The “definition” phase of ERP projects has become stuck in old patterns — repeating the same steps without asking whether this work still creates value. As lean thinking reminds us, much of this effort is muda – non–value-adding activity done simply because “that’s how it’s always been done.”
Most ERP projects still begin with a review of the “core processes”: procurement, sales, production, maintenance, and finance — as if starting from a blank slate, even when the same system has been in use for years.
Often, the goal is simply to replicate old ways of working in a new system. So why do we spend months defining requirements that don’t create new value but only enable basic operations?
The Bridge-Building Mindset
A modern ERP project should be a bridge from the present to the future, not an excavation of the past.
It’s not about documenting how things work today, but about shaping the business needs of tomorrow — and enabling teams to model, test, and implement solutions with agility.
In a top-down definition, the first step is to decide:
- What needs to change and why
- Where new value should be created
- Which parts of the ERP can remain as they are
- How the needs can be expressed as business capabilities
Note: These definitions could be done even before the ERP project starts, providing a sharper and more controlled scope for the vendor selection and planning phases.
Only after that should the focus shift to how automation, AI, and new capabilities can support the future operating model. That’s how new value is created — not just a system upgrade.
At the same time, other value-creating solutions around the ERP can be identified and integrated into the overall ecosystem.
The Next-Generation ERP Project Team
The ERP project of the future requires a new team structure.
What if the traditional process teams — “sales,” “finance,” “production,” and “logistics” — were replaced by value- and capability-driven teams?
- Customer Value Teams – focus on how customer value is created and enhanced
- Profitability Teams – optimize the cost–value balance
- Delivery Capability Teams – ensure value realization throughout the supply chain
- Resource Capability Teams – develop production and delivery resources
- Sustainability Teams – embed responsibility and sustainability into value creation
These teams should identify future value-creating opportunities and build the stable, “as-is” parts quickly to the point where they can be verified and communicated clearly.
Technically, start from the areas that will remain unchanged — and in the “definition phase,” focus on designing solutions for the areas where new value can be generated.
This way, the project focuses on how the company creates more value, not how to replicate old processes in a new system. Investments and effort go toward creating additional value — not merely completing an MVP-type implementation.
In Summary
ERP projects get stuck because understanding is sought in the wrong place — in the system, not in the business and its future needs.
When the order is reversed, and the bridge is built from future goals backward, value starts emerging immediately from go-live — not years after the project ends.
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