history and the impact on business

To learn more check the infographic.

5 Wholesale Distribution Hacks To Increase Delivery Responsiveness

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Responsiveness is a key element of winning businesses in the wholesale distribution industry. Being able to process orders on time and efficiently can make or break a wholesale distribution company no matter what the vertical market focus is – from basic commodities to advanced technology components.

According to a research from the Australia Bureau of Statistics, the Wholesale trade industry’s EBITDA has grown by 8% from 2015 to 2016.

Due to such a strong growth and also given the increasing level of competition in the market, wholesalers must focus on differentiating their offerings to create further value. One of the key differentiators for such businesses is responsiveness.

In this article, we are going to examine how Wholesale Distributors can create additional value by increasing delivery responsiveness and upgrading their inventory management capabilities.

Better delivery responsiveness and tracking – The Holy Grail of Wholesale Distribution

5 ways Wholesale Distribution organisations can enhance their inventory management capabilities and increase delivery responsiveness to outperform the competition.

Inventory and distribution management in real time. Wholesale businesses need an integrated set of tools to manage a single or multiple warehouses and tack items in real-time. This is key to enabling the efficient fulfilment of orders without causing a surplus of inventory.
Tracking and costing of inventory. Does your inventory management process enable tracking of both serial and batch numbers? If not, you are missing out on a great opportunity to enhance efficiency and reduce processing time. Discover how we have recently assisted a Wholesale Distributor operating in the Australian food sector.
Streamlined picking and packing. Create pick lists rapidly to identify and pull items from the inventory faster and more accurately. With the right inventory management process in place, you should also be able to set up automatic alerts to notify the Purchasing Manager of a low level of stock.
Smart planning of materials and inventory levels. Material Requirements Planning or MRP is a brilliant functionality available to manufacturing and distribution businesses. If your manufacturing and distribution process doesn’t include an MRP component, you are missing out on a great opportunity. This is because MRP enables you to maintain the optimal production plan and to create an accurate picture of your production and supply chain. A truly smart solution that can put your business on autopilot and eliminate manual processes.
Warehouse reporting and Business Intelligence. Most successful distribution businesses are able to generate a comprehensive set of reports for their warehouse, inventory and production. This enables your organisation to take a comprehensive look at key indicators and make informed decisions, proactively.

Conclusion

The Australian Wholesale Distribution industry is growing from strength to strength. Whether you operate in basic material, machinery & equipment, grocery or other products wholesaling, process and technology innovation can transform the way you operate.

Real-time inventory management and tracking, streamlined picking and packing, smart planning and Business Intelligence are only some of the key aspects of a “smart” distribution business.

Embracing new innovative applications to run a more efficient business is key to create value for your customers and differentiate from the competition. Leveraging existing technologies to run a more efficient warehouse means your business can increase delivery responsiveness and keep a better pulse on its operations.

At Leverage Technologies, we assist businesses operating in the manufacturing and distribution industry to achieve greater efficiencies through Enterprise Resource Planning. For more information or to speak to a specialist call 1300 045 046 or email [email protected].

3 Reasons Your Manufacturing Firm Is Fighting For Survival

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According to a recent report from the Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre, the Australian Manufacturing sector is larger and more diverse than thought.

With more than 1,200,000 jobs in both its workforce and the inputs it purchases, the Australian manufacturing sector has been growing from strength to strength over the last few years.

The increased competitive pressure means Australian manufacturers can’t afford to compete on cost and need to focus on value. In fact, according to the same report, being advanced is not what a manufacturer makes, but how.

In this post, we are going to have a look at the three main reasons your manufacturing firm might be fighting for survival and what you can do about overcoming those challenges.

To fight for survival or not: a guide for Australian Manufacturing firms

Manufacturing businesses have many challenges to overcome if they want to be successful in Australia’s business landscape.

From complying with regulations to the skill gap in qualified personnel across the country, there are many different problems that can affect the growth of your organisation. Sadly, these issues can linger for a long time in your business because they’re difficult to detect.

The good news is, manufacturing is one of the areas where technology has had the biggest impact in the last few years. In fact, there are many tools and applications that you can leverage to overcome those challenges and run a more agile manufacturing practice.

Enterprise Resource Planning, for example, is one of the most commonly implemented types of software that businesses use to help manage everyday operations, finance, accounting, distribution, and more.

From helping you manage responsive deliveries to delegating tasks to your staff, we’ll be going through three different challenges that manufacturing firms face and how ERP software can help you overcome them.

Challenge 1 – Delivery Responsiveness

Responsiveness is a concern that many small and medium-sized manufacturing firms face. Companies that have less capital need to be responsive, flexible and ultimately mobile in order to adapt to changes in the industry. Some of the main challenges that Australian Manufacturing companies face when it comes to delivery responsiveness are as follows, how many do you recognise?

Demand for innovation – Consumers will always want your company to innovate and offer something new to the world. Unique selling propositions will completely change how your business is seen and innovative products will always trump working products due to their nature.
Short product life cycles – Since innovations are always happening, this ultimately means that product life cycles are shorter. This means that your advertising materials will constantly be changing and the way you approach consumers will also need an overhaul.
Raw material inventory – And of course, we can’t make new products if we don’t actually have the raw materials required. Managing your inventory is crucial if you have strict deadlines for your products or if there are complicated procedures involved in your manufacturing process.
Changing regulations – As mentioned before, small and medium-sized businesses need to be responsive and mobile. If a regulation is changed, then we’re expected to keep up with it and change our processes to match the new rules.

These are the main challenges of delivery responsiveness, but how does ERP software help?

For starters, ERP software can help you schedule material production and plan the required materials that will be converted into actual products.

As a manufacturing company, your primary goal is to turn these raw materials into working products and this often means that you’ll run into trouble managing your raw inventory versus your actual product stock.

ERP software also helps you maintain quality assurance since it can be implemented in every phase of your operation. From the moment you receive your raw materials to the time you inspect the goods before packaging them, the entire quality assurance process is simplified with the use of ERP software.

Challenge 2 – Keeping up With Regulatory Compliance

As more and more technology is introduced into the world, regulating bodies and organisations need to figure out how to control the technology being made in order to prevent cybersecurity threats or data leaks. Whether it’s to protect industry secrets or end-users, regulatory compliance is required to ensure the end product is of high quality and passes inspection.

A great example of how regulator compliance changed was when Uber and other private transport companies grew larger. The entire business model was built around inviting strangers into your personal vehicle as a taxi driver, and this forced the relevant governing body to completely overhaul its regulations to fit this new idea.

In Australia, like in many other countries, Manufacturers have to be aware of the actual laws, and processing standards to ensure the manufactured products, services and solutions are safe and reliable

With ERP software, everything from production management to quality control and assurance is taken care of electronically. ERP software will help you control every phase of your production process to ensure that everything meets the standards you set.

This makes it incredibly easy to comply with regulations and it means you also have proof that you are following them.

Challenge 3 – Dealing With Skill Gaps

A recent report from the Department of Industry, Innovation and Science has identified business management, marketing, business regulation and others as skills deficiencies in the Australian manufacturing sector.

Addressing management capabilities and future workforce skill needs is important for business leaders as qualified staff can enable growth and innovation in a very competitive industry.

To counteract this, ERP software has many tools that are capable of managing human resources. While ERP software can’t keep senior members working if they want to retire, it can help to delegate work and streamline human resources operations.

The costs are much lower than traditional human resources tasks and thanks to the implementation and automation, it’s much easier to get an overview of how your employees are doing. It also prevents overstaffing which is a common issue in small and medium manufacturing firms. It’s cost-effective to use fewer employees, but growing your manufacturing firm ultimately requires you to hire more employees. With ERP software, it’s possible to achieve a comfortable balance that will ensure business growth and employee satisfaction.

Conclusion

As competition in the Australian Manufacturing sector continues to increase, competing on value is one of the key requirements for organisations to succeed.

To do so, innovation and processes become key. If your manufacturing organisation is struggling with the challenges of delivery responsiveness, regulatory compliance and skill shortage, implementing Enterprise Resource Planning can help you overcome those challenges.

Use an ERP system to:

Plan your production process to beat your competitors on responsiveness;
Keep up with regulatory compliance;
Streamline the Human Resource management process and retain key talents.

At Leverage Technologies, we have implemented ERP systems since 2005, serving more than 250 customers Australia-wide in many industries. If you are interested in understanding how an Enterprise Resource Planning system can help your Manufacturing organisation, call 1300 045 046 or email [email protected].

ERP Budgeting: How Much Should I Spend on ERP Implementation?

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How much budget should a company of your size allocate to your Enterprise Resource Planning implementation project?

Before you even start researching your options, you may want to get a high-level understanding of what ERP actually costs.

The cost of an ERP implementation depends on multiple factors such as:

Size of your business
Number of ERP users
Requirements and integrations
Deployment options
Customisations

In this infographic, we will try to give you an indicative reference price chart that you can use to scope the size of your ERP project and allocate a tentative budget based on the size of your organization (employees and turnover).

ERP implementation budget: How much should a business of your size spend on ERP implementation?

The following illustration breaks down ERP implementation cost by business size. This is based on our experience in implementing ERP systems for over 180 companies since 2005.

A more accurate estimate can be obtained by contacting our staff.

ERP budgeting explained

For simplicity, let’s consider three main category groups:

Tier 3: These are small businesses with up to 75 staff and $80 Million turnover. These organizations typically look at small office software and lower market ERP software. Prices may vary anywhere from $25k to $100k+ depending on the number of users, customisations and specific industry requirements.

Tier 2: For growing SMBs and medium-size organisations with approximately 75 to 500 staff the ERP implementation budget is around the $80k to $1M mark. Once again, the project scope and costing will vary significantly on a case by case basis depending on the requirements.

Tier 1: This is the larger end of town and more geared towards an enterprise software option. Business with 501+ staff and $250M+ turnover typically fall into this category.

Conclusion

If you want to get an idea of how much an ERP implementation will cost to your business you need to consider the number of users, Cloud or On-premise deployment, customisations and maintenance costs.

In this infographic, we have provided a breakdown of the indicative ERP implementation cost you can expect according to your business size in terms of the number of users and annual turnover. This may vary significantly depending on your specific requirements and circumstances.

Leverage Technologies have implemented ERP systems for more than 250 businesses since 2005. For more information or if you would like to get an exact estimate contact 1300 045 046 or email [email protected].

Top FREE Online Resources to Help You Find The Best ERP System

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Choosing an ERP system for a business is never easy.

Sometimes, a high-level understanding of the requirements and objectives can be enough to get a sense of what system will suit your business.

Other times, a full pre-sales requirements analysis with a specialised consultant is required to understand the business, scope the project and provide ERP recommendations.

However, there is always room for pre-research that you can do upfront to understand the Australian ERP landscape, discover what ERP systems other organisations in your industry are using and what ERP software is best positioned to meet your needs, even before engaging an ERP implementation partner.

In this article, we are going to review the top free resources that any business can find online to understand more about Enterprise Resource Planning and perform a high-level self-assessment of the ideal ERP fit.

Top resources to learn more about ERP

So, you are starting to look at possible ERP software options for your business. Here are a few top-notch resources that are available for free on the web and should point you in the right direction as to which ERP systems you should be considering.

Understanding Enterprise Resource Planning

Here are the most followed and informative blogs about Enterprise Resource Planning. Read these blogs to understand more about ERP and how it can help your business grow smart.

ERP News
CIO
Search ERP by TechTarget
ERP Focus

Narrowing your ERP research

Now that you have understood ERP and to what extent your business can benefit from it, it’s time to narrow down your research. Which are the most popular ERP systems in your industry?

Use these top ERP Software selection websites to start your research. You can filter all the possible ERP options by selection criteria including user rating, features, deployment options, pricing and more.

Learning from opinion leaders

Play the following Podcasts in your spare time to learn more about ERP from industry leaders.

Learning from your peers

Case Studies are an excellent way to learn from the experience of other businesses similar to yours. If reinventing the wheel is not your main priority, these case studies will help you narrow down your research.

SAP Business One case studies here
MYOB Advanced case studies here
Sage X3 case studies here

Conclusion

There are multiple aspects to consider when choosing an ERP software. Functionality, pricing, deployment options and business objectives to name a few.

If you are not ready to engage a specialised ERP consulting company to help you find the right solution, the resources listed in this article are a great starting point.

Remember, always start with the end in mind and ask yourself the following questions

“What is that I want to get out of the system?”
“What is the idea of a perfect business for us?”

The team at Leverage Technologies has helped more than 250 Australian businesses find and implement the right ERP solution. Call 1300 045 046 or email [email protected] to speak to a specialised ERP consultant in Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane.