ERP Implementation with Burns Industrial Equipment, 29-year winner of Yale Lift’s Dealer of Excellence Award
Who is Burns Industrial Equipment?
Burns Industrial Equipment specializes in providing material handling solutions, including sales, rentals, parts, and service for various types of equipment. With a commitment to delivering exceptional service and value to their customers, Burns Equipment aimed to improve their internal processes and data management through the new ERP system.
We couldn’t love them more! Burns was terrific to work with - they truly care about their customers and employees, and work hard to improve themselves and their business while continuing to add value to their customers. They have been awarded the Yale Lift Truck Technologies Dealer of Excellence designation for 29 years in a row!
Burns Industrial Equipment is headquartered in Warrendale, Pennsylvania, outside of Pittsburgh and we have a branch in Macedonia, Ohio, outside of Cleveland. Our sales and technician teams are spread out across western Pennsylvania, northeast Ohio and West Virginia to support our customers for 50 years.
Project Introduction
Burns recognized the need to replace their legacy system which had been in place for a few decades. They talked to several other Hyster-Yale dealers in their network, and decided on the best system for their future growth and needs. Then they talked to one of our previous clients, Fairchild Equipment.
Here is what Jim Bloch, VP Of Operations at Burns, had to say about that conversation:
“When we spoke to Fairchild– they said they used you guys to vet out the different ERPs they were choosing from, they regretted not having you guys stick on as project managers to go through the implementation. They weren’t prepared to do that project without some professional experience, and we talked about it and decided we didn’t want to go into it blind; so we talked to you guys and you agreed to our implementation setup and team.”
It’s true! Burns reached out and we discussed both the need they had for an experienced Project Manager to keep the project on track for both them, and the vendor. We also talked about how there would be several meetings and testing schedules to coordinate. Finally, we discussed that given their footprint and size, they wanted to be sure that all their employees who would be expected to use their new system on a daily basis were ready to go when they went live. Considering their entire employee base, Burns was interested in our Change Management service as well as Project Management.
Here are the pros and cons of this approach:
PROS:
Highest likelihood of success by bringing dedicated Project and Change Management team members together
CONS:
It is more expensive to bring in multiple team members from the outside
So what did we do?
We LOVE helping customers think outside the box and finding ways to collaborate that are win-win. We pulled together a spreadsheet with SEVEN options, the original one we had - and six more. We immediately nixed the more expensive one, and settled on a great option for coaching and training of Burns team members. Below is a subset of the options spreadsheet showing the original, more expensive, and final one we decided on together.
The options not shown are various permutations of who would perform the Project Coordinator and Change Management roles.
You can see that we determined the most collaborative and win-win option was for the team to be comprised of:
An AJC Project Manager
A Burns Project Coordinator that our PM could coach who would provide the tactical and logistical support for the team
An AJC Change Management Coach
A Burns Change Management Lead who would perform all the change management work under guidance by the Change Management Coach
The Project
The project had specific Goals:
Replace Legacy System: Upgrade from a 1996 ERP system to a modern solution that would provide better insights and efficiency.
Enhance Data Visibility: Utilize PowerBI dashboards to gain deeper insights into business operations, allowing for better decision-making.
Standardize Processes: Ensure all branches operate with the same processes to foster cohesion and improve collaboration.
Effective Change Management: Implement robust change management strategies to keep staff engaged and on task throughout the project.
The project experienced a few unexpected shifts and required adjustments:
Aggressive Timeline: The original timeline for the project was too aggressive, leading to re-evaluating the Go-Live date until after the holiday season. This extension allowed more time for preparation and training, ultimately benefiting the project.
Vendor Preparedness: The ERP vendor was not prepared during initial training sessions, causing further delays. AJC's proactive problem-solving and regular communication with the vendor ensured that issues were addressed promptly.
Change Management: The change management strategies implemented by AJC, including regular communication and employee engagement activities, were crucial in keeping the team motivated and on track.
Results
The ERP implementation resulted in significant improvements:
Increased Efficiency: The new system streamlined operations and reduced manual data entry.
Enhanced Data Visibility: PowerBI dashboards provided valuable insights into business performance, allowing for better decision-making.
Standardized Processes: All branches now operate with standardized processes, improving cohesion and collaboration.
Employee Engagement: The effective change management strategies led to higher employee engagement and smoother adaptation to the new system in a way that Burns now feels they can lead this type of change again on their own
We would love to help other companies in similar positions to Burns.
If our initial proposal feels like “too much,” PLEASE SAY SO!
We are happy to be flexible and creative to design a project team that works for everyone and gets you the results you need.
Watch below for what advice Burns would give about us if asked by others in their position.
