This is a six-step process that a small manufacturer can run in eight to twelve weeks without a dedicated project team.
Step 1 — Document the failure modes
List the specific things that go wrong today, with frequency and cost. This list becomes your requirements, your demo script and your success criteria.
Step 2 — Set the functional boundary
Decide explicitly whether accounting, CRM, quality and payroll are in or out. This single decision eliminates most of the market and prevents scope drift later.
Step 3 — Shortlist three to five products
Filter on process type (discrete, job shop, repetitive, process), company size fit, integration requirements and deployment preference. More than five candidates wastes weeks.
Step 4 — Run scripted demonstrations
- Send the same script and the same sample data to every vendor.
- Require them to build your BOM live and run MRP on it.
- Score against your failure-mode list, not general impressions.
- Include the people who will use the system daily.
Step 5 — Reference and cost
Speak to two references per finalist at similar size. Build a five-year total cost model that includes internal time, migration and integration.
Step 6 — Contract for the implementation, not the license
Define deliverables, named consultants, data responsibilities and acceptance criteria. Most disappointment comes from services expectations, not software features.