Manufacturing Capability Map-Driven ERP Selection
A discrete manufacturer used business capability mapping to select and sequence an ERP replacement across three business units.
Client Context
A discrete manufacturer with three business units—aerospace components, industrial pumps, and aftermarket services—faced end-of-life ERP platforms with incompatible customization backlogs. Larkinized supported the CFO-led selection program requiring capability-based justification, not vendor demos alone.
Challenge
Each unit had favored ERP candidates and conflicting chart-of-accounts models. Prior selections failed because requirements were feature lists disconnected from supply chain and quality capabilities. Integration with MES and PLM was underspecified, risking duplicate material masters.
Approach
Business capability maps linked level-three capabilities to processes, applications, and gaps. Scenarios scored SAP, Oracle, and Dynamics against make-to-order and engineer-to-order patterns. We sequenced rollout: aftermarket first as pilot, aerospace last due to AS9100 traceability. ARB tied every customization request to capability impact.
Architecture Decisions
Single material master governance; event-driven integration between MES and ERP via enterprise service bus; phased retirement of unit-specific WMS instances. Decision records captured why cloud ERP was rejected for aerospace unit due to export control data residency.
Outcomes
Selection cycle shortened from eighteen to nine months. Duplicate module licensing avoidance saved four point two million dollars. Supply chain capability maturity improved one and a half levels on the internal BIZBOK-aligned assessment.
Lessons Learned
Capability maps force vendors to prove fit against what the business does—not checkbox RFPs. Sequence ERP by regulatory and integration complexity, not by which unit shouts loudest.
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