The Right Choice

About the Book

How to make manufacturing and supply chain software work is no longer much of a mystery. But many companies still have significant delays in getting started, in selecting software, and in solving common software problems. You can make a difference in whether your company experiences software problems or successfully sidesteps its potholes.

The Right Choice shows you how. It gives you the big picture of application software for manufacturing and supply chain management, showing you the entire software scene.

The Right Choice helps you in selecting software. It gives you the tools you need to make a selection quickly and with confidence, refuting the conventional wisdom that taking longer in software selection means implementing faster. It gives detailed information on how to determine your software requirements and how to do an effective job of negotiating with software suppliers.

The Right Choice provides a comprehensive discussion of the issues involved in determining which software programs will best meet your company's needs. Explains how to avoid common pitfalls that can lead to costly delays and determine which functions in the software are missing, need to be modified or should be eliminated, including:

• How to recognize the myths about enterprise application software.
• The elements of a successful system.
• How to define systems requirements.
• How to evaluate software quickly and objectively.
• How to negotiate a software contract.
• Making the system work from a technical perspective.

The Right Choice is for doers, not talkers. It helps you make the right choices and assures you of success with software the first time.

About the Author

Chris Gray has been at the forefront of applying proven manufacturing management methods and concepts for over three decades. Since 1979, he has helped more manufacturing and distribution companies resolve resource planning software issues than anyone else in the field. He has been involved in the design and development of both resource planning and lean manufacturing software.

He has authored or co-authored 6 books, over 30 Software Evaluations, and 30 published articles on ERP, enterprise software, and computers in manufacturing. He is a recognized authority on the software available for manufacturing and supply chain applications. He has a very active consulting practice working with teams implementing resource planning and lean execution methods.

Chris is President of Gray Research and one of the founders of Partners For Excellence. He was president of Oliver Wight Software Research, Inc. and one of the Oliver Wight Education Associates. He also developed and taught the "MRP II Software Survival Course", a class covering software evaluation and selection, software trends, and the role of systems people in implementing effective systems.

Chris has a Bachelors degree in mathematics from Washington and Jefferson College and a Masters degree in mathematics from Carnegie Mellon University. He is a past president of the North Shore chapter of APICS and was certified by APICS as a Fellow (CFPIM) in 1980. He is listed in six different volumes of Who's Who.