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  How many places do you have to look when you want to research a part?  Here you can easily access all relevant information in one place.  The reason is because the information architecture is designed to match the business processes.  It's power and level of information automation is unequalled in any other ERP system.  Full drill down is included wherever possible.  Why aren't others like this?  In order to sell a package to many markets, most ERP packages are designed to be as generic as possible.  They are built from separate programs usually sharing the same database.  They are marketed as integrated systems with plug-in functionality.  However from the user perspective, they are anything but integrated.  From a functional viewpoint, they are the proverbial Swiss Army Knife.  They can do anything, but do nothing well.  Included in the vendors answer for the missing or awkward functionality are things that YOU can do to work around it.  Users work toward the day when they understand the system better, but that day will never come.  The real problem is that the information system architecture does not match their business processes.  Effective information automation, along with the competitive advantages that come from it, can only be realized when they do.  When was the last time you used a Swiss Army Knife in the kitchen?   Why would you want to use one in your business?

  Leading Edge IT Architects intends to author another ERP system for repetitive manufacturing automotive suppliers.  This package will be a total rewrite leveraging today's latest technologies.  If you would like to have a pioneer role in shaping this solution, contact us and let us know that you would like to be part of the ERP solution.  We know that a statement such as this generates more than a few questions in people's minds.  We will attempt to anticipate some of those questions here.

Q. Why does Leading Edge think it can pull this off?

A. This will be the third one in 20 years.  This time it will be a commercial product.  This insures the ongoing support and maintenance that you require from a vendor committed to your success.  Those not familiar with the development process, envision large buildings with several teams of programmers.  Those who are familiar, know that ERP systems have all been authored by between one and three people.  The largest automotive package in the world was written by the wife of a shoe factory owner.  Their buildings full of people are comprised of sales, training, support, and adaptations of the product to the many markets that they serve.  By paging through the remainder of these applications and reading the text, you will be convinced of our ability to perform.  We have proven ability of not only being able to dream it, but also to design it and build it. 

Q. How can Leading Edge deliver a solution that is better than what is out there already?
A. We have a large number of enthusiastic references who have volunteered to answer that question for you.  The bottom line is that by authoring a true vertical market application, as opposed to a generic manufacturing package with plug-ins claiming to be vertical market, we can deploy an ERP system that closely matches your business processes.  With 20 years of being intimately involved with working in the environment and writing the systems, we understand the business requirements imposed upon the automotive supplier market.  Be sure to ask our references if we've have ever failed to deliver.

Q. Will it be able to grow with me?
A.
Solutions that we provide will be highly scalable.  Our IT Architects always design multi-plant and multi-company capabilities into their solutions.  This means that a worldwide organization can use a single replicated database.  Departments and assets do not have to be set up with globally unique names and accounts.  Systems that require such uniqueness indicate that the information architecture was not well thought out to handle multi-location and/or multi-company environments.  They generally devolve into separate databases for each location with special programs to pass information between them.

Q. If I have some things tailored to my business, will I be able to take advantages of updates?
A.
Yes.  Leading Edge uses development tools and an architecture that insures easy migration of your customizations.

Q. How can it be affordable without a large installed base to amortize the development costs?
A.
Unless it is a small company, the cost of the software and the implementation will likely be less expensive than buying the required licenses for an inefficient generic solution.  The most expensive solution is one that forces less than optimal business practices upon your organization.

  If you've a been a bit "underwhelmed" by conventional ERP systems, and you are ready for an information architecture that matches your business processes and provides real competitive advantage, consider Leading Edge IT Architects.  Take a moment to read the profiles of a couple of our architects as well as what Leading Edge IT Architects is all about.  Thank you for your interest in Leading Edge IT Architects.

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