The Real Go-Live of ERP Happens About Three Months In. | Published in Supply Chain Brain
Three months after go-live, the spreadsheets come back. Inventory stops matching the system. Planners start padding buffers because nobody trusts the numbers. Expediting becomes the default — and leadership starts wondering whether the whole implementation failed.
I’ve watched this pattern repeat in plants from $50 million to multi-billion in revenue — different ERP platforms, different teams, same story. And nearly every time, the software isn’t the culprit. The answers are already in the building: in the workarounds operators built, the transactions getting skipped, and the spreadsheets nobody wanted to bring back.
SupplyChainBrain published my full breakdown of why this happens — and what actually moves the needle when a go-live starts to drift. If you’re staring at a system that fights you, this is worth ten minutes.
Lee Stout is the founder of Staudt Advisory, an independent business and systems advisory for mid-market manufacturers. He has spent 25 years inside manufacturing companies — on the floor, in the systems, and with the leadership team — plus 11 years supporting ERP from the I.T. side. He advises owners, COOs, and CFOs on fixing broken ERP systems, untangling operations, and making confident decisions without hiring full-time executives.
