The Y2K / ERP Trap

Since Y2K, retailers are told to “upgrade ERP to fix reporting.” In reality, unless segmentation is broken, you don’t need a new ERP — you need a data engineer. Implementation teams see configurable fields; data engineers see a taxonomy that must be coherent across items, departments, reporting groups, and replenishment rules.

Rule: never migrate chaos. Stabilise the taxonomy first; automate second.