| Information technology has transformed the | | | | related to Manufacturing Industry and was |
| way we live live in and the way we do | | | | designed to control manufacturing process and |
| business. Since last decade, I.T. has made a | | | | planning the required production with |
| drastic change in our life. As compared to | | | | efficient output. Where as MRP is the |
| earlier stage, when computer was used just as | | | | evolution of Inventory Management & Control |
| a typewriter, nowadays users have become more | | | | conceived in 1960s, which was mainly designed |
| intelligent and IT literate. Now the user | | | | for management of Stocks in any particular |
| knows that a PC can do many more things | | | | industry. ERP has expanded from coordination |
| rather then just typing a letter in a word | | | | of manufacturing processes to the integration |
| processing software or making balance sheets | | | | of enterprise-wide backend processes like |
| in excel. They expect more things out of | | | | production planning and scheduling of |
| their PC. During this phase of industry, | | | | delivery. In terms of technology, ERP has |
| every one of us must have heard the word ERP | | | | evolved from legacy implementation to more |
| in one or the other form. It may be in title | | | | flexible tiered client-server architecture. |
| of any IT magazine or may be a point of | | | | |
| discussion in any IT Seminar or may be in an | | | | Benefits of ERP |
| advertisement of big IT Company. Thus in any | | | | |
| form, we all have been through this word. In | | | | ERP software attempts to integrate business |
| this short article, I'll try to concisely | | | | processes across departments ionto a single |
| explain the basic yet important concepts | | | | enterprise-wide information system. The major |
| relevant to ERP. | | | | benefits of ERP are improved coordination |
| | | | across functional departments and increased |
| What is ERP ? | | | | efficiencies of doing business. The |
| | | | implementations of ERP systems help to |
| ERP is one of the most widely implemented | | | | facilitate day-to-day management as well. ERP |
| business software systems in a wide variety | | | | software systems are originally and |
| of industries and organizations. ERP is the | | | | ambitiously designed to support resource |
| acronym of Enterprise Resource Planning. ERP | | | | planning portion of strategic planning. In |
| is just not only a software. ERP definition | | | | reality, resource planning has been the |
| refers to both; ERP software and business | | | | weakest link in ERP practice due to the |
| strategies that implement ERP systems. | | | | complexity of strategic planning and lack of |
| | | | adequate integration of ERP with Decision |
| ERP implementation utilizes various ERP | | | | Support Systems (DSS). |
| software applications to improve the | | | | |
| performance of organizations for | | | | Famous ERP Software |
| | | | |
| 1) resource planning, | | | | No one from IT industry will be unknown from |
| | | | the word SAP. SAP is the most successful ERP |
| 2) management control and | | | | Software. To name more here are some |
| | | | examples: |
| 3) operational control. | | | | |
| | | | PeopleSoft |
| ERP software consists of multiple software | | | | |
| modules that integrate activities across | | | | SysPro |
| functional departments - from production | | | | |
| planning, parts purchasing, inventory control | | | | ORION Enterprise |
| and product distribution to order tracking. | | | | |
| Most ERP software systems include application | | | | Matrix |
| modules to support common business activities | | | | |
| like finance, accounting and human resources. | | | | (In the past, we have implemented Matrix ERP |
| | | | solution for one of our clients) |
| ERP Systems | | | | |
| | | | ERP Failures |
| ERP is much more than just a computer | | | | |
| software. An ERP System includes ERP | | | | I couldn't conclude my brief guide to ERP |
| Software, Business Processes, Users and | | | | without mentioning ERP failures. The failures |
| Hardware that run the ERP software. An ERP | | | | of Crore rupees ERP projects are reported |
| system is more than the sum of its parts or | | | | once in a while even after many years of ERP |
| components. Those components interact | | | | implementation. |
| together to achieve a common goal - | | | | |
| streamline and improve organizations' | | | | There are four components of an ERP System - |
| business processes. Most important factor for | | | | |
| ERP system is the users. Successful | | | | 1) ERP software, |
| implementation of any ERP System more depends | | | | |
| on intelligent users who are going to use | | | | 2) Business Processes that ERP software |
| them, because any standard ERP Software would | | | | supports, |
| consist hundreds of input information for any | | | | |
| particular business activity. Thus good | | | | 3) Users of ERP systems, and |
| knowledge of each entity of system to the | | | | |
| users is most important factor in ERP | | | | 4) Hardware and Operating Systems that run |
| Software. | | | | ERP applications. |
| | | | |
| History of ERP | | | | The failures in one or more of those four |
| | | | components can cause the failure of an ERP |
| Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) is the | | | | project. Discussions on each of the four |
| evolution of Manufacturing Requirements | | | | topics will require new article, so I may |
| Planning (MRP) II in 1980s, which was mainly | | | | come up with same in my next article. |