www.inddist.com
that may ultimately impact the overall schedule, if those action
items or tasks are not completed by the required due date.
Policies
All policies – especially customer-facing ones – of the acquired
company should be documented, and policy changes should be
communicated to the appropriate stakeholders. As you rationalize
the core data, certain policies may be uncovered.
For example, if you have a customer with net
90-day payment terms, then a policy change and
communication to that customer would likely be
necessary to conform to your standard payment
terms offered.
Issues/Decisions
As operational, personnel, or technical issues are
uncovered, it is important to track those issues
to completion with ownership and due dates.
The resolved issues should have the decisions or
solutions documented and filtered off your list.
Often, an issue may resurface, and the solution
will need to be revisited, so it is valuable to keep
a record of the initial resolution handy.
Change Acceleration Process
Decreasing the amount of time to assimilate all
entities onto one system will improve your time-line to return on investment of the merger or
acquisition. Another tactic to rapidly implement
acquired companies includes an effective project
kickoff session, i.e., a Change Acceleration
Process (CAP) workshop, to minimize employee
resistance, attrition, and general dissatisfaction
(which is often passed on from your staff to your
customers). A CAP workshop can help establish
an environment of shared need and common
goals. It is the fastest way to drive sustainable
change, and lowers the financial risk associated
with mergers and acquisitions, resulting in a
more positive outcome in a shorter timeframe.
Conclusion
Along with the technical migration, equally
important projects to pursue during the M&A
process should include:
• Human resources plans, systems, and poli-
cies.
• Marketing: A co-branding program is typical,
with the acquired company’s logo being phased
out over time.
• Sales territory alignment.
• Ecommerce website shopping permissions.
Approaching each aspect systematically, via the framework
above, will allow you to properly scope the project, manage the
strategic deliverables, and work towards a RAPID implementation.
Jon Snow, Director, Business Consulting Services, Epicor Software
Corporation, has been the project manager on 200+ ERP implementations, and 40+ of them have been merger or acquisition
projects. For more information about Epicor Software’s Business
Consulting Services M&A Offering, please visit www.epicor.com.
With an endless array of MRO chemicals, a friendly, knowledgeable sales
team, and the right support tools to assist you with every purchasing
decision, CRC provides service beyond compare. For over 50 years,
CRC has matched quality MRO chemical products with a factory-trained
sales force, making CRC the brand of choice in the industrial market! Visit
us online at www.crcindustries.com/ei to see our entire offering of MRO
chemical products, to locate your nearest regional sales manager, or to
learn more about what CRC can do for your industry.
The Right Products, Tools and Team
to Keep Your Industry Moving.
Online Educational Resources Factory-Trained Sales Force S.D.[L.]® SDS Label