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Just pick the right change agent

Six S Partners is a full-service Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) consulting firm with an exclusive focus on the Epicor Software products they see as the best in the business. They’ve dedicated their time and resources to become a leader in training and consultation alongside implementation of Epicor systems. That’s culminated in their being named Epicor’s Global Partner of the Year for two years running.

CEO John Preiditsch founded Six S 10 years ago – with 20 years of experience in the business. “I understood the market, how clients wanted to interact. I had a vision for synthesizing a value-add that went deeper than selling software and providing training.” Preiditsch hired his team from supply chain backgrounds, including finance and operations management in production facilities. They speak the same language as his clients – manufacturers of aerospace and agricultural equipment, healthcare, food and pharmaceuticals, and various engineer-to-order equipment businesses. “It goes well past the bits and bytes of things,” he says. “The technology is just the vehicle. Our customers are seeking a consultative dimension, and they get that from our real-world experience.”

Even within ISO-certified companies, process documentation – allowing anyone to repeat successes – can lack. Some firms have difficulty leveraging their best practices, if they don’t necessarily know what they are. When Six S steps in, they help clarify, and lean things out. They look at value streams and remove waste, so businesses can be more competitive and cost-effective. “We identify metrics to measure and manage,” says Preiditsch, “and automate data collection to enable realtime dashboards.”

But invoking change from within is difficult. “There can be cultural issues. Sometimes it’s a trust issue. When firms are entrenched in their current way of doing things,” says Preiditsch, “they have a hard time understanding how to fix or improve those areas with best practices they haven’t seen before. And when we get involved, we’re not fixing one area, the misaligned area that is most painful right now. We want to align the whole organization. You can’t patchwork things, because as soon as you go cross-departmental, it can get political. We try to usher in wholesale change, a business transformation.”

The technology is just the vehicle. Our customers are seeking a consultative dimension, and they get that from our real-world experience.

Six S works with businesses small to medium-sized, like itself. They share in the same challenges as their customers, and use the same ERP system. “Small boutique environments,” says Preiditsch, “where you buy the knowledge of one champion, are traditional in the ERP industry. But we’ve created a team with collective knowledge.” Together they serve North America at locations in five provinces and six states.