This is a broad subject. You need to determine with the decision makers and financiers of the company how much they are willing to spend on such a system.
There are A LOT of different systems out there. Most of them come with a "bare bones" version that almost never works for anyone out of the box. You will need to invest in add-ons, or specific programming for it to meet your needs and work with your equipment, and other systems.
If you have no equipment for the system to interact with, and you have no other systems then that's great because you can get started with a system that works for you, and is capable of expansion. I've had experience with a few different systems.
- DEACOM
- Microsoft AX (DAX)
- Sage
Out of these three I preferred DEACOM. It allowed us to complete traceability within a few key strokes. I would get a traceability report in about 15 minutes of effective work. The downside of DEACOM is the lack of customizing one can do. It can be customized to some degree, but not a lot. Customers can ask for different things and DEACOM will consider it, and if it applies it the next update will have it.
A few things with any system...
- The system is only as good as the information or data put into it.
- Someone on site needs to be the system expert. Ideally, having more than one person is best.
- Trial it before buying. Some companies will not allow this, but some will. If they don't, then see if you can visit one of their existing customers and see the system in action.
- DO NOT SKIMP on the add ons. Consider these in the budget and plan to spend. In all three systems we had gone with out of the box and no add ons. But, in all three cases we either bought the add ons later, or used another system to complement it. Keep in mind systems don't always agree with one another...
Good luck! I hope you can convince the decision makers with the system you want.