Likelihood to Recommend Implementation is by far the weakest link in the ECI/M1 process. Although the tool is powerful, the client is expected to drive the process of learning the tool, planning the meetings with consultants, identifying risks and making mitigation plans, etc. without any samples, guidance or assistance on the part of ECI. The tool is best suited to high volume, standard product manufacturers who build to inventory or to order without much variation. The shop floor routing and time tracking are straightforward if you can master the convoluted Unit Of Measure calculations. The tool is either hosted locally or accessed through Remote Desktop. Shop floor is web enabled but the main desktop for M1 is still a relay which makes connectivity a potential issue. Moving this platform to a truly web hosted environment would substantially improve connectivity and eliminate compatibility issues with Apple products
Read full review Do you plan on going public at some point? If so, this may not be the best solution for you
Read full review Pros Manage inventory counts. Good precision on quantities in and out, through shipping, MI, MR, and receipts. Job costing shows great details on labor, operations, and materials to be used. I wished that would do better in outside operations that would return, but we still think it is great. Ability to track changes (changelog), showing all changes that had in a particular place. Such as where, when, and by whom a line item unit price was changed in a PO. Link, traceability, keeping history. If done correctly, it is amazing to keep the history of a part/lot. The amount of user rights/customization is unbelievable. It can be hard to set up in the beginning, but it is great that you can give some very specific access to a user, and it is not (in general) as a package. Read full review I like the ease of use and the implementation methodology. With SAP Business ByDesign you can integrate other systems with Web Services, and data technology to get information easy and fast. SAP Business ByDesign includes an Analytics Module to create new reports in regards to your needs. Read full review Cons Some of the functions are pretty detailed - and so they take a while to generate screens and pages in reports. We actually use it for 2 companies we own - and it would be nice if the inter company communication was a little smoother. It's hard to share some data, and not everything is possible to be shared. Customized reports need to backed up before any updates to M1 or they're lost. It seems M1 overwrites the report folders everytime you run an update - so you have to keep track of what you've changed in Crystal Reports and restore it. Read full review Time off request could be better. Right now, there is no option for sick time It crashes often Customization could be better Read full review Likelihood to Renew SAP BYD work centers are consistent and easy to navigate once you understand one work center. The document flow tab that is in each window allows one to see all related transactions. Document flow is important because one is able to see the flow of transactions and can therefore reverse transactions by following the document flow in reverse. It is possible to group items in each overview screen to see what items are open. The system is working as hoped.
Read full review Usability M1 is highly customizable in my experience. The grids are very easy to customize as long as the user has a basic understanding of relational databases. The reports are also very customizable but are a little more difficult without being a heavy Crystal Report user. Also, the field names, input forms, etc. can be customized as well, but this requires advanced programming knowledge. I would recommend using M1's professional support staff to make any of these types of customizations.
Read full review Because SAP Business ByDesign allows us to improve our work, reduce the operational steps, implement audit controls, allows us found standard reports or it allows us to create new ones if you need more than the exists are enough for your work or your needs. Overall, SAP Business ByDesign allows us to standardize our operations, enhance our work, improve our skills, work over a web environment or mobile interface.
Read full review Support Rating Support has been great and timely
Read full review The Business ByDesign support is stablished since you contract the service with SAP. SAP resolves according to the service level agreement. Currently, we continue with the service and we are using the support channels available. We are receiving the support. The SAP support gets an incident and after that, they contact us to resolve the incident, if necessary, they set the meeting to understand it or we explain the incident
Read full review Implementation Rating I recommend implementing all workshops during the ERP selection that you need to know very well about the ERP software. It allows us to gather information to accurate the plan of the project implementation. Additionally, we must reach the high-level commitment to achieve the main goals, to define the RACI matrix and communicate to all project stakeholders.
Read full review Alternatives Considered M1 does a good job of being able to handle our requirements. Some of our assemblies and sub-assemblies require a significant amount of detail and different levels in order to complete - and M1 handles that. Some of the other products I've used, or implemented else where fall short in being able to go as deep or as detailed as M1 is able to do.
Read full review ByDesign stacks up well against the competition. Companies that do multiple things are usually the best fit (manufacturing, distribution, and service). The more 'modules' used, the fewer competitors will be able to meet the company's needs. It is not inexpensive, but if the needs of the company have the complexity from either a global perspective and need localizations and foreign currency, or a volume perspective and need resources greater than what can be easily housed on-premise, ByDesign should be a top consideration.
Read full review Return on Investment Time savings having to only enter certain information once and have it follow through the entire order process from quote to cash Read full review Positive - Access to the real-time reporting allowing for faster decision making especially when fixed price projects are heading into an over budget position. Positive - Complex KPI can now be tracked and as a consequence intensive plans can be made to capitalise on this level of reporting. Staff also have clear visibility over their own performance. Negative - We are a bit on the small side at 30 employees for a ByD solution so it was relatively expensive for us. It would be a much better value preposition above 50 employees. Read full review ScreenShots SAP Business ByDesign Screenshots