ERP should simplify your business, not bury it in confusion. But many manufacturers only realize something’s wrong months after go-live. Here’s how to spot the cracks early—and what you can do to get back on track.
ERP is one of the biggest investments a manufacturing business can make—but also one of the riskiest. When things start to go off-course, the warning signs don’t always scream at you. They show up in quiet frustrations, repeated workarounds, and slipping confidence across your team.
If you’re unsure whether your ERP is doing what it promised, this article will help you cut through the noise. Let’s walk through six clear signs your ERP is struggling, and what practical steps you can take to turn things around fast.
1. Your team still relies on spreadsheets and manual workarounds
This is one of the easiest signs to spot: the ERP is technically “live,” but your shop supervisor is still running production on Excel, and purchasing is still using sticky notes and email chains. If you’re seeing that, it means people don’t trust the system—or it doesn’t reflect how the business actually works.
Here’s a real-world example. A mid-sized precision machining shop spent nearly $400,000 implementing an ERP system meant to replace their patchwork of spreadsheets. But six months after go-live, the plant manager was still manually adjusting schedules in Excel every morning because the ERP’s production planning tool didn’t factor in rework, machine maintenance, or labor availability. No one had walked the floor during implementation to see how production was actually managed.
The real issue wasn’t technical. It was that the ERP was designed around how the vendor assumed things should work, not how they do work on the ground. This gap between design and reality is what leads to workarounds.
If you’re seeing this, don’t force people to “just use the system.” Ask them what they need the system to do—and why they’re avoiding it. Often, a few practical tweaks to workflows or dashboards can make a massive difference. And don’t forget: if the people using the system daily weren’t involved in the buildout, that’s a fixable mistake—bring them into the fold now.
2. No one trusts the numbers coming out of the system
If every department feels the need to double-check the ERP—whether it’s raw material inventory, available capacity, or job costing—you’ve got a trust issue. This one spreads quietly, but it erodes the system’s value fast. People start working outside the ERP, decisions slow down, and soon the system becomes a glorified paperweight.
A fabrication business I worked with was struggling to quote jobs accurately. Their ERP showed job costing margins that looked too good to be true. Turns out, during implementation, they had imported pricing data that hadn’t been updated in three years, and their labor standards were overly optimistic. So when jobs hit the floor, actuals were always 20–30% worse than projected. Eventually, salespeople just started using old quotes and gut feel to estimate jobs.
When people stop trusting ERP data, it’s not about software—it’s about inputs. You don’t need to throw the system out. You need to assign owners to clean and maintain the most-used data: items, vendors, BOMs, work centers, etc. Pick 10 parts at random—if 3 or 4 are wrong, you know what to do next.
Trust comes back when people see that fixing the data actually improves their day-to-day work.
3. It takes longer to do the same tasks you used to do faster
This one is frustrating, because ERP is supposed to speed things up. But if entering a sales order or creating a job traveler now takes twice as long—or requires extra approvals and clicks—people start to hate the system.
A made-to-order metal parts manufacturer ran into this. Pre-ERP, they had a fast process for generating custom quotes, including cut lists and material estimates. After the new system went live, it took their estimators twice as long to build quotes because of required fields that didn’t apply to their business. The ERP had been configured for a more complex discrete manufacturing model, but their work was high-mix, low-volume. It wasn’t a fit.
The fix wasn’t re-implementation. They just needed to simplify and streamline key workflows based on how they actually quote and build. They eliminated unused steps, added templates for repeat customers, and gave their estimators back hours per week.
If basic processes are dragging, the system isn’t wrong—you might just be using the wrong configuration for your business size and workflow. And that’s fixable without blowing everything up.
4. Support tickets are piling up, or no one knows who to ask
When issues go unresolved for days or weeks—or worse, get sent around in circles—it kills momentum. Your team stops reporting problems, loses faith, and just works around the ERP instead.
This is especially common when the business relies solely on external consultants or vendor support after go-live. They get slow responses, generic answers, or worse—radio silence.
One growing plastics manufacturer dealt with this exact thing. Their ERP vendor promised “full support,” but after implementation, every ticket took a week or more to resolve. Meanwhile, production floor leads were sitting on hold trying to figure out how to reopen a closed work order. It caused shipping delays and made the ERP feel like more of a problem than a solution.
Their solution? They designated two internal champions—power users from operations and finance—who were trained to handle 80% of issues in-house. That made a huge difference in response times, kept issues from snowballing, and made users feel heard.
If your team is stuck waiting on help, the real problem might be a lack of internal ownership—not the software itself.
5. You’re not seeing the business results you expected
This one feels vague, but it’s real. You didn’t buy ERP for fun—you wanted better insights, more control, fewer errors, and faster response to customer needs. If you’re six months in and haven’t moved the needle on any of that, the project didn’t finish—it just stopped.
One food packaging business installed ERP to improve traceability, reduce waste, and tighten inventory. The system went live on time and on budget, but none of those goals were actually met. Why? Because success was defined as “going live,” not “achieving outcomes.”
Your ERP implementation should be tied to real, measurable goals. Reduced quoting time. Faster inventory turns. Lower scrap rate. If you haven’t seen movement on those fronts, it’s not too late—just revisit your original goals, break them into smaller wins, and assign owners. Track one small metric improvement each week. You’ll regain momentum and rebuild faith in the system.
6. Leadership is checked out or openly frustrated
When the people at the top stop asking questions about the ERP—or worse, complain that it was a waste of money—it sends a clear message to the rest of the business: “This doesn’t matter anymore.”
ERP adoption flows from the top. If ownership and leadership are disengaged, employees won’t push through the friction either. A second-generation family-owned machine shop learned this the hard way. After implementation, the owner stopped attending ERP review meetings. When employees hit issues, they just gave up or created their own offline systems.
Once the leadership team got re-engaged—asking for ERP-driven reports in meetings, reviewing order fulfillment data weekly—usage improved. When people know the system is part of how the business runs, not just a side project, they start treating it seriously.
If you’ve mentally checked out, ask yourself why. Then reframe the conversation around business wins, not system problems. It’s easier to rally the team around what’s working than just highlighting what’s broken.
What to Do When You Spot These Red Flags
Now that you know what to watch for, the next step is action. Ignoring these signs will only slow down your operations and drain resources. Instead, treat your ERP like a living system that needs ongoing care and tuning—not a one-and-done project.
Start by setting up regular check-ins with your key users. Ask open-ended questions about what’s working and what isn’t. Take notes, prioritize issues, and communicate progress openly with leadership. Transparency builds trust.
If manual workarounds pop up, don’t just document them—investigate why they exist. Are users missing training? Is the system missing a critical feature? Sometimes a quick workflow tweak or a targeted training session can reclaim hours of lost productivity.
Make sure you have dedicated ERP champions on your team. These should be people who understand the business processes and can serve as the bridge between users and IT or your vendor. Champions catch problems early and keep fixes moving.
Finally, don’t hesitate to bring in outside help if needed. A fresh set of eyes—someone with deep manufacturing ERP experience—can spot bottlenecks and inefficiencies you might overlook. It’s an investment that pays off if it gets your system back on track quickly.
3 Clear Takeaways You Can Use Today
1. Watch what your team is actually doing, not what the ERP says they should do. The fastest way to spot problems is to follow the workarounds. They’ll show you exactly what the system is missing.
2. Clean up your data like you clean up your shop floor. ERP performance lives and dies on good inputs. If your master data is a mess, nothing downstream will ever feel trustworthy.
3. You don’t need a restart—you need a reset. Most ERP problems are fixable with smart, focused changes. Talk to your users. Set small goals. Fix what matters. That’s how struggling systems turn into business drivers.
Let the ERP serve your business—not the other way around.
Top 5 FAQs About Struggling ERP Implementations for Manufacturers
1. How long should it take before an ERP starts showing real benefits?
It varies, but you should start seeing small wins within 3-6 months after go-live. If nothing measurable improves by then, it’s time to reassess.
2. Can we fix a failing ERP without starting over?
Yes. Most ERP struggles come from configuration, data, and user adoption issues—all fixable with focused effort.
3. What’s the biggest cause of ERP implementation failure?
Lack of alignment between the ERP design and actual business processes. Ignoring end-user input during implementation is a common root cause.
4. How do I get my team to stop resisting the ERP?
Involve them in shaping the system, provide ongoing training, and show them tangible benefits that make their work easier.
5. Should we switch ERP vendors if things aren’t working?
Switching is costly and risky. Exhaust all improvement options first unless the vendor can’t support your core business needs or issues remain unresolved for months.
Your ERP is a powerful tool, but only if it fits your business and your people. Watch for the warning signs, act early, and keep your team at the center of every decision. That’s how you turn a struggling ERP into your strongest business asset.
If your ERP is giving you headaches or slowing your growth, reach out. Sometimes a fresh perspective and experienced guidance is all you need to turn things around—fast.