We all know that implementing an ERP system isn't a magic pill to cure your business' operational woes.

Well, most of us know this.

A good way to reduce operational headaches, and get the most out of an ERP system is a simple management tool called a 'Sunrise Meeting'.

It's a process management approach

Your business will have a series of processes. Some will be around winning business, some will be around buying, some will be around order fulfilment etc...

Each process will have a series of actions that either happen or don't.

The purpose of the Sunrise Meeting is to determine if each of the process actions has happened satisfactorily.

Yes, this does mean that a fixed agenda becomes the backbone of the Sunrise Meeting. However, the meeting should not become stale if you get the hang of the questions; this should be a really quick activity.

The daily drumbeat

Your processes need to run like clockwork and so should the Sunrise Meeting.

If you have a daily business meeting (of some description) then this is a great vehicle to piggy back. The closer it starts to the working day / shift, the better. Adding in a few process orientated questions is all you need to do to get results from this approach.

The benefits should come quickly too. If your Sunrise Meeting throws out some (corrective) actions then, as long as you perform the actions, you should find your business gets on track quickly and performance follows from here.

Fundamentally, a Sunrise Meeting is focused on keeping your business processes on track. Every day, the same questions are asked, to keep you on track. If you slip, then it should only be a small effort to get you back on track.

No more waiting weeks (or months!) to find yourself off track. No more Herculean efforts to get your business back in order. Small corrections, as they happen, is the mantra of the Sunrise Meeting. Every day is focused on being in control and on track.

Using your ERP system to execute your business processes, in a controlled manner, is one of the ways you get the most out of your ERP system. The Sunrise Meeting checks that this is happening and is effective.

Create your own agenda

Creating your own agenda for a Sunrise Meeting is a simple process:

1. List out your business processes.
2. Define the purpose of the process (in a really simple manner e.g. to get materials into our business so that production can start on time).
3. Define a question that will determine if the purpose is being fulfilled.

Some example questions include:

• Are all of our purchase orders on time?
• Have all of the paperwork packs for today's despatches been issued?
• Did all of yesterday's production orders start on time?
• Have all of the customer reports been sent out?
• Did we achieve 100% on time delivery performance yesterday?

Some questions may take a bit of thinking about how to answer the question. The effort is worth the outcome as management control improves and efficiency and effectiveness of the work teams improves.

Fraction's simple approach

We know what it is like to try and run a Sunrise Meeting without the information at your fingertips. It is near impossible.

When we built the first version of Fraction ERP, we included our business dashboard because we wanted to be able to drill right down to the key questions as fast as possible.

If you look at the image below, you will be able to see the purchasing late line items, late works orders and overdue operations.

With just a couple of clicks you can drill down and make decisions about how best to proceed.

Our ERP system is quick to learn and easy to use. Tying in a management approach like a Sunrise Meeting just makes the whole thing so much more powerful!

If you want to learn more about how Fraction ERP works then check out this overview video, or sign up below for a free (no obligation) demonstration.

In the meantime, enjoy creating your Sunrise Meeting agenda.