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GENERAL
ISSUES RELATED TO THE SOFTWARE
1. Why I need it as a manager? I know my enterprise in
detail as well as all major people, processes, relations, basic
performance, etc.
2. Just what concrete information can I get?
3. I can always ask my deputies or assistants to provide
appropriate information anyway. Why there is a need to make additional
complications by installing the software, making training of several
people, change my work pattern?
4. How much data I would need to feed in order to get
consistent picture of my business?
5. How much time is necessary to spend per month to
get and enter all data?
6. Can we transfer data into PHAROS automatically?
7. Why some managers prefer to keep manual procedures
implemented while there is automated import feature?
8. What is the difference between PHAROS and other known ERP
systems?
9. Who are the people, which may need such products?
10. Which person should be in charge of supporting Pharos
in the company?
11. Which size of enterprise is most appropriate for
Business Performance Software applications?
12. How I can link my accounting system to PHAROS?
13. Is there access to the system from different
departments?
14. How the data entry arrangement is made?
15. How frequent is data entry?
16. Why the software is still single user application?
17. How to obtain complete package of software and support
services on site including training and software in our country?
18. What options exist in training of our several staff
members?
19. Which certificates are provided to the trainees after
the training?
20. What is actually the software price?
21. What is the difference between the software
versions delivered with End User License and Educational license?
22.
What is the difference between the PHAROS approach and
Balanced Scorecard?
23.
How much data we can get from Produce Plus software into
Pharos ?
24.
Why BEST is not included into software tools for SME
Programmes?
Additional comments regarding the software and training programmes in
the
Interview published by INSME
1. Why I need it as a manager? I know my enterprise in detail as
well as all major people, processes, relations, main results, etc.
The majority of entrepreneurs
knows their businesses very well. However most of them are need
addtional quantitative information easily
available in a simple way. It is
common practice that their businesses
are not measure routinely. Consequently not all key performance
indicators of
their
enterprises are known leading to possibility to miss right time for
introducing corrections.
Major decisions are prepared
usually with little analysis of optional outcomes. The simulations of
decisions' consequences are very rare. As a result enterprises are run
without continuous measuring, managing and benchmarking of business
performance, there is variety of existing but hidden inefficiencies in
productivity, quality and using of available resources. These issues
contribute to growing rate of enterprise mortality in SME industries ,
decreased competitiveness, lack of sustainability as well as
underperformed industrial sectors.
Having right routines
established by entrepreneurs the performance measuring, managing and
benchmarking allow introducing and
developing continuous improvement practices and obtain significant results
in time.
PHAROS, Produce Plus and FIT help to
measure business, identify existing or coming problems early, make
it quick and easy, allow setting up managerial
targets and provide early warning to introduce proper managerial actions
when such targets are missed.
And finally after starting using the PHAROS - Business Navigator
and Produce Plus and FIT software managers get accustomed to systematic
analysis and planning of the enterprise activities, monitoring of its efficiency and holistic vision
of the whole business. All these are key issues for the long-term success
of the business, its improved productivity, quality, competitiveness and sustainable development.
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2. What concrete information I can get?
Quickly view on PHAROS main screen to see if the enterprise is
OK. Are all light houses yellow or green? It
means actually that all key indicator values are within the target
boundaries or business results are satisfactory or better then planned. No further analysis is required.
Is there any red lighthouse? If yes, here is the
problem to be analyzed in detail by simple clicking on the button "Graph".
While in analysis of costs it is easily comparing actual
costs against planned ones taking into consideration graphs and its relation to the
targets.
Get clear picture of the basic indicators and their values relative
to your predefined targets for particular months, both in percent or absolute
figures.
Look at top five products for each month identified by Sales Revenue,
Contribution, Profitability and their percent in corresponding totals
(you may come to very interesting and sometime unexpected conclusions!).
Analyze monthly graphs of costs by its major categories, review cash
flow, profit margin, overall enterprise quality production as well as customer
service, estimate the enterprise competitiveness level and total
generated added value. Look at your customers: monthly and annual revenues by each actual
customer and their totals, customer ranking for the annum or per given
month, number of sales to particular customers over the year, average
monthly value per one sale for given customers or its average per annum
for all customers. And all these by just a couple of mouse click or
movements of "Arrow up/down" keys. Compare all results to your
targets.
Develop new business plans and scenarios of production
for coming months or new year by removing old and adding new products,
changing their basic parameters, saving and re-using the production plans
for analyzing business prospects quickly and easily.
Make and run business decision simulations based on
your enterprise database copy to identify main consequences of your
decision in 6, 9, 12 months. Re-evaluate decisions to find out
its most efficient outcome within the time.
Go to various tables to enter and analyze data, print and preview the
reports in table and graph formats which are required for further discussions with colleagues,
define actual inflation factor and use extended help to get to the
methods used and explanations of all basic issues related to the system
operation.
Redefining business targets? It is easy, just adjust
their values on the main PHAROS screen by mouse!
You are welcome to download and review PHAROS demo
to see it for yourself and review how
managers evaluate their experience of using Pharos and Produce Plus!
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3. I can always ask my deputies or assistants to provide
appropriate information anyway. Why there is a need to make additional
complications by installing the software, making training of several
people, collecting data, changing my work pattern?
The information which can be reviewed in Pharos or
Produce, Plus or FIT is
easily available at any time by a couple of mouse clicks. It just cannot be
that easily,
quickly and accurately provided by an assistant. All these allow
having an independent view of the business, without some personal biases keeping things confidential.
These options are not available by third party consulting
or audit as well. IN addition it is rather costly, both in time and money.
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4. How much data I would need to feed in order to get consistent
picture of my business?
The software was developed with idea of heavily minimizing data to be
collected and entered into the enterprise
database. All know how easy it may create significant additional work in the companies.
All people are busy and it is hard to find free human resources for
doing the job.
On
other side there is no to way to get valuable results when there is no
data at all.
As compromising solution the required data includes as follows: basic
company costs in main accounting categories, products and their main monthly
production such as produced and sold volumes, rejects, total materials costs, sales
price and average production time. In addition one needs to obtain total received and paid amounts,
deliveries to customers with defects, production and total company
personnel, number of invoices issued monthly and total monthly sales to
particular customers. That is all.
About 74% of data required for running
Pharos can be obtained
from accounting software. The rest is production data (about 20%) and
customer services (1%).
Produce Plus requires more detailed data to be prepared as
it deals with low level production at production lines. It includes raw
material costing and recipes for each product, production yield, timing
labor, manufacturing equipment.
FIT requires standard aggregated data easily available
in annual balance sheets of enterprises.
Finally there is powerful export/import module
for Pharos for exchanging data with various third party
software.
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5. How much time is necessary to spend per month to get and enter
all data?
In case there is a trained assistant
and manual data collection procedures are established it may take
about 2-3 hours per month preparing monthly database update in PHAROS. The time depends however on the
number of the products produced at the enterprise.
The automated data import utility
and procedures provide easy export/import of
data in almost any known format when made running routinely.
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6. Can we transfer data into/from PHAROS automatically?
There is advanced data import/export
module available
in Pharos (see Options/Import-Export checkbox). It makes automated importing
or exporting of particular data table or database into/from the PHAROS
in almost any known electronic data format. If properly implemented it can provide for reading data
prepared in some other existing software packages such as accounting, production,
etc. allowing for integration with existing corporate management
information systems. The feature can be used automatically after preliminary
setup for error-free data interchange is developed, e.g. between the
accounting and PHAROS.
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7. Why some managers prefer to keep manual procedures implemented
while there is automated import feature?
Just because there is someone responsible and can
answer the question. And it is possible to trace human mistakes or
errors easily.
The wrong decision, which is taken based on the erroneous
information, can be rather costly one!
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8. What is the difference between PHAROS and known ERP systems?
ERP, or Enterprise Resource Planning are the large
integrated information systems that serve all departments within an
enterprise. An ERP system includes software for manufacturing, order
entry, accounts receivable and payable, general ledger, purchasing,
warehousing, logistics, human resources, e-commerce, employee, etc. Some
of the modules in such systems are aimed at providing support to
management in enterprise performance monitoring. Evolving out of the
manufacturing industry with major known systems such as SAP, PeopleSoft,
Oracle, Baan and J.D. Edwards, ERP implies the use of packaged software.
Such systems are usually very costly in purchase by coming up to several
hundreds thousands of US dollars. However their major costs and other
problems are known
later after the implementation starts. Why? Because the complete restructuring
of business processes is required for the whole enterprise and its
branches. The total final cost of ownership may easily exceed hundreds
thousands or even millions
of US
dollars. It makes the ERP system selection rather difficult or
a middle and small size company. At the same time it limits introduction of
information technology solutions in the large number of small and medium enterprises.
PHAROS – Business Navigator, Produce Plus and FIT provide simple and
affordable solutions for many companies to introduce enterprise
performance monitoring tools very quickly and integrate them with existing systems
under minimum total costs and timing involved. These personal software packages do
not cover all ERP functions and features in the current version, but only those, which are,
related to top and middle level enterprise monitoring management to
allow establishing of continuous improvement practices.
The highly effective results of such practices
introduced within the Programmes for
Continuous Improvements can be reviewed here >>>.
Finally the conclusion:
- the total cost of obtaining the UNIDO software
suite as well as complete package of support services for PHAROS, Produce Plus / FIT including on-site consulting
is acceptable practically
for any enterprise. It is especially the case when delivered within the
regional Programmes for continuous
improvements supporting entrepreneurs on-site for 6-9 months.
- it allows for integration with existing software systems,
- it can be introduced into business management
practices without any interrupts for existing managerial and business processes,
- it doesn't limit management in policy of
selecting or using the other software applications in enterprises.
- the enterprise application developments and
knowledge development can be supported on-site by external consultants in regions.
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9. Who are the people, which may need such products?
- Top and middle level management of the enterprises, their
assistants,
- Entrepreneurs, sometimes active shareholders
willing to review their company performance
- Professors and trainers teaching in business
management and information technology for executives, for which PHAROS
and BEST are just effective practical training tools,
- Students, studying the strategic and operational
enterprise management or information technology for innovative
management.
- Industrial and quality management consultants
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10. Which person should be in charge of supporting Pharos
suite at the
enterprise?
Typically it is some trusty person to the manager which had been
trained for the software application along with the manager and obtained
his/her authority to collect data in the different departments. He or
she is
capable to enter and consult management on particular issues related to
source of data and result interpretation.
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11. Which size of enterprise is most appropriate for Business
Performance Software applications?
Initially these IT tools were developed for Small and Medium - sized Enterprises. However
its application does not depend on the enterprise size directly. The
software provides personal assistance to the managers in evaluating the
current business situation based on key performance indicators easily and
quickly. So the software is applicable to any enterprise size.
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12. How I can link my accounting system to PHAROS?
Please review automated data import.
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13. Is there possibility to access to the system from different
departments?
Yes, there is. One person at a time can work with the database over
the network. It is actually means accessing to the single corporate
database, which is installed on the server. Corporate LAN software
versions are developed as customized applications for the particular
projects and customers. The newly developed version of PHAROS provides
some other considerably improved comprehensive solutions.
Data exchange can be established between manager and
different departments.
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14. How the data entry arrangement is made?
One manager assistant should (1) be trained on data collection
procedures and (2) the procedure should be established within the
enterprise and (3) it should be approved by the top management. The data
can be collected manually by the responsible person or prepared in the
departments and sent to such assistant by internal mail, e.g. in
spreadsheet format monthly.
The assistant enters the data and informs the manager about the
update.
Another available option is the automated data import.
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15. How frequent is the data entry?
Data entry for PHAROS should be made once per month.
Produce Plus requires daily or weekly updates regarding production results
when used on th regular bases. It however can be used for periodic
benchmarking of results e.g. one week per quarter. FIT
data entry period is once per year.
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16. Why the software is still single user
application?
To keep fees minimized and make the software easily
acceptable for entrepreneurs of even small companies. It is known that the
software cost significantly increases when implemented in multi-user
version, e,g. in client-server environment. Beside special server
hardware and software like Windows or Linux Server it requires rather
complex database server, intranet, clients and sufficient human
resources supporting its operation. All these brings up the overall
costs of the system ownership considerably, making it unacceptable for
many enterprises in developing and even developed countries.
In addition one of the major objectives in software
development was the education component. It provides for least complex
solution which helps introducing information technology tools for
performance management, measuring and benchmarking while setting up new
culture of running the businesses and developing best practices. It
results in sufficient knowledge capital for making next steps in
selection and application of the more complex and expensive systems.
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17. How to obtain complete package of software and
support services on site including training and software in our country?
The software can be purchased by sending inquiry to
our sales department or UNIDO. The on-site support is provided by
regional consultants and intermediary organisations which are trained
and certified.
One of the ways for developing local support base is
inquiring regional Chambers of Commerce, Industrial
Associations, Productivity or Quality or Entrepreneurs development
centres to provide awareness workshops. It can be dedicated to
particular industrial sector or several sectors in the region.
After the workshops the options in setting up Training
and Upgrading Programmes can be discussed in detail. The programmes
allow obtaining the software, relevant expertise and best practices
under minimum costs.
Industrial Associations and Chambers of Industries
along with regional governmental agencies which support the development of
Small and Medium - sized Enterprises may contact us for defining the
content and conditions
of such Training and Upgrading Programmes in regions.
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18. How many managers from a company are trained
and certified in such one in Training Programme and how many software
licenses each enterprise gets?
Typically the cost of a package includes training of
at least
two staff members per enterprise and provision of two - user license software
suite: one for strategic management and another for production management. Each participant is certified after the
participation in the training workshop.
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19. Which certificates are provided to the trainees after the
training?
The Certificate of Excellence in Developing High
Business Performance (see picture).
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20. What is actually the software price?
There are two types of the end user license fees which are available.
The first one is for the distribution within Training Programs for SME
as educational tool facilitating continuous improvement practices. It is
valid for registered EPIC business partners which consult and train in countries. The second one is the End
User license fees. The inquiries can be sent by e-mail or via WEB
site feedback.
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21. What is the difference between the software
versions delivered with End User License and Educational license?
No difference.
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22. What is the difference between the PHAROS
approach and Balanced Scorecard?
Just in brief
as the issue requires detailed explanations: The Balanced Scorecard
methodology differs significantly from Pharos underlying one developed
by UNIDO. There were already several comparisons made by national
consultants especially in Latin America which we plan to bring into the
WEB site after making systematic comparison available.
The Pharos /
Produce Plus performance management implementation allows as follows:
• Monthly
calculations of main business performance indicators made by using real
enterprise database.
• Comparing
the results with predefined business targets.
• Outlining
the real trends in real-time
• Giving
managers and entrepreneurs quick aggregated picture of the business
performance.
• Working out
various production scenarios
• Making
simulations of decisions and its outcomes
• Making
almost automatic benchmarking of businesses Balanced scoreboard can help
managers achieve similar results but not in the same simplicity and
scope of business vision.
Balanced
Scorecard methodology views to the company at different angle and
prospective, has different objectives and measurements, needs different
data. It brings the results which to the opinion of our users are in
favor of Pharos as user friendly tool to get full picture of business
performance and always in real-time.
Full
functionality of Balanced scoreboard methodology is planned to be added
to next major upgrade by Pharos.
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23. How much data we can get from Produce Plus
software into Pharos ?
Produce Plus covers the issues of detailed production
performance analysis, monitoring, benchmarking and management. Within
the scope of these features it has much more details regarding costing, labor,
raw materials, equipment, etc. which are not necessary for overall
business performance management and need to be aggregated.
On the other side the company management requires more
wide picture of busyness including quality of services, financial data,
products, production time, sales, customers, suppliers, other office and
business costs, etc. which are not available in Produce Plus.
Data transfer into Pharos production table from Produce Plus is made
automatically by using export/import utility in Pharos which aggregates
daily information into monthly values. It is possible to continue using
Pharos without Produce Plus data by entering missing data manually or
importing it from some other sources.
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24. Why BEST is not included into software tools
for SME Programmes?
In our long term practices obtained in different
countries we found that BEST is too complicated for average SME manager.
It was clearly seen in many applications. Most of the entrepreneurs and
managers need the software tools which are easy to understand and work
with. From this point of view Pharos is better. In addition it was
identified that complex simulation models like “Price Setting” and
“Production bottleneck” are needed only for small subset of managers
which are rather advanced in education, managerial skills and their
desire for perfect performance management of their companies.
After internal discussions we decided to plan adding
BEST functionality and models as add-on modules into new PHAROS version.
Meanwhile the BEST software is still available for distribution and can
be ordered by customers.
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