Survey highlights best ERP software vendor

A recently published and independent survey of users' views places one manufacturing software vendor ahead of twenty other enterprise resource planning suppliers.

A recently published and independent survey of users' views places manufacturing software vendor Fourth Shift ahead of twenty other enterprise resource planning (ERP) suppliers, gaining the highest average score across four key areas, according to market research firm Benchmark Research.

Among the suppliers in the survey with lower ratings were several from the tier one sector of the ERP market.

Benchmark Research asked over 500 users of ERP that serve three tiers or levels of the market - the small to medium-size enterprise (SME), mid-range and corporate levels - to rate their systems and vendors.

They did this across four areas of assessment: quality of implementation, customer support, software capability and business benefits.

In total, customers were asked to rate 43 different attributes of the vendors and their products.

Relative to all three tiers, Fourth Shift gained highest overall marks in the first key area - quality of implementation - at 78 per cent; the company was joint first for quality of customer support at 71 per cent; fifth out of twenty one for software capability; and featured in the top five, equal to SAP and MFG/PRO, for value of business benefits.

Fourth Shift also stood out in several other important respects.

Within the four main areas of assessment, users rated Fourth Shift the best among vendors addressing the SME market in relation to initial purchase cost, running costs and software stability.

In speed of problem resolution, at 77 per cent, the company exceeded all other suppliers at all three levels of ERP vendor.

When users were asked about trouble free upgrades, Fourth Shift achieved a 72 per cent satisfaction rating, the highest in an area where nearly all other vendors in all three tiers were weak.

The average for all other suppliers was below 60 per cent.

Based on standard Microsoft technology, Fourth Shift solutions are designed to reduce total cost of ownership by being simple to implement, operate and up- grade.

The software is also exceptionally stable, gaining the highest user rating of any PC based system.

Commenting on the survey initiative, which was completed during the first half of 2002, Guy Washer, Managing Director of Benchmark Research, said: "It has produced the first meaningful guide to ERP vendors based entirely on the opinions of their customers.

Since customers are the best source of practical advice on the pros and cons of alternative systems, we expect the survey results to be of great interest to companies about to commit to new ERP systems." As well as allowing comparisons between competing vendors, the survey revealed other interesting views from ERP users.

For instance, SMEs, which constitute the majority of Fourth Shift's users, are generally happier with their systems than larger organisations.

Average levels of satisfaction had also improved since a similar survey was conducted in 1999 by Benchmark Research.

"Against this background of general improvement Fourth Shift is clearly leading the way, particularly in the key areas of costs, customer service and speed and ease of implementation," said Mike Knight, Managing Director of the EMEA regions, Fourth Shift.

"We are able to achieve higher levels of customer satisfaction than our competitors through the skill, commitment and quality of the people who develop, install and support our products." The complete survey is available from Benchmark Research for GBP 350.

Fourth Shift is part of the manufacturing group of SoftBrands, a fast-growing supplier of leading solutions for the manufacturing and hospitality market sectors.

SoftBrands Manufacturing has three highly complementary product sets ideal for mid-sized manufacturers: Fourth Shift, evolution and DemandStream.

* Fourth Shift is a Minneapolis-based global application software supplier that provides supply chain solutions, enterprise resource planning (ERP) software, e-business solutions, consulting, and technology services.

Recently, Fourth Shift version 7.20 was introduced which offers a complete web browser interface to all applications as well as a comprehensive e-business suite.

The European operation of Fourth Shift operates from headquarters based in Reading, UK.

* evolution is an international application software supplier that provides highly configurable ERP and B2B solutions and services.

Built on NT/Unix its deep functionality embraces applications for the internet, information publishing, connectivity and multi-site operations.

It is especially strong in dimensional and converter manufacturing environments such as textiles, apparel and metals.

The European operation of evolution operates from Blackburn, UK.

* DemandStream is a powerful supply chain execution (SCE) solution designed to help manufacturers achieve lean manufacturing operations, using Kanbans and demand-driven processes.

Available off the shelf, DemandStream is able to work with most ERP systems including Fourth Shift and evolution.

Currently the manufacturing group of SoftBrands has 2,000 active customer sites in 60 countries and its software is translated into more than a dozen languages.

Licensees include some of the fastest growing manufacturers and global enterprises from the Global 2500.

The company as a whole has 700+ employees and is projecting a revenue for 2002 of $80 million.

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