China Plant ERP Rollout Checklist (Free, PDF)

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11 critical items still open - these are the highest-risk gaps.

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Governance and people

Appoint an executive sponsor in the plant with authority over operations and financeCRITICALName process owners for sales, purchasing, planning, production, warehouse, quality and financeCRITICALProtect super user time in writing, with backfill where neededAgree decision rules for scope changes and customization requestsSet a communication plan for shift workers and supervisorsAgree language policy for screens, reports and training material

Process design and shop floor

Document current and target processes for order to cash, procure to pay and plan to produceCRITICALConfirm item master structure, coding rules and unit of measure standardsDefine BOM, routing and work center ownership and change controlDecide production reporting method: backflush, manual or scanner at the lineCRITICALDefine lot, batch and serial traceability rules by product familySet inventory locations, cycle count rules and adjustment approvalsCheck shop floor network coverage and device needs, such as scanners and label printersDefine subcontract and outside processing flows

Finance, tax and compliance

Confirm chart of accounts, voucher rules and account sets for the plant entityCRITICALConfigure and test fapiao issuance and receipt handlingCRITICALConfigure VAT rates and tax classification codes on materialsDefine standard costing or actual costing method and period-end stepsTest bank connections, payment approval and reconciliationConfirm customs and bonded warehouse processes if the plant exports or importsAlign electronic archive and audit trail needs with auditors

Data, integration and IT

Clean and approve item, customer, supplier, BOM and routing data before loadCRITICALReconcile opening balances for inventory, receivables, payables and fixed assetsCRITICALList all interfaces to MES, WMS, PLM, OA, banks and customers, with ownersSet up test, training and production environments with refresh rulesDefine roles, permissions and segregation of dutiesConfirm backup, recovery and disaster recovery targetsCheck network, data residency and security requirements with IT and legal

Testing, training and go-live

Run end-to-end tests with real part numbers and real customersCRITICALComplete user acceptance tests with sign-off by process ownersTrain users by role on the training environment with realistic dataRun a mock cutover and record timingCRITICALPrepare a go/no-go checklist and a rollback planCRITICALPlan a manual contingency for orders, shipping and receiving during cutoverStaff a floor-walking support team on every shift for the first weeksReview issues daily in hypercare and publish fixes

Use this at each phase gate. Critical items should be closed or formally accepted as a risk before you pass the gate.

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How to use this checklist

Use it at phase gates: design, build, test and go-live. At each gate, review every group with the relevant owner and tick only items with evidence. Critical items should be done or consciously accepted as risks by the sponsor. Export to PDF for the steering committee or to Excel to add owners, dates and status columns for weekly tracking. It is vendor neutral and fits Kingdee, Yonyou, SAP, Oracle or other ERPs.

Shop floor reality

The system must work for the people who touch material. Decide how production is reported at the line, whether operators scan or supervisors enter data, and what happens when the network drops. Test with real shift patterns, including night shifts. Many rollouts fail on inventory accuracy because location discipline and adjustment rules were not defined before go-live, so agree those rules in design, not after.

Define who reports production and when
Agree backflush versus manual issue rules
Set cycle counting and adjustment approvals
Plan devices, labels and connectivity

Finance and tax cannot wait

A plant that cannot issue fapiao, post vouchers or pay suppliers on time will lose trust quickly. Test tax invoicing, bank interfaces and period close early, with the actual finance team, not only consultants. Reconcile opening balances in a mock cutover so numbers are proven before the real date.

Common mistakes

Typical errors include choosing a go-live date before design is stable, loading unclean BOMs and routings, training too early so people forget, ignoring night shifts in support, and having no manual contingency. Treat the first month-end close as part of go-live, not as a separate event.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does a plant ERP rollout take in China?

It depends on scope, but single-plant mid-size rollouts commonly run from several months to a year or more, including data cleanup and testing. Multi-plant or heavily customized projects take longer. Beware any plan that skips mock cutovers or training.

Should we go live at a period start or end?

Cut over right after a period close so opening balances are clean and reconciled. Avoid peak production or delivery weeks, and avoid the lead-up to major holidays such as Spring Festival when staff availability drops.

Do we need to translate the ERP?

Plant users usually work best in Chinese, so confirm that screens, reports, error messages and training material are available in the right language. If a foreign parent needs English reports, define those as separate reporting requirements.

Can this checklist be used for a different country?

Most groups apply anywhere, but the finance and tax items are China specific, such as fapiao and vouchers. For other countries, replace those items with local invoicing and statutory requirements and keep the rest.

Netray and its ERP partners can review your rollout plan, interfaces and data readiness. Where required, analysis can run on your own servers so plant data stays inside your network.

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