If you are going for the off-the-shelf solution, ensure that you can get affordable support that matches your situation. Will you need seven days a week and twenty-four hour support for remote access support and reasonable on-site service? A production control system is mission critical and cannot be down for long periods of time. A very small vendor will be high risk and proper contingency plans must be in place.

If all else is equal, the larger, better experienced, and outfitted vendor is probably the logical choice. Especially if they have support in your geographic area and experience with your products and processes. That could be a match made in heaven.

The vendor should be able to get at your data and your current system from afar and also be able to update your system in the same way. This might be possible through your computer network or through dial-in access. To gain remote access might involve the information systems group and may require a variety of permissions. Special software and hardware might also be needed. Get this remote capability up and running as soon as possible, do not wait until you need it and the system is down.

The vendor should clearly understand the realities of production control and not be staffed in its entirety by na ve programmers who do not know manufacturing. You do not want to train them in manufacturing and production control.

You also do not want them giving you biased recommendations if their...