UNI

T1PARTA
1.PREDI
CTTHEREASONSFORGROWTHOFERP?

ERPmar
keti
nIndi
ast
eadi
l
ygr
owi
ngf
ort
hel
astf
ewy
ear
sandt
hemai
nreason
f
ort
hisenor
mousgr
owt
hcanbeat
tri
but
edt
othei
nabi
l
ityofor
dersy
stem t
o
managet
heconv
ersi
ont
oyear2000.Ther
ear
eal
soot
herf
act
orssuchas
i
ndust
ry best pr
act
ices,easy and f
ast
er i
mpl
ement
ati
on and good cost
pr
edi
cti
ons.Anot
herf
act
orbehi
ndt
hegr
owt
hist
hatal
readyexi
sti
ngcl
i
ent
s
acqui
remor
eli
censesandmodul
es.Thenumberofempl
oyeesusi
ngt
heERP
sy
stem i
sincr
easi
ng and t
heERP cl
i
ent
swho hav
est
art
ed wi
tht
hebasi
c
modul
esar
egoi
ngf
orsubsequentappl
i
cat
ions.Ther
eisal
soat
rendt
orepl
ace
cust
omi
zedsy
stem wi
thst
andar
dappl
i
cat
ionpackages,l
i
keanERP sy
stem.
I
ndi
ais expect
ed t
o pr
esentERP suppl
i
ers an i
mpor
tantmar
ket
place as
manuf
act
uri
ngcompani
esar
esi
gni
fi
cant
lyi
nvest
ingi
ntechnol
ogysol
uti
onst
o
i
mpr
ovet
hei
rmanuf
act
uri
ng oper
ati
ons.Accor
ding t
o obser
vat
ion made by
someexper
tsi
nthef
iel
d,t
heERPmar
ketst
art
edshowi
ngsol
i
dor
gani
cgr
owt
h
si
nce2004asI
Tspendi
ngi
mpr
oved.

TheI
ndi
anERPmar
ketexper
iencedCAGR(
compoundedannualgr
owt
hrat
e)of
25.
2dur
ingt
heper
iodof2004-
2009.Themar
ketwas$83mi
l
li
oni
n2004,andi
s
pr
oject
edt
obeov
er$250mi
l
li
oni
n2009,accor
dingt
oar
esear
chr
epor
t.The
r
epor
tfur
thercl
ari
fi
est
hatmanuf
act
urer
sinI
ndi
aar
eincr
easi
ngl
yimpl
ement
ing
ERP sol
uti
onst
oensur
ethatdeci
sionmaker
shav
ether
equi
redi
nfor
mat
ion
v
isi
bil
i
tyacr
osst
hev
aluechai
n.

Maj
ori
tyofI
ndi
anmanuf
act
urer
sar
esmal
lbygl
obal
standar
ds,
requi
ri
ngeasy
-to-
use ERP sol
uti
ons t
o meett
hei
rspeci
fi
c pr
ocess r
equi
rement
s,i
ncl
udi
ng
l
ocal
i
zat
ion needs t
o addr
ess t
he cont
inual
l
y ev
olv
ing t
ax and st
atut
ory
r
equi
rement
s.Smal
landmedi
um ent
erpr
isesacr
ossi
ndust
ryv
ert
ical
sandmi
cro
 v
ert
ical
s,suchasaut
omot
ive,phar
maceut
ical
s,andt
ext
il
es,ar
elev
eragi
ngERP
sol
uti
onst
ogai
nsust
ainabl
ecompet
it
iveadv
ant
ages.

2.Out
li
net
headv
ant
agesofERPsof
twar
e?

· EnhancedBusi
nessRepor
ti
ng:

Bet
terr
epor
ti
ngt
ool
swi
thr
eal
-t
imei
nfor
mat
ion

A si
ngl
esour
ceoft
rut
h– onei
ntegr
ateddat
abasef
oral
lbusi
ness
pr
ocesses

· Bet
tercust
omerser
vice:

Bet
teraccesst
ocust
omeri
nfor
mat
ion

Fast
err
esponset
imes

I
mpr
ovedon-
ti
medel
i
ver
y

I
mpr
ovedor
deraccur
acy

· I
mpr
ovedI
nvent
oryCost
s:

Onl
ycar
ryasmuchi
nvent
oryasneeded,
avoi
dthesecommoni
ssues

Toomuchi
nvent
ory
,andhi
gherov
erheadcost
s

Tool
i
ttl
einv
ent
ory
,andl
ongercust
omerf
ulf
il
lmentt
imes

· Boost
edCashFl
ow:

Bet
teri
nvoi
ci
ngandbet
tercol
l
ect
ionst
ool
stobr
ingcashi
nfast
er

Fast
ercashmeansmor
ecashon-
handf
ort
hebusi
ness

· CostSav
ings:

I
mpr
ovedi
nvent
orypl
anni
ng
 Bet
terpr
ocur
ementmanagement

Bet
tercust
omerser
vice

I
mpr
ovedv
endorr
elat
ionshi
pmanagement

· Bet
terDat
a&Cl
oudSecur
it
y:

Dedi
cat
edsecur
it
yresour
ces

Av
oidi
nst
all
i
ngmal
i
cioussof
twar
e

Dat
adi
str
ibut
edacr
ossmul
ti
pleser
ver
s

· Busi
nessPr
ocessI
mpr
ovement
s:

Aut
omat
emanual
orr
out
inet
asks

I
mpl
ementsmar
terwor
kfl
ows

Gai
nef
fi
ci
ency

· Suppl
yChai
nManagement
:

Ef
fect
ivedemandf
orecast
ingandl
eani
nvent
ory

Reducepr
oduct
ionbot
tl
enecks

Tr
anspar
encyt
hrought
hebusi
ness

3.out
li
neofbusi
nessmodel
i
ngofERP?

Busi
nessModel
i
ngf
orERP

Busi
ness model
i
ng i
s a pr
ecur
sort
o busi
ness pr
ocess r
eengi
neer
ing,ERP
i
mpl
ement
ati
on,et
c.A busi
nessmodeli
sadi
agr
ammat
icr
epr
esent
ati
onof
di
ff
erentbusi
ness sy
stems and pr
ocesses,and t
hei
rint
erconnect
ions and
i
nter
dependenci
es.Thepur
poseofbusi
nessmodel
i
ngi
stopr
ovi
deagener
al
 ov
erv
iewoft
heoper
ati
onsofabusi
nesswi
thoutgoi
ngi
ntot
het
echni
caldet
ail
s
oft
hepr
ocessesandsy
stems.I
tdef
inest
heact
ivi
ti
esper
for
medandwor
kfl
ow
st
ruct
urei
n a br
oad manner
.Fi
gur
eil
l
ust
rat
es t
he basi
c component
s ofa
busi
nesssy
stem.

Fi
gur
e:Busi
nessasaSy
stem

Agoodbusi
nessmodelshoul
dbecompr
ehensi
ble,coher
entandcompl
ete.I
t
shoul
d def
ine cl
ear
lyt
he di
ff
erentsy
stems and subsy
stems ofa busi
ness
sy
stem.Abusi
nessmodeli
sdev
elopedont
hebasi
sofanor
gani
zat
ion'
sgoal
s,
obj
ect
ives and st
rat
egi
c pl
ans.Fur
ther
,the modeli
l
lust
rat
es how v
ari
ous
busi
nesspr
ocessesexchangei
nfor
mat
ionamongt
hemsel
vesandt
heunder
lyi
ng
dat
abase.

AnERPsy
stem i
simpl
ement
edt
opr
ovi
der
equi
sit
einf
ormat
iont
oindi
vi
dual
sto
enabl
ethem t
oper
for
m busi
nesspr
ocessesmor
eef
fi
cient
lyandef
fect
ivel
y.

4.Det
ermi
net
hel
i
mit
ati
onsofERP?
Li
mit
ati
onsofEnt
erpr
iseResour
cePl
anni
ng(
ERP)

Thev
ari
ousl
i
mit
ati
onsofent
erpr
iser
esour
cepl
anni
ng(
ERP)sof
twar
eincl
ude
t
hef
oll
owi
ng:

Expensi
veSy
stem -Oneoft
hemai
nli
mit
ati
onsofEnt
erpr
iseResour
cePl
anni
ng
(
ERP)sy
stemsi
sthatt
heycanbeext
remel
ycost
ly.Notonl
ydoest
heact
ual
sof
twar
e and i
mpl
ement
ati
on i
ncurcost
s,butot
herr
equi
rement
s such as
comput
erhar
dwar
e,updat
ednet
wor
kequi
pment
,andsecur
it
ysof
twar
emay
i
ncuraddi
ti
onalcost
s.I
tisi
mpor
tantt
ocar
eful
l
yev
aluat
ethedi
ff
erentopt
ionsof
ERPsy
stemsandot
herr
elat
edsy
stemst
ochooset
heonet
hatwi
l
lbet
hebestf
it
f
ory
ouror
gani
zat
ioni
nter
msoff
eat
uresof
fer
edbutal
soi
nter
msofcost
s.

Tr
aini
ngI
nef
fi
ciency-Ski
l
ls,exper
ience,manpower
,andopt
imum ut
il
izat
ionof
r
esour
cesar
ekeywi
thi
namanuf
act
uri
ngoper
ati
on.Wi
thoutt
hesef
act
ors,i
tis
di
ff
icul
ttohav
eyouroper
ati
onr
unef
fi
cient
lyandsmoot
hly
,whi
chi
swhypr
oper
t
rai
ningi
nERPi
simper
ati
vei
nor
dert
omaket
hesy
stem wor
kappr
opr
iat
ely
.A
subst
ant
ialamountofcompani
esat
temptt
o sav
e moneybynotpr
ovi
ding
enoughexpensesf
orent
erpr
iser
esour
cepl
anni
ngt
rai
ningf
orempl
oyees.Thi
s
wi
l
lresul
tini
nadequat
e cogni
zance oft
he par
ti
cul
arEnt
erpr
ise Resour
ce
Pl
anni
ngv
endorpackagebei
ngut
il
izedandmayl
eadt
omi
shandl
i
ngoft
he
t
echnol
ogybyempl
oyeesr
esul
ti
ngi
nthel
ossofv
aluabl
einf
ormat
ion.

Degr
eeofCust
omi
zat
ion-Anot
herl
i
mit
ati
onofERPsy
stemscomesf
rom t
hei
r
abi
l
ityt
obecust
omi
zedt
ofi
tyourbusi
nessneeds.Thedegr
eeofcust
omi
zat
ion
av
ail
abl
ecanbel
i
mit
edandusual
l
ydependsont
hebr
andofsof
twar
echosenas
somesy
stemshav
emor
ecust
omi
zat
ionopt
ionst
hanot
her
s.Howev
er,most
ERPsy
stemsof
ferv
eryl
i
ttl
ecust
omi
zat
ionorwi
l
lchar
geaddi
ti
onalf
eesf
ort
he
ext
raf
eat
uresr
equest
ed.I
tist
her
efor
eimpor
tantt
oconsi
dery
ourbusi
ness
needsandt
hest
andar
dfeat
uresofERPsy
stemswhenconsi
der
ingt
hem.
 Hi
ghI
mpl
ement
ati
onTi
mes-I
mpl
ement
inganew oper
ati
ngsy
stem canbea
chal
l
engi
ngt
askf
oranycompany
.Dependi
ngont
hecompl
exi
tyoft
hebusi
ness
oper
ati
ons,t
het
otali
mpl
ement
ati
onandt
rai
ningt
imecant
akeov
eray
ear
.
I
mpl
ement
ati
ont
imesandcost
sofERPsof
twar
ear
ecr
uci
alt
oconsi
derast
he
t
imer
equi
redf
ort
hei
mpl
ement
ati
onmaydi
stur
bthenor
malf
unct
ional
i
tyoft
he
or
gani
zat
ionandr
iski
ncur
ri
ngapot
ent
iall
ossi
nbusi
nessdur
ingt
hatt
ime.I
tis
t
her
efor
eimpor
tantt
o consi
dert
he i
mpl
ement
ati
on t
ime when ev
aluat
ing
di
ff
erentERPorot
hersof
twar
est
hatr
equi
reani
mpl
ement
ati
ont
oensur
ethat
y
ouwi
l
lhav
esi
gni
fi
cantr
etur
nsi
npr
ofi
tsoncei
mpl
ement
ed.

I
nter
-connect
ivi
tyofDepar
tment
s-Al
thoughhav
ingi
nter
-connect
ivi
tybet
ween
v
ari
ousdepar
tment
sinanor
gani
zat
ionmayseem l
i
keanasset
,itcanal
sopose
di
sadv
ant
agest
othecompany
.Thi
sisespeci
all
ytr
uei
fther
ear
einef
fi
cienci
es
wi
thi
nonedepar
tmentasi
twi
l
lleadt
oinef
fi
cienci
esi
not
herdepar
tment
s.I
fone
depar
tmenti
s af
fect
ed and becomes i
nef
fi
cient
,itcan af
fectt
he ov
eral
l
ef
fi
ciencyoft
hecompany
.Iti
sther
efor
eimpor
tantt
ochooseasof
twar
ethatwi
l
l
opt
imi
zey
ourcompanyandi
mpr
ovei
tsef
fi
ciencyt
oav
oidcausi
ngpr
obl
emsi
n
mul
ti
pledepar
tment
s.

Due t
othe l
i
mit
ati
ons ofERP sy
stems,many manuf
act
urer
s benef
itf
rom
i
ntegr
ati
ngt
hei
rERPsy
stem t
oan Adv
ancedPl
anni
ngandSchedul
i
ng(
APS)
sof
twar
e.Pl
anetToget
herAPSi
sanessent
ialt
oolf
ormanuf
act
urer
slooki
ngt
o
i
mpr
ovet
hei
ref
fi
ciencyandopt
imi
zet
hei
rpr
oduct
ion.

5.Pr
edi
ctt
hebenef
it
sofERP.

Her
ear
ethe10pr
imar
yadv
ant
agesofaSal
esf
orce-
nat
iveERPsy
stem t
hatwi
l
l
hel
pposi
ti
ony
ourbusi
nessf
orsuccess.

*Maxi
mizedpl
anni
ngandr
esour
cemanagement

Ent
erpr
ise Resour
ce Pl
anni
ng i
s apt
lynamed because i
ttr
ulydoes enabl
e
pl
anni
ngacr
ossy
ouror
gani
zat
ionsoy
ouknowhowt
opr
edi
ctandf
orecastsal
es,
cost
s,and t
her
esour
cesy
ou need,whet
hert
hat
’smat
eri
als,equi
pment
,or
peopl
e.

*Gr
eat
erent
erpr
isecol
l
abor
ati
on

Per
sonnelar
e of
ten si
l
oed acr
oss an or
gani
zat
ion,butERP consol
i
dat
es
i
nfor
mat
ionf
rom al
ldepar
tment
sint
oasi
ngl
esour
ceoft
rut
h,maki
ngi
tsi
mpl
e
t
oshar
eaccur
atedat
ainr
eal
-t
ime.

*I
ncr
easedpr
oduct
ivi
ty

Byaut
omat
ingmaj
orpr
ocessesl
i
kei
nvent
oryt
racki
ngori
nvoi
cegener
ati
on,
you
canr
eal
i
zepr
oduct
ivi
tygai
nsacr
osst
heboar
dandpl
acegr
eat
erf
ocusont
asks
t
hatmayhav
eot
her
wisef
all
enbyt
heway
side.

*Reducedov
erheadcost
s

Whenusedpr
oper
ly,ERPsy
stemscandel
i
versi
gni
fi
cantcostsav
ingst
oyour
or
gani
zat
ion.Pr
eventdi
srupt
ionsanddel
ayst
hatcanbecausedbyal
ackof
accur
ateorav
ail
abl
einf
ormat
ion,
keepi
ngpr
oject
sont
rackandont
ime.

*Bet
tercust
omerr
elat
ionshi
ps

Usi
ngERPonSal
esf
orceal
l
owsf
ori
ntegr
ati
onwi
thy
ourSal
esf
orceCust
omer
Rel
ati
onshi
pManagement(
CRM)pl
atf
orm,
drast
ical
l
yexpandi
ngt
hev
isi
bil
i
tyy
ou
hav
eov
ery
ouroper
ati
ons.

*I
mpr
ovedqual
i
tycont
rol

Qual
i
tymanagementi
sasi
gni
fi
cantbenef
itofanERPsy
stem.Let
’ssayy
ouhav
e
apr
oductt
hathasj
ustcompl
etedt
hemanuf
act
uri
ngpr
ocess,
butbef
orey
oucan
sel
lthepr
oduct
,youst
il
lneedt
orev
iew andsi
gnof
font
hecor
respondi
ng
paper
wor
k.

*Bet
teri
nvent
oryt
racki
ng

Tr
acki
ngandmoni
tor
ingi
nvent
oryi
sachal
l
enge,especi
all
yforl
argecompani
es
 t
hatconst
ant
lyhav
epr
oduct
scomi
ngi
nandgoi
ngoutandahi
ghl
evelof
cust
omerdemand.

*Si
mpl
i
fiedr
iskmanagement&r
egul
ator
ycompl
i
ance

Ev
erybusi
nesst
akesonsomef
orm ofr
iski
nthepr
ocessofcr
eat
ingand
di
ssemi
nat
ingpr
oduct
s.

*Enhanceddat
asecur
it
y

Usi
ngERPonSal
esf
orcei
sthemostsecur
ewayt
ost
orey
ourdat
a,handsdown.

*Pr
edi
ctabi
l
ity&scal
abi
l
ity

Wi
thoutquest
ion,anERPsy
stem al
l
owsy
ourbusi
nesst
obemor
epr
edi
cti
ve,
dr
ivi
ngbet
terbusi
nessr
esul
tst
hatenabl
eyout
oscal
e.

6.Det
ermi
net
erm ERP?

Ent
erpr
ise r
esour
ce pl
anni
ng (
ERP)i
sthe i
ntegr
ated managementofmai
n
busi
nesspr
ocesses,
oft
eni
nrealt
imeandmedi
atedbysof
twar
eandt
echnol
ogy
.
ERP i
s usual
l
y r
efer
red t
o as a cat
egor
y of busi
ness management
sof
twar
e—t
ypi
cal
l
yasui
teofi
ntegr
atedappl
i
cat
ions—t
hatanor
gani
zat
ioncan
uset
ocol
l
ect
,st
ore,manage,andi
nter
pretdat
afr
om manybusi
nessact
ivi
ti
es.
ERPSy
stemscanbel
ocalbasedorCl
oud-
based.Cl
oud-
basedappl
i
cat
ionshav
e
gr
owni
nrecenty
ear
sduet
oinf
ormat
ionbei
ngr
eadi
l
yav
ail
abl
efr
om anyl
ocat
ion
wi
thi
nter
netaccess.ERPpr
ovi
desani
ntegr
atedandcont
inuousl
yupdat
edv
iew
ofcor
ebusi
nesspr
ocessesusi
ngcommondat
abasesmai
ntai
nedbyadat
abase
management sy
stem.ERP sy
stems t
rack busi
ness r
esour
ces—cash,r
aw
mat
eri
als,
product
ioncapaci
ty—andt
hest
atusofbusi
nesscommi
tment
s:or
der
s,
pur
chaseor
der
s,andpay
rol
l
.Theappl
i
cat
ionst
hatmakeupt
hesy
stem shar
e
dat
aacr
ossv
ari
ousdepar
tment
s(manuf
act
uri
ng,pur
chasi
ng,sal
es,account
ing,
et
c.)t
hatpr
ovi
det
hedat
a.ERPf
aci
l
itat
esi
nfor
mat
ionf
lowbet
weenal
lbusi
ness
f
unct
ionsandmanagesconnect
ionst
oout
sidest
akehol
der
s.Ent
erpr
isesy
stem
sof
twar
eisamul
ti
bil
l
ion-
dol
l
ari
ndust
ryt
hatpr
oducescomponent
ssuppor
ti
nga
 v
ari
etyofbusi
nessf
unct
ions.Though ear
lyERP sy
stemsf
ocused on l
arge
ent
erpr
ises,smal
l
erent
erpr
isesi
ncr
easi
ngl
yuseERPsy
stems.TheERPsy
stem
i
ntegr
atesv
ari
edor
gani
zat
ionalsy
stemsandf
aci
l
itat
eser
ror
-f
reet
ransact
ions
and pr
oduct
ion,t
her
eby enhanci
ng t
he or
gani
zat
ion'
s ef
fi
ciency
.Howev
er,
dev
elopi
nganERP sy
stem di
ff
ersf
rom t
radi
ti
onalsy
stem dev
elopment
.ERP
sy
stemsr
unonav
ari
etyofcomput
erhar
dwar
eandnet
wor
kconf
igur
ati
ons,
t
ypi
cal
l
yusi
ngadat
abaseasani
nfor
mat
ionr
eposi
tor
y.

7.Di
scusst
het
erm ent
erpr
ise.
(QUSNNO:
10&7SAMEANSWER)

Ent
erpr
iser
efer
stoaf
or-
prof
itbusi
nessst
art
edandr
unbyanent
repr
eneur
.And
wewi
l
lof
tensayt
hatpeopl
erunni
ngsuchbusi
nessesar
eent
erpr
isi
ng.Ther
oot
s
oft
hewor
dli
eint
heFr
enchwor
dent
repr
endr
e(f
rom pr
endr
e),meani
ng‘
to
under
take’
,whi
chi
ntur
ncomesf
rom t
heLat
in“
int
erpr
ehender
e”(
sei
zewi
tht
he
hand)
.

Ent
repr
eneur
susual
l
yst
artanent
erpr
ise–wi
tht
heassoci
atedr
isks–t
omakea
pr
ofi
t,andf
oroneofsev
eral
reasons:

· Pr
obl
em-
sol
vi
ng.Theyseeapar
ti
cul
ari
ssuet
hatt
heyf
eel
theycansol
ve.

· Expl
oiti
deas.Theyhav
e a new i
dea orpr
oductt
heybel
i
eve wi
l
lbe
successf
ul.

· Fi
l
li
ngagap.Theyseeagapi
nthemar
kett
heybel
i
evet
heycanf
il
l.

· Compet
it
ive pr
ici
ng.Theybel
i
evet
heycanpr
oducesomet
hingont
he
mar
ketcheaperandof
feri
tatal
owerpr
ice.

· Knowl
edge-
based. Wher
e t
hey bel
i
eve t
hey can suppl
y speci
ali
st
knowl
edget
hatcust
omer
swi
l
lpayf
or.
8.Compl
etet
her
easonf
orgr
owt
hofERPmar
ket
.

Si
nce1970,ERPi
sgr
owi
ngev
eryy
earwhi
chy
oucanf
indERPhi
stor
yrepor
t.
Gr
owi
ngr
ateofERPi
nthemar
keti
s30% ev
eryy
ear
.Ther
ear
emanyr
easons
behi
ndt
hiswhosel
i
st,
Iam gi
venbel
ow.

· GoodI
nvent
oryCont
rol

I
nanyERPpackage,y
ouwi
l
lfi
ndt
hei
nvent
orycont
rolsy
stem.Wi
th
i
nvent
orycont
rolsy
stem,y
oucanaddandr
awdat
aofr
awmat
eri
al,wor
k
i
npr
ocessandf
ini
shedgoodsi
nthedat
abasef
rom any
wher
e.

· Pr
oducet
hePr
oduct
sFast
ly

I
n ERP,bot
h pr
oduct
ion depar
tmentand sal
es depar
tmentar
eint
er-
connect
ed.So,
whenpr
oduct
iondepar
tmentt
rackst
hedemandf
rom sal
e
depar
tment
,itcanf
ast
lypr
oducet
hepr
oduct
swi
thoutanydel
ay.

· NewPr
oductDev
elopment

Whendev
eloperseesal
lthei
nfor
mat
iont
oget
her
,theygetmor
eideat
o
cr
eat
enewpr
oductdev
elopment
.

· Suppor
tofMul
ti
pleLanguagesandCur
renci
es

ERPsy
stemssuppor
tmul
ti
plel
anguagesandcur
renci
es.So,mor
eand
mor
eempl
oyeesi
ndi
ff
erentbr
anchescanwor
ktoget
herbecauset
hey
canunder
standdat
abasel
anguaget
hroughbet
tert
ransl
ati
onsuppor
t.

· Ver
ti
cal
Mar
ketSol
uti
on

Av
ert
icalmar
keti
samar
keti
nwhi
chv
endor
sof
fergoodsandser
vices
speci
fi
ctoani
ndust
ry,
trade,
prof
essi
on,
orot
hergr
oupofcust
omer
swi
th
speci
ali
zedneeds.I
tisdi
sti
ngui
shedf
rom ahor
izont
almar
ket
,inwhi
ch
v
endor
sof
ferabr
oadr
angeofgoodsandser
vicest
oal
argegr
oupof
cust
omer
swi
thwi
der
angeofneeds,
suchasbusi
nessesasawhol
e,men,
 women,
househol
ds,
or,
int
hebr
oadesthor
izont
almar
ket
,ev
ery
one.

· Cl
i
entSer
ver

SAP,Or
acl
eandMi
crosof
tar
ethet
opcl
i
entser
verERP.Oneofmai
n
benef
it
,al
lfi
l
eswi
l
lbest
oredsamest
ore.Al
lfi
l
eswi
l
lhav
eaut
omat
ical
l
y
backup.I
fther
eisanybug,
wecanr
est
oret
hebackup.

9.Out
li
net
heov
erv
iewofERP?

Ent
erpr
ise r
esour
ce pl
anni
ng – mor
e commonl
yref
err
ed t
o asERP – i
sa
sof
twar
esy
stem usedt
omanageandmai
ntai
nthef
unct
ionsofabusi
ness.The
t
asks ar
ety
pical
l
ydone i
nreal
-t
ime.Ent
erpr
ise r
esour
ce pl
anni
ng (
ERP)i
s
sof
twar
edesi
gnedt
ohel
pcompani
esst
ore,manage,andusedat
aregar
ding
t
hei
rdai
l
yandr
egul
arpr
ocesses.

ERP keepst
rackofaweal
thofi
nfor
mat
ion,i
ncl
udi
ngpay
rol
l
,raw mat
eri
als,
busi
nesscommi
tment
s,pur
chaseor
der
s,andcapaci
tyf
orpr
oduct
ion.

ERPsof
twar
eispar
toft
heI
Tsect
or,
andbecauseofi
tsusef
ulnessandsuccess,
i
tisnowconsi
der
edamul
ti
-bi
l
li
on-
dol
l
ari
ndust
ry.

Component
sofERPSof
twar
e

ERPpr
ogr
amsar
ecommonl
yknownasbusi
nessmanagementsof
twar
e.They
i
nvol
veahostofappl
i
cat
ionst
hatwor
ktoget
hert
o:

· Gat
herdat
a

· St
orei
tforf
utur
eref
erence

· Manageandsor
tthei
nfor
mat
ionf
oreasi
eraccess

· I
nter
prett
hedat
aforusebyt
hebusi
ness

Pr
imar
yFunct
ionsofERP

ERPpr
ovi
desahostofser
vicesf
orcompani
est
ryi
ngt
oimpr
ovehowef
fi
cient
ly
 t
heyoper
ate.Thesy
stemsar
econst
ant
lybei
ngupdat
edbyt
hepr
opr
iet
orst
o
of
fert
hespeedi
estandmostr
eli
abl
eser
vices.Ast
henamesuggest
s,ERP’
s
pr
imar
ygoali
stomanaget
hev
ari
ousr
esour
ceswi
thi
nthecompanyt
omake
sur
etheyar
ebei
ngut
il
izedi
nacost
-ef
fect
iveway
.Iti
sal
sodesi
gnedt
omake
sur
ethatal
lresour
cesar
ebei
ngusedef
fi
ci
ent
ly.

Fl
owofI
nfor
mat
ion

ERPsof
twar
ecov
ersal
otofdi
ff
erentar
easwi
thi
nacompany– account
ing,
sal
es,
pur
chasi
ng,
manuf
act
uri
ng.Oneoft
hemosti
mpor
tantneedsi
taddr
esses
i
stheneedt
ocommuni
cat
eal
lper
ti
nenti
nfor
mat
iont
othemanydepar
tment
s
t
hatmayr
equi
ret
hedat
a.

10.
[SEEQUSNO:
7]

11.
Associ
atet
hedi
ff
erentmodul
essi
gni
fi
cancei
nERP.

Ent
erpr
iser
esour
cepl
anni
ng(
ERP)sy
stemshav
ebecomeacr
it
icalt
oolf
or
busi
nessesov
ert
hepastsev
eraldecades.AnERPsol
uti
onaut
omat
escr
it
ical
busi
nesspr
ocessesand ser
vesasa shar
ed dat
abase f
oral
lfi
nanci
aland
oper
ati
onali
nfor
mat
ionf
rom acr
osst
hecompany
.Itpul
l
sthi
sdat
afr
om a
numberofmodul
esbui
l
ttohel
pvar
iousdepar
tment
s,f
rom account
ingt
osuppl
y
chai
ntohumanr
esour
ces,per
for
mthei
rindi
vi
dualf
unct
ions.AnERPsol
uti
on
gi
vesal
lempl
oyeesaccesst
othei
nfor
mat
iont
heyneedt
oansweri
mpor
tant
quest
ionsaboutt
hei
rdepar
tment
’scur
rentper
for
manceandf
utur
epl
anni
ng,as
wel
las t
argetar
eas f
ori
mpr
ovement
.Thi
s si
ngl
e sour
ce ofi
nfor
mat
ion
mi
nimi
zes dat
a accur
acyand consi
stencyi
ssues and ensur
es ev
ery
one i
s
l
ooki
ngatt
hesamenumber
s,nomat
tert
hei
rrol
e.I
tal
sodr
ivesbet
terdeci
sion-
maki
ngt
hatl
eadst
omor
eef
fi
cientpr
ocessesandcostsav
ings.Addi
ti
onal
l
y,
ERPcanaut
omat
emanyt
asks,r
educi
nger
ror
sandf
reei
ngupempl
oyeest
o
f
ocusonmor
est
rat
egi
cwor
k.CommonERPmodul
essuppor
tback-andf
ront
-
of
fi
ce f
unct
ions l
i
ke f
inance and account
ing,pr
ocur
ement
,manuf
act
uri
ng,
i
nvent
orymanagement
,or
dermanagement
,war
ehouse management
,suppl
y
chai
nmanagement
,cust
omerr
elat
ionshi
pmanagement(
CRM)pr
ocur
ementand
 wor
kfor
ce management
.Mor
efunct
ional
l
y-r
ich sol
uti
ons may al
so i
ncl
ude
pr
ofessi
onalser
vices aut
omat
ion (
ser
vice r
esour
ce management
),human
r
esour
cesmanagement
,ecommer
ceandmar
ket
ingaut
omat
ion.

ERPSy
stem Modul
es

EachERPmodul
eisdesi
gnedf
orspeci
fi
cbusi
nessf
unct
ions,
prov
idi
ngt
hedat
a
andsuppor
ti
ngt
hepr
ocessest
hatwi
l
lhel
pthoseempl
oyeesdot
hei
rjobs.Ev
ery
modul
epl
ugsi
ntot
heERPsy
stem,sot
hesy
stem pr
ovi
desasi
ngl
esour
ceof
accur
atedat
a,ev
enast
hebusi
nessaddsnewmodul
es.I
ftheERPsy
stem i
sthe
t
ool
box,
themodul
esar
ethescr
ewdr
iver
,wr
ench,
hammerandot
hert
ool
sint
he
boxt
hateachhav
especi
fi
cuses.

12.
Summar
izet
heERPi
npr
esentI
ndi
anScenar
io.
 I
nanycase,
someERPdesi
gner
swer
efocusi
ngont
heemer
gencyoft
hismar
ket
and ar
e pr
esent
lypr
epar
ed t
o gi
ve moder
ate ERP answer
sfort
hese l
i
ttl
er
or
gani
zat
ions.Asofnow,t
heSME’
sfr
agmenti
nIndi
ahast
urnedi
ntot
hemost
conf
identconnect
orsf
orERPar
rangement
s.About60%oft
heSME’
spar
thav
e
ef
fect
ivel
yincor
por
atedERPar
rangement
sint
othei
rbusi
ness.BecauseofERP
ar
rangement
sorot
hermoder
ateERPmodul
escr
eat
edbysomeki
ndengi
neer
s,
t
heseSME’
sor
gani
zat
ionscannowmai
ntai
nthebudget
aryneedst
oincor
por
ate
ERPsi
ntot
hei
rbusi
ness.Thi
sai
det
heSMEsf
orsmoot
herst
ockadmi
nist
rat
ion,
t
imeadmi
nist
rat
ion,humanassetadmi
nist
rat
ion,keepi
ngupi
tem cy
clesand
shi
pmentofmer
chandi
seandf
urt
her
mor
einonl
i
nei
nfor
mat
ioncor
respondence.
I
ndi
a’
sfi
nanci
aldev
elopmentast
ouni
ver
salr
ival
rydependsi
ntensel
yonI
ndi
an
or
gani
zat
ionst
oincor
por
ateandact
ual
i
zeERPs.Ther
eoughtt
obesuf
fi
cient
mi
ndf
ulnessgl
i
dingt
hrought
heai
rtot
ellt
hem aboutt
hehi
ghbenef
itt
ocost
pr
opor
ti
ont
hatERPscanconv
eyt
oanor
gani
zat
ion.Ar
easonabl
ehel
pfuli
mpact
gav
e byact
ual
i
zing an ERP can be j
udged i
fthe or
gani
zat
ion i
n concer
n
expr
esses t
hei
rit
ems bef
ore ERP execut
ion and af
tert
hatmeasur
ethei
r
accompl
i
shmentaf
terERPusage.Thi
scangi
veasuper
iorunder
standi
ngoft
he
i
mpact
sofanERP.Byt
heby
,ERPsi
ncor
por
ateext
raor
dinar
yel
ement
sthatcan
ease up t
he wor
kload f
orsome or
gani
zat
ions,atl
ast
,br
ingi
ng aboutl
ess
demandi
ngwor
kandi
nthi
swayi
nar
oundaboutwayi
ncr
ementpr
ofi
tabi
l
ity
.The
wayt
hatt
hedev
elopmentr
ateofERPusagei
nIndi
aisont
heascenti
mpl
i
est
hat
I
ndi
anor
gani
zat
ionscannowst
andt
oe-
to-
toewi
tht
hewor
ldwi
der
ival
ry.

13.
Det
ermi
net
hechar
act
eri
sti
csofERP.

FourChar
act
eri
sti
csofEnt
erpr
iseResour
cePl
anni
ng(
ERP)

Thef
ourchar
act
ersofanent
erpr
iser
esour
cepl
anni
ng(
ERP)sy
stem i
ncl
udes
t
hef
oll
owi
ng:

· Modul
arDesi
gn-Themodul
ardesi
gnofanERP sy
stem i
ncor
por
ates
di
sti
nctbusi
nessmodul
essuchasmanuf
act
uri
ng,f
inanci
al,account
ing,
 and di
str
ibut
ion.Each modul
etakes car
e ofv
ari
ous f
unct
ions ofa
par
ti
cul
arsect
ionordepar
tmentwi
thi
nyouror
gani
zat
ion.Whi
l
ethese
modul
es can oper
ate separ
atel
y,t
hey ar
eint
egr
ated i
nsi
de t
he ERP
sy
stem t
opr
ovi
deaseaml
essf
low ofdat
aandi
nfor
mat
ionbet
weenal
l
modul
es.Thi
s ul
ti
mat
ely wi
l
lenl
arge t
he oper
ati
onalt
ranspar
ency
pr
ovi
dedf
orbyt
hest
andar
dint
erf
ace.Thesesepar
atemodul
eswor
kin
r
eal
-t
imewi
thonl
i
neandbat
ch-
processi
ngcapabi
l
iti
es.

· Cent
ralCommon Dat
abase -I
mpl
ement
ing a common cent
ral
i
zed
dat
abase managementsy
stem,whi
ch i
s al
so cal
l
ed a DBMS,i
s an
i
mpor
tantchar
act
eri
sti
cofan adv
ant
ageousERP sy
stem.Al
ldat
ais
ent
ered and st
ored onl
y once and t
hen ut
il
ized by al
ldepar
tment
s
si
mul
taneousl
ywhi
chhel
psel
i
minat
edat
a-ent
ryer
ror
sandot
herf
laws
associ
atedwi
thusi
ngadi
str
ibut
eddat
abase.

· Fl
exi
bleandOpenDat
abase-Or
gani
zat
ionsar
eal
mostal
way
sdy
nami
cin
nat
ure,whi
chi
swher
eERP sy
stemsof
ferf
lexi
bil
i
tyt
orespondt
othe
changi
ngneedsoft
heent
erpr
ise.Thesesy
stemshav
eanopensy
stem
ar
chi
tect
ure,al
l
owi
ngt
hem t
oat
tachordet
achanymodul
easandwhen
r
equi
red wi
thoutaf
fect
ing t
he ot
hermodul
es.An adv
ant
ageous ERP
sy
stem shoul
dsuppor
tconnect
ivi
tyt
oot
herbusi
nessent
it
ieswi
thi
nthe
or
gani
zat
ion and shoul
dn’
tbe conf
ined wi
thi
nthe boundar
ies ofa
manuf
act
uri
ngf
aci
l
ity
.*Aut
omat
icGener
ati
onofI
nfor
mat
ion-AnERP
sy
stem pr
ovi
desbusi
nessi
ntel
l
igencet
ool
ssuchasexecut
ivei
nfor
mat
ion
sy
stems,deci
sionsuppor
tsy
stems,easywar
ningsy
stems,andmor
e.
Theset
ool
shel
pmanuf
act
uri
ngoper
ati
onst
omakedat
a-baseddeci
sions
t
hatper
tai
ntot
hei
rov
eral
lpr
oduct
ionpr
ocess.Al
lfi
nanci
alandbusi
ness
i
nfor
mat
ionwi
l
lbeaut
omat
ical
l
ygener
atedf
rom t
hedat
athati
sfoundi
n
t
hecent
ral
i
zeddat
abaseoft
heERPsy
stem.

14.
Det
ermi
net
het
angi
bleandi
ntangi
blebenef
it
sofERP.

Thedeci
siont
opur
chasenew ent
erpr
iser
esour
cepl
anni
ngsy
stem (
ERP)once
wasat
oughone.Ont
heonehand,
anewERPsol
uti
onbr
ingsdozensoft
angi
ble
andi
ntangi
blebenef
it
stoanor
gani
zat
ion.Ont
heot
herhand,ERPr
oll
out
sused
t
ocostal
otofmoneyandt
ime—i
twast
hedef
ini
ti
onofabi
gITpr
oject
.Wi
tht
he
adv
entofcl
oud-
basedERP,howev
er,t
hedeci
sionhasgot
tenal
oteasi
er;cl
oud
ERP i
sal
otmor
ecost
-ef
fect
ivet
hanpr
evi
ousERP r
oll
out
sbecauseal
lthe
t
echnol
ogyi
shost
edandmai
ntai
nedbyt
heERPpr
ovi
der
,andt
her
e’sl
essup-
f
rontcost
s.I
tal
sor
equi
resl
esst
imef
ori
mpl
ement
ati
on,becausebusi
nesses
canst
artwi
thbestpr
act
icesandpr
econf
igur
ed,pr
epackagedERPsol
uti
onsf
or
t
hei
rindust
ry.Thi
smakesanew ERPsy
stem asmar
tcompanyi
nit
iat
ive.Her
e
ar
e10oft
hemanyr
easonswhyy
oushoul
dconsi
deranew cl
oud-
basedERP
sy
stem f
ory
ourcompany
.

Tangi
bleBenef
it
s

· CostSav
ings and Gr
eat
erEf
fi
ciency
.Pr
ocess aut
omat
ion wi
thi
nthe
sy
stem r
educest
ime,
eff
ortandr
esour
cesspentondai
l
y,r
epet
it
ivet
asks,
f
reei
ngupempl
oyeest
ofocusonmor
emeani
ngf
ulwor
k.

· Bet
terSuppl
yChai
nManagement
.Cl
oud-
basedERPcangr
eat
lyi
mpr
ovea
suppl
ychai
nbyl
i
nki
ngsuppl
i
ersy
stems,aut
omat
ingkeyf
unct
ions,and
boost
ingr
esponsi
veness.

· I
mpr
oved Dat
a Qual
i
ty and Accessi
bil
i
ty.As a si
ngl
e sour
ce f
oral
l
busi
ness dat
a,of
ten col
l
ect
ed,consol
i
dat
ed,or
gani
zed and anal
yzed
t
hrough aut
omat
ion,cl
oud ERP sy
stems i
mpr
ove dat
a accur
acyand
r
eli
abi
l
ity
.

· I
ncr
easedAut
omat
ion.Busi
nesspr
ocessescanbel
i
nkedandaut
omat
ed
becauseal
ldat
afl
owsi
ntoasi
ngl
esy
stem orr
ecor
d.

· Reduced i
nvent
oryand st
ock obsol
escence.Wi
th compl
ete,r
eal
-t
ime
v
isi
bil
i
tyov
eral
laspect
sofoper
ati
ons,i
ncl
udi
ngt
hosewi
thsuppl
i
ersand
cust
omer
s,i
nvent
oryl
evel
scanber
efi
nedandmanagedwi
thgr
eat
er
pr
eci
si
on.
 I
ntangi
bleBenef
it
s

· Easi
erRepor
ti
ngandPl
anni
ng.

Repor
tscanbegener
atedaut
omat
ical
l
yforanypar
toft
hebusi
ness,
i
ncl
udi
ng f
inanci
al, sal
es, oper
ati
onal
, i
nvent
ory
, pr
ocur
ement
,
admi
nist
rat
iveandel
sewher
e.

· Ent
erpr
ise-
WideI
ntegr
ati
on.

Cl
oudERPsy
stemsi
ntegr
atev
ari
ousf
unct
ionsandbusi
nesspr
ocesses
acr
ossanor
gani
zat
ionandst
oret
hem i
nasi
ngl
edat
abase.

· St
andar
dizedandSi
mpl
i
fiedBusi
nessPr
ocesses.Becausesy
stemsand
dat
a ar
eli
nked bet
ween depar
tment
s,cl
oud ERP sy
stems si
mpl
i
fy
busi
nesspr
ocessesandbr
inggr
eat
ersy
ner
gyacr
ossanor
gani
zat
ion
t
hroughst
andar
dizat
ion.

15.
Art
icul
ateERPconcept

Ent
erpr
ise r
esour
ce pl
anni
ng (
ERP) r
efer
sto a t
ype of sof
twar
e t
hat
or
gani
zat
ionsuset
omanageday
-to-
daybusi
nessact
ivi
ti
essuchasaccount
ing,
pr
ocur
ement
,pr
ojectmanagement
,ri
sk managementand compl
i
ance,and
suppl
y chai
n oper
ati
ons.A compl
ete ERP sui
te al
so i
ncl
udes ent
erpr
ise
per
for
mancemanagement
,sof
twar
ethathel
pspl
an,budget
,pr
edi
ct,andr
epor
t
onanor
gani
zat
ion’
sfi
nanci
alr
esul
ts.ERPsy
stemst
iet
oget
heramul
ti
tudeof
busi
nesspr
ocessesandenabl
ethef
lowofdat
abet
weent
hem.Bycol
l
ect
ingan
or
gani
zat
ion’
sshar
edt
ransact
ionaldat
afr
om mul
ti
plesour
ces,ERP sy
stems
el
i
minat
edat
adupl
i
cat
ionandpr
ovi
dedat
aint
egr
it
ywi
thasi
ngl
esour
ceoft
rut
h.
Today
,ERPsy
stemsar
ecr
it
icalf
ormanagi
ngt
housandsofbusi
nessesofal
l
si
zesandi
nal
lindust
ri
esYoucant
hinkofanent
erpr
iser
esour
cepl
anni
ng
sy
stem ast
hegl
uet
hatbi
ndst
oget
hert
hedi
ff
erentcomput
ersy
stemsf
ora
l
argeor
gani
zat
ion.Wi
thoutanERPappl
i
cat
ion,eachdepar
tmentwoul
dhav
eit
s
sy
stem opt
imi
zedf
ori
tsspeci
fi
ctasks.Wi
thERPsof
twar
e,eachdepar
tmentst
il
l
hasi
tssy
stem,butal
loft
hesy
stemscanbeaccessedt
hroughoneappl
i
cat
ion
 wi
thonei
nter
face.

ERPappl
i
cat
ionsal
soal
l
owt
hedi
ff
erentdepar
tment
stocommuni
cat
eandshar
e
i
nfor
mat
ionmor
eeasi
l
ywi
tht
her
estoft
hecompany
.Itcol
l
ect
sinf
ormat
ion
aboutt
he act
ivi
tyand st
ate ofdi
ff
erentdi
vi
sions,maki
ng t
hisi
nfor
mat
ion
av
ail
abl
etoot
herpar
ts,wher
eitcanbeusedpr
oduct
ivel
y.Tot
hesecompani
es,
ERPi
sasi
ndi
spensabl
east
heel
ect
ri
cit
ythatkeepst
hel
i
ght
son.Busi
nesses
empl
oy ent
erpr
ise r
esour
ce pl
anni
ng (
ERP)f
orv
ari
ous r
easons,such as
expandi
ng busi
ness,r
educi
ng cost
s,and i
mpr
ovi
ng oper
ati
ons.Thebenef
it
s
soughtandr
eal
i
zedbyonecompanymaybedi
ff
erentf
rom anot
her
;howev
er,
t
her
ear
esomewor
thnot
ing.I
ntegr
ati
ngandaut
omat
ingbusi
nesspr
ocesses
el
i
minat
es r
edundanci
es, i
mpr
oves accur
acy
, and i
mpr
oves pr
oduct
ivi
ty.
Depar
tment
s wi
thi
nter
connect
ed pr
ocesses can now sy
nchr
oni
ze wor
kto
achi
evef
ast
erandbet
terout
comes.Somebusi
nessesbenef
itf
rom enhanced
r
epor
ti
ngofr
eal
-t
imedat
afr
om asi
ngl
esour
cesy
stem.Accur
ateandcompl
ete
r
epor
ti
nghel
pcompani
esadequat
elypl
an,budget
,for
ecast
,andcommuni
cat
e
t
hest
ateofoper
ati
onst
otheor
gani
zat
ion and i
nter
est
ed par
ti
es,such as
shar
ehol
der
s.ERPsal
l
ow busi
nessest
oqui
ckl
yaccessneededi
nfor
mat
ionf
or
cl
i
ent
s,v
endor
s,andbusi
nesspar
tner
s,cont
ri
but
ingt
oimpr
ovedcust
omerand
empl
oyeesat
isf
act
ion,qui
ckerr
esponser
ates,andi
ncr
easedaccur
acyr
ates.
Associ
atedcost
sof
tendecr
easeast
hecompanyoper
atesmor
eef
fi
cient
ly.

SECTI
ON–B(
10MARKS)
UNI
T-I
76.Expl
aint
heev
olut
ionofERPi
ndet
ail
wit
hadi
agr
am .
Enter
pr i
seresour
ceplanning(ERP)hasev olv
edasast r
ategi
ctool,anoutcomeofov er
f
ourdecades.Thisisbecauseofcontinuousimpr
ov ement
sdonetothethenavail
abletechni
ques
t
omanagebusi nessmoreeffi
cientl
yandal sowit
hdev el
opmentsandinventi
onsininformati
on
t
echnol
ogyf i
eld.
 
1Pr
eMat
eri
alRequi
rementPl
anni
ng(
MRP)st
age
 
 Priorto1960sbusinessesgener al
lyrel
iedont r
adi
ti
onalwaysofmanagi nginv
entori
estoensur e
smoot hf uncti
oni
ng oft he organi
zations.These t
heor
ies are popul
arl
yknown as  ‘
Classi
cal
InventoryManagementorSci enti
fi
cI nventor
yControlMethods’
.Mostpopul arl
yusedamong
them wer eEconomicOr derQuant i
ty(EOQ);Bil
lofMateri
al(BOM)et c.Howeverthesesy st
ems
hadv eryli
mitedscope.
 
ERPsy st
em hasevol
vedfr
om t
heMateri
alPl
anni
ngSystem of1980’
s.Therear
evari
ousphases
throughwhi chthi
sevol
uti
onpr
ocesshasgonethr
ough.Thev ar
iousphasesofdev
elopmentof
resourceplanni
ngsyst
em i
nrel
ati
ont
otimeandevol
uti
onofconceptofERP.
Fi
gur
e1.
1
 
St
agesofERPEv
olut
ion

 
2.Mat
eri
alRequi
rementPl
anni
ng(
MRP)
 
MRPwast hefundamentalconceptofpr oduct
ionmanagementandcontrolint
hemi d-
1970sand
consi
deredasthefir
ststageinev olut
ionofERP.Assembl yoperat
ionsinvol
vi
ngthousandsof
part
ssuchasautomobi l
emanuf actur
eledt ol
argeinv
entor
ies.Theneedtobri
ngdownt hel
arge
i
nventor
ylevel
sassociat
edwitht heseindustr
iesl
edtotheear l
yMRPsy stemsthatplannedthe
 orderreleases.Suchplannedorderreleasesensur
edpr
opert
imephrasi
ngandaccur
ateplanni
ng
ofthesub- assemblyit
ems, t
aki
ngi ntoaccountcompl
exsub-
assemblyt
oassemblyr
elat
ionshi
ps
characteri
zedbyt heBi
llofMateri
als.
 
Exampl
e:
 
At ypi
calexampleisabi cyclemanuf acture.Tomanuf actur
e100unitsofbicy
cles,oneneeds200
wheels,100f oot-
pedals,andsev eralthousandsofspokes.Onagi v
enday ,aplantmayhav e40
unitsofcompl et
ebi cy
clesinst ock,57uni tsofwheels,43unit
soff oot
-pedalsand879unitsof
spokes.Iftheplantistoassembl e20uni tsofbicycl
esforthenext4daysofpr oducti
on,wheel
s
andspokes- i
sanont ri
vialproblem.Ifthei ndependentdemandoft hesparepartsisalsotobe
takenint
oaccount ,onecanv isuali
zethecompl exi
tyofit
.
 
Atypicalautomobil
eplantwithhundreds,ifnotthousandsofpar t
s,hastofaceprobl
emsthatare
i
nor derofmagni t
udeevenmor edi
ff
icult
.MRPsy stemsaddr essthi
sneed.Usingthepr
ocessing
powerofcomput ers,databasestost orel ead-t
imesandor derquanti
ti
esandal gor
it
hmst o
i
mpl ementBi l
l-
of-
Materi
al(BOM)expl osion,MRPsy stemsbr oughtconsi
derabl
eorderint
ot he
chaoti
cpr ocessofmateri
alplanni
nginadi scretemanuf act
uri
ngoperati
on.
 
Essential
l
yMRPaddr essesasi ngletaskinmanuf actur
ingalone.Mat er
ialrequirementpl
anning
(MRP)sy stem wasadoptedbyf irmsf orcreat
ionandmai ntenanceofmast erdataandbillof
mat er
ialacrossal
lproductsandpar twit
hinanor gani
zation.MRPont heot herhandwasan
outgrowthofbil
lofmateri
al(BOM)pr ocessi
ng,whichispurchaseor dermanagementt hatut
il
izes
partsli
stmanagementandpar tsdevelopment.
 
3Manuf
act
uri
ngResour
cesPl
anni
ngI
I(MRP-I
I)
 
A natur
alevoluti
onf rom thefi
rstgenerat
ionMRP sy stemswast hemanuf acturi
ngpl anni
ng
systemsMRPI Ithataddressedt
heentir
emanuf act
uri
ngf unct
ionandnotjustasingletaskwithin
themanufacturi
ngf unct
ion.MRPIIwentbey ondcomput ati
onsoft hemateri
alsrequirementt o
i
ncludeloadi
ngandschedul i
ng.MRPI Isystemscoul ddet er
minewhetheragi venschedul eof
product
ionwasf easibl
e,notmerel
yfrom mat eri
alavai
labil
it
ybutalsofr
om otherr esourcepoint
ofview.
 
Ty pi
call
y,theresour cesconsi deredf rom MRP I Isyst
emswoul dincludeproduct ionfacili
ti
es,
machi necapaciti
esandpr ecedencesequences.Thei ncr
easedf uncti
onal
it
yenabl edMRP I I
sy st
emspr ovi
dedawayt orunthesy stem i
nal oop.Fir
stitwasusedt ocheckt hef easi
bil
ityofa
product i
onschedulet akingintoaccountt heconst rai
nts;secondt oadjustthel oadingoft he
resources,ifpossible,t omeett hepr oductionschedul es;thi
rdtoplant hemat erialsusingt he
tradit
ionalMRPI Isy stems.Bot hMRPsy stem andMRPI Isyst
emswer efairl
ysuccessf ulin
i
ndust ry.Duetot hepowerofi nfor
mat ionsy stems-databases,al
gorit
hmsandt heirintegrati
on,
organizati
onsdidf indr ealsupportforef f
icientl
ymanagi ngt hemanuf act
uri
ngf unct i
oni nt he
eighti
es.
 
4Ent
erpr
iseResour
cePl
anni
ng(
ERP)
 
Theninet
iessawunprecedent
edgl
obalcompeti
ti
on,cust
omerf
ocusandshor
tenedproductli
fe
cycl
es.Torespondtothesedemandscorpor
ati
onshadt omovetowar
dsagi
le(qui
ckmov ing)
 manufactur
ing ofpr oducts,conti
nuous improvements ofpr ocess and business pr
ocess
reengi
neeri
ng.Thiscall
edforintegr
ati
onofmanuf actur
ingwithotherfunct
ionalareasi
ncludi
ng
accounti
ng,marketi
ng,fi
nanceandhumanr esourcedevelopment
.
 
Activi
ty-
based costing would notbepossibl
ewi t
houtt heintegr ati
on ofmanuf act
uring and
accounting.Mass cust omizat
ion ofmanufactur
ing needed i ntegrati
on ofmar keti
ng and
manuf actur
ing.Flexiblemanufactur
ingwit
hpeopleempower mentnecessi tatedint
egrati
onof
manuf actur
ingwi t
ht heHRD functi
on.I
nasenset he1990st rul ycal l
edintegr
ati
onofal lthe
functi
onsofmanagement .ERPsy st
emsaresuchint egr
atedinfor mationsystemsbuil
dt omeet
4
theinformationanddeci si
onneedsofanenter
pri
sespanni ngall
t hef uncti
onsofmanagement .
 
5Ext
endedERP(
E-ERP)
 
Furt
herdevel
opmentsintheenterpri
seresourceplanningsyst em concepthavel
edtoevol
uti
on
ofextendedERP(E-ERP)orweb-enabl edERP.Wi thglobalizat
ionononehandandmassi v
e
devel
opmentintheint
ernettechnologyont heother,needf orwebbasedI Tsol
uti
onwasf el
t.
ThusE-ERPi sdevel
opmenti nthef i
eldofERPwhi chinvolvesthet echnol
ogyofI
nter
netand
WorldWideWeb(WWW)t ofaci
li
tatethefuncti
onsofanor ganizati
onaroundtheweb.
 
6Ent
erpr
iseResour
cePl
anni
ngI
I(ERP-I
I)
 
ERPI IistheadvancedstepofE-ERP.Itist
hesof t
war epackagewhi chhasstr
engthenedthe
ori
ginalERPpackagebyincl
udedcapabi
li
ti
esl
ikecustomerr el
ati
onshi
pmanagement,knowledge
management ,workf
low managementandhumanr esourcemanagement .Iti
sawebf ri
endl
y
appl
icati
onandthusaddressest
heissueofmult
ipl
eof f
icelocat
ions.
 
 
7ERP–AManuf
act
uri
ngPer
spect
ive
 
ERPsy stemsev olv
edoutofMRPandMRPI Isystems.MRPsy stemsaddressedt hesingletask
ofmat erial
sr equirement spl anning.MRP I Iext endedt hescopet ot heentiremanuf actur
ing
functi
on.Themanuf acturingindust rytradi
tionallyhadabet tercl
imatetousecomput ers.Fi
rstof
allthemanuf acturi
ngcommuni tybeingdomi natedbyengi neer shadnocomput erphobia.Second
the extensi ve use ofComput erAi ded Dr afti
ng ( CAD),Comput erAided Desi gn (CAD)and
Comput erAi ded Manuf acturing ( CAM)had pr epared the manuf actur
ing function t o use
comput ers wel l
,inf actexcept ionall
y wel l
.I nf actmanuf acturi
ng engineer s contri
buted
signif
icant l
ytot hetheor eticalcomput ersciencebywayofcont r
ibuti
onsinthear easofgr aphics,
comput ati
onal geomet r
y ,signifi
cantv isual
ization,featurerecogniti
onetc.
 
Largecor por
ationslikeGener alMotors( GM)
,For d,Hewlet
tPackard( HP)
,andDi gi
talprimaril
y
vi
ewed t hemsel ves as manuf actur
ing companies unt
ilthe 1980s.Nat ur
all
y complex MRP
systemswer econsi deredtheul t
imateinenterpri
seinformati
onsy st
ems.Thei nvestment sin
hardwareandsof twaret omanagesuchcompl exmanuf actur
ingsoluti
onsgavethesesy stemsa
vi
sibil
i
tyunparal l
eledint heindust
ry.Comparedt othesesystemsaccountingsystems,financi
al
systemsorper sonnel infor
mationsystemswerer el
ati
vel
yinconsequenti
alt
otheorganization.
 
Wit
ht hegl
obal
izati
onofoper
ati
onsandtheprol
i
ferati
onofcomputernet
works,i
twasimport
ant
t
hatthemanufactur
ingor
gani
zati
onsext
endthei
rinfor
mati
onsyst
em acrossthesuppl
ychai
n.
 
Thesupplier
’sinformationsystem spread acrosscontinent
swi thcomplexcombi nati
onsof
hardwareandsoftwareneedt obeintegrated.Simil
arl
ythedealer-
dist
ri
but
ornetworkhadt obe
i
ntegrat
ed wit
ht hemanuf act
uri
ng i
nformat i
onsy st
ems.Ther educt
ioninproductl i
fecycl
e
necessi
tat
edaqui ckresponsemanufacturi
ngsy st
em thathadit
searstunedtot
hemar ket
.
 
Thisf or cedmanuf actur i
ngi nformationsystemst ohav eat i
ghterintegr
ati
onwi thmarket i
ng
i
nf ormat i
on systems.The manuf actur
ing fl
exibil
i
tyhad t ranslat
ed into mass cust
omizat i
on
calli
ngf orfurt
herint egr ati
onofi nfor
mat i
onsy stems.Theopeni ngupofsev eralworl
deconomi es
i
ncl udingt hatoft heAsi angi antslikeChinaandI ndia,theemer genceoft radebl
ocksand
consol idatedmar ket ssuchasEur opeanUni onpav ed theneed f oraccountingandf inance
functionst obet ight l
yi ntegratedwi t
hmanuf acturi
ngfunctions.Itwasnotsuf f
ici
entanymorejust
tomanuf actureandsel lbutor ganizati
onshadt oarr
angef orfi
nance, complywithcomplextrade
restri
ctions, barr
iers, andquot as.
 
Thebalancesheet
sneededt oaccountformulti
plecurrenci
es,mul
tipl
eexportimportr
ulesand
regul
ati
ons,mul
ti
pleaccount
ingcodes,
pract
ices,accounti
ngperi
ods.Thisnecessi
tat
edfurt
her
 
i
ntegr
ati
onofaccounti
ngandf i
nanci
ali
nfor
mat i
onsystemswit
hmanuf act
uringsystems.Infactwith
l
argecapacit
iesbuil
taround theworl
d part
icul
arl
yinAsiancountri
es,out sour
cing and cont
ract
manufact
uri
ng became viabl
e al
ter
nat
ive even i
nt he hi
gh-
tech i
ndust
ries li
ke semiconduct or
manufact
uri
ng.
 
Suddenlyt heneedwasf oranEnt erpr
iseInfor
mationSy stem thatlooksbeyondt hemanufact
uri
ng
functiontoaddressi nboundl ogi
sti
cs,outboundlogisti
cs,manuf actur
ing,mater
ialsmanagements,
projectmanagement ,quali
tymanagement ,accounti
ng,finance,salesandpersonnelmanagement.It
wasnear l
yimpossibl
et ointegrat
eindivi
dualmodulesofi nformati
onsy stems.Whatwasnecessary
wasasy st
em thataddressedt heenterpri
seneedsf rom thedesi gnstage.ERPsy st
emswer ethe
naturalchoicei
nthischangedscenar i
o.

77.I
ll
ust
rat
etheERPdr
iver
sandi
tskeychar
act
eri
sti
cs.

78.Di
scusst
hescenar
ioandj
ust
if
icat
ionofERPi
nIndi
a
Hav
ing 
ERP 
i
nIndi
aisl
i
keani
nvest
mentt
hatmostbusi
nesshousesl
ookupt
o.ERPorent
erpr
ise
r
esour
cepl
anni
ngcanbedef
inedasani
ntegr
ated,
mul
ti
-modul
esy
stem t
hatassi
mil
atesal
lthe
dat
aandpr
ocessesofanor
gani
zat
ioni
ntoauni
fi
edsy
stem.Toat
tai
nthi
sgoal
,i
tisessent
ial
to
st
ri
keasuccessf
ulcombi
nat
ionofbot
hhar
dwar
eandsof
twar
e.Thewhol
econceptofent
erpr
ise
r
esour
cepl
anni
ngor
igi
nat
edi
nthel
argei
ndust
ri
alt
ypesofcompani
eswher
ethesy
stem was
usedt
osi
mpl
i
fyt
hei
rpr
ocessesandwor
kfl
ow.Howev
er,
wit
hthepassageoft
ime,
ERPhas
ev
olv
edasamor
ecompr
ehensi
vesy
stem andnowi
tisl
argel
yav
ail
abl
etocompani
esofal
lty
pes
andsi
zes.I
tser
vesandsuppor
tsawi
der
angeofbusi
nessf
unct
ionsl
i
kemanuf
act
uri
ng,
order
ent
ry,
account
srecei
vabl
eandpay
abl
e,gener
all
edger
,pur
chasi
ng,
war
ehousi
ng,
transpor
tat
ion
andhumanr
esour
ces.
TheERPScenar
ioi
nIndi
a
Ther
ear
esev
eral
posi
ti
veandnegat
ivef
act
orsasf
arast
heERPscenar
ioi
nIndi
aisconcer
ned.
Thoughhav
ing 
ERPi
ncompani
esofI
ndi
amost
lypr
ovi
desapr
ofi
tabl
esour
ceofi
ncomeand
qual
i
tycust
omerser
vice,
ther
ear
esev
eral
chal
l
engest
othei
ntr
oduct
ionofERPi
nIndi
a.Thi
s
i
ncl
udeschangemanagement
,or
gani
zat
ional
int
erv
ent
ion,
repl
aci
ngout
dat
edsof
twar
e,shi
ft
ing
f
rom f
unct
ionv
iewt
opr
ocessv
iew,
hir
ingERP-
li
ter
atest
affandf
ait
hinpackagesof
twar
eint
he
pl
aceofcust
om-
bui
l
tsof
twar
e.
Cer
tai
nconcer
nst
hathav
enev
erusedERPsof
twar
ear
eint
imi
dat
edwher
eassomev
iewERPasa
t
akeov
ert
other
eISpr
ofessi
onal
s.Mostoft
heI
ndi
ancor
por
ati
onshav
elar
gei
n-houseI
Sshops
andt
heyconsi
derERPasat
hreatt
othei
rver
yexi
stence.Mor
eov
er,
ERPpl
acesmor
eval
ueont
he
domai
nknowl
edgeoff
unct
ionsr
athert
hanI
Tski
l
ls.Thecommuni
cat
ioni
nfr
ast
ruct
ureneededt
o
i
mpl
ementERPar
elacki
ngi
nsomeoft
hei
ndi
genouscompani
es.
I
nspi
teofal
lthese,
thegr
owt
hof
 ERP 
i
nIndi
aisqui
tepr
omi
sing.Sev
eral
wel
l
-knownbusi
ness
housesi
nIndi
ali
keCadbur
yIndi
a,Mer
cedesBenzI
ndi
a,Si
emens,
Hal
diaPet
rochemi
cal
s,L&T,
TI
SCO,
andUTIuseSAPwhi
l
eKel
l
ogg’
sIndi
aLt
d.,
Mar
uti
Udy
ogLt
d.,
SonyI
ndi
aPv
tLt
d.andCESC
ar
eOr
acl
euser
s.I
ndi
a’
smostv
aluabl
econt
ri
but
iont
oERPcamei
n1980swhent
hecount
ry
l
aunchedt
hewor
ldcl
assERPpr
oductMar
shal
lfr
om RamcoSy
stems,
byusi
ngt
het
echnol
ogyof
t
he80’
s.Mar
shal
li
sthef
ir
stsuccessf
ull
argescal
esof
twar
efr
om I
ndi
aandsev
eral
compani
es
l
i
keHDFCBank,
Hyundai
,Nest
leLi
mit
edandSt
andar
dChar
ter
edBankuset
hisERPpackage.
Act
ual
l
y,t
hispr
oducti
saf
ormat
iveERPcal
l
edv
irt
ual
spl
at.Av
irt
ual
spl
atenabl
esmer
gingof
account
ingandmanuf
act
uri
ngpr
act
icesi
naneasy
-to-
use,
impl
ement
edpackageandi
susedby
smal
lst
art
-upcompani
es.
Thebenef
it
sofERPi
nIndi
a
ERP 
wil
lpr
ovi
det
hecompani
esi
nIndi
athef
aci
l
ityt
ohav
einf
ormat
ionav
ail
abl
efr
eel
y,t
hus
maki
ngt
hegener
ati
onofenqui
ryorr
epor
teasi
er.Thesesy
stemsaut
omat
ical
l
yadher
etomostof
t
hest
andar
dcompanyr
ulesandcompl
i
ances,
maki
ngi
teasi
erf
ort
heor
gani
zat
iont
ofol
l
ow.The
dev
elopedper
for
mancemodul
eshel
pthebusi
nessest
odev
elopr
efi
nedanal
ysi
s,i
nsi
ght
s,and
i
nnov
ati
veschemesf
ori
mpr
ovement
.ERPsy
stemsi
nIndi
awi
l
lal
sopr
oducemor
edy
nami
cjobs
andi
mpr
ovedcust
omercar
eser
viceandi
twi
l
lal
soenhancepr
oductv
alues.Asmor
eandmor
e
I
ndi
ancompani
esbecomeaccust
omedt
oERP,
theycandev
elopasuccessf
ulbr
oaderscal
eof
pr
oduct
sforconsumer
s.Lastbutnott
hel
east
,hav
ingERPi
nIndi
aimpl
i
esnothav
ingt
ogoand
dev
elopsof
twar
epr
oduct
sinf
orei
gncount
ri
esanddi
str
ibut
ingt
hem backt
oIndi
a.
Just
if
icat
ionofERP
Theexpect
edr
etur
noni
nvest
mentpr
ovi
dest
hecostj
ust
if
icat
ionandmot
ivat
ionf
ori
nvest
ingi
n
ERP.Ther
ear
equant
if
iabl
ebenef
it
saswel
lasi
ntangi
blebenef
it
sint
heERPi
nvest
mentdeci
sion.
Thequant
if
iabl
ebenef
it
shav
eabot
tom-
li
nei
mpactonpr
ofi
tabi
l
ity
,assett
urnov
er,
andapot
ent
ial
ef
fectonst
ockv
alue.Thi
ssect
iondi
scussest
hequant
if
iabl
eandt
hei
ntangi
blebenef
it
sofan
 ERPsy
stem,
whi
chcompar
esf
ir
m per
for
mancebef
oreandaf
teri
mpl
ement
ingERP.Ot
her
scenar
iosar
eencount
eredi
njust
if
yingERPi
nvest
ment
s.Forexampl
e,af
ir
m maybeconsi
der
ing
r
epl
acementv
ersusupgr
adeorr
e-i
mpl
ement
ati
onofanERPsof
twar
epackage.Ther
ear
e
si
gni
fi
cantcost
sfornotsuccessf
ull
yimpl
ement
ingan 
ERP 
syst
em.Manuf
act
urer
sof
tenpay
mor
efort
hel
ackofsy
stemst
hant
heywoul
dhav
epai
dfori
mpr
ovedsy
stems.Theycar
ryexcess
i
nvent
oryorpr
ovi
depoorcust
omerser
vice,
fori
nst
ance.Andmanuf
act
urer
smayi
nvesti
nERP
wi
thoutgai
ningt
hebenef
it
sbecauset
hesy
stemsar
epar
ti
all
yimpl
ement
ed,
unsuccessf
ull
y
i
mpl
ement
ed,
orusagedet
eri
orat
esov
ert
ime.Thi
sisPar
tOneofaf
our
-par
tar
ti
cler
epr
int
edf
rom
Max
imi
zi
ngYourERPSy
stem byDr
.Scot
tHami
l
ton.Br
idgi
ngt
het
heor
yandr
eal
i
tiesofcur
rent
ERPsy
stems,
Maxi
mizi
ngYourERPSy
stem pr
ovi
despr
act
ical
gui
dancef
ormanagi
ng
manuf
act
uri
ngi
nvar
iousenv
ironment
s.Dr
awi
ngoncasest
udi
esf
rom Dr
.Hami
l
ton’
sfi
rst
-hand
exper
iencei
nconsul
ti
ngwi
thmor
ethanat
housandf
ir
ms,
itcov
erscommonpr
obl
emsand
wor
kingsol
uti
onsf
orhowt
oef
fect
ivel
yimpl
ementanduseERPsy
stems.Thebookcanbe
or
der
edonamazon.
com.
 Thi
sexcer
pton“
Just
if
icat
ionofERPI
nvest
ment
s”i
spr
esent
edi
nfour
par
ts:
 Quant
if
iabl
ebenef
it
sfr
om anERPsy
stem
 Thei
ntangi
bleef
fect
sofERP
 Cost
sofi
mpl
ement
inganERPsy
stem
 Repl
aci
ngorr
e-i
mpl
ement
inganERPsy
stem

(
htt
ps:
//er
pgui
de.
blogspot
.com/
2018/
08/
scenar
io-
and-
just
if
icat
ion-
of-
erp-
in.
html
)

79.Def
endt
hedi
ff
erencesbet
weenMRP,
MRPI
IandERP.

80.Or
gani
zet
hecommonERPmy
ths.

Enterpr
iser esourceplanni
ng (
ERP)isabusi nessmanagementmet hodologyand enterprise
software plat
formr el
atedtothereal-
ti
mecol lecti
on,storageandinterpr
etationofdataf or
corebusi nessprocesses.ERPintegratesvari
ousor ganizati
onalsyst
emsandf aci
li
tates
i
nformat ionflowamongal lbusinessfuncti
ons, wit
htheai m oferr
or-
freetransact
ionsi n
production.

ERPsoftwareisamulti
bill
iondoll
arindust
ry,wi
thERPsystemsbecomingmor ecommon
i
nsmallandl ar
geenter
pr i
ses.Despit
eitspopul
ari
ty,
misconcept
ionsremainabout
ent
erpr
iseresourcepl
anningandi t
simplementati
onint
oday’smarket
place.Let
’st
akea
l
ookatsomeoft hemyths.

My
th#1:
ERPi
stooexpensi
ve

Whilehigh-
end,
innovat
iveERPsolut
ionscanst
il
lcar
ryaheftypri
cetag,t
echni
cal
advancementssuchasmobileandcloudcomputi
ngareexpect
edt omakeERPsoftwar
e
 moreaffor
dabl
e.Al
so,someERPsof
twar
ecompani
esmayof
fervar
iabl
epr
ici
ngpackages
dependi
ngonusage.

My
th#2:
ERPi
sonl
yforBi
gBusi
ness

AlthoughERPsyst emswer etypi

callyusedbyl argerfir
msi nthepast,small
erbusinesses
i
ncr easinglyareablet oexploreenterpri
ser esourceplanni
ngduet othegrowingoptions
forcust omizati
ont hroughtechnologicalinnovati
on.ERPsol uti
onscomei nvari
ousshapes
andsi zes.Choosingt herightERPsol uti
on, whetherthebusinessisbigorsmall,
isvitalf
or
effectiveimplement ati
onandl ongevity.

My
th#3:
ERPonl
ybenef
it
sexecut
ivesandmanagement

Yes,ERPcanpr ovi
deuppermanagementwi thimportantinformationfordecisi
on-making
purposes.Butthebenefitscanspreadt otheent i
rebusiness, improvi
ngoper at
ional
proceduresandboost i
ngempl oyeeper for
manceacr ossal llevel
s.Enterpri
seresource
planni
ngenabl esthewidespreadshar i
ngofi nformat
ion, whichmayi ncrease
communi cati
on, i
mprovepr oj
ectplanning,cutdupli
cationoft asksandlowerpur chasi
ng
costs,amongot heradvantages.I
not herwor ds,ERPsol uti
onscanbenef i
tthewhole
company.

My
th#4:
ERPsol
uti
onsar
eonl
yusedt
oimpr
esscust
omer
s

Ifi
mplement edcor r
ect lyandut i
li
zedeffect
ively,ERPsol ut
ionscer t
ainl
yhavethepot ent
ial
toimpresscustomer s.However ,thati
sneitherthei rsolenort hei
rprimarypur
pose.
Provi
dingsuper i
orresul tsthroughenhancedoper ationalperformanceandi mproved
quali
tyofproductsandser vicescanhel pcompani estoboostcust omergoodwi lland
str
engthenclientrelationships.

My
th#5:
OneERPsol
uti
onf
it
sal
l

It’
simpor t
anttocompar eERPsol utionsandsel ectthebestf i
tdependingont hebusiness
requirements,tr
ends,functi
onali
ti
esandf eatur
es.Forexampl e,
acompanyt hatproduces
onepr oductli
kelydif
fersinit
senterpr i
seresourcepl anningneedsfrom amanuf acturi
ng
unitthatmakesavar ietyofproducts.Additi
onally,amanuf acturi
ngunitthatproduces
met algoodswi l
lhavediff
erentprocessest hanachemi calpl
ant.Thespecificatt
ribut
es
andcapabi l
iti
essoughtf r
om anERPsyst em shouldchangedependi ngont hepar t
icul
ar
businessneeds.

My
th#6:
ERP,
SCM,
CRM andMRPar
eal
lthesame

Enterpri
ser esourceplanning(ERP) ,
supplychainmanagement( SCM) ,cust
omer
rel
ationshipmanagement( CRM)andmanuf acturi
ngresourceplanning(MRP)ar edif
fer
ent
systemst argeti
ngdifferentbusinessprocesses.Thesesystemscanbei mplementedand
int
egr at
edsepar atel
yori ncombi nati
ondependi
ngoncompanyr equi
rements.

My
th#7:
ERPt
akest
ool
ongt
oimpl
ement

Thet i
mer equir
edf oranERPi mplement at
iongeneral
lywi
llbedict
atedbyar angeof
factor
s,suchast hesi zeofthebusiness,t
heexpectati
onsofcompanyl eadershi
p,the
numberofuser s,thedegr eeofcustomizati
on,thescopeandtechnicalcompl exi
tyofthe
change,andt heavailabil
it
yofresources.Successf
ulimpl
ement at
ion,therefore,
could
requir
eacommi tmentr angingf
rom severalmonthstoacoupleofyear s.

My
th#8:
ERPi
sanI
Tsy
stem andbel
ongsi
ntheI
Tdepar
tment
 Enterpri
seresourceplanni
ngi sabusi nessassetthatr
equiresowner shi
pandi nput
acrossdepartment sandupanddownt hecorporatehi
erar
chy, f
rom hands-onwor kersto
C-suit
eexecutives.So,whil
einformat i
ontechnology(I
T)isani ntegr
alpartofERP
i
mpl ementati
onandmai nt
enance, eachandever ybusi
nessf uncti
onhasar oletopl ayi
n
thesuccessofent erpr
iseresourceplanning.

My
th#9:
AnERPsy
stem enabl
esEnt
erpr
iseResour
cePl
anni
ng

AnERPsyst em f
acil
it
atesent erpr
iseresourcepl
anning.However,quali
fiedprofessi
onal
s
arerequir
edtoconfi
guret hesystem t
oacani mproveeffi
ciencyandproductivi
tyonmany
di
mensi ons,t
herear
est i
llbusinessactivi
ti
esthatrequi
remanuali nt
erventi
onand
guidance.

81.
Il
lust
rat
ethehi
stor
yofERP.
machi
ner
y,wor
kedwi
thI
BM t
odev
elopwhati
sbel
i
evedt
obet
hef
ir
stMRPsy
stem.
Ther
eaf
ter
,lar
gemanuf
act
urer
sbui
l
ttheseMRPsol
uti
onst
hemsel
ves.

Whi
l
etheywer
eexpensi
vet
ocr
eat
e,r
equi
redat
eam ofexper
tst
omai
ntai
nandt
ookupal
otof
space,
ear
lyMRPsy
stemsenabl
edbusi
nessest
otr
acki
nvent
oryandpr
oduct
ion.Thathel
ped
manuf
act
urer
smanager
awmat
eri
alspr
ocur
ementanddel
i
ver
yofpr
oductt
othef
act
orysot
hey
coul
dbet
terpl
anpr
oduct
ionr
uns.

Al
thoughadopt
ionofMRPsy
stemsgai
nedt
ract
ioni
nthe1970s,
thet
echnol
ogyr
emai
nedl
i
mit
ed
t
olar
gecompani
est
hathadt
hebudget
sandr
esour
cesf
orbusi
nesses.

Hi
stor
yofERPi
nmanuf
act
uri
ng:
 
The‘
80smar
kedami
l
est
onei
nthehi
stor
yof
 ERP
sy
stems 
whent
hef
ir
stmanuf
act
uri
ngr
esour
cepl
anni
ng(
MRPI
I)sy
stemsappear
ed.Thesemor
e
sophi
sti
cat
edsol
uti
onssuppor
tedmanuf
act
uri
ngpr
ocessesbey
ondi
nvent
oryandr
awmat
eri
als
pr
ocur
ement
.MRPI
Isy
stemsal
l
owedt
hev
ari
ousdepar
tment
sinv
olv
edi
nmanuf
act
uri
ngt
o
coor
dinat
e,andt
heyhadmor
eadv
ancedpr
oduct
ionschedul
i
ngcapabi
l
iti
es.

Ev
olut
ionofERPSy
stems
By1990,
resear
chf
ir
m Gar
tnercoi
nedt
het
erm“
ent
erpr
iser
esour
cepl
anni
ng.
”Thenewname
r
ecogni
zedt
hatmanybusi
nesses—notj
ustmanuf
act
uri
ng—wer
enowusi
ngt
hist
echnol
ogyt
o
i
ncr
easet
heef
fi
ciencyoft
hei
rent
ir
eoper
ati
ons.

Thi
siswhen 
ERPsy
stems 
tookont
hei
rcur
renti
dent
it
y:auni
fi
eddat
abasef
ori
nfor
mat
ionf
rom
acr
osst
hecompany
.ERPsy
stemsbr
oughti
not
herbusi
nessf
unct
ions,
li
keaccount
ing,
sal
es,
engi
neer
ingandhumanr
esour
ces(
HR)
,toser
veasasi
ngl
esour
ceofaccur
atedat
aforal
l
empl
oyees.
 ERPsy
stemscont
inuedt
oev
olv
ethr
oughoutt
he’
90s.Onemaj
orbr
eakt
hroughwast
headv
ent
of
 cl
oudERP,
fir
stof
fer
edbyNet
Sui
tei
n1998.Wi
thcl
oudERP,
widel
yseenasani
mpr
ovement
ov
eron-
premi
sessy
stems,
busi
nessescoul
daccesscr
it
ical
busi
nessdat
athr
ought
hewebf
rom
anydev
icewi
thani
nter
netconnect
ion.Cl
oudsol
uti
onsmeantcompani
esnol
ongerneededt
o
pur
chaseandmai
ntai
nhar
dwar
e,r
educi
ngt
heneedf
orI
Tst
aff
ersandl
eadi
ngt
o
easi
er 
i
mpl
ement
ati
ons.

Thi
scl
oudmodel
madeERPsy
stems,
oncel
i
mit
edt
oent
erpr
ises,
accessi
blet
osmal
l
er
compani
est
hatl
ackedt
hecapi
tal
tol
aunchandsuppor
tar
esour
ce-
int
ensi
veon-
premi
ses
sol
uti
on.Smal
landmi
dsi
zebusi
nessesacr
ossi
ndust
ri
escoul
denj
oyt
hesamebenef
it
sast
hei
r
l
argercount
erpar
ts,
incl
udi
ngaut
omat
edpr
ocesses,
impr
oveddat
aaccur
acyandgr
eat
er
ef
fi
ciency
.

I
n2000,
Gar
tneri
ntr
oducedt
hei
deaofERPI
Itor
efert
oint
ernet
-enabl
edsy
stemst
hatcoul
dpul
l
dat
afr
om ot
hersour
ces,
incl
udi
ngf
ront
-of
fi
ceappl
i
cat
ions,
li
ke 
cust
omerr
elat
ionshi
p
management(
CRM)
,ecommer
ceandmar
ket
ingaut
omat
ion,
andback-
endappl
i
cat
ionsl
i
ke
suppl
ychai
nmanagement(
SCM)and 
humancapi
tal
management(
HCM)
.

Thi
swasasi
gni
fi
cantadv
ancebecauset
hemor
einf
ormat
iont
hatf
eedsi
ntot
heERPsy
stem,
the
easi
eri
tist
oident
if
yandr
esol
vei
ssuesandcapi
tal
i
zeonoppor
tuni
ti
esf
ori
mpr
ovement
.

Today
,leadi
ngERPsy
stemsar
evastr
eposi
tor
iesofi
nfor
mat
ionabl
etogener
ater
epor
tst
hatcan
spot
li
ghtt
heper
for
manceofev
eryaspectoft
hebusi
ness,
from sal
esandmar
ket
ingt
opr
oduct
dev
elopmentt
oHRandoper
ati
ons.Ther
ear
ecount
lessappl
i
cat
ionsav
ail
abl
e,desi
gnedf
or
di
ff
erenti
ndust
ri
es,
busi
nessmodel
sandchal
l
enges,
andERPact
sascommandcent
ral
forwhat
canbeav
astnet
wor
kofsof
twar
e.

Hi
stor
yofERP

2010s

ERPprocessesdat
ainreal
-t
ime,
star
tst
o
l
ever
agemachi nel
ear
ning,
IoT

2000s

ERPI
I(i
nter
net
-enabl
ed)sy
stemsdev
eloped,
2000s

cl
oudERPgai
nst
ract
ion

1990s

Enter
pri
seResourcePl
anning(
ERP)sy st
ems
debut,i
ntegr
ati
ngal
lbusi
nessfunct
ions

1980s

Manufact
uri
ngr
esour
cepl
anning(MRPI
I)
sy
stemsdebutwit
hmorecapabi
li
ti
es

1970s

Moremanufact
urersuseMRPsy
stems,
fir
st
sy
stem pr
ovi
dersfounded

1960s

Manufact
urer
sdev elopbasi
cmater
ial
r
equi
rementsplanning(MRP)sy
stems

82.Appr
aisewhyi
sERPi
mpor
tantt
oacompany
?

1.Opt
imi
zi
ngEf
fi
ciency
Enterpr
iseResourcePlanning 
syst
emsserveto 
simpli
fyav ar
ietyofbusinessprocesses 
thatt
ake
alotoftimeandef for
twhendonemanual l
y.Repeti
ti
vetaskssuchast rackingi
nventory,
assigni
ngt askstoemployees,monit
ori
ngworki
nghours,dist
ributi
ngsalari
es,generat
ing
fi
nancialreport
s,al
lcanbedoneaut omati
cal
l
y.

Byaut omati
ngcomplexpr ocesses,youremployeescanfocusmor eonthei
rcor
edeliv
erables
withoutbuggi
ngeachot her.Forexample,themarketi
ngteam cangenerat
edail
ywebt r
affi
cdata
withouthavi
ngtorequestitfrom t
heI Tteam,ortheaccounti
ngteam cangener
atesal
es-r
elated
report
swi t
houthavi
ngtor elyonsalesmanagers.
 ERPsy st
emsalsoprov i
def
astdat
aaccessformanagersandstakehol
der
sinthecompany.
Decisi
on-makerscanmonit
orkeyper
for
manceindicator
sthr
oughoutthecompanythr
oughthe
dashboard.Al
lrequi
reddat
acanbegenerat
edinreal-
ti
me.

2.I
ncr
easi
ngTeam Col
l
abor
ati
on
Cross-departmentalcol
l
aborati
onisacrucial
andoftennecessarypar
tofabusiness.AnERP
system breaksdownbar ri
ersbetweendepart
mentsina canextendexist
ingint
er-
team
coll
aborationacrossmulti
pleoff
icesi
ndiff
erentl
ocati
onsovertheint
ernet.

3.Reduci
ngOper
ati
ngCost
s
ERPsystemsalsohelpcompaniessaveonoper
ati
onalcosts.Si
ncemostoperat
ionalacti
vi
ti
es
ar
eautomat ed,
vari
ousint
err
uptions,
del
ays,
andbreakdownslaborbecauseERPsoluti
onstake
overavari
etyofday-
to-
daytasks.

4.I
mpr
ovi
ngDat
aSecur
it
y
ERPsol uti
onshavef ir
ewall
sandrestr
icti
oncontr
olstopreventdatabreaches.Thesy st
em keeps
allt
hedat aconcentrateononepointsotheaccesspointscaneasil
ymoni tor
.Admi nsthatare
responsibleformanagingcompanydat acanprovi
del i
mit
edaccessr i
ghtstoempl oyees.For
example, HRmanager scanhidesomei mport
antdat aonl
yforthemselvesandst akehol
ders
whilegrantingemployeespermi
ssiontov i
ewthei
rfinanci
aldata.

Adminscanalsoquicklydeacti
vat
et heaccessoflai
d-of
femployeesandgrantaccesstothenew
ones.ERPsolut
ionsalsoshowuseract i
viti
es,
sotheadmi nscaneasi
lyi
denti
fyunauthori
zed
acti
onsorsuspi
ciousactivi
typatt
ernsinthesyst
em.

5.Maki
ngReal
i
sti
c,Accur
ateFor
ecast
s
Oneoft hemostcr ucialthi
ngsforbusinessadvancementist heabi
li
tytomakeaccurate
forecasts.Stakeholdersrel
yonr eport
stomakef orecaststhatwil
lul
timat
elyaf
fectthedeci
sions
theymake.Ther efore,i
tisver
yimpor t
antforbusinessestogetreal
-t
ime,complet
e,and
consistentreports.ERPcanf aci
lit
ateallt
hat.

ERPr epor
tingtool
susesophi
sti
catedfi
l
ter
sandanalyt
icst
hatcanf il
terinconsist
enci
esint
he
data.Thesy st
em al
soensur
esthatthedat
aobtai
nedisgeneratedinreal-t
ime.Accurat
e
businessreport
swill
hel
pstakehol
dersmakethebestdeci
sionsfortheirbusiness.

UNI
T2PART2

1.
Expl
aint
heEI
Sindet
ail
.
Techopedi
aExpl
ainsExecut
iveI
nfor
mat
ionSy
stem (
EIS)
Ear
lyexecutiv
ei nf
ormationsyst
emswer edevelopedascomput er
-basedprogr
amson
mainfr
amecomput erstoprov
ideacompany ’sdescri
pti
on,sal
esperformanceand/
or
marketresearchdataforseni
orexecut
ives.Howev er
,seni
orexecuti
veswerenotal
l
computerl
i
ter
ateorconfi
dent.Mor
eov er
,EI
Sdatawasonl
ysuppor
ti
ngexecut
ive-
lev
el
deci
si
onsbutnotnecessar
il
ysupport
ingtheent
ir
ecompanyorent
erpr
ise.

CurrentEI
Sdataisav ail
abl
ecompany -orenterpr
ise-
wide,f
acili
tatedbypersonal
comput er
sandwor kstati
onsonlocalareanetworks(LANs).Empl oyeescanaccess
companydat atohelpdecisi
on-
maki ngintheiri
ndivi
dualworkplaces,depar
tments,
di
visions,
etc.
.Thi
sal lowsemployeestoprovideperti
nenti
nformat i
onandi deasbot
h
abov eandbel
owt heircompanylevel.

Thetypi
cal
EIShasfourcomponent
s:har
dwar
e,sof
twar
e,useri
nter
faceand
tel
ecommunicat
ion.

2.
Inv
est
igat
ethev
ari
ousERPMar
ketTI
ERS?
Int hisandot herfor ums, manypeopl euse
abbrev i
at i
ons, acrony msandal l
mannerofshor t
handi n
ordertogetasmuchi nformat ionacr ossi nasl it
tl
et imeas
i
spossi ble.Onet hingt hatt heydoi stotalkabout' tiers' of
ERPsy stems, and95%oft hetimet hatwor kswel l.The
problemsst artwhenwegeti ntogr ayar easbecausemany
mar ketingpeopl eseeadv antagei nt al
king-upt heir
systemsandt hatr esultsinev erythingfrom Ti er2sy stems
beingsol dasTi er1, t
hrought osy stemst hatarenotERP
atallbei ngsol dundert hatl abel.Thi smi ghtnotseem
i
mpor t
antbut ,whensy stemsar eov ersold,somebody
usuallysuf fersandt hatsomebodyi susual lythecust omer .
Thisblogat tempt st ocl ari
fymat t
er sbuthast ostartof fby
sayi
ngthatt
her
eisnouniver
sall
yaccepteddef
ini
ti
onof
whatTier
s1,2,
and3actuall
yare;nori
ndeedwhatcri
ter
ia
shoul
dbeusedwhencategori
zi
ngt hem.
Dif
fer
entcompani
esusedi
ff
erentcr
it
eriawhenrev
iewi
ng
ERPsystems;
themostcommonofwhi chare:
 Suppl
iersi
ze
 Syst
em cost
 Typi
calcust
omersi
ze
 Numberofuser
ssuppor
ted
 Funct
ional
it
y
Inv
estigat
ingt
hese,andinv
esti
gat
inghowt heycan
overl
aporcontradi
ct,
maybeusefulbecauseallwi
llbe
seentohav et
heirpr
oblems.
Suppl
i
ersi
ze

Atfirstglance,
thi
sseemsanemi nentl
ysensi bl
eappr oach
becausei tseemsobv i
ousthatthebigsystemswi l
lcome
fr
om t hebigERPpr ovi
ders.Butalt
houghmostpeopl e,
whenaskedt onameTi er1suppli
ers,wil
li
mmedi atel
y
nameOr acleandSAP,itisnotaseasyast hatbecause,
whilstnobodywoul ddenythat,f
orexample, SAPECCi sa
Tier1sy stem,equal
lynobodywoul dcl
aimt hatSAP
BusinessOnewas.
And,aswegetcloset
otheborderbetweenTier1andTi
er
2,t
hingsbecomeevenmoreunclear
.Microsofti
san
enormouscompanybuti sMi crosof tDynami c365aTi er1
system?Gi venthati tismar ketedasar eplacementf ora
rangeofsy stems,from AXdownt oGP,theansweri snot
clear.Meanwhile,Inforistryingtoposi ti
oni tsel
fasaTi er
1suppl i
erbutSagei sofequal sizeandcl earlyseesitself
asasuppl ierofTier2and3sy stems( and,indeed,asa
supplierofaccount i
ngsy stemst hatarenotERPatal l).
Andt hentherearesuppl i
ersl i
keI FS,whichisacompany
muchsmal lert
hatI nfororSage, butwhichwoul dbe
consideredbymostot hercriteri
at obeaTi er1sy stem.
Clearl
y,suppl
i
ersi
zehasar olet
oplayint
hecalcul
ation
butitmaynotbeasuffi
cientl
ygoodmeasure,
soot her
cri
teri
aneedtobeconsi
der edaswell
.
Sy
stem cost

Thisappear stobeabet terwayt ocat egori

zebecause
cl
ear l
yt hemul ti-
mi l
li
ondol l
artop-endsy stemsf rom
OracleandSAPar eTier1.Thisdef i
nitionalsomeanst hat
systemssuchasI FSandMSD365canbecat egori
zedas
Tier1, butthepr oblem comeswhenTi er
s2and3ar e
addedt othemi x .Thensy st
emst hathav emaj orgapsor
l
imi t
ationsi ntheirfuncti
onali
tycan, ifsuffi
cientl
y
expensi ve,fal
lintoahi ghercategoryt hancanbe
otherwi sejust
ified.Forex ample;SAPBusi nessOne, which
i
saTi er2whenmeasur edbycost ,didnothav ean
i
nv entor ymodul ethatrecognizedst oragelocat i
onsunt i
l
veryr ecent ly(becausei tis,athear t
,anaccount i
ngsy stem
and, inanaccount i
ngsy stem, i
tisnoti mportantwher e
stockact uallyis:itisonlyi mportanttoknowhowmuch
therei sandhowmuchi tcost s);whilstasy stem thatout-
scor esi tonf unct i
onalit
yisav ail
ablef orl
esst hana
quar teroft hepr i
ce.So, i
fsy st
emswi thTier3f unctionali
ty
(seel aterf oradef i
nit
ionoft hiscri
teria)aresoldatTi er2
prices, andsy stemswi t
hTi er2funct i
onalit
yar esoldat
Tier3pr ices,ther eisagainav er
ygr ayareaandi tremains
necessar yt oconsi derotheropt i
ons.
Ty
pical
cust
omersi
ze

Onceagai nt hisdefiniti
onappear stomakeper fectsense
becausei twoul dappearl ogicalthatbi gcompani esbuy
big(i.
e.Tier1)sy stems.Butagai nitisnott hatsimpl e
becausemanybi gcompani eshav er eali
zedthatt heyar e
actuall
ybigbecauset heyar eacol lect i
onofsmal l
compani esorsepar ateoper at
inguni tsandhav et hen
decidedt orunTi er2orTi er3sy stemsatt hatlevel andto
consolidatefinancial datainaTi er1account ingsy st
em at
acor poratelevel.I
tcanmakesenset odot hi
sf ora
numberofr easons; notleastofwhi chi sthatTier1
systemscanbeov er kil
lforsmal leror gani
z at
ions; being
toocumber someandt oocompl exf ortheirneeds.
However
;somel
argeorganiz
ati
onsdoimposesuch
sy
stemsonsmal
leroperat
inguni
tsandsubsi
diar
ies,
so
or
ganizat
ionsi
zemaynotalwaysbeanappr
opri
ate
measurebecausei
tisnotcl
earwhi
chact
ualor
gani
zat
ion
i
sbeingmeasured.
Numberofuser
ssuppor
ted

Thisisperhapsthebestwayt ocat egori

z e ERP
systems eventhoughi ti
snotper fect.Clearlyasy stem
thatcanonlysuppor t
,say,25user sshoul dbecl assified
asaTi er3,andasy stem thatcansuppor t5000user scan
safelybeclassi
fi
edasaTi er1( whent al
ki ngabouta
numberofuser s,i
tisusual totalkabout' concurrent'users;
i
.e.thenumbert hatcanbel oggedont ot hesystem atany
onet i
me: t
hiscanbesi gnifi
cantlylessthant hetot al
numberofuser sauthor i
zedtouset hesy stem assome
userswillonl
yrequireoccasional access) .
Butonceagaint her
ear egrayareas.Fir
stly,evenwit
h3
ti
ersthereisr
oom f oralotofdif
ferencebet weensystems
i
nt hesamet i
er;sosomeTi er3systemswi llr
unoutof
steam with25concur r
entuserswhi l
stotherswill
perform
fi
newi t
h50.AndsomeTi er2systemswi llstr
ugglewith
250userswhi l
stotherswi l
lcopehappilywithoneort wo
thousand.
Thesecondpr oblem i
sthatmuchal sodependsupont
he
usercompany .Somewi l
lhaveasmal lnumberof
transact
ionseverydaywhil
stotherswil
lhav emany
thousands(imaginecompaniesthatsellcapit
al
equipmentandother
sthathavetel
esal
esdepart
ments
sell
i
ngconsumerdurables),
andsomewi l
lhav
esmal l
stat
icdatafi
l
es(customers,pr
oduct
s,bi
ll
sofmater
ialet
c)
whil
stother
swillnot
.
Soal
thoughi
tisagoodmeasur
e,i
tisonl
yagood
measur
emostoftheti
me.
Funct
ional
i
ty

Ironicall
y,t
hisi spr obabl ythebestmeasur ebuti ti
sal so
themostdi fficulttoappl y.Whilstiti
sr easonabl et o
ex pectTier1sy stemst obef uncti
onal l
yr i
ch, t
hese
sy stemsar eof tensubj ecttoextensive,andex pensi ve,
cust omizati
onbecausemostcompani est hatspend
mi ll
ionsonTi er1sy stemswantandex pecta' glov efi
t'
andar ewil
lingt opayt ogeti t
.Att heot herendoft he
spect rum,compani est hatspendper hapsonl yt hirt
yor
for t
ythousanddol l
ar sonaTi er3sy stem ar eusual lymore
l
ikel ytoaccepti tslimi tati
onsandshor tcomi ngs; i
fonly
becausei tdoesnotusual lymakesenset ospend
hundr edsoft housandsofdol larsoncust omi zinga
$50, 000syst em.
Adanger ,
whenr anki
ngsy st
emsby 
ERPf uncti
onal
ity,i
s
thatsomesy stemstargetnichemarketsandsoa
parti
cularsy stem might,forexampl
e,beconsider
edaTi er
1sy st
em byadi st
ri
butioncompanybutaTi er2system by
amanuf acturingcompany .Bot
hofthosecategor
izati
ons,
f
ort
hecompani
esi
nvol
ved,
woul
dbev
ali
d

3Di
scusst
heov
erv
iewofERPsof
twar
e
sol
uti
onsf
ormedi
um andl
arge
ent
erpr
ises?
Thefl
exibi
li
tywhichERPof fersisdefi
nit
elyav erybigadvantage
whichint
erest
st hesmallbusi
ness.Flexi
bil
i
tyandther ealti
mecontrolover
thepriceandt hejobsar ethekeyf eatur
esforasmal lsizedcompany .
Conciserepor
ti
ngi salsoamai nf actorwhichdecidest hequali
tyoft he
company .
 
Basedont heseneeds,ERPv endorshavemadei nst
allat
ionoftherel
ated
softwareasverylesscomplexwithmuchl essmanualjobneeded.Theuser
fr
iendli
nessoft heappli
cati
onsal sogotimproved.Addingmoreusersor
customerswill
nowayaf fectthefunct
ionali
tyofERP.
 
Manysmal lbusi nessesar ealr
eadyenjoyi
ngt hebenefit
saftersuccessful
ERPi mplement ati
on.Thepr of
itofthecompanyhascer t
ainl
yincreased
aftert he usage ofERP pr ovi
ded the i
mpl ementat
ion pr
ocedures are
foll
owed per fectly
.Busi nesswhi chimplemented ERP successful
lysaw
theirbusi
nesspr ofi
tincr
easingwithi
noney earit
sel
f.
 
A goodERPsy st
em comeswi
thessent
ialfeatur
esthatwil
lpr
ovidethe
f
unctional
i
tyofcompar
ingt
hehour
sofwor kingoftheprof
essi
onalsand
theact ualhour sofwor kwhi chwaspai dasasal ary.Infact,manysmal l
businessesj ustdoubl edt heirret
urnoni ncomewi thjustusingt hi
sser vi
ce
eff
ect i
vely.Wi ththisERP, theywer eabletomoni t
ort hetimeofpr oducti
on,
cost,empl oyeeact i
vi
ty,ov eral
lperformanceoft hecompanyandmany
mor ecr ucialinformation.Bef oresetti
ngupERPsy stems,smal lbusiness
mustf irstidentifythebusinessr equir
ement s.Theimpactwhi chtheERPi s
goingtohav eont hebusinessshoul dbewel lanal
yzed.Costf actori
nvolved
i
ni mplement ationshouldbesetasi dei ni
ti
all
y.Oncet herequir
ementsar e
wellplanned,t hencompar i
soncanbemadeondi fferentvendorsavail
able
andt hev endorwhi chprovidescostef f
ecti
veservi
ceandbeopt ed.
Organizat
ionsareimpl ement i
ngEnt erpri
seResour cePlanningsy
stem to
streamli
net hei
rint
er nalbusinesspr ocessandf orsmoothf l
ow ofdata
between the dif
ferentf unct
ionaldepar tmentsl i
ke i
nventory
,purchase,
producti
on,account s,etc.Thedi ff
erentf unct
ionalmodulesoft heERP
softwarelookaf t
ert her especti
vef uncti
onaldepar t
ment.Someoft he
functi
onalmodulesint heERPar easf oll
ows:
 
 
 
 
1. 
  
  
 Pr oduct i
on Pl anning Modul e:The Enterpri
se Resource Planning
system hasev olv
edf r
om Mat erialResourcePl
anningwhichwasusedf or
themanuf acturi
ngr equi r
ement soft hecompani es.ERP ismor er obust
soft
war ef orpr oduct i
on planning asi topti
mizest heutil
izat
ion oft he
manuf acturi
ngcapaci t
y, mater
ialresourcesandthepartsusi
ngpr oduction
dataandsal esf orecasting.
 
 
 
 
2. 
  
  
  Purchasi
ng Modul e: Thi
s modul e aids i n streamli
ning t he
procurementofrequiredraw mat
eri
als.Iti
sintegrat
edwi ththeinventory
controlandproduct
ionplanni
ngmodul esandof tenwiththesupplychai n
managementsof tware.Thismodul
eaut omatesthepr ocessofidenti
fyi
ng
potenti
alsuppli
ers,suppli
ereval
uati
on.I tis used forautomation and
managementofpur
chasi
ng.
 
3. 
   
  Inv ent
ory Cont rolModul e:This modul e ai
ds i n managi ng the
company '
sr esour ce inv
ent ory and the productinv entor
y .Ithelps in
handlingt hereplenishmentoft heproductandmai ntenanceoft hestock
l
ev el
soft heproducts.Thei nv entor
ycontrolmodulemoni torstheinvent
ory
stockpr esentatt hedi ff
erentl ocati
onslikeatthewar ehouse,offi
ceand
stores.Themodul ecanmanaget heinventor
yofr aw mat erial
susedf or
productpl anni
ng.I tenablest hecompanyt opl
anthef utureproducti
onand
keepast ockofpr oductswhi chgobel owcr i
ti
call
evel.
 
4. 
  
   SalesModul es:Thismoduleautomat esthesalestasks,cust
omer
orders,i nvoi
cing and shippi
ng ofproducts.Iti sint
egrat
ed witht he
company 'secommer cewebsi t
esandmanyv endor
sprovidewithonline
storefrontasapar toft hi
smodule.Thesalesdepartmentisanimportant
areaf ortheorgani
zation.
 
5. 
  
  
 Accounti
ngandFi nanceModules:Accounti
ngandf inancear ethe
core areas ofan organi
zati
on.This moduleinteract
s witht he ot
her
functi
onalmodulestocoll
ectthefi
nanci
aldataforthegeneralledgerand
otherfi
nanci
alst
atementsofthecompany.
 
HumanResour ceModule:Thiscanbeusedasani ndependentmodule.I
tis
used f
ori nt
egrat
ing t
he recruit
mentpr ocess,pay r
oll
,tr
aini
ng and the
perf
ormanceev al
uati
onpr ocess.Themodul ehandl esthehist
oryoft he
employee,tr
acks the employees l
aid offand ai ds i
nr ehi
ri
ng oft he
employees.
 
7.
  
  
  Manufact
uri
ngModul
e:Thi
smoduleincl
udespr
oductdesi
gni
ng,
bil
l
s
ofmateri
al,
costmanagement
,workf
low,
etc.
 
8.
  
  
  Market
ing Modul
e:The ERP mar ket
ing modul
e suppor
tsl
ead
gener
ati
onandthepromot
ional
act
ivi
ti
es.
 
Each oft hese abov ef unct i
onalmodul es ofERP sof tware plays an
i
mpor tantr ole.Theor ganizat i
onscanchooset oimpl ementsomeoft he
modul esoral laccordi
ngt ot heirrequir
ement s.Thecompani esoptf orthe
modul eswhi char etechnicallyandeconomi call
yfeasibletot hem.These
modul esst reaml i
netheflowoft hecommuni cati
onacr ossthecompanyby
i
ntegr ati
ngt hev ari
ousf unctionaldepar tments.Theent er
pri
ser esource
system i sboundwi thal lthesef unct
ionalmodul es.Thesedi st
inctyet
seaml esslyi nt egr
atedmodul escov ermostoft hef uncti
onalneedsofan
organization.Thef uncti
onalmodul esofERP sof twarehel pt o achi
eve
effi
ciencyofoper ati
ons,costsav i
ngsandhel ptomaxi mizethepr ofi
ts.
 
Processes,organi
zat
ion,str
uctureandi nf
ormat i
ontechnologi
esar ethe
keycomponent sofBPR,whi chautomatesbusinessprocessesacrossthe
enter
priseandpr ovi
desanor gani
zat
ionwi t
hawel l
-desi
gnedandwel l
-
managedi nformat
ionsystem.Whi l
eimplementingERP,theor gani
zati
ons
havetwoopt i
onstoconsider
.
 
Ei
ther t
he or
gani
zat
ion must reengi
neer busi
ness processes bef
ore
i
mplementi
ngERPordir
ect
lyi
mplementERPandav oi
dreengi
neeri
ng.

4Expl
aini
ndet
ail
thepr
inci
plesofBPR
wi
thsui
tabl
eexampl
es?
Pri
nci
plesofbusi
nesspr
ocess
r
eengi
neer
ing
I
nthebookReengi
neer
ingt
hecor
por
ati
on:
Amani
fest
oforBusi
ness
Rev
olut
ion,
Michael
Hammer&JamesChampysuggest
edt
hef
oll
owi
ngsev
en
pr
inci
ples:
Wor
kshoul
dbedesi
gnedsucht
hati
tisr
esul
t-
ori
ent
edandnotpr
ocess-
ori
ent
ed

Thef
ir
stpr
inci
plest
atest
hatt
het
asksper
for
medbydi
ff
erentpeopl
ecanbe
combi
nedi
ntoonespeci
ali
zedt
ask.Taki
nganexampl
e,t
her
edesi
gnofa
manuf
act
uri
ngcompanywi
thsepar
atedi
vi
si
onsper
for
mingdi
ff
erent
f
unct
ionsi
nasequence.

Onedet
ermi
nest
hecust
omerr
equi
rementt
heot
herpassesi
nthei
nfor
mat
ion,
andt
het
hir
dconv
eyt
hist
ovar
iouspl
ant
sandwar
ehouses.

Thesesequent
ial
basedact
ivi
ti
esl
edt
oer
ror
s,r
ewor
k,anddel
ays.Whena
companyr
e-engi
neer
s,i
tel
i
minat
est
heassembl
yli
neappr
oach.

I
nvol
vet
hosepeopl
eint
hepr
ocesswhof
acet
heout
put

Thi
spr
inci
plest
atest
hatt
hewor
kshoul
dbedonebyt
hei
ndi
vi
dual
get
ti
ngt
he
out
put
,i.
e.,
theconsumer
.Today
,thi
scanbeobser
vedast
he“
sel
f-
ser
vice”
.

Forexampl
e,i
facust
omeri
sfaci
nganypr
obl
em,
hehast
ofi
l
lint
hedat
a
hi
msel
finst
eadofanyof
fi
cedoi
ngi
tforhi
m.I
tpushest
hewor
ktot
he
consumer
.

Mer
gingdat
acol
l
ect
ionandpr
ocessi
nguni
ts

Thi
spr
inci
plehasmat
uredandi
svi
sibl
eint
heconcept
,di
vi
si
onofl
abor
.Thi
s
meanst
hedat
ahandl
i
ngmustbedonebyt
hesameper
sonwhoi
scol
l
ect
ing
t
hedat
a.Thi
sreducest
henumberofer
ror
sbyel
i
minat
ingext
ernal
cont
actf
or
apr
ocess.
Forexampl
e,acompanyhasast
ruct
urewher
einonedepar
tmentcol
l
ect
sthe
i
nfor
mat
ionwhi
l
etheot
herr
ecor
dsi
t.Her
e,t
heshar
eddat
abasewi
l
lhav
e
manyer
ror
swhi
l
etr
ansl
ati
ngt
hei
nfor
mat
ionf
rom onedepar
tmentt
oanot
her
.

Shar
eddat
abasest
oint
erconnectdi
sper
seddepar
tment
s

Theadv
ancesi
ninf
ormat
iont
echnol
ogyal
l
owt
hecompanyt
oconnect
separ
ateuni
tst
hatar
egeogr
aphi
cal
l
ydi
sper
sedbyusi
ngashar
eddat
abase.

Cent
ral
i
zeddat
abasespr
ovi
deeconomi
esofscal
einaddi
ti
ont
opr
ovi
ding
f
lexi
bil
i
tyandqui
ckr
esponsest
othecust
omer
sast
her
ear
ebet
ter
agr
eement
sbet
weent
hev
endor
s.

Br
idgi
ngt
hepr
ocesseswhi
char
erunni
ngonsi
mil
arl
i
nes

Accor
dingt
oHammer
,thepr
ocessesoft
heact
ivi
ti
esmustbei
ntegr
ated
r
athert
hant
heendr
esul
ts.Thepar
all
elf
unct
ionsmustbecoor
dinat
edusi
ng
communi
cat
ionnet
wor
ks,
shar
eddat
abases.

Thesepar
all
elact
ivi
ti
esmustbel
i
nkedcont
inuousl
yandcoor
dinat
edatt
he
pr
ocessexecut
ion.Thi
swi
l
lel
i
minat
ethehi
ghcost
sanddel
aysi
nthe
out
comeoft
hepr
ocess.

Deci
sionmaki
ngshoul
dal
sobeapar
toft
hewor
kper
for
med

Ther
emustbedeci
si
onai
ding-
technol
ogyt
ocutunnecessar
ycont
rol
sandt
o
keepachecki
nthepr
ocess.Hammerst
atest
hedeci
si
onshoul
dbemadeby
t
heper
sonwhoi
sdoi
ngt
hewor
k.
Thepr
ocessescanbei
mpr
ovedbyempower
ingt
heaut
hor
it
yoft
her
esour
ce
wi
tht
her
esponsi
bil
i
tyt
omaket
hedeci
sionandi
mpr
ovet
hewor
kfl
ow.

5Descr
ibeEnt
erpr
iseAr
chi
tect
ure
Li
fecy
clei
ndet
ail
wit
hadi
agr
am?
Ent
erpr
iseAr
chi
tect
urehasa
v
ari
etyofdef
ini
ti
ons,
pri
mar
il
ybecause
t
hewor
d“ent
erpr
ise”i
sov
erusedasa
r
esul
toft
hecur
rentbusi
ness
env
ironment
..Ent
erpr
iseAr
chi
tect
ure
t
odayi
sthesecondmosti
mpor
tant
t
echnol
ogyaf
terSOA(
Ser
vice-
ori
ent
ed
Ar
chi
tect
ure)andi
sav
iabl
eand
i
mper
ati
vet
echnol
ogyf
oral
ll
arge
compani
es.Compl
i
ancer
egul
ati
ons
(
Sar
banesOxl
ey)r
equi
ret
hatcompani
es
mai
ntai
ncoher
entanddet
ail
ed
t
ranspar
entf
inanci
alcont
rol
sandaudi
ts.
I
BM’
srecentacqui
si
ti
onofTel
eLogi
c’
s
Sy
stem Ar
chi
tectconf
ir
mst
he
i
mpor
tanceofEnt
erpr
iseAr
chi
tect
urei
n
t
oday
’sbusi
nessenv
ironment
.Aswi
th
manyot
hernowwi
del
yaccept
ed
t
echnol
ogi
essuchasCASE
(
Comput
erAi
dedSof
twar
eEngi
neer
ing)
,
obj
ectmet
hodol
ogyandbusi
nessr
ule
managementsy
stems(
BRMS)
,Ent
erpr
ise
Ar
chi
tect
urehasunder
gonegr
owi
ng
pai
ns.
.Manycompani
esi
nvest
edheav
il
y
butdi
dnotr
ecei
vesubst
ant
ial
ROIf
ora
v
ari
etyofr
easonsi
ncl
udi
ngpoor
met
hodol
ogi
es,
tool
s,management
,local
pol
i
ticsandi
nadequat
elyt
rai
nedst
aff
.In
addi
ti
on,
manyv
endor
sandconsul
ti
ng
compani
esr
esi
stedent
erpr
ise
ar
chi
tect
urebecauset
heywer
enot
f
ami
l
iarwi
tht
het
echnol
ogyandwer
e
f
ocusedonot
hermor
eci
rcumscr
ibed
sol
uti
onpl
atf
ormsandappr
oaches.But
ev
ent
hought
her
ear
est
il
laut
hor
sand
pr
ofessi
onal
groupswhodonoty
et
appr
eci
atet
hef
ull
val
ueofent
erpr
ise
ar
chi
tect
ure,
ithasbeenmat
uref
oraf
ew
 y
ear
snow,
wil
lgr
owsubst
ant
ial
l
yandhas
al
readybeenadopt
edbyt
heUni
tedSt
ates
f
eder
algov
ernmenti
nthei
rFeder
al
Ent
erpr
iseAr
chi
tect
ure(
FEA)r
efer
ence
model
thati
ncl
udesHomel
andSecur
it
y,
andby
,amongot
her
s,BP,
Int
eland
Vol
kswagenAG.Ent
erpr
iseAr
chi
tect
urei
s
essent
ial
l
ythei
ntegr
ati
onofbusi
nessand
t
echni
cal
archi
tect
ureusi
nga
compr
ehensi
vemet
hodol
ogyanda
shar
edr
eposi
tor
y.

6Assesst
hebenef
it
sofEnt
erpr
ise
ar
chi
tect
ure.Expl
aini
ndet
ail
?

1.ASt
rat
egi
cOv
erv
iew
EAi
snol
ongert
hesol
efunct
ionofI
T,
i
sol atedf rom t her estoft heor ganisation.
Nowaday s,ithasbecomemuchmor e—a
bri
dgebet weent hebusi nessandI T.Fi rst
off,itprov i
desy ouwi thahol i
sticov erview
ofy ourITpar amet erandat echnol ogical
roadmap.I t
’sast r
ategicl ensforobser ving
theent iretyofy ourinfrastructure.
Yougai ncr ucial i
nsightsanda
compr ehensi vepi cture,onet hatmi ni
mi ses
miscommuni cat i
on.
Thinkofi tasaconcept ualbluepr i
nt,an
i
ntegr atedt reasur yofi nformat ion.One
empl oy sittosett hest agef ort hedel i
very
ofconcr etepr oduct s,document s,
andot her
structural element s.Mor eover,itcanhel p
youdi scov eral lthedependenci esand
pointsofsy ner gybet weent hem.
2.Reduci
ngCompl
exi
ty
EAisatri
edandtestedwayofstreamlini
ng
thecor
eworkingofanorganisat
ion.
Thisi
sarealgame-changer
,consider
ing
mostbusi nessesoper ateasameshof
sy stemsandcomponent s.Shy ingaway
from  facingt hiscompl exit
y  
i
sn’ tanopt ion.
EAencour agesy out oadoptapr oactive,
out come- f
ocusedappr oach.Thr ougha
sel ecti
onoft her i
ghtprinciples,tools,and
standar ds,itfaci
li
tatesthecal ibrationand
aut omat i
onofpr ocesses.
Ther esultshoul dbenot hingshor tofan
ent erprise-widetransformat i
onendeav our.
Youal inetechneedswi t
hbusi nesswant s,
enabl ingst rategi
cchangesandpi vots
(suchasacqui si
ti
onsandmer ger s).
Dat a-drivenbusi nessest hatheav i
lyrel
yon
technol ogystandt obenef itthemosther e.
3.Tr
immi
ngCost
s
Thiskindoforgani
sationaloverhaulhas
fur
therpositi
veimpl
ications.
Itl
eadst omoreeffi
cientresource
all
ocationandlet
syouscor esi
gnifi
cant
savings.Thi
sisduetoEAdecr easingand
consol idatingmanagement ,mai ntenance,
andoper at i
onalcosts.Att hesamet i
me,
i
mpactanal y
siseli
mi natesr edundanci es
anddupl icati
on( unnecessar yr ework).
You’reabl etoboostst abil
i
t yandov erall
productqual it
ywhi l
el everagi ngshar ed
capabi li
ties.Alongsimi l
arlines, many
organisat ionshav eachi evedf asterti
met o
mar ketwi t
hEA.
Alloft hisamount stoel evat edROIand
overall profit
abil
ity
.Youcanmai ntai
na
sustainabl epaceofgr owt handmanage
i
ntegr ationpr oj
ectsfuss- free.Sodo
yoursel faf avourandembr acet heconcept
soonerr atherthanlater .
4.St
andar
disat
ionandFl
exi
bil
i
ty
EAf ost
ersahi gherl
evelofI
T
standar
disation.
Itempower sdecisi
on-makerstofl
eshout
soundbusi nessandoperati
onalmodel
s.
Mostoft hem mar kt
hetransi
ti
onaway
from si l
o-basedsy stems.
Further mor e,whendoner ight ,EAmakes
sureal lempl oyeesar eont hesamepage.
It
’seasi ertomanagemul ti
plebusi ness
units,aswel lasnet wor ks.Youcan,
amongstot herthings, offerbet tersof twar
e
suppor tandgui dancet hanev erbef ore.
Finally,EAi salsoanoppor tuni tyto
mai ntainopt imalpr oduct i
vityand
oper abili
ty.Iti
ntegr atesser vicesand
applicationswi thoutf ri
ctionandi ncreases
theirpor t
abi l
it
y.
Sohar nesst hepowerofEAt ost r
engthen
theor ganisat i
onf r
om wi thin.Capi tali
seon
newf oundoppor t
uni t
iest ocr eat e,buy,or
outsour cey ourITsol ut
ions.
5.Secur
it
yGai
ns
EAisthebluepr
intforaddressinggrav
e
cy
bersecuri
tyconcernsoft oday.
Asakeyt ooli
nthear senal
, i
tworks
wondersfordataprotecti
onandsecur i
ty
processesi ngener al
.Updat esandpat ches
aret hemostcommont ool susedacr oss
i
ndust rysect ors.
Allinal l,yougai nar eal fi
ght ingchance
agai nstt hepl i
ghtoft hreatst hatl urkall
around.  Dat abreaches  andt hef tsar ejust
thet ipsoft heiceberg.Ther e’snoshor tage
ofot herev er-
mor e-sophi sti
cat eddanger s.
Weshoul dal soment i
onr i
skst hatst em
from i nternal I
Tmi ssteps.We’ ret alking
aboutt hingssuchasshadowI Tand
redundantappl icat
ions.EAaddsv aluein
thisar eai swel l
.
Ithol dst hekeyt oprotect i
ng, groupi ng,and
maki ngbet teruseofy ourasset s.Asan
addedbonus, youmai ntainconsumert r
ust
byt akinggoodcar eoft hei rdat a.
6.ChangeAnal
ysi
sandAdapt
abi
l
ity
EAisconducivetotechi
nnovati
on,
tr
ansf
ormation,andsmoothstack
i
mplementation.
Higheragi li
tymeansy our espondt osudden
shiftsint hei ndustryandt hemar ket.Your
bolstery ourabi lit
yt oproper l
yassesst he
i
mpactofchangeandmakeeducat ed
adjustment s.Itmi ghtalsomakesenset o
got heext rami l
eandr evampy ourbusi ness
model andst rategies.
Atthev eryl east,doawaywi t
hout dat ed
practisest hatcausemor ehar mt hangood.
You’rel i
kel ytodecr easepr oject,inv estment,
andbusi nessr i
skst hatway .Thel i
stof
benef i
tsgoesonandi ncludesr egul at ory
andl egal changest hatdisruptt hest atus
quo.
GDPRi sapr i
meexampl eofhow
compl iance  affectsf i
nanci al
performance  andbr andper ception.Sost ay
abreastoft hel atestdev elopment sand
aheadoft hecur ve.

7Det
ermi
net
hebenef
it
sofbusi
ness
pr
ocessmappi
ngandmodel
l
ing.Expl
ain
 i
ndet
ail
?

A pr ocess map v isual l

y
descr i
bes what happens i n a busi ness
process. Pr ocess mappi ng i nv olves
speci f
ical
ly def i
ning al lt he st eps i na
process,whoi sresponsi ble,andwhatt he
outcomeshoul dbe,t ocr eat easer i
esof
stepst hatwor ktowar dsanendr esult
.
Itis qui t
el i
terall
y a map t o guide y ou
throughy ourbusi nesspr ocess,i dentifying
the dat a,act ivi
ti
es,mat er i
al,and peopl e
i
nv olved.
Processmappi ngisausef ulexer ci
sewhen
definingexact lywhathappensi napr ocess
andunder standingt hecur rentstateofhow
youror ganizationwor ks.Mappi ngthel inear
sequence ofact i
viti
es t hatmake up a
business pr ocess hel ps t o i dent if
y
bottlenecks orunnecessar yst eps int he
process.Hav ingav isualr epresentati
onof
this makes i teasi ert o expl ain botht he
currentstateandnewchangest ouser s.
Forexampl e,
youcoul dmapt heprocessf or
onboardingnewempl oyeestocheckt hatall
appropri
ate people arei nformed and al l
necessaryequipmenti sreadyfortheirstart
date.Seeingallthestepslaidoutgi vesthe
opportunit
ytost reamli
net hepr ocessand
makei taseffi
cientaspossible

8Expl
aint
hedi
ff
erentphasesofBPR?

Busi
nesspr
ocessr
eengi
neer
ing(
BPR)
hasbeenr
ecei
vi
ngat
tent
ionf
rom
i
ndust
ri
esaswel
last
heacademi
c
communi
ty,
becausei
tisl
i
kel
yto
changemanagementpr
act
iceand
wor
kingpr
ocessesi
nor
gani
sat
ionsi
n
t
hef
utur
e.Howev
eri
tiscommonl
y
agr
eedt
hatBPRi
simpor
tantbutal
so
pr
obl
emat
ic.I
nthi
schapt
erweexpl
ore
t
hepr
inci
plesandassumpt
ionsofBPR
andi
dent
if
ythef
act
orsaf
fect
ingi
ts
successesandf
ail
ures.Especi
all
ywe
hi
ghl
i
ghtsomemaj
ordebat
escur
rent
ly
f
oundi
nthel
i
ter
atur
eofBPR.These
debat
esi
ncl
udet
hedef
ini
ti
onsusedt
o
descr
ibebusi
nesspr
ocessesandBPR,
t
hescal
eoft
hechangesi
nvol
vedi
nBPR,
andt
hesi
gni
fi
canceandr
oleof
i
nfor
mat
iont
echnol
ogy(
IT)i
nBPR,
especi
all
yITsy
stems.Ast
hemai
n
t
hemeoft
hist
hesi
sisappl
yi
ngEM t
o
BPR,
iti
sessent
ial
tounder
standsome
f
act
orswhi
chcauseBPRpr
oject
sfai
l
ure
duet
othepoordesi
gnoft
hesuppor
ti
ng
sy
stemsundert
heconv
ent
ional
par
adi
gm.3.
1Busi
nessPr
ocess
Reengi
neer
ing:
Int
roduct
ionBPRi
s
knownbymanynames,
suchas‘
cor
e
pr
ocessr
edesi
gn’
,‘
newi
ndust
ri
al
engi
neer
ing’
or‘
wor
kingsmar
ter
’.Al
lof
t
hem i
mpl
ythesameconceptwhi
ch
f
ocusesoni
ntegr
ati
ngbot
hbusi
ness
pr
ocessr
edesi
gnanddepl
oyi
ngI
Tto
suppor
tther
eengi
neer
ingwor
k.I
nthi
s
sect
ionweat
temptt
oexpl
oret
wo
quest
ions:
wher
edoesBPRcomef
rom
andwhati
sinv
olv
edi
nBPR(
i.
e.i
ts
 pr
inci
plesandassumpt
ion.

Organizet heguideli
nesf ormaxi mi zi
ng
chancef orBPRsuccess?
Althoughthel abelsandst epsdiff
er
sli
ghtly
, theearl
ymet hodologiest hatwere
rootedinI T-
centri
cBPRsol utionsshar e
manyoft hesamebasi cpri
nciplesand
element s.Thefoll
owi ngout l
inei sonesuch
model ,basedont hePRLC( Process
Reengineer i
ngLifeCy cle)appr oach
[
13]
developedbyGuha.  
Simplifi
edschemat ic
outl
ineofusi ngabusi nessprocess
approach, exemplifi
edf orphar maceutical
R&D
1. Structur
alorgani
zat
ionwi
th
funct
ionaluni
ts
2. Int
roduct
ionofNewPr oduct
Devel
opmentascross-
functi
onal
pr
ocess
 3. Re- struct uringandst r
eaml ining
act i
v i
ti
es, remov al ofnon- v
alue
addi ngt asks
Benef it
ingf r
om l essonsl earnedf rom t he
earlyadopt ers,someBPRpr act iti
oner s
adv ocat edachangei nemphasi st oa
cust omer -cent r
ic, asopposedt oanI T-
cent ri
c, met hodol ogy .Onesuch
met hodol ogy ,thatal soi ncorpor atedaRi sk
andI mpactAssessmentt oaccountf ort he
effectt hatBPRcanhav eonj obsand
oper ati
ons, wasdescr ibedbyLonRober ts
[
14]
(1994) .  Rober tsal sost ressedt heuseof
changemanagementt ool stopr oact i
v ely
addr essr esistancet ochange—af actor
l
inkedt othedemi seofmanyr eengi neer ing
i
nitiativest hatlookedgoodont hedr awi ng
boar d.
Somei temst ouseonapr ocessanal y sis
checkl i
star e: Reducehandof fs,Cent rali
ze
data, Reducedel ay s,Freer esour cesf aster,
Combi nesi mi l
aract i
v i
ties.Al sowi thint he
managementconsul tingi ndust r
y ,a
si
gni
ficantnumberofmet
hodol
ogical
appr
oacheshavebeendevel
oped.

10 I
ll
ust
rat
eOLAPi
ndet
ail
?

Onli
neAnalytic
alPr ocessing
(OLAP) isacategor
yofsoftwarethatallows
userstoanalyzeinf
ormationfr
ommul tiple
databases y
stemsatthesamet ime .I
tisa
technologythatenabl
esanalyststoe x
trac t
andv i
ewbus inessdat
afromdi f
ferentpoi nts
ofview.
Analys
tsfrequentlyneedtogr oup, aggre
gate
andjoindata.The seOLAPope r ati
onsindata
miningarere s
ourceintensi
ve. Wi t
hOL APdata
canbepr e-cal
culatedandpr e-aggregated,
mak i
nganal ysi
sfaster
.
OL APdatabasesaredi v
idedintooneormor e
cubes.Thec ubesarede si
gnedi ns uchaway
thatcr
e ati
ngandv iewingrepor tsbecomee as
y.
OL APstandsforOnl i
neAnalyti
c alProcessi
ng.
UNI
T3PARTA
UNTIT3
SECTI
ON-A
1.Commentt
her
easonf
ori
mpl
ement
ingMI
S.
AnMI Si
sacomput eri
zeddat abaseoff i
nancial
,admini
str
ati
veand
progr
ammat i
cinf
ormationorganizedandpr ogrammedi nsuchawayt hatitpr oduces
regul
arr
eportsonoperati
onsf oreverylevelofmanagementi nanorganizati
on.The
mainpurposeoftheMISist ogivemanager sfeedbackaboutthei
rownper formance;
topmanagementcanmoni tortheor ganizati
onasawhol e.Inf
ormati
ondi splayedbyt he
MIStypi
call
yshows"actual"dataoveragai nst"pl
anned"resul
tsandresultsfrom ay ear
befor
e;t
husitmeasuresprogressagai nstgoals.

2.Summar
izet
hehi
stor
yofSCM.

Int helate1920s, t
hei ntroduct ionofmasspr oducti
onal ongassembl ylinesl ai
d
thef oundat ionsf orsuppl ychai nmanagement .Fi r
stsuccessf ul
lyimpl ement edbyFor d,
thei deaofpr oduci ngconsi st
entpr oduct sonal argescal ewithincr easedef ficiency
changedt r
adeandsuppl ychai nsi rrever sibly.
Masspr oductionandt heconceptofi nterchangeabl epartsor i
ginatedi nthel ate18t h
cent urywi thweaponr yi nAmer icaandshi ppul leypr oductioninEngl and buthadnot
prev i
ousl ybeencombi nedwi thdi v i
sionofl abor , conti
nuouswor kflowand
speci ali
zat i
on.
Cont ainer i
zation,orcont ainershi pping, notonl yi ncreasedt hequant i
t yofav ailable
spacef orgoods, butal soi ncreasedt hespeedoft hefr
eightmov ementwhi le
decr easingt hecost .Thespeedi ncr ease  camef rom mor eef f
ect i
vewar ehousi ng
processesaswel last ranspor tt ermi nal effici
ency .
Bar codingwasanot hergamechangerf ort hei ndust r
y,fi
nallybeingusedi na
commer cialcont extini nthe1970sdespi tebei ngpat entedmor et hant went yy ears
bef ore.Itsadopt ionwasspur redf orwar dby  ast andar drequiri
ngani dentifyi
ngnumber
from t heUSnat ional associ ati
onoff oodchai nsandsubsequentr esear chshowi ng
l
ar gei ncreasei npr ofitfrom poi ntscal escanni ng’ .Oncet hebarcodewasadapt edt o
becomeani nternat i
onallyusedst andar d, itcoul dbeusedf r
om f ormoni t
ori
ngoft he
suppl ychai nbot hgl obal l
yandi nternat ional l
y.
3.Out
li
net
hedi
ff
erentphasesofBPR.
 4.Commentt
her
easonf
ori
mpl
ement
ingDSS.

I
nor
gani
zat
ions,
adeci
sionsuppor
tsy
stem (
DSS)anal
yzesandsy
nthesi
zesv
ast
amount
sofdat
atoassi
sti
ndeci
sion-
maki
ng.Wi
tht
hisi
nfor
mat
ion,
itpr
oduces
r
epor
tst
hatmaypr
ojectr
evenue,
sal
es,
ormanagei
nvent
ory
.Thr
ought
he
i
ntegr
ati
onofmul
ti
plev
ari
abl
es,
aDSScanpr
oduceanumberofdi
ff
erent
out
comesbasedont
hecompany
’spr
evi
ousdat
aandcur
renti
nput
s. 

5.Associ
atet
heSCM pr
ocessesandpar
ti
ci
pant
s.

ERPsoftwar
edoesn’tjustenabl
esupplychai
nmanagementst r
ategi
es,i
tinf
ormsyour
teamsandkeepst hem runningatpeakeffi
ciency
.Thi
sensuresy ourbusi
nessruns
smoothl
yinthefaceofsupplychaindi
srupti
on.Wecanbreakdownt heroleofEpi
cor
ERPalongsi
desupplychai
nmanagementi nt
oeightmai
ncategori
es:

 PurchaseManagement
 DemandManagement
 I
nventoryManagement
 Shi
ppingAndReceivi
ng
 WarehouseManagement
 AdvancedMateri
alManagement
 Suppli
erRel
ati
onshi
pManagement
 Suppli
erConnect

6.Det
ermi
net
hePr
osandConsofEI
S.

Ent
erpr
iseI
nvest
mentScheme(
EIS)i
sani
nvest
mentpr
ogr
am i
ntheUni
tedKi
ngdom
thatmakesiteasi
erforsmall
er,ri
skiercompani
estoraisecapit
al.TheEnterpri
se
Invest
mentSchemehel psri
skiercompaniesbygivi
ngtheiri
nvestorsfeder
al 
taxrel
i
ef,
whichactsasanincenti
vetoinvestors,maki
ngthepotenti
alpurchaseofthose
companies’shar
esmor eappeali
ng.

TheEnterpri
seInvest
mentSchemewor ksbygranti
ng30%ofwhatthei
nvestorpay
sfor
thesharesasacreditthatt
henreducestheinvest
or’
sindi
vi
dual
incometaxowedfor
theyearthatt
heindivi
dualpur
chasedtheshares.

7.Commentt
her
easonf
ori
mpl
ement
ingEI
S.

Anent
erpr
isei
nfor
mat
ionsy
stem i
sasol
uti
onofi
ntegr
atedsy
stemst
hatwor
k
t
oget
hert
oper
for
m hi
gh-
qual
i
tyser
vicest
osmal
l
,mi
dsi
ze,
orl
argeor
gani
zat
ions.
I
not
herwor
ds,anEI
Sal
l
owsor
gani
zat
ionst
opr
ocessagr
eatdealofdat
aina
smal
lamountoft
imet
omakequi
ck,
accur
atedeci
sions.

 Hel
psdeci
sion-
maker
smakesenseofcompl
exdat
a

 Enabl
esf
ast
erdeci
sionmaki
ng

 Pr
ovi
desi
nsi
ghtont
hel
atestt
rends

 Hel
pst
ransf
orm yourbusi
ness

8.Det
ermi
net
het
ypesofDSS.

Deci
sionSuppor
tSy
stems(
DSS)ar
eacl
assofcomput
eri
zedi
nfor
mat
ionsy
stem
t
hatsuppor
tdeci
sion-
maki
ngact
ivi
ti
es.DSSar
eint
eract
ivecomput
er-
based
sy
stemsandsubsy
stemsi
ntendedt
ohel
pdeci
sionmaker
susecommuni
cat
ions
t
echnol
ogi
es,
dat
a,document
s,knowl
edgeand/
ormodel
stocompl
etedeci
sion
pr
ocesst
asks.

 Communi
cat
ion-
dri
venDSS
  Dat
a-dr
ivenDSS

 Document
-dr
ivenDSS

 Knowl
edge-
dri
venDSS

 Model
-dr
ivenDSS

9.Commentt
her
easonf
ori
mpl
ement
ingSCM.

Wehav eanincr
easedrel
i
anceonsuppl i
ers.Pr
ocur
ementhappensi neachand
ever
yaspectofanor gani
zati
on,fr
om businessneedst oITneeds.Ev er
ythi
ng
neededinacor porat
ioni
st i
edt osuppli
ersandt herewi llbeal ongl i
stof
suppl
ier
si n no t
ime.The need to manage suppli
err elati
ons,inf
ormat i
on,
contr
actsandmoregrowsrapi
dlywhil
etheneedtofoll
owr egulati
onspersi
sts.

Organizati
ons need a SCM sy st
em such as  IBM Empt or
is Supplier Lif
ecy cl
e
Management  
toestabl
i
shstr
eamli
nedsupplychainmanagementpr ocessesi norderto
real
izethev erybestvaluef
rom t
heirspendi
ngthroughsuppli
eranalysi
sofcost ,ri
sk
andper for
mance.TheyneedaSCM sy st
em toreal
izea360-degreevisi
bili
tyint
ot hei
r
suppli
erecosy st
em.

Anef
fect
iveSCM sy
stem hel
psaccompl
i
sht
hef
oll
owi
ng:
• Managi ngcont ractualobligati
onst oassur eaconti
nuoussuppl
yandav oi
da
servi
cecompany ’
sdeliver
ydi srupti
ons.
• Strengthening suppl i
err elati
ons forsy st
emati
c syner
gywith suppl
iers and
dif
ferentli
nesofbusi ness.
• Enterpri
sespendi ngmanagementt oassureprocur
ementhappenst hr
ought he
ri
ghtsuppl i
ersandr educescost s.
• Managi ngr iskandcompl i
ancet oabidebyor gani
zati
onalaswellasi ndustry
specifi
cregul at
ionsandcompl iances.
• Establi
shing a si ngle compr ehensive suppl
i
erv i
ew and deri
ving i
nsightful
procurementanal yti
cs.

Compl
10. etei
ntegr
ati
onofERP,
suppl
ychai
n,andcust
omerr
elat
ionshi
p
appl
i
cat
ions.
 Af ull
yintegratedERPandCRM sol uti
onempower s youremployeeswithaccess
totheinformationtheyneedexactlywhent heyneedit.Wi
tht hetouchofabutton,t
hey
canretri
eveinventoryl ev
els,
shi
pments,customerfinanci
als,orderhi
stor
y,r
eturns,
payments, pr
ici
ng, etc.Str
eamli
nebusi
nesspr ocesses.
Let
’stakeal ookatt hreebenefi
tsofmergingyourERPandCRM sof t
ware.

 A360degr eev iew ofy ourcustomer.How wel ldoy ouknow y our

customer s? One oft he bi ggestadv antages ofCRM and ERP
i
ntegr ati
oni sthati tgiv esyouacompl etev i
ew ofy ourcust omer.
From pr ospect ,tosal esandsuppor t,t of i
nanceandaccount i
ng,
together t hese sy stems pr ovi
de compl etev isi
bil
it
yi nt oy our
customer s’needs,buy i
ng habi t
s,or der history
,pr ef er
ences,
accountst anding, etc.Notonl ydoesthisknowl edgegivey oubetter
i
nsighti ntoy ourcust omerbase,i tcan hel py ou bui
ldl asting
rel
ationships wi t
h cust omer s and det ermine wher et herei s
potent i
alforf uturegr owt h.Itcanev enhel py ouant i
cipatey our
customer ’sneedsbef orey ourcustomerdoes.

 Betteraccesst ocr i
ti
calinformat i
on.ACRM andERPsol uti
ont hat
i
sf ul
lyi ntegrated gives y ourempl oyees the abi l
ityt o access
i
mpor tanti nformat i
oni nreal-time.Wi t
houti t,yourempl oyeesar e
l
essef ficientandy ourcust omer swi l
lpayt hepr i
ce.Forexampl e,
whenacust omercont actsy ourcal lcenterwi thasi mpl equest ion
aboutt hest atusofanor der,y ourcal lcenterrepresentat i
veshoul d
nothav et ogoi ntodi f
ferentsy stemst oaccesst hatinformat i
onor
i
nqui r
ewi th otherempl oyees.A f ullyintegrated ERP and CRM
soluti
onempower syourempl oyeeswi thaccesst othei nformation
theyneedex actlywhent heyneedi t.Witht het ouchofabut ton,
theycanr etri
evei nventorylev els,shipment s,cust omerf inancials,
orderhistory,returns,payment s, pri
cing,etc.

 Str
eaml i
nebusi nesspr ocesses.Int hepast,wi thoutanintegr
ated
sol
ution,many busi ness processes wer e manualand t ime-
consumi ng.Howev er,akeybenef ittomer gingy ourERPandCRM
soft
war eisenhancedpr oducti
vit
yt hroughst reamlini
ngprocesses
andaut omatingwor kflow.Additi
onal l
y,anintegratedsol
utioncuts
downont heamountofdupl i
cati
onofdat aentrytasks.

11.
Predi
ctt
hecomponent
soft
hee-
busi
nesssuppl
ychai
n.

 Theneedforaddi
ti
onal
reducti
oninthecost
saswellasi
mprov
ement
sin
thepr
ocessesthr
oughtheexpansi
onofthetool
sformoder
n
 managementintheorgani
zat
ionsf
rom t
hesuppl
i
erchannel
stot
he
cust
omerchannels.
 Theintroduct
ionofcomput er
izat
ionanddigi
tali
zati
onoftheinter
nal
funct
ionsoftheor gani
zat
ionswithnewtechniques,tool
s,and
managementmet hods.
 Theneedforef
fi
ciencyandagi
li
tyoft
heor gani
zat
ionsi
norderthatt
hey
canr
espondtothehigherdemandsofthecustomerswhosegrowing
demandsandbargaini
ngpowerconti
nual
lyincr
eases.
 Theeffortt
ooptimizet
heorganizat
ionbyhav
ingloweri
nventor
ylev
els
bothinmanufactur
eanddistr
ibuti
onby,i
nparal
lel
,of
fer
ingsupreme
quali
tyandserv
ice.
 Thedeser
ti
ngofv
ert
ical
int
egr
ati
onandf
unct
ional
ori
ent
edor
gani
zat
ions.
 Thetendencyforout
sour
cingofsomeoperati
onalf
uncti
onsthatarenot
thecoreofthebusi
nesst
oot heror
gani
zat
ionsspeci
ali
zedi
nt hatf
iel
d.
 Theexpl
osiv
eexpansi
onofgl
obal
commer ceandt
heopeni
ngofnew
market
sthatonl
yfewyear
sagowerecl
osed.
 Thee- busi
nesstechnologi
es,part
icul
arl
yinternet
,haveenabl
ed
organizati
onsofallsi
zestohav eanetworkandbecl osel
yconnect
ed
withtheirpart
ner
sandconquerandcompet eformarketshar
ewhichwas
onlypossiblebef
oreforthelargecorpor
ations.

12.
Inf
ert
hemeani
ngofi
sMI
S?

MISRepor t
sar er eportsrequi r
edbyt hemanagementt oassesstheperformance
oftheorganizati
onandal lowf orf
asterdeci
sion-
maki ng.AManagement
I
nformationSy stem, oftensi mplyref
erredtoasMI S,canbeunder stoodby
l
ookingateachoft hewor dst hatmakeupt hename.Ther ei
sthemanagement ,
theinfor
mation, andt hesy stem.Attheheartofit,suchasy st
em isonet hatwi
ll
providei
mpor tantinformat iont ot
hemanagementoft hecompany .

Thecompl exi
ti
esofrunningbusinesses,havemadeusmor ereli
antonadv anced
technologi
eswhichwill
remov eanyr oom f
orerrors.Ononehand, i
taccuratel
y
stateswhatamanagementi nfor
mationsystem doesforthemanagementoft he
company .Ontheotherhand, i
tcannotbeoveremphasizedthatmanagement
i
nf ormati
onsyst
emsar ev er
yimpor t
anttothesmoot hrunni
ngofabusi ness.Iti
s
crucialt
hatbusi
nessesoptforanaut omatedmanagementi nf
ormationsystem i
s
 setupf
orbet
terdeci
sion-
maki
ng.

13.
Expr
esst
heERPr
elat
edt
echnol
ogi
es.

Ther
ear
emanyt
echnol
ogi
est
hathel
ptoov
ercomet
hesel
i
mit
ati
ons.These
t
echnol
ogi
es,
whenusedi
nconj
unct
ionwi
tht
heERPpackage,
hel
pinov
ercomi
ng
t
hel
i
mit
ati
onofast
andal
oneERPsy
stem andt
hus,
hel
ptheempl
oyeest
omake
bet
terdeci
sions.Someoft
heset
echnol
ogi
esar
e:

• Busi
nesspr
ocessr
eengi
neer
ing(
BPR)

• Managementi
nfor
mat
ionsy
stem (
MIS)

• Deci
si
onsuppor
tsy
stem (
DSS)

• Execut
ivei
nfor
mat
ionsy
stems(
EIS)

• Dat
awar
ehousi
ng

• Dat
ami
ning

• On-
li
neanal
yti
cal
processi
ng(
OLAP)

• Suppl
ychai
nmanagement

Out
14. li
net
hedat
awar
ehousei
mpor
tance?

Adatawarehouseisasy stem thatstoresdatafr

om acompany ’
soper at
ionaldatabases
aswellasexternalsources.Dat awarehousepl at
formsaredif
ferentfrom oper at
ional
dat
abasesbecauset heyst or
ehi stor
icalinf
ormation,maki
ngi teasierf orbusiness
l
eaderstoanalyzedataov eraspeci fi
cperiodoftime.Datawarehousepl atformsalso
sor
tdatabasedondi ff
erentsubjectmat t
er,suchascustomers,product sorbusiness
act
ivi
ti
es.
Whyisdatawarehousingimpor tant?
Dat
awar ehousi
ngisani ncreasi
nglyimportantbusi
nessint
ell
i
gencet ool
, al
lowing
or
gani
zat
ionst
o:
• Ensureconsistency.Datawarehousesar eprogrammedt oapplyauni f
ormformattoall
coll
ecteddata,whichmakesi teasierforcorpor
atedecisi
on-makerstoanalyzeand
sharedatainsightswit
ht hei
rcoll
eaguesar oundtheglobe.Standar
dizi
ngdatafrom
dif
ferentsourcesalsoreducesther i
skofer r
ori
ni nt
erpr
etati
onandi mprov
esov er
all
accuracy.

• Makebet terbusinessdecisions.Successful busi

nessl eadersdevelopdata-dr
iven
str
ategiesandr arelymakedeci si
onswi t
houtconsul t
ingthefacts.Datawarehousing
i
mpr ovest hespeedandef f
ici
encyofaccessi ngdiff
erentdatasetsandmakesi teasi
er
forcorporatedecision-makerstoderiv
ei nsightsthatwi l
lgui
dethebusi nessand
marketingstrat
egi esthatsetthem apartfrom theircompet i
tor
s.

• Improvetheirbott
om line.Datawar ehousepl at
formsallowbusi nessleader
stoquickl
y
accesstheirorganizat
ion'
shistoricalact
ivi
tiesandev al
uateinit
iati
vesthathav
ebeen
successful—orunsuccessf ul—i nt hepast.Thisall
owsexecut ivestoseewherethey
canadjusttheirstr
ategytodecr easecosts,maxi mizeeffi
ciencyandincreasesal
esto
i
mpr ovetheirbott
om line.

GI
15. Smeani
ng?

GISisasthewebormobil
eappt hatcanhel
p y
oubri
nginy
our 
dat
aandintegr
atewi
th
maps t
hatcanbeusedt
o vi
sual
i
zeandanal y
zethedat
atofi
ndout
 pat
ter
nsandderi
ve
t
rends.

Fi
vet
hingst
hat
 br
oughtt
hec
hangesi
nGI
S?

Thewor l
dmov edf
rom deskt
opstoserver
stothewebandthent
omobil
e.Ast
hetechnol
ogy
progressed,GI
Salsotookthi
stransi
ti
on.GISmovedfr
om bei
ngadeskt
opsof
twar
e,tobea
serverbased,t
oWebGI Sandnowtomobi l
eGIS.

But,whatmadethechangeistheneedf
orpeopl
etotakeadvantageoft
hepowerofmaps,the
poweroflocat
ioni
ntel
li
gence,t
hepowerofgeogr
aphy!Her
ear etheaspect
sthatbr
oughtt
his
change:

1.Younomor ecaptur
e/create/edit
 basemapst ovisual
ize: 
Sincetheav ail
abil
i
ty
ofbasemapdat aaswebser vices,thehect
ictaskofcr eati
ngbasedat afir
st
sl
owlystar
tedtodimini
sh.Wantast reetdat
a,satel
li
teimager y,
terrai
ndat aor
eventr
affi
candweat herinformat i
on.Younow hav eitaty ourfingerti
psina
GIS.
2.Younomor eneedtoinstal
l aGIS: Si
nce t
heCloudandSaaSmodel sstartedto
 getpopular ,GISisal way st herefory ouandy ourenter pr i
se.It’salway sup- t
o-
date!
3.Youdon’ tneedt ost or eit! 
Itisalway sav ai
lableaspery ourdemand  ―onPC,
mobi l
eort ablet.Ent erprisesar etakingt headv antageofCl oudst oragemodel
ofdata.
4.Youdon’ tneedt or unt oolst oanal y zedat a:Rat hert hant heneedf orthe
businessdat atocomet oGI S;theGI Sst art
edget ti
ngi ntegr atedwi th business
data,processes,andwor kflows. 
Inst ead  ofrunningat ool box,orscr ipttodo
theanalysis,thel ogicf oranal ysi
si sal r
eadypr e-defi
nedandt heanal ysiscan
evenhappenov ert heCl oud.I fyoudon’ thav et helogi c,y oucanal way sbuy
thetoolasanApp  i
n  theCl oudandr uni t.
5.Younomor ecreat emapl ay outsev er ytimet ov isual
izet hedat a:
 
Pr e-setmap
styl
eandt empl atesar eav ail
ablewi thint heGI S,thathel psy outoopent he
templateandv i
sual izet hedat a.Youcanal soshar eandpubl ishtheser esul
ts
easil
yandt ellstorieswi t
hy ourdat a.

UNI
T3
SECTI
ONB
1Discusssuppl ychai nbusinesspr ocess
i
ntegrationwithERP?
EnterpriseResour cePlanning
systemsar eusedbycompani est o
coordinatethei
rbusi nessoper ati
ons.The
coreofanERPsy stem isthati tenablest he
i
ntegrationofv ar
iousbusi nesspr ocesses
i
ntoasi ngleplatformf orbetter
organisati
on.Thati s,itcompr ehensively
connectsv ari
ousdepar tments.
 Suppl ychainmanagementi s
theprocessofmanagi ngtheflowof
resourcesi nacompanyf rom rawmat er
ial
s
atthepr oductionlev eltofini
shedpr oducts
atthedi str
ibutionlev el
.Thesof t
war ethat
enablest hi
shi gh-l
ev elorgani
sationisan
SCM sy stem.ERPandSCM ar eal i
keinthat
theyintegratev ari
ousbusi nessfunct i
ons,
alt
houghl i
mitedt othesuppl ychain.

2Cat
egor
izet
hev
ari
ouscomponent
s
ofEI
Swi
thadi
gram andsui
tabl
e
exampl
es?

Anexecut i
vei nformat ionsystem
(EIS)isadeci sionsuppor tsy stem (DSS)
usedt oassistseniorexecut i
v esint he
decision-makingpr ocess.I tdoest hisby
providingeasyaccesst oimpor tantdata
neededt oachi evestrategicgoal si nan
organizati
on.AnEI Snor mal l
yf eatures
graphicaldisplaysonaneasy -to-use
i
nter
face.

Executiv
einformationsy st
emscanbeused
i
nmanydi f
ferenttypesofor gani
zati
onsto
moni t
orenterpri
seper f
ormanceaswel las
toidenti
fyopportunit
iesandpr obl
ems.
Earlyexecutiv
ei nformat ionsy stems
weredev el
opedascomput er-based
programsonmai nfr
amecomput erst o
provideacompany ’
sdescr iption, sales
performanceand/ ormar ketr esear chdat a
forseniorex ecuti
ves.Howev er ,senior
execut i
veswer enotal lcomput erl i
terateor
confident.Mor eover,EISdat awasonl y
suppor t
ingexecut i
ve-level deci sionsbutnot
necessar il
ysuppor t
ingt heent irecompany
orent er
pr i
se.

Curr
entEISdat ai
sav ail
ablecompany -or
ent
erpr
ise-wide,f
acil
it
atedbyper sonal
computersandwor kstati
onsonl ocalarea
net
works( LANs).Employ eescanaccess
companydat at ohel
pdecisi
on-makingi
n
thei
rindiv
idualworkpl
aces,depar
tments,
divi
sions,et
c..Thi
sall
owsempl oyeesto
provi
deper t
inenti
nfor
mat i
onandideas
bothabov eandbelowtheircompanylevel
.

Thetypi
calEI
Shasfourcomponents:
hardwar
e,sof
tware,
useri
nter
faceand
tel
ecommunicat
ion.

3Det
ermi
neDSSandexpl
ainhowi
sit
di
ff
erentf
rom MI
S?
MI
S
MIS,ManagementI nformati
onSystem,i
sa
comput erbasedprogram t
oassi
stusersto
make deci si
ons based on informat
ion
presentinthesyst
em.
DSS
DSS,Decisi
onSuppor tSy stem,isalsot o
hel
p maki ng deci si
ons. I t uses
communicati
on t
echnologies, dat a,
documentst oi dent
if
y problems and t o
fi
nali
zedeci
sions.
Foll
owing ar
et he i
mpor tantdiff
erences
betweenMISandDSS.

Sr. Key MI
S DSS
No.

Pri
mary MISidenti
fi
es DSSi dent
if
ies
Task t
he thetoolst
obe
1 i
nfor
mat i
on usedi n
r
equired. decisi
on
process.

2 Focus Focusi
son Focusi
son
Sr. Key MI
S DSS
No.

ef
fi
ciency
. ef
fect
iveness.

Dat
abase Corpor
ate Special
3 Dat
abases Database
ar
eused. needed.

Dat
a Focusi
son Focusi son
4 datast
orage. dat
a
manipul
ati
on.

Dependency Dependenton Dependenton

5 computer. management
j
uri
dict
ion.

Usage MISi
susedto DSSisusedi
n
i
ncontrol pl
anning,
6 pr
ocess. staf
fi
ngand
deci
sion
making.
Sr. Key MI
S DSS
No.

User
s MISi sused DSSi susedby
bymi ddle anal
ysts,
l
evel,lowlev
elprof
essional
s
7 usersand andmanager s.
senior
executiv
esin
somecases.

Focus Focusison Focusi son

i
nformati
on decision
8 processi
ng. making,
supportand
anal
ysis.

3Expl
ainBusi
nessPr
ocessReengi
neer
ing
wi
thexampl
es?

I
tisar
guedbysome
r
esear
cher
s(f
orexampl
e,v
anMeel
etal
.,
1994;
MacI
ntoshandFr
anci
s,1997;
Pel
tuetal
.,
1996)t
hatt
her
eisno
commonl
yagr
eeddef
ini
ti
onofBPR.
Pel
tuetal
.consi
dert
hatt
hisl
ackofan
accept
eddef
ini
ti
onofBPRmakesi
t
di
ff
icul
ttoassesst
heov
eral
lsuccessor
f
ail
ureofi
tsconcept
.Thusi
tisessent
ial
t
omakecl
earwhatt
hedef
ini
ti
onofBPR
i
sbef
orewepr
oposeanyf
ramewor
k
andt
echni
quesf
orBPR.Thebook
Reengi
neer
ingt
heCor
por
ati
on:
A
Mani
fest
oforBusi
nessRev
olut
ionby
HammerandChampy(
1993)i
swi
del
y
r
efer
encedbymostBPRr
esear
cher
s
andi
sregar
dedasoneoft
hest
art
ing
poi
ntsofBPR.Thef
oll
owi
ngi
sthei
r
def
ini
ti
onofBPR:
[Reengi
neer
ingi
s]t
he
f
undament
alr
ethi
nki
ngandr
adi
cal
r
edesi
gnofbusi
nesspr
ocessest
o
achi
evedr
amat
ici
mpr
ovement
sin
cr
it
ical
,cont
empor
arymeasur
esof
per
for
mance,
suchascost
,qual
i
ty,
ser
viceandspeed.(
p.32)Anot
herBPR
f
ather
,Dav
enpor
t(1993)
,descr
ibes
‘
busi
nesspr
ocessr
edesi
gn’
as:
...t
he
anal
ysi
sanddesi
gnofwor
kfl
owsand
pr
ocesseswi
thi
nandbet
ween
or
gani
sat
ions.Busi
nessact
ivi
ti
es
shoul
dbev
iewedasmor
ethana
col
l
ect
ionofi
ndi
vi
dual
orev
en
f
unct
ional
tasks;
theyshoul
dbebr
oken
downi
ntopr
ocessest
hatcanbe
desi
gnedf
ormaxi
mum ef
fect
iveness,
in
bot
hmanuf
act
uri
ngandser
vice
env
ironment
.Thesedef
ini
ti
onssuggest
t
hatweshoul
dconcent
rat
eon
pr
ocessesr
athert
hanf
unct
ions(
or
st
ruct
ures)ast
hef
ocusoft
he(
re
-
)desi
gnandmanagementofbusi
ness
act
ivi
ty.Thedef
ini
ti
onsoft
het
erm‘
proc
-3Busi
nessPr
ocessReengi
neer
ing
Page70§3.
1Busi
nessPr
ocess
Reengi
neer
ing:
Int
roduct
ionYi
h-Chang
Chen(
2001)“
Empi
ri
cal
Model
l
ingf
or
Par
ti
cipat
iveBusi
nessPr
ocess
Reengi
neer
ing”ess’
bydi
ff
erent
r
esear
cher
sar
eal
sosl
i
ght
lydi
ff
erent
.
Forexampl
e,HammerandChampy
(
1993)def
ineapr
ocessas:
acol
l
ect
ion
ofact
ivi
ti
est
hatt
akesoneormor
e
ki
ndsofi
nputandcr
eat
esanout
putt
hat
i
sofv
aluet
othecust
omer
.(p.35)For
Dav
enpor
t(1993)i
tis:
Apr
ocessi
sa
speci
fi
cor
der
ingofwor
kact
ivi
ti
es
acr
osst
imeandspace,
wit
habegi
nni
ng,
anend,
andcl
ear
lyi
dent
if
iedi
nput
sand
out
put
s:ast
ruct
uref
oract
ion.(
p.5)
AndWar
boy
setal
.(1999)def
inea
pr
ocessas:
Apr
ocessi
sst
ruct
ured
change,
i.
e.t
her
eisapat
ter
nofev
ent
s
whi
chanobser
vermayr
ecogni
se
acr
ossdi
ff
erentact
ual
exampl
es(
or
occur
rences)oft
hepr
ocess,
orwhi
ch
maybemademani
fest
,ori
mpl
ement
ed,
i
nmanydi
ff
erentoccur
rences.(
p.32)I
n
BPR,
thepr
ocesst
ober
eengi
neer
edi
s
t
heso-
cal
l
edbusi
nesspr
ocess.
Dav
enpor
tdescr
ibesabusi
nesspr
ocess
as“
simpl
yast
ruct
ured,
measur
edsetof
act
ivi
ti
esdesi
gnedt
opr
oducea
speci
fi
edout
putf
orapar
ti
cul
ar
cust
omerormar
ket
”.Ri
emer(
1998)
descr
ibesbusi
nesspr
ocessesi
nan
obj
ect
-or
ient
edst
yle:
“busi
ness
pr
ocessesar
eser
iesofst
epst
hat
changest
atesofbusi
nessobj
ect
s(t
hat
i
s,cust
omer
s,or
der
sandi
nvent
ory
),
t
her
ebycausi
ngbusi
nessev
ent
s”.
Howev
erweshoul
dnot
ethatBPRi
s
concer
nedwi
thcust
omer
-or
ient
ati
on.
Thust
heout
put
sofbusi
nesspr
ocesses
shoul
dnotonl
yachi
evet
hecompany
’s
obj
ect
ives,
butal
soneedt
osat
isf
y
cust
omer
s’r
equi
rement
s.Fr
om t
hese
def
ini
ti
onswecanconcl
udet
hat
busi
nesspr
ocessesst
artandendwi
th
cust
omer
s,andt
hev
alueofbusi
ness
pr
ocessesi
sdependentupon
cust
omer
s.TheOr
igi
nsofBPRSome
r
esear
cher
sar
guet
hatt
heor
igi
nal
conceptofr
eengi
neer
ingcanbet
raced
backt
othemanagementt
heor
iesoft
he
ni
net
eent
hcent
ury
.Asoner
epor
tinThe
Fi
nanci
alTi
mes(
1994)
:Thepur
poseof
r
eengi
neer
ingi
stomakeal
lyour
pr
ocessest
hebest
-i
n-cl
ass..
..Fr
eder
ick
Tay
lorsuggest
edi
nthe1880’
sthat
manager
susepr
ocessr
eengi
neer
ing
met
hodst
o3Busi
nessPr
ocess
Reengi
neer
ingPage71§3.
1Busi
ness
Pr
ocessReengi
neer
ing:
Int
roduct
ionYi
h-
ChangChen(
2001)“
Empi
ri
cal
Model
l
ing
f
orPar
ti
cipat
iveBusi
nessPr
ocess
Reengi
neer
ing”di
scov
ert
hebest
pr
ocessesf
orper
for
mingwor
k,andt
hat
t
hesepr
ocessesber
eengi
neer
edt
o
opt
imi
sepr
oduct
ivi
ty..
..I
ntheear
ly
1900’
s,Henr
iFay
olor
igi
nat
edt
he
conceptofr
eengi
neer
ing:
Toconduct
t
heunder
taki
ngt
owar
dit
sobj
ect
ivesby
seeki
ngt
oder
iveopt
imum adv
ant
age
f
rom al
lav
ail
abl
eresour
ces.(
p.8)
Si
mil
arl
y,Gal
l
ier
s(1998)obser
vest
hat
“
BPR.
..f
arf
rom bei
nganewdepar
tur
e,
i
sinf
actar
ever
siont
othecl
assi
cal
school
1ofst
rat
egi
cthi
nki
ng
popul
ari
sedi
nthe1960s”
.Thati
s,
or
gani
sat
ionsmakesuchr
adi
cal
changeswhent
heymeetcompet
it
ive
pr
essur
eswhi
chchal
l
enget
hei
rcur
rent
pr
ocesses.BPRcanbev
iewedasa
r
esponset
osuchchangeandt
her
efor
e
f
it
sint
hecl
assi
cal
school
ofst
rat
egy
wher
eor
gani
sat
ionsadj
ustt
hemsel
ves
t
onewf
ormsi
nor
dert
omaxi
miset
hei
r
pr
ofi
ts.Howev
eri
tiscommonl
yagr
eed
t
hatBPRf
ir
stcameandat
tract
ed
academi
candi
ndust
ri
alat
tent
ioni
n
1990asar
esul
toft
wopaper
sby
Mi
chael
Hammer(
onr
eengi
neer
ing,
see
Hammer
,1990)andThomasDav
enpor
t
(
onbusi
nesspr
ocessr
edesi
gn,
see
Dav
enpor
tandShor
t,1990)
.In1993
t
heyf
urt
herpubl
i
shedt
wokeybooks
(
HammerandChampy
,1993and
Dav
enpor
t,1993)whi
chbr
ought
wi
despr
eadat
tent
iont
otheemer
ging
f
iel
dofBPR.TheconceptofBPRi
s
wi
del
yregar
dedashav
ingbeen
i
ntr
oducedasaper
cei
vedsol
uti
ont
o
t
heeconomi
ccr
isi
sandt
her
ecessi
onof
t
hel
ate1980’
sandear
ly1990’
s(But
ler
,
1994;
Arnot
tandO’
Donnel
l
,1994)
.As
But
lerdescr
ibesi
t:“
the‘
80swer
eat
ime
f
orf
inanci
alr
eengi
neer
ing.
..t
he‘
90s
ar
efort
echnol
ogi
cal
reengi
neer
ing”
.
HammerandChampy(
1993)pr
opose
t
hat“
BPRcanhel
por
gani
sat
ionsoutof
cr
isi
ssi
tuat
ions2bybecomi
ngl
eaner
,
 bet
terabl
etoadaptt
omar
ket
condi
ti
ons,
innov
ati
ve,
eff
ici
ent
,
cust
omerf
ocusedandpr
ofi
tabl
eina
cr
isi
ssi
tuat
ion”

4Expl
aint
hechar
act
eri
sti
csofbusi
ness
pr
ocessesr
eengi
neer
ingcy
cle?

I
fbusinessprocessimprovement
i
sf i
ne-t
uningyourcar,t
henbusiness
processreengineer
ingi
sdoi ngatotal
engineoverhaul.
Businessprocessreengineer
ing(BPR) hel
ps
organizat
ionsreimagi
net hei
rexi
sting
processesandt akeextr
emer edesign
measur estoachieveremarkabl
er esul
ts.
BPRisdif
ferentfr
om other
 BPM i
niti
ati
v es
becausei
trevampsapr ocessent
irelyrather
thanmaki
ngr epeatedi
mprovement stoi t
.
Implement i
ngBPRsuccessfull
ywil
lresul
tin
mor edrasti
cbenefi
tsofsavi
ngcosts,
speedingprocesses,andbet
teri
ng
product/ser
vicequal
ity
.
BPRBlowsItUp
I
n1990anMI Tprofessor,MichaelHammer,
wrot
eanar t
icl
et i
tl
ed,“Don’tAutomate,
Obli
ter
ate”whi chfuel
ledBPR’ spopul
arit
yas
arevol
utionaryconcept.Hammerwr i
tes:
I
tisti
met ostoppavingthecowpat hs.
I
nsteadofembeddi ngout datedprocesses
i
nsili
conandsof tware,weshoul doblit
erate
them andstartover
.Weshoul d“r
eengineer”
ourbusinesses:usethepowerofmoder n
i
nformationtechnol
ogyt oradical
lyredesign
our 
businessprocesses 
inor dert
oachi eve
dramaticimprovementsint hei
r
perf
ormance.
Busi
nessesl
oveBPRf ori
tsno-nonsense,
bl
it
zkri
egappr
oachtocompletelyblotout
wastefr
om pr
ocesses.
OfTacosa ndTaurus
e s
BPRgai nedmor esteam whenFortune500
compani esstart
edadopt i
ngbusi
ness
processr eengi
neeri
ng(BPR)astheirnew
weaponofchoi cet oeli
minat
eprocess
redundanciesandshootupwor kfl
ow
effi
ci
ency .
Inoneoft heear l
yex ampl esofBPR’ s
success, FordMot orCompany  examined
thei
rAccount sPay abledepar t
ment .Inthe
earl
y1990s, theyempl oyed500peopl ei
n
account spay abletomanageav ery
complicatedsy st
em.Theyal sohad
i
neffi
cienci esthroughoutt hesy stem and
manyer r
or s.Throughsomebasi c
i
mpr ovement swi thIT,theythoughtt hey
couldreducet heirwor kfor
ceby20%.
Howev er,whent heyr eali
zedthatMaz da
employ edonl y5peopl eintheiraccounts
payable,theyr eali
z edsomet hi
ngmor e
drasti
cwasneeded.
Usi
ngBPR,
For
d:
 I
ntroducedtheconceptof“I
nvoicel
ess
Processi
ng”
 Reducedtheirworkf
orceby75%
 Digi
ti
zeditsaccount
ingprocess
 I
mpr ovedvendorrel
ati
onships
TacoBel l’
sK-Minusiniti
ati
ve 
i
sanot her
exampl eofasuccessf ulBPRinit
iat
ive.The
retai
lfoodser v
icecompanydeci dedto
mov ethef oodpreparati
onjobfrom it
s
restaurant
st oacentrali
zedcommi ssari
es
i
n1989.Thedeci si
onhel pedthem:
 Achievegreaterqualit
ycontr
ol
 Lessenempl oyeeinjuri
esinrestaur
ant
ki
tchens
 Encourageempl oyeest odel
i
v erbet
ter
customerserv i
ce
WhentoUseBusi
nes
sPr
oce
ssReengi
nee
ri
ng
(
BPR)
Thebenef
itsofBPRar
ecount
less–
i
ncr easedrevenue, improvedcust omer
service,r
educedcost ,hi
gherempl oyee
retenti
on,fasterprocessingtime.Nearlyany
businessbenef itcanbegai nedfrom
businesspr ocessr eengi
neering.
Howev er
,thekeyi swhent ouseBPR.Her e
aresomekeyt i
meswheny oumi ghtwantto
thi
nkaboutobl i
terati
ngy ourprocessesand
starti
ngfresh:
 Whent echnologyhassigni
fi
cantl
y
disr
uptedy ouri
ndustry
 Whenacompet i
tordoesdr
asti
call
y
morewi thless(t
hinkMazda)
 Wheny ouneedt obet hedi
srupti
onin
yourindustry
 Whenal itt
leimprovementwon’tmake
muchdi ff
erence
ThePitf
all
sOfBusi
nessProcessReengi
nee
ri
n g
Businessprocessreengineeri
ng(BPR)isnot
asilverbul
lett
orevivetangledup,sl
oppy
processes.Itf
ail
swhencompani esmistake
BPRforawayt
oaut
omat
e,downsi
ze,
or
out
source.
Abusinesspr
ocessr
eengineer
ing(
BPR)
i
nit
iat
ivefl
opswhenorgani
zati
ons:
 Applyittomorethanonepr ocess
 Don’thavelong-
term, cl
eargoals
 Endupwi thonlymi norchangest ot
he
process
 Don’tdaretoputtheirprocessesonthe
anvil
 Applyitconti
nual
ly,reengi
neer i
ng
processesyearl
yormor eoften
 Focusmor eonaut omat i
ont han
redesi
gn

5I
nvest
igatetheERPandr
elat
ed
t
echnologi
es?
Ent
erpr
iseresour
cepl
anni
ng
(
ERP)
 r
efer
stoat y
peofsoft
warethat
organizationsuset omanageday -to-day
businessact iv
iti
essuch
as account i
ng, 
procur ement , 
project
management ,
 
riskmanagementand
compl iance,and suppl ychai noper ati
ons.A
compl eteERPsui tealsoi ncl udes enterpr
ise
performancemanagement , softwar ethat
helpspl an,budget ,predict,andr epor tonan
organization’
sfinanci al r
esul ts.
ERPsy stemst i
et oget heramul t
itudeof
businesspr ocessesandenabl ethef l
owof
databet weent hem.Bycol lect i
ngan
organization’
sshar edt r
ansact i
onal data
fr
om mul ti
plesour ces, ERPsy stems
el
imi natedatadupl i
cat i
onandpr ovidedata
i
ntegr i
tywi t
hasi ngl esour ceoft r
ut h.
Today,ERPsy st
emsar ecrit
icalfor
managingthousandsofbusi nessesofal
l
si
zesandi nalli
ndust
ries.Tot hese
companies,ERPisasindispensableasthe
el
ectr
icit
ythatkeepsthelightson.
What ’sthedif
fer
encebetweenERPand
financial
s?
Al t
houghtheterm“fi
nanci
als”isoft
enused
whendescr ibi
ngERPsoftware,fi
nanci
als
andERPar enotthesamething.Fi
nanci
als
referstoasubsetofmoduleswi t
hinERP.
Financi al
sar et hebusi nessf unctions
relat
ingt ot hef i
nancedepar tmentofan
organizat ionandi ncl udesmodul esf or
fi
nanci al accounting, subledger
account i
ng, account i
nghub, payabl esand
receivables, revenuemanagement ,bil
li
ng,
grants, expensemanagement ,project
management ,assetmanagement ,joint
ventureaccount i
ng, andcol lections.
Financi al
ssof t
war eusesr epor ti
ngand
analytical capabili
tiest ocompl ywi tht he
reportingr equirement sofgov erningbodi es,
suchast heInternat i
onal Financi al
Repor tingSt andardsFoundat i
on( IFRS) ,
Financi alAccount ingSt andar dsBoar d
(FASB)f orGener allyAccept edAccount i
ng
Principl esi nt heUni tedSt ates( GAAP) ,as
wel lasf orot hercount ries( HGBi nGer many
andPCGi nFr ance, forexampl e) .Forpubl ic
organi zat i
ons, fi
nanci alssof twar ehast obe
ablet opr oduceper i
odi cf i
nanci al
statement sforgov er ningr egul at ors,such
ast heUSSecur it
iesandExchange
Commi ssi on( SEC)( wi t
hr epor t
ssuchas
quar terly10- Qandannual 10-K) ,Eur opean
Secur itiesandMar ket sAut hor i
ty( ESMA) ,
andot her s.Fort heset ypesoff inanci al
repor ts, a 
nar rativerepor t
ing  tool isused.
Theper sonwhoi sultimat el yresponsi ble
forf i
nanci alsi sthe CFO.
Whi lef i
nanci alshandl esonear eaoft he
busi ness, ERPencompassesawi der ange
ofbusi nesspr ocesses—i ncl udingf i
nancials.
ERPsof twar ecani ncl udecapabi lit
ies
for procur ement ,
 suppl ychai nmanagement ,
i
nv ent or y,manuf actur i
ng, mai ntenance,
ordermanagement ,
pr ojectmanagement ,
l
ogi stics, productl i
fecy cle
management , ri
skmanagement , enterpri
se
per formancemanagement  (
EPM) ,
 human
resour ces/ humancapi t
almanagement ,
and  cust omerr elat i
onshipmanagement
(CRM) .Cl oud- basedERPappl icati
onsar e
of t
enembeddedwi thnext-
gener ati
on
technol ogies, suchast heinternetoft hings
(IoT) ,
 blockchai n, AI,machinel earning, and
digital assist ants.Theseadv anced
technol ogiesdel iv erdataandcapabi li
ties
thatnotonl yenhancemanyt r
aditi
onal ERP
funct i
ons; theycr eatenewoppor tuniti
esf or
i
ncr easedef fici
enci es,newser v
ices,and
deeperi nsi ghtacr ossanent erpri
se.Si nce
ERPsy stemsar ecompr ehensiveacr ossan
ent erpr i
se, theirmanagementof t
eni nvolves
apar tnershi pwi tht heCFOaswel last he
CI O,COO, andot herkeyexecut i
veleader s.

6Descr
ibeSuppl
yChai
nManagementand
i
tspr
ocess?

Suppl
ychai
nmanagementi
sthe
 managementoft
hef
lowofgoodsand
ser
vicesandi
ncl
udesal
lpr
ocessest
hat
t
ransf
ormr
awmat
eri
alsi
ntof
inal
pr
oduct
s. 
Iti
nvol
vest
heact
ive
st
reaml
i
ningofabusi
ness'
ssuppl
y-
side
act
ivi
ti
est
omaxi
mizecust
omerv
alue
andgai
nacompet
it
iveadv
ant
agei
nthe
mar
ket
place

InSCM,the suppl
ychai
n
manager 
coor di
nat
esthe 
l
ogi
sti
cs 
ofall
aspect
soft hesuppl
ychai
nwhichconsi
sts
of 
fi
veparts:
 Theplanorst rategy
 Thesource( ofrawmat eri
alsorser
vices)
 Manufacturi
ng( focusedonproducti
vit
y
andeffi
ciency )
 Del
iv
er yandl ogist
ics
 Thereturnsystem ( f
ordef
ecti
veor
 unwant
edpr
oduct
s)
Thesuppl ychai
nmanagert ri
est ominimize
shor
tagesandkeepcost sdown.Thej obis
notonlyaboutlogisti
csandpur chasing
i
nventory.Accordi
ngt o Sal
ary.
com, supply
chai
nmanager s“overseeandmanage
over
allsupplychainandl ogi
sticoperati
ons
tomaximi zeeff
ici
encyandmi nimizecost
1
oforgani
zat i
on'
ssuppl ychain.
"
Product
ivi
tyandeffici
encyimpr ov
ements
cangostraighttothebottom l
ineofa
company.Goodsuppl ychainmanagement
keepscompani esoutoftheheadlinesand
awayfrom expensiverecall
sandlawsuit
s.
SCM v s.SupplyChains
A supplychain i
sthenetworkofi ndivi
dual
s,
compani es,resour
ces,acti
vit
ies,and
technologiesusedtomakeandsel l a
productorser vi
ce.Asupplychainst art
s
withthedel i
veryofrawmat eri
alsfrom a
suppli
ertoamanuf actur
erandendswi th
thedel
iv
eryoft
hefi
nishedpr
oductor
serv
icetot
heendconsumer.
SCM ov erseeseacht ouchpointofa
company 'sproductorser vi
ce, f
rom i
ni t
ial
creationt othefinalsale.Withsomany
placesal ongt hesupplychaint hatcanadd
valuet hroughef fi
ci
enciesorl osevalue
throughi ncreasedexpenses, properSCM
cani ncreaser evenues,decreasecost s,and
i
mpactacompany '
s bott
om line.

7Assesst
hevar
iousty
pesofDSS?
Expl
aini
ndet
ailwi
thsui
tabl
eexampl
es?

Adecisionsuppor tsy st
em ( DSS)isa
computerpr ogram applicat i
onusedto
i
mpr oveacompany '
sdeci sion-maki
ng
capabi
li
ties.Itanalyzeslargeamount sof
dataandpr esentsanor gani zati
onwitht
he
bestpossibleoptionsav ailable.
Decisi
onsupportsy
st emsbringtogether
dataandknowledgef r
om diff
erentareas
andsourcestoprovi
deuser swith
i
nformati
onbeyondt heusual r
eportsand
summar i
es.Thi
sisintendedtohelppeople
makeinformeddecisions.
Typicali
nfor
mat i
onadecisi
onsuppor
t
applicat
ionmightgat
herandpr
esent
i
ncludet hef
oll
owing:
 compar at
ivesalesfi
guresbetween
oneweekandt henext;
 proj
ectedrevenuefiguresbasedon
newpr oductsalesassumpt i
ons;
and
 theconsequencesofdi ff
erent
deci
sions.
Adecisionsupportsystem i
san
i
nfor
mat i
onalappl
icat
ionasopposedt oan
oper
ationalappli
cati
on.Inf
ormat
ional
appl
i
cat i
onspr ovi
deuserswithr
elevant
i
nfor
mat i
onbasedonav ar
iet
yofdata
sourcest osuppor tbet
ter-
inf
ormed
decision-making.Operati
onalappl
ications,
bycont rast,r
ecordthedetail
sofbusi ness
transactions,i
ncludi
ngthedat ar
equiredf or
thedeci sion-
supportneedsofabusi ness.
Deci
sionsupportsystem component s
Atypi
calDSSconsistsoft hreedif
ferent
par
ts:
 knowledge
dat
abase, 
softwar
e and userint
erface.
Knowl edgebase.  A knowl edgebase i
san
i
nt egral partofadeci si
onsuppor t
sy st
em  database, cont aini
ngi nf
ormation
from bot hinternal andext ernalsour
ces.It
i
sal ibraryofi nformat i
onr el
atedto
par t
icularsubj ectsandi st hepartofaDSS
thatst oresi nformat ionusedbyt he
sy st
em' sr easoni ngengi net odeterminea
cour seofact ion.

8I
ll
ust
rat
ethei
mpr
ovement
sthat
 happenedi
ntheSCM wi
thERP?

heintegrat
ionofSuppl ychainmanagement
andERPal lowsmanuf acturi
ngand
dist
ribut
ionbusinessest heabili
tyt
ogain
greatervi
sibi
li
tyintoalloperati
onswhil
e
i
ncreasingspeed, eff
iciencyandoveral
l
customersatisfacti
on.
Agrowingnumberofbusi nessesrecognize
themanypotent
ial
 benefi
tsofEnt er
pri
se
ResourcePl
anni
ng( ERP) 
wheni tcomest o
managingbusi
nessinfor
mat ion,i
ntegrati
ng
vari
oussyst
emsandwor kingprocesses,
andensuri
ngopti
mal operati
onaleffi
ciency.
Wheni tcomestoSuppl yChain
Management( SCM) ,
businessesneedt o
i
nteractwit
hnumer oussupplier
sand
part
nersinordertoobtaintherawmat eri
als
andresourcesneededtobr i
ngf i
nished
goodst omar ket
.ERPpl aysav i
talrol
ein
combat i
ngi neffi
ciency;r
educi ngwast eand
ensuri
ngt hatwor kersarebet terabledir
ect
thei
refforts.Theintegrati
onofbot h
systemsmayposesomeuni quechal l
enges.
Iti
siny ourcompany ’sbestinterestto
ensurethaty ouandy ourstafffull
y
understandt heroleofERPwi thintheSCM
process.
YouMayAlsoLi
ke:
 
Connect
ing 
ERP and
Suppl
yChai
nManagementStr
ategi
es
Benef
it
sofCombini
ngSuppl
yChai
n
ManagementandERPSyst
ems
Thefeature-ri
chwor ki
ngenv
ironmentof
ERPcombi nedwi t
hthemorestreamli
ned
andeffi
cientwor kfl
owofanef f
ecti
veSCM
canprovidear angeofimport
ant
advant
ages, incl
uding:
 I
mpr ovedef
fi
ci
encyacrossmult
ipl
e
depart
mentsandorgani
zati
onsworki
ng
 withint hesuppl ychai n
 Impr ov edcust omerser vi
cef or
i
ncr easedcust omerr etenti
onand
great erchanceofr epeatbusi ness
oppor t
unities
 Aut omat ionofwor kf l
owf orreduced
over headandoper at i
onalcost s
 ITissuesandpr oblemst hatar eless
l
ikelyt ocr eatebottleneckstoi mpede
effi
ci ency
 Mor ef lexiblesupplychainsol uti
onsthat
mayber eadi l
yadapt edtomeett he
needsofchangi ngci rcumstancesor
futurebusi nessgrowt handexpansi on.

9Compar
eMI
SandDSS?

MIS stands f or Management

Inf
ormationSyst
ems.Iti
sat ypeofli
nkthat
assi
stsi nt he communication bet
ween
manager s of var
ious discipl
i
nes in a
businessfir
m oranor ganizati
on.Ont he
whole,i tplay
sav er
yi mport
antr ol
ei n
buil
ding up communi cat
ion among t he
corporatepeople.MISi schar
acteri
zedby
aninputofl ar
gev ol
umeofdat a,anoutput
of summar y r eport
s and pr ocess
character
izedbyasimpl emodel.Usual
ly,i
n
MIS,t heflow ofinf
ormationi
sf rom both
si
des, upanddown.
MISf ocusesont hei nformati
ongat hered
andt hei nformat i
ont hathaspour edf r
om
dif
ferentquar t
er s.Fur thermore,itfocuses
mor e on pl anni ng t he reportofv ar
ious
topi
csconcer nedwi tht heorganizati
onthat
woul d assistt he manager st otake v i
tal
decisi
onsper t
ainingt ot hefunctioni
ngof
the or ganization. Mor eover, MI S i s
characteri
zedbyani nputoflargev ol
umeof
data,an out putofsummar yreportsand
processchar acter izedbyasi mpl emodel .
Whati
sDSS?
DSSst
andsf
orDeci
sionSuppor
tSy
stems.
I
ti sani mprovementoftheconceptofMI S.
I
ti str
uet hatbothofthem dif
feri
ntermsof
their focus. DSS f ocuses mor e on
l
eader ship. It i s all about seni or
managementi naf ir
m provi
dinginnovat
ive
visi
on.Ther ef
ore,t
heExpertsonmanager ial
behaviorsayt hatDSS focuses mor e on
decisi
onmaki ng.
Home / 
Technol
ogy 
/ 
IT 
/ 
Appl
i
cati
ons 
/ 
Dif
f
er
enceBetweenMISandDSS
Di
ffer
enceBetweenMISandDSS
February13,2011 Postedby 
Aron
53
The keydif
ference bet
weenMI SandDSSis
that
 MISi s a pr i
mar ylevelofdecisi
on
makingwher easDSS i stheult
imat
eand
themainpar tofthedecisi
on.
MISandDSSar etwoabbrevi
ati
onsthatare
of
ten heard in the f i
eld of 
Business
Management.Theydi
fferi
naf ewaspects.
MIS i s a compl ementary net work
of
 har
dware and sof
tware 
cooperat
ing to
col
lect, process, st
ore and di str
ibutes
i
nformat i
ont osupportthemanager i
alrole
toincrease business val
ues and profi
t s.
DSSi saninformati
onsy st
em thatsupports
businessoror gani
zat
ionaldeci
sion-
making
acti
vit
ies.
CONTENTS
1.
 Over
viewandKeyDi
ffer
ence
2.
 WhatisMIS
3.
 WhatisDSS
4.
 Si
debySideCompar
ison–MI Sv
sDSSi
n
Tabul
arForm
5.
 Summary
Whati
sMI
S?
MIS stands forManagementI nformat ion
Systems.Iti
sat ypeofli
nkt hatassi st
si n
thecommuni cationbetweenmanager sof
vari
ousdisci
plinesinabusinessf ir
m oran
organi
zati
on.Ont hewhole,itplaysav ery
i
mpor tant r ol
e in buil
ding up
communi cat
ion among t he cor porate
peopl
e.MI Si
scharacter
izedbyani nputof
l
argevol
umeofdat a,anoutputofsummar y
repor
ts and pr
ocess characterized by a
simpl
emodel .Usual
ly,i
nMI S,thef l
ow of
i
nformati
on i
sf rom bot h sides,up and
down.

Figur e01: MI S
MISf ocusesont hei nformat i
ongat hered
andt hei nformat i
ont hathaspour edf r
om
dif
ferentquar t
er s.Fur thermor e,itfocuses
mor e on pl anni ng t he repor tofv ar
ious
topi
csconcer nedwi tht heorgani zati
onthat
woul d assistt he manager st otake v i
tal
decisi
onsper t
ainingt ot hef unctioni
ngof
the or ganization. Mor eov er, MI S i s
characteri
zedbyani nputofl argev ol
umeof
data,an out putofsummar yr eportsand
processchar acter izedbyasi mpl emodel .
Whati
sDSS?
DSSst
andsf
orDeci
sionSuppor
tSy
stems.
I
ti sani mprovementoftheconceptofMI S.
I
ti str
uet hatbothofthem dif
feri
ntermsof
their focus. DSS f ocuses mor e on
l
eader ship. It i s all about seni or
managementi naf ir
m provi
dinginnovat
ive
visi
on.Ther ef
ore,t
heExpertsonmanager ial
behaviorsayt hatDSS focuses mor e on
decisi
onmaki ng.

Usually,the fl
ow ofi nformat i
on i
s only
upwar dinDSS.I ti
sf eaturedbyani nputof
l
ow v olumeofdat a,anout putofdecision
analysis and a process char act
eri
zed by
i
nteractiv
e model . Mor eover, DSS i s
featuredbyani nputoflowv olumeofdat a,
an out put of decision anal ysi
s and a
processcharacteri
zedbyi nteracti
vemodel .
Whati
stheDi
ff
erenceBet
weenMI
Sand
DSS?
MIS st
ands f
orManagementInfor
mati
on
Sy
stems.Iti
sacomplement
arynetwor
kof
hardwar e and sof tware cooper at
ing t o
collect, process, st ore and di st
ributes
i
nfor mationt osuppor tthemanager ialrole
toi ncrease busi ness v alues and profits.
Themai nf ocusofMI Si sont heoperat i
onal
effi
ciency.Mor eover
,itsflowofi nfor
mat ion
i
s f rom bot h sides, up and down.
Furthermor e,MI Stakesani nputofl arge
volume of dat a and out puts summar y
report.It
schar act
eri
zedpr ocessi sasi mple
model .Usual l
y,theMI Sbasedr eportsar e
notv eryflexibl
e.
DSSst andsf orDeci sionSuppor tSystems.
Iti
sani nformationsy stem t hatsuppor t
s
busi
nessoror ganizationaldeci si
on-
maki ng
acti
vi
ties.The mai nf ocus ofDSS i s on
making t he ef f
ect i
v e decision for t he
companyt odot her i
ghtt hing.Mor eover,
theflow ofi nfor
mat i
oni nDSSi sonl yto
upward.Furthermor e, DSSusest hei
nputof
l
ow v olume ofdat a and out putdeci si
on
anal
ysis.Its charact erized process is an
i
nter
acti
vemodel
.Usually,t
heDSSbased
r
eportsar
emoref
lexi
ble.

UNI
T-I
V

 Sect
ion-A (
5Mar
ks)
1)Summar
izet
opt
enERPpackagesf
ormanuf
act
uri
ngi
ndust
ry.

Ans:
-a)Pl
exSy
stems:
-Pl
exwasoneoft
hem i
nther
acet
oCl
oudERPsol
uti
ons.
Theyhel
pedpi
oneert
hepr
ocessandf
ort
hatr
eason,
theyt
endt
obeoneof
t
hemor
emat
urecl
oudERPsy
stemsoutt
her
e.

b)Mi
crosof
tDy
nami
cs365:
-Thi
ssof
twar
eof
fer
sal
otofcapabi
l
iti
es,
bot
h
wi
thi
nandout
sideoft
hemanuf
act
uri
ngspace,
andt
heycont
inuet
oev
olv
e
andi
mpr
oveast
heybui
l
duponmanuf
act
urerf
unct
ional
i
ties.

c)Deacom :
-Thi
scompanyi
sfocusedpr
imar
il
yonmanuf
act
uri
ngERP
sy
stems,
whi
chshowst
hei
rdedi
cat
iont
othei
rspace.

d)I
nforCl
oudsui
te:
-Inf
orCl
oudsui
te 
hashi
stor
ical
l
yfocusedheav
il
yint
he
manuf
act
uri
ngspace.

e)SAP/
S4HANA:
-Yes–wehav
eat
ie.
 SAP 
hasv
erycompar
abl
eresul
tst
o
I
nforCl
oudsui
tebecausei
t’
stai
l
oredt
olar
geror
gani
zat
ionswi
thi
tsbr
oad
capabi
l
iti
es.

f
)Epi
cor:
-Al
ongwi
thmanyot
her
s, 
Epi
cor
 i
smaki
ngi
tst
ransi
ti
ont
othecl
oud
space.Theybr
inganewsenseoft
ranspar
encyandseaml
essnessi
nto
manuf
act
uri
ngoper
ati
onst
hathav
ebenef
it
edmanyofourcl
i
ent
s.

g)Or
acl
eERPCl
oud:
-Or
acl
ehast
radi
ti
onal
l
ybeenusedbyuppermar
ket
or
gani
zat
ions,
andt
hei
rlegacypr
oduct
shav
edonegr
eati
nmanuf
act
uri
ng.
 h)Acumat
ica:
-Thi
sisanewerpr
oductt
hathasbeenar
oundf
orj
ustov
er10
y
ear
s,buti
t’
soneoft
hef
ast
est
-gr
owi
ngERPsy
stemsont
hemar
ket
.

i
)IQMS:
-Thi
spr
oducthasbeenar
oundf
oral
ongt
imeandhasbeen
dedi
cat
edt
othemanuf
act
uri
ngspacesi
ncet
hebegi
nni
ng.
 I
QMS 
i
ssui
tabl
e
f
orsmal
ltomi
d-si
zedcompani
es,
andt
hei
rbi
ggestst
rengt
hist
hebr
eadt
h
off
unct
ional
i
tywi
thi
nthemanuf
act
uri
ngspace.

j
)QAD:
-QADi
sawel
l
-knownmanuf
act
uri
ngERPsol
uti
onacr
ossl
arge,
high
f
unct
ioni
ngmanuf
act
uri
ngor
gani
zat
ions,
from aut
omobi
l
est
ochemi
cal
manuf
act
urer
s.

k)I
FS:
-IFSi
sacompanybasedoutofEur
ope,
butt
heyhav
ebecomemor
e
wel
l
-knownacr
osst
hegl
obei
nrecenty
ear
s. 
IFS 
i
samanuf
act
uri
ng-
f
ocusedpr
oductandi
t’
sagr
eatf
itf
oror
gani
zat
ionswi
thheav
y pr
oject
management
.

2)Out
li
net
heERPmodul
es.
Ans:
-Fi
nance
Pr
ocur
ement
Manuf
act
uri
ng
I
nvent
oryManagement
Or
derManagement
War
ehouseManagement
Suppl
yChai
nManagement
Cust
omerRel
ati
onshi
pManagement(
CRM)
Pr
ofessi
onal
Ser
vicesAut
omat
ion(
Ser
viceResour
ceManagement
)
Wor
kfor
ceManagement
HumanResour
cesManagement
Ecommer
ce
 Mar
ket
ingAut
omat
ion

3)Summar
izeanyt
ensubsy
stemsofhumanr
esour
cemanagementmodul
e.

Ans:
-(1)Per
for
manceAppr
aisal
:

Per
for
manceappr
aisal
isapr
ocessofr
ati
ngorensur
ingt
heper
for
manceofan
empl
oyeeofhi
sjob.Per
for
manceappr
aisal
ist
heassessmentofani
ndi
vi
dual
’
s
per
for
mancei
nasy
stemat
icway
.

(
2)Pot
ent
ial
Appr
aisal
:

Theobjectofpotent
ial
appraisal
ist
odevel
oplatentabi
l
iti
esofindi
vi
dual
s.Potent
ial
appr
aisalprov
idesvi
tali
nformati
onabouti
ndi
vidual
stoprepar
ecareerpl
ansforthem.
(
3)Car
eerPl
anni
ng:
Planni
ngforCar
eermakesempl
oyeegr
owi
nhi
swor
kingl
i
fet
imewhi
l
eunpl
anned
career
sfl
opped.
(
4)Tr
aini
ng:
Tr
ainingisanattempttoimpr ovecurr
entorf
utur
eempl oy
eeperfor
manceby
i
ncreasinganemployee’sabil
itytoperf
ormthr
oughlearni
ngusuall
ybychangi
ngt
he
employee’sat
ti
tudeorincreasinghi
sorherknowledge.
(
5)Or
gani
zat
ionDev
elopment
:
Organi
zat
ionDev el
opmentintendtochangebel
i
efs,at
ti
tudes,v
aluesandst
ructur
eof
organi
zat
ionthattheycanbetteradaptt
onewtechnol
ogies,market
sandchal
lenges
andthedizzy
ingrateofchangeitsel
f.
(
6)Rewar
ds:
Rewardi
ngemploy
eesforthei
rexcel
lentpr
ofessi
onalper
for
manceoverandabov
e
thei
rusual
wagesandsalar
iesboostupthei
rmoraleandencour
ageother
stowork
hard.
 
(
7)Counsel
i
ng:
Counsel
ingi
sanessent
iali
nst
rumentofHRD.Itser
vessever
alpurposes.Counsel
i
ng
i
saser v
icepr
ovi
dedtotheemploy
eesregar
dingthei
rper
sonalprobl
ems.
(
8)Qual
i
tyCi
rcl
e:
Qual
i
tyci
rcl
eisasmal
lgr
oupofpeopl
edoi
ngsameorsi
mil
arwor
k.Theymeet
v
oluntar
il
ytoget
heronr egul
arbasisforanhourperweek,duri
ngoff
icehour
sunder
t
heleadershi
poftheirsuper
visorandtrai
nedtoident
if
y,anal
yzeandsol
vesomeof
t
heproblemsoftheirworkandsubmi tsolut
ionstomanagement.
(
9)Rol
eAnal
ysi
s:
Roleisasetofexpect
edbehavi
ourpat
ternsatt
ri
butedt
oaper
sonoccupy
ingagi
ven
posit
ioni
naunit.Ever
yemploy
eehasar oletoplay
.
(
10)HumanResour
cePl
anni
ng:
H.R.Planningisanintegral
partofbusi
nessandor
ganisat
ionpl
anni
ng.I
tconcer
ns
wit
hdet ai
l
edpl anni
ngt oestabl
i
shthefutur
ehumanresourcer
equi
rement
satevery
l
evelbyskil
l andcategory
.

(
11)Pr
ocur
ementandPl
acement
:
I
tisoneoftheimport
antsubsy
stemsofHRD.Pr
ocur
ementofhumanr
esour
cesi
s
donethr
oughrecr
uit
mentandselect
ion.
(
12)JobRot
ati
on:
Jobsarerot
atedamongtheemploy
eest
oincr
easet
hei
rknowl
edgeandski
l
lrequi
red
forper
for
manceofvari
ousjobs.
(
13)Qual
i
tyofWor
kingLi
fe:
Employeesaretheasset
sofanorgani
sat
ion.Toextractt
hebestfr
om empl
oyees
adequate,
healt
hyandhygieni
cworki
ngcondit
ionsshouldbeprov
ided.

4)Out
li
net
heov
erv
iewofBaanCompany
.

Ans:
-BaanCompanyi
sadev
eloperofent
erpr
isebusi
nessmanagementandcl
i
ent
ser
versof
twar
esy
stems.Fr
om i
tsdual
headquar
ter
sinTheNet
her
landsandi
n
Rest
on,
Vir
gini
a,Baanov
erseesagl
obal
organi
zat
ionofsubsi
diar
yandpar
tner
shi
p
compani
es,
bot
hforpr
oductdev
elopmentandf
ordi
str
ibut
ionandi
mpl
ement
ati
onof
t
hecompany
'spr
oduct
s.

Foundedi
ntheNet
her
landsi
n1978byJanandPaul
Baan,
Baanbecameamaj
orERP
v
endoroper
ati
ngi
nmor
ethan80count
ri
es.I
tspr
oduct
ssuppor
tUni
x,Wi
ndows
NT/
2000andAS/
400pl
atf
orms.
I
n2000,
Baanwasacqui
redbyBr
it
ishcompanyTheI
nvensy
sGr
oup.I
n2003,
the
Baandi
vi
sionwaspur
chasedbySSAGl
obal
Technol
ogi
es,
whi
chi
mmedi
atel
y
i
ntegr
atedt
heBaanappl
i
cat
ionsi
ntoi
tsownsuppl
ychai
nandl
i
fecy
clemanagement
por
tfol
i
o.SSABaanERPr
etai
nedi
tsl
ong-
runni
ngnamel
i
neageunt
ilI
nforGl
obal
Sol
uti
onsacqui
redSSAatt
heendof2006.

5)Det
ermi
net
heOr
acl
eCor
por
ati
on.

Ans:
-Or
acl
eCor
por
ati
oni
sthel
argestsuppl
i
erofdat
abasesof
twar
eandt
hesecond
l
argestsuppl
i
erofbusi
nessappl
i
cat
ionsi
nthewor
ld.Ourpr
oduct
sincl
udet
he
Or
acl
e8dat
abase,
ser
ver
-baseddev
elopmentt
ool
s,andbusi
nessappl
i
cat
ionsf
ort
he
f
rontandbackof
fi
ce.

Thest
rat
egyf
orourdat
abasebusi
nessi
ssi
mpl
e:decr
easet
het
otal
costof
owner
shi
pofmi
ssi
on-
cri
ti
cal
dat
abaseappl
i
cat
ionswhi
l
eincr
easi
ngt
hequal
i
tyof
ser
vice.How?Mi
nimi
zet
hel
aborr
equi
redt
oruny
ourcomput
ernet
wor
k.Mov
ing
dat
abaseappl
i
cat
ionsof
fusermanageddeskt
opPCsandont
opr
ofessi
onal
l
y
managedappl
i
cat
ionser
ver
sist
hekey
.

Ourbusi
nessappl
i
cat
ionsdomor
ethanaut
omat
ebackof
fi
cepr
ocesses.They
aut
omat
ethef
rontof
fi
cet
oo.Andt
heypr
ovi
det
hei
nfor
mat
iont
hatmanagement
needs:
OurAppl
i
cat
ionsDat
aWar
ehousemoni
tor
skeybusi
nessmet
ri
csanddel
i
ver
s
f
astanswer
stohar
dquest
ions.

6)Compl
eteacompar
ati
veassessmentandsel
ect
ionofERPpackagesand
modul
es.

Ans:
-Compl
eteacompar
ati
veassessmentandsel
ect
ionofERPpackagesand
modul
es.

For
mat
ionofanev
aluat
ioncommi
tt
ee:
AnERPi
mpl
ement
ati
oni
snotanI
T
pr
ojectbutabusi
nessor
ient
eddev
elopment
.Ther
efor
e,i
naddi
ti
ont
oChi
ef
 I
nfor
mat
ionOf
fi
cer
,thi
scommi
tt
eeshoul
dcompr
iseofal
lfunct
ional
headsand
dr
ivenbyat
opmanagementr
epr
esent
ati
ve.

Requi
rementAnal
ysi
s:Thi
sanal
ysi
sshoul
dout
li
nef
unct
ional
expect
ati
onsof
v
ari
ousbusi
nessdi
vi
sions,
suchaswar
ehouse,
finance,
procur
ement
,fr
om pot
ent
ial
ERPpackage.Vi
tal
requi
rement
sspeci
fi
ctot
hecompanyshoul
dbehi
ghl
i
ght
ede.
g.

 Musthav
eDi
str
ibut
ionRequi
rementPl
anni
ng(
DRP)f
unct
ional
i
ty.

 I
ntr
ansi
tinv
ent
oryandpal
l
ett
racki
ng,
asapar
tofshi
ppi
ngr
equi
rement
.

 Mul
ti
plepur
chaseor
der
sli
nkedt
oonebi
l
lofl
adi
ng.

 Mul
ticur
rencyandmul
til
ocat
ionsf
unct
ional
i
ty.

Sel
ect
ionCr
it
eri
a: 
Aper
-det
ermi
nedsel
ect
ionCr
it
eri
ashoul
dber
eadybef
ore
act
ual
sel
ect
ionpr
ocesscommences.Sel
ect
ioncr
it
eri
aar
enor
mal
l
yint
hef
orm of
quest
ionnai
reandpoi
ntsy
stem,
wher
eeachquest
ionr
epr
esent
sabusi
nessor
t
echni
cal
need.

Sel
ect
ionPr
ocess:
 
Sel
ect
ionpr
ocessconst
it
utesv
ari
ousst
agesasment
ioned
bel
ow:

A)Shor
tli
sti
ngofv
endor
s.

B)DemoandPr
esent
ati
on.

C)Si
tev
isi
tandcont
ractnegot
iat
ions.

7)Det
ermi
net
hewar
ehousemanagementsy
stem i
nERP

Ans:
-War
ehousemanagementsy
stem i
sanaut
omat
ionsof
twar
ethatst
reaml
i
nes
ev
ery
dayoper
ati
onsi
nthewar
ehouse.Ev
erybusi
nesswhet
heronl
i
neorof
fl
ineneeds
ar
ightwar
ehousemanagementsof
twar
etomanaget
hei
rdi
str
ibut
ionchannel
.Awel
l
-
 def
inedWMSsof
twar
eboost
sbusi
nessr
evenuesandf
ost
ersheal
thybusi
ness
r
elat
ionshi
pswi
thv
ari
ousst
akehol
der
soft
hebusi
ness,
suchasv
endor
s,cust
omer
s,
i
nvest
ors,
andt
hei
nter
nal
team.

KeyBenef
it
sofWar
ehouseManagementSy
stem:

 I
ncr
easeLabour
 Pr
oduct
ivi
ty

 I
mpr
oveWar
ehouseSpace 
Uti
l
izat
ion

 I
mpr
oveI
nvent
oryVi
sibi
l
ityandAccur
acy

 I
ncr
easeOn-
TimeShi
pment
s

I
nvent
oryManagement

Or
derManagement

War
ehouseI
nwar
d

War
ehouseOut
war
d

RFI
DBar
-codeScanni
ng-

Ret
urnsManagement

Logi
sti
csManagement

8)Commentonl
eadi
ngERPv
endorSAPAG.

Ans:
-In1972f
ivef
ormerI
BM empl
oyees-
Diet
marHopp,
Hans-
Wer
ner
,Hasso
Pl
att
ner
,Kl
ausTschi
ra,
AndCl
ausWel
l
enr
eut
her
-launchedacompanycal
l
ed
sy
stems,
Appl
i
cat
ions,
AndPr
oduct
sinDat
aPr
ocessi
ng(
SAP)i
nMannhei
m,Ger
many
wi
thav
isi
ont
odev
elopst
andar
dappl
i
cat
ionsof
twar
eforr
eal
timebusi
ness
pr
ocessi
ng.
Wit
htot
alr
evenuesof$18.
54bi
l
li
oni
nthef
inanci
aly
ear2011,
thi
s
companyi
snowt
her
ecogni
zedl
eaderi
npr
ovi
dingcol
l
abor
ati
vebusi
nesssol
uti
ons
f
oral
lty
pesofi
ndust
ri
esandf
orev
erymaj
ormar
ket
.Headquar
ter
edi
n
wal
l
dor
f,
Ger
many
,wi
thl
ocat
ionsi
nmor
ethan130count
ri
esandmor
ethan61000
empl
oyees,
SAPAGi
sthewor
ldl
eaderi
nent
erpr
isesof
twar
eandsof
twar
e-r
elat
ed
ser
vices.

9)Pr
edi
ctt
hebenef
itofpeopl
esof
t.

Ans:
-Peopl
eSof
tisahumanr
esour
ce(
HR)sof
twar
edesi
gnedf
orsmal
ltomedi
um-
si
zedbusi
nesses.Thr
ought
hesof
twar
e’ssetofhi
ghl
y-
scal
abl
eapps,
user
scan
achi
eveauni
quesol
uti
onf
ort
hei
rcompl
exbusi
nessr
equi
rement
s.Peopl
eSof
tis
cr
eat
edt
opr
ovi
dey
ouwi
thi
nsi
ght
sint
oev
eryt
ransact
ionmadebyy
ourcompany
. 

Themai
nbenef
it
sofPeopl
eSof
tar
eit
scompr
ehensi
vef
eat
ureset
,gener
alusabi
l
ity
,
andscal
abi
l
ity
.Her
ear
ethebenef
it
sof
fer
edbyPeopl
eSof
tfory
ourbusi
nesspr
ocess:

Wor
kfor
ceManagement

Peopl
eSof
tensur
espol
i
ciesandcont
rol
stoy
ourwor
kfor
cet
hroughasui
teofhel
pful
f
eat
ures,
incl
udi
ngf
orecast
ingwor
kloaddemandandl
abor
,capt
uri
ngt
hewor
king
t
imeandabsences,
creat
ingandi
dent
if
yingwor
kschedul
es,
andensur
ing
compl
i
ancet
orul
es,
regul
ati
ons,
andl
aws.Wi
tht
his,
youcanensur
eef
fi
ciencyand
pr
oduct
ivi
tywi
thi
nyourt
eam.

HumanCapi
tal
Management

Tomakey
ourcompanycompl
i
antwi
tht
hegl
obal
mar
ket
place’
regul
ati
onsand
r
equi
rement
s,Peopl
eSof
tcov
erspol
i
ciesf
orconsi
stentr
einf
orcementandasour
ce
oft
rut
hinr
epor
ti
ngbusi
nessmet
ri
cs.I
tev
engotan“
embassy
-gr
ade”secur
it
yto
saf
eguar
dyourcompany
’ssensi
ti
vedat
aandpr
otecty
ourpr
ivacy
.

LaborRegul
ati
onsandMoni
tor
ingManagement

Peopl
eSof
tlet
sbusi
nessesr
egul
atecost
sbypr
ovi
dingcr
it
ical
labordat
aanal
ysi
sin
r
eal
-t
ime,
incl
udi
ngt
heov
ert
imesandunpl
annedabsences.Thesof
twar
ehel
psy
ou
st
reaml
i
net
heent
ir
epr
ocesst
hroughacent
ral
i
zedpl
atf
orm,
whi
chcanbeusedand
v
iewedbymanager
s.Theycanei
therappr
oveordi
sappr
ovet
her
equest
sandsol
ve
t
heconf
li
cts.

Tal
entManagement

Peopl
eSof
thandl
est
hewhol
etal
entcy
cle,
incl
udi
ngr
ecr
uit
ing,
planni
ngandl
ear
ning.
Addal
sot
othatt
hecar
eerdev
elopment
,compensat
ion,
per
for
mance,
andot
her
s.

St
affSer
viceDel
i
ver
y

Thi
sfeat
urecanhel
pyourHRdepar
tment
sreducei
tswor
kloads.
 Al
lthel
eadi
ng
t
askscanbedonei
nashor
tper
iodandi
thel
psi
mpr
ovecol
l
abor
ati
onwi
thi
nthet
eam.

10)I
nfert
hemeani
ngofJDEdwar
ds.

Ans:
-JDEdwar
dsEnt
erpr
iseOnei
sasui
teofent
erpr
iser
esour
cepl
anni
ng(
ERP)
sof
twar
ethati
sdev
elopedandsol
dbyOr
acl
eCor
por
ati
on.

JDEdwar
dsEnt
erpr
iseOnecont
ainsmor
ethan80separ
ate 
appl
i
cat
ion 
modul
es
desi
gnedt
osuppor
tawi
der
angeofbusi
nesspr
ocesses.Thesui
tei
ncl
udessuppl
y
chai
nmanagement(
SCM)sof
twar
easwel
lasappl
i
cat
ionsf
or 
fi
nanci
al
management
, 
proj
ectmanagement
, 
ent
erpr
iseassetmanagement
, 
order
management
, 
manuf
act
uri
ngoper
ati
onmanagement
 andoper
ati
onal
repor
ti
ng.The
sof
twar
esui
teal
sof
eat
uresmobi
l
eappl
i
cat
ionst
hatsuppor
t
bot
h i
OS 
and 
Andr
oid 
andcanbeusedonsmar
tphonesandt
abl
ets.
 

Ent
erpr
iseOnewasor
igi
nal
l
ydev
elopedbyJ.
D.Edwar
ds,
anERPv
endort
hatr
eleased
t
hef
ir
stv
ersi
onoft
hesui
tei
n1997undert
henameJDEdwar
dsOneWor
ld.Thename
waschangedt
oJDEdwar
dsEnt
erpr
iseOneaf
terJ.
D.Edwar
dswasacqui
red
by
 Peopl
eSof
tInc.
 i
n2003.I
n2005,
Oracl
eacqui
redPeopl
eSof
t,andwi
thi
ttheJD
Edwar
dst
echnol
ogy
.Thef
oll
owi
ngy
ear
,Or
acl
eannouncedt
hati
twoul
dcont
inuet
o
dev
elopandsuppor
tJDEdwar
dsEnt
erpr
iseOnei
ndef
ini
tel
y.

11)Summar
izet
opt
enERPpackagesf
ormai
ntenancemanagement
.

Ans:
-Mai
ntenanceManagementsof
twar
eaut
omat
est
het
racki
ngandschedul
i
ngof
mai
ntenanceact
ivi
ti
es,
enabl
i
ngser
viceor
gani
zat
ionst
ooper
atepr
oact
ivel
ywhi
l
e
r
educi
ngdownt
imeandi
ncr
easi
ngoper
ati
ngef
fi
ciency
.

Fel
i
x

Apt
ien

EZOf
fi
ceI
nvent
ory

Cr
yot
os

UpKeep

AssetPanda

mHel
pDesk

Ver
izonConnect

eSpace

Odoo

12)Det
ermi
net
heERPv
endor
s.

Ans:
- Det
ermi
neaVendor
'sCur
rentCl
i
ent
s.…

FocusonCompani
esi
ntheSameI
ndust
ry..
..
 Compar ePr ojectScope...
.
ConsiderCompanySi ze...
.
Veri
fyt heConsul t
ants..
..
SeetheAppl i
cati
oninPr ogr
ess..
..
BePr eparedandAskQuest i
ons..
..
Determi neHowt heVendorHandlesChanges.
Doest heVendorDel iverWit
hinBudget
?
Considert heCultur
e

13)Compl
eteSAPpr
oduct
swi
thexampl
es.

Ans:
-Maj
oruni
ts

SAPS/
4HANA 
(Ent
erpr
iseResour
cePl
anni
ng 
on-
premi
seandcl
oud)

SAPBusi
nessBy
Desi
gn 
(SMECl
oud 
Ent
erpr
iseResour
cePl
anni
ng)

SAPBusi
nessOne 
(Smal
lent
erpr
ise 
Ent
erpr
iseResour
cePl
anni
ng)

SAPCRM 
(Cust
omerRel
ati
onshi
pManagement
)

SAPERP 
(Ent
erpr
iseResour
cePl
anni
ng)

SAPPLM 
(Pr
oductLi
fecy
cleManagement
)

SAPSCM 
(Suppl
yChai
nManagement
)

SAPSRM 
(Suppl
i
erRel
ati
onshi
pManagement
)

Busi
nesssof
twar
e

SAPAdv
ancedDat
aMi
grat
ion 
(ADP)

SAPAdv
ancedPl
annerandOpt
imi
zer

SAPAnal
yti
csCl
oud

SAPAdv
ancedBusi
nessAppl
i
cat
ionPr
ogr
ammi
ng 
(ABAP)
SAPAppar
elandFoot
wearSol
uti
on 
(AFS)

SAPBusi
nessI
nfor
mat
ionWar
ehouse 
(BW)

SAPBusi
nessBy
Desi
gn(
ByD)

SAPBusi
nessExpl
orer
 (
Bex)

SAPBusi
nessObj
ect
sLumi
ra

SAPBusi
nessObj
ect
sWebI
ntel
l
igence 
(Webi
)

SAPBusi
nessOne

SAPBusi
nessPar
tnerScr
eeni
ng

SAPBusi
nessI
ntel
l
igence 
(BI
)

SAPBusi
nessWor
kfl
ow

SAPCat
alogCont
entManagement
 (
)

SAPCl
oudf
orCust
omer
 (
C4C)

SAPCostCent
erAccount
ing 
(CCA)

SAPConv
ergentChar
ging 
(CC)

SAPConv
ergedCl
oud

SAPDesi
gnSt
udi
o

SAPPRD2(
P2)

SAPEnt
erpr
iseBuy
erPr
ofessi
onal
 
(EBP)

SAPEnt
erpr
iseLear
ning

SAPPor
tal
 
(EP)

SAPExchangeI
nfr
ast
ruct
ure 
(XI
)(Fr
om r
elease7.
0onwar
ds,
SAPXIhasbeen
r
enamedasSAPPr
ocessI
ntegr
ati
on(
SAPPI
))

SAPExt
endedWar
ehouseManagement
 (
EWM)

SAPFI
CO

SAPGRC(
Gov
ernance,
RiskandCompl
i
ance)

SAPEHSM (
Env
ironmentHeal
th&Saf
etyManagement
)

Ent
erpr
iseCent
ral
Component
 (
ECC)

SAPERP

SAPHANA 
(f
ormer
lyknownasHi
gh-
per
for
manceAnal
yti
csAppl
i
ance)

SAPHumanResour
ceManagementSy
stems 
(HRMS)

SAP 
SuccessFact
ors

SAPLi
tmosTr
aini
ngCl
oud

SAPI
nfor
mat
ionDesi
gnTool
 
(IDT)

SAPI
ntegr
atedBusi
nessPl
anni
ng(
IBP)

SAPI
nter
netTr
ansact
ionSer
ver
 (
ITS)

SAPI
ncent
iveandCommi
ssi
onManagement
 (
ICM)

SAPI
TOper
ati
onsAnal
yti
cs(
ITOA)
[1]

SAPJam

SAPKnowl
edgeWar
ehouse 
(KW)

SAPManuf
act
uri
ng

SAPMar
ket
ingCl
oud

SAPMat
eri
alsManagement
 (
MM)
SAPMast
erDat
aManagement
 (
MDM)

SAPPl
antMai
ntenance 
(PM)

SAPPr
oduct
ionPl
anni
ng 
(PP)

SAPPr
oductLi
fecy
cleCost
ing 
(PLC)

SAPPr
ofi
tabi
l
ityandCostManagement
 (
PCM)

SAPPr
ojectSy
stem 
(PS)

SAPRapi
dDepl
oymentSol
uti
ons 
(RDS)

SAPSer
viceandAssetManagement

SAPSuppl
yNet
wor
kCol
l
abor
ati
on(
SNC)

SAPSol
uti
onsf
ormobi
l
ebusi
ness

SAPSal
esandDi
str
ibut
ion 
(SD)

SAPSol
uti
onComposer

SAPSt
rat
egi
cEnt
erpr
iseManagement
 (
SEM)

SAPTestDat
aMi
grat
ionSer
ver
 (
TDMS)

SAPTr
aini
ngandEv
entManagement
 (
TEM)

SAPNet
Weav
erAppl
i
cat
ionSer
ver
 (
WebAS)

SAPxApps

SAPSal
esCl
oud(
prev
iousl
y:Cal
l
idusCl
oud)

SAPSuppl
yChai
nPer
for
manceManagement(
SCPM)

SAPSuppl
yChai
nManagement(
SCM)

SAPSust
ainabi
l
ityPer
for
manceManagement(
SUPM)
SAPS/
4HANA

SAPMast
erDat
aGov
ernance 
(MDG)

SAPS/
4HANACl
oud

I
ndust
rysof
twar
e

SAPf
orRet
ail

SAPf
orUt
il
it
ies 
(I
SU)

SAPf
orPubl
i
cSect
or 
(I
SPSCD)

SAPf
orOi
l&Gas 
(I
SOi
l&Gas)

SAPf
orMedi
a (
ISM)

SAPf
orTel
ecommuni
cat
ions 
(I
ST)

SAPf
orHeal
thcar
e (
ISH)

SAPBanki
ng 
(SAPBanki
ng)

SAPf
orI
nsur
ance 
(SAPf
orI
nsur
ance)

SAPFi
nanci
alSer
vicesNet
wor
k (
FSN)

SAPShi
ppi
ngSer
vicesNet
wor
k (
SSN)

Engi
neer
ingConst
ruct
ion&Oper
ati
ons 
(EC&O)

SAPI
SAi
rl
ines&Def
ense

SAPf
orDi
scr
eteI
ndust
ri
esandMi
l
lPr
oduct
s(I
SDI
MP)

Sof
twar
eforsmal
landmi
dsi
zeent
erpr
ises[
edi
t]

SAPBusi
nessOne 
(Smal
lent
erpr
iseERP6.
2,6.
5,2004,
2005,
2007,
8.8x,
9.X,
10.
x)
SAPBusi
nessBy
Desi
gn 
(SMECl
oudERP)

Pl
atf
ormsandf
ramewor
ks

SAPCl
oudPl
atf
orm 
(I
tsbr
andnamei
sremov
ed[
2] 
i
nJanuar
yof2021i
nfav
orof
 SAP
Busi
nessTechnol
ogyPl
atf
orm)

SAPEnt
erpr
iseSer
vicesAr
chi
tect
ure

SAP 
Net
Weav
er 
Plat
for
m

SAPNet
Weav
erPor
tal
 
(for
mer
ly 
SAPEnt
erpr
isePor
tal
)

SAPNet
Weav
erBI(
for
mer
ly 
SAPNet
Weav
erBW-"
BW"i
sst
il
lusedt
odescr
ibet
he
under
lyi
ngdat
awar
ehousear
eaandaccel
erat
orcomponent
s)

SAPNet
Weav
erVi
sual
Composer

SAPAut
o-I
DInf
rast
ruct
ure

SAPComposi
teAppl
i
cat
ionFr
amewor
k

SAPNet
Weav
erDev
elopmentI
nfr
ast
ruct
ure

SAPNet
Weav
erI
dent
it
yManagement

SAPNet
Weav
erSi
ngl
eSi
gn-
On

SAPBusi
nessConnect
or 
(depr
ecat
ed/
remov
edf
rom pr
oductr
ange)

SAPHANA

SAPI
Q

Legacypl
atf
orms

SAPR/
2
SAPR/
3

Ot
her
s

OpenUI
5

SAPCCMS,
moni
tor
ingpr
ogr
am

SAPGUI

eCATT

SAPCent
ral
ProcessSchedul
i
ng,
processaut
omat
ionandj
obschedul
er

SAPFi
ori
 
formobi
l
edev
icesannouncedonMay2013

SAPSol
uti
onManager

Sy
baseASE

Sy
baseSQLAny
wher
e

SAPAr
iba

SAP 
Fiel
dgl
ass

SAP 
Concur

SAP 
Hybr
is

SAP 
Lit
mos

14)Expr
essMi
crosof
tdy
nami
cs.

Ans:
-Dy
nami
cs365Busi
nessCent
ral

Anal
l
-in-
onebusi
nessmanagementsol
uti
ont
hatconnect
sfi
nanci
als,
sal
es,
ser
vice,
andoper
ati
onst
ost
reaml
i
nebusi
nesspr
ocessesandi
mpr
ovecust
omeri
nter
act
ions.

UserMi
nimum:
1

Tar
getOr
gani
zat
ionSi
ze:
 
10-
250

Capabi
l
ity
:Cor
ecapabi
l
iti
esacr
ossf
inance,
oper
ati
ons,
suppl
ychai
n,andpr
oject
management
.

CRM:
 
Inbui
l
tCRM capabi
l
ity
,of
fer
ingOut
looki
ntegr
ati
onwi
thoppor
tuni
ty
managementandcust
omerser
vicecapabi
l
ity
.

Ful
l
yint
egr
atedcl
oud-
basedERPandCRM sol
uti
ont
hatcanhel
pent
erpr
ise-
lev
el
oper
ati
onsopt
imi
zeoper
ati
onal
eff
ici
ency
,impr
ovest
rat
egi
cpl
anni
ng,
andi
ncr
ease
wor
kfor
cepr
oduct
ivi
ty.

UserMi
nimum:
20

Tar
getOr
gani
zat
ionSi
ze:
 
250+

Capabi
l
ity
:Adv
ancedcapabi
l
ityacr
ossf
inance,
oper
ati
ons,
manuf
act
uri
ng,
andsuppl
y
chai
n.

CRM:
 
NoCRM capabi
l
itybutDy
nami
cs365f
orSal
esi
sincl
udedwi
tht
hef
ull
Dy
nami
cs365pur
chasepl
an.

15)CommentonQAD.

Ans:
-In1979,
QADwasf
oundedbyPamel
aLopker
,whowasl
aterj
oinedbyher
husbandKar
lLopker
,asasmal
lst
art
upsol
uti
ont
oaddr
essal
argegapi
ncompl
ete,
i
ntegr
atedbusi
nesssof
twar
eformanuf
act
uri
ngcompani
es.

Webeganwi
thaf
ewl
ocal
cust
omer
s,suppor
ti
ngt
hem f
rom ourheadquar
ter
sin
Sant
aBar
bar
a,Cal
i
for
nia.Butasourcust
omer
stookt
hei
rbr
andst
othenext
l
evel
—int
ernat
ional
—weadapt
edqui
ckl
ytokeepup.Todaywesuppor
t 
cust
omer
s i
n
ov
er100count
ri
esar
oundt
hewor
ld.Ourpr
oduct
shav
egonegl
obal
,too,
andwehav
e
spenty
ear
sinnov
ati
ngandgr
owi
ngourof
fer
ingasourcust
omer
sexpandt
hei
r
busi
nessesov
erseas.

You’
l
lof
tenhearussayt
hatatt
hehear
tofQADi
sast
rongandl
oyal
cust
omer
communi
ty.Wer
eal
l
ybel
i
evet
hatt
ocr
eat
ethebestf
ull
-f
eat
ured 
manuf
act
uri
ngERP
sof
twar
e f
orourcust
omer
sweneedt
owor
ktoget
her
.Wepr
ideour
sel
vesonour
cust
omerengagementandourcommi
tmentt
ocont
inual
l
yev
olv
east
he
manuf
act
uri
ngi
ndust
rychanges.

I
t’
sbeenov
erf
ourdecades;
west
il
lfocussol
elyonmanuf
act
uri
ng—wel
i
veand
br
eat
hei
tev
erydayal
ongsi
dey
ou.Toget
herwear
ebui
l
dingan 
Adapt
ive
Manuf
act
uri
ngEnt
erpr
ise.

[
DOCUMENTTI
TLE]
JESFINSIMON
LSCM
20305115
PARTB
UNIT-I
V

Q1.
Inv
est
igat
ethev
ari
ousf
unct
ionalmodul
esofERP.
Funct
ional
Modul
esofERPSof
twar
e
 
ERPsof t
wareismadeupofmanysof twar emodul es.EachERP
software modul e mi mics a maj or functional area of an
organizati
on.CommonERPmodul esincl
udemodul esf orpr
oduct
pl
anni ng,parts and mat er
ial purchasing,i nventory cont
rol
,
product di stri
buti
on, or der t racki
ng, fi
nance, account i
ng,
mar keti
ng,andHR.Or ganizat
ionsof t
ensel ect
ivel
yimpl ementthe
ERPmodul esthatarebotheconomi call
yandt echnicall
yfeasi
ble.
 
Howev er,iti s notnecessar yt hatev er y ent er
pri
se system
appli
cat ion willhav e allmodul es ment i
oned abov e.Some
organi zati
ons i ntending t o use cust omi zed ERP sof t
ware
gener all
yi mplementspeci f
ic 
ERP modul es thatar etechni
cally
feasible and al so economi calt oi mplement .Such business
organi zati
ons appr oach ERP Sof tware Company wi t
h their
enterpr i
se resour ce planning softwarer equi rements and ask
them t ostudyanddesi gnenterpr
isesy st
em sof twareaspertheir
businessr equirement s.Let’stakeal ookatsomemai nfunct
ional
modul esof Ent
er pri
ser esourceplanning 
sy stem indetail
.
 
  
1ERPPr
oduct
ionPl
anni
ngModul
e
 
I
nt he process ofev oluti
on ofmanuf actur
ing requir
ements
planni
ng(MRP)I IintoERP,whi l
ev endorshav edev el
opedmor e
robustsoftwaref orpr oducti
onpl anning,consulti
ngf i
rmshav e
accumulated v ast knowl edge of i mpl ementi
ng pr oducti
on
planni
ngmodul e.Pr oducti
onpl anningoptimizestheut i
li
zati
onof
manufacturi
ng capaci ty, parts, component s and mat eri
al
resour
cesusi nghistori
calproductiondataandsal esforecast
ing.
 
2ERPPur
chasi
ngModul
e
 
Purchase modul e st r
eaml i
ne procurement of r equired r aw
material
s.Itautomat est hepr ocessesofi dent
ify
ing potent i
al
suppli
ers,negoti
at i
ng pr i
ce,awar di
ng pur chase ordert ot he
suppli
er,and billi
ng pr ocesses.Pur chase modul ei st ightly
i
ntegrated wi
tht he inventorycontroland pr oducti
on planning
modules.Purchasingmodul eisoftenintegratedwit
hsuppl ychain
managementsof tware.
 
3ERPI
nvent
oryCont
rol
Modul
e
 
Invent
ory modul e facili
tates pr ocesses of mai nt
aining t he
appropri
atel evelofst ock in a war ehouse.The act ivit
ies of
i
nv ent
orycont rolinvol
v esi ni dentif
yingi nventoryrequirement s,
setti
ngt ar
gets,providi
ngr eplenishmentt echni
quesandopt i
ons,
moni t
ori
ngi t
em usages,r econci li
ngt hei nventor
ybal ances,and
report
inginventorystatus.Integrationofi nventorycontrolmodul e
withsales,pur chase,financemodul esal l
owsERP sy stemst o
generatevigi
lantexecutivel ev
el reports.
 
4ERPSal
esModul
e
 
Revenuesf rom sal
esareli
vebloodforcommer ci
alorganizat
ions.
Salesmodul eimplement
sf uncti
onsofor derplacement ,order
scheduling,shippi
ng and invoi
cing.Sales modul ei s closely
i
ntegratedwi thorgani
zat
ions'ecommer cewebsi tes.ManyERP
vendorsof f
eronli
nestor
efrontaspartofthesalesmodul e.
 
5ERPMar
keti
nModul
e
 
ERPmarket
ingmodul
esuppor
tsl
eadgener
ati
on,di
rectmai
l
ing
campai
gnandmor
e.
 
6ERPFi
nanci
alModul
e
 
Bothfor
-pr
ofi
torganizat
ionsandnon-profi
torganizat
ionsbenefit
fr
om theimplementati
onofERPf inancialmodule.Thef i
nancial
moduleisthecoreofmanyERPsof twaresystems.Itcangather
fi
nanci
al data from v ar
ious f
unctional departments, and
gener
atesvaluablefi
nanci
alr
eport
ssuchbalancesheet
,gener
al
l
edger,t
rai
lbalance,
andquart
erl
yfi
nanci
alst
atement
s.
 
7ERPHRModul
e
 
HR ( Human Resour ces)i s anotherwidelyimplement ed ERP
modul e.HR modul e streamlines the managementofhuman
resourcesandhumancapi tal
s.HRmodul esrouti
nelymai nt
aina
compl et
e empl oyee dat abase includi
ng contact informat i
on,
salar
ydet ai
l
s,attendance, per
formanceev al
uati
onandpr omot i
on
of allempl oyees.Adv anced HR modul eisi ntegrated wi th
knowledge management sy stems t o optimall
y ut il
ize the
experti
seofallempl oyees.
 
Eachoftheseabov ef unct i
onalmodul esofERPsof t
war epl aysan
i
mpor t
antr ol
e.Theor gani zat
ionscanchooset oi mpl ementsome
oft he modul es oral laccor di
ng tot hei
rr equirement s.The
companies optf ort he modul es whi
ch aret echni cally and
economicallyf easibl et ot hem.Thesemodul esst reaml i
net he
fl
owoft hecommuni cat i
onacr ossthecompanybyi nt egratingt he
vari
ousf uncti
onaldepar t
ment s.Theenterpri
ser esour cesy stem
i
sboundwi t
hal lt hesef unctionalmodules.Thesedi stincty et
seamlesslyint egrat ed modul es covermostoft he f unctional
needs of an or gani zat i
on.The f unct
ionalmodul es of ERP
soft
warehel pt oachi eveef fi
ciencyofoper at
ions,costsav i
ngs
andhelpt omaxi mi zet hepr ofi
ts.

Q2.I
nvest
igat
ethev
ari
ousmodul
esofSAP–ERP.

SAPAppl
i
cat
ionModul
es
Ther
e are 2 Ty
pes ofSAP ERP system Modules:Functi
onal
ModulesandTechni
calModul
es.Al
lSAPModul esintegr
atewit
h
eachotherwi
thfunct
ional
i
tyandpr
ovidethebestsoluti
onfora
Busi
ness.

Funct
ional
SAPERPModul
es:

 HumanResour ceManagement( SAPHRM) ,al

soknownas
HumanResour ce( HR)
 Product i
onPl anning( SAPPP)
 Mat eri
alManagement( SAPMM)
 Fi
nanci alSupplyChai nManagement(
SAPFSCM)
 SalesandDi str
ibution(SAPSD)
 ProjectSy st
em ( SAPPS)
 Fi
nanci alAccount ingandControl
l
ing(
SAPFICO)
 PlantMai ntenance( SAPPM)
 Qual i
tyManagement( SAPQM)

Techni
cal
SAPERPModul
es:

 SAPBasi s
 SAPSecur ity
 AdvancedBusi nessAppli
cati
onProgr
amming(SAPABAP)
 HighPer f
ormanceAnal yt
icAppl
i
ance(SAPHANA)
 SAPNet Weav er
 I
nformat i
onSy stemsManagement( SAPIS)
 CustomerRel ationshi
pManagement( SAP CRM Techni
cal
module)
 ExchangeI nfr
ast ruct
ure(
SAPXI)
 SAPSol uti
onManager

adv
ant
agesofanERPsy
stem:

1.Tot
alVisi
bil
i
ty 
–Thisbenef
itofERPisoneofthebiggest
sel
l
ingpoint
sfort
hesoftware.ERPal
l
owstot
alaccesst o
 ev eryi mpor tantpr ocessi ny ourbusi nessbymaki ngdat a
from ev er ydepar tmenteasi lyaccessi blet oy ouandy our
seni ormanagement .
2.Impr ov edRepor t
ingandPl anning  –I mpl ement i
nganERP
sui t
eacr ossdepar t
ment smeansy ouror ganisationhasa
single,uni fi
edr epor t
ingsy stem f orev erypr ocesswhi chcan
gener ateusef ulreportsandanal y t
icsatanyt i
me.
3.Compl eteCust omi sation –MostERPv endor soff ersev eral
appl icationst hatcanbei mpl ement edt oget heraccor dingt o
busi nessneeds.
4.Impr ov edEf f
iciency – Al ongwi thr educedI T andt raining
cost s,anERPcanr educet het imeandef f
ortrequi redby
yourwor kforcet ocar ryoutt heirdai lyact i
v i
ti
es.Pr oper ly
i
mpl ement ed,an ERP can gr eatlyr educe or el imi nate
repet iti
vemanualpr ocesses,t husf r
eeingupt eam member s
tof ocusonr ev enue-af f
ect i
ngt asks.
5.Dat aSecur i
tyandQual i
ty –Oneoft hebi ggestadv antagesof
anERPsy stem i sdat asecur it
y.Af t
eral l,atthehear toft he
ERPconcepti sdat a.Shar ingdat aacr ossf unctionalsi l
os
suchascust omerser v
ice,sal es,mar ketingandbusi ness
dev elopmentenhancescol labor ati
ont hr oughoutacompany .
Theot hersi det owi despr eaddat aaccessi scont rolli
ngwho
can see and edi tt he i nformat ion.ERP sol utions hav e
i
nt ri
nsi ccont rolstoensur et hesecur i
tyofy ourdat a.

3Q.
Expl
aint
hepl
antmai
ntenancemodul
eofERP

Pl
antMai
ntenance

 PlantMai nt
enanceModulecoversal
lmaintenancetaskssuchas
I
nspection,Serv
ici
ngandRepairact
ivi
ti
es.
 I
talsopr ovi
desIntegr
atedBusi
nessReportsthathel
pinreduci
ng
thedurati
onandcostofdownt i
measar esultofdamage.
 I
tenabl
estheusertorecogni
zet
hepossi
blechal
l
engeswi
thi
n
t
echni
calsy
stem i
ngoodt
ime.

PlantMai ntenance
Plantmai ntenancei satypeofmodul et hatpr ov i
desani ntegr ated
solutionwhi chsuppor tstheoper ationalneedsofanent erprise-
widesy st em.Thi smodul eincludesal lthepr oductst hatcov er sall
aspect sf ort he mai ntenance ofpl antorequi pmenti n good
oper at i
ngcondi tionst oav oidpr oduct ionst oppageandl oss.I t
alsobecomesi ntegr altoaccesst heachi evementoft hepr ocess
i
mpr ov ement .
Themaj orsubsy st emsofapl antmai nt enancear e:
Prev ent i
v emai ntenancecont r
ol :
Prev ent i
v emai ntenancecont r
olenabl est heor ganizationt ol ower
repaircostbyav oidanceofdownt ime,machi nebr eakageand
process v ariabi l
ity .Ital so pr ovi
de pl anni ng,schedul ing and
cont rol off acili
ties.
Equipmentt racki ng:
Anequi pmenti sausef ulthi
ngwhi chneedst obepr otectand
moni t or.It’scostconst it
utethesi ngl el argestexpendi t
ur eofan
organi zat i
on.
Componentt racki ng:
Component sar et hesubset sofl argerequi pmentand al so i t
deser v esameamountofcostcont r
olexpendi tur
e.I tenabl es
expendi ture manager s to i dentif
y component s wi th r epai r
probl ems.
Plantmai ntenancecal ibrati
ont r
acking:
Itallowsor gani zat ionst ofull
yuset heiri nv estmentsi nt hepl ant
mai nt enancemodul e.
Plantmai ntenancewar rantyclai
mst racki ng:
Itisanadmi nist rativ
esy st
em t o pr ov idecont rolofal litems
cover edbymanuf acturerandv endorwar ranties.Itincludest he
abil
ityt oest ablisht hetypeandl engt hofwar ranty

Obj
ect
ivesofPl
antMai
ntenance
Ithelpsinmi nimi
zingthelossofpr oduct
ionti
meduet
oany
equipmentfai
lure.
Ithelpsi
nqualit
yandproducti
mprovement.
Itkeepsall
theassetsi
nproperworki
ngconditi
ons.

AdvantagesofPlantMaint
enance:
I
thelpsinreducti
onofbreakdownlosses.
I
thelpsinreducti
onofquali
tydef
ects.
I
tincreasesnetquali
typr
ofi
ts.
I
treducesmai nt
enancecost.

DisadvantagesofPlantMaintenance:
I
tincreasesinvestmentsindi
agnosticsequipment.
I
talsoincreasesinvestmenti
nst af
ftrai
ning.
Savingpotenti
althatisnotr
eadilyseenbyt hemanagement
.

4Q.Explaint
hequal i
tymanagementmodul eofERP
Qualit
yManagement-  I
nev er
yorgani
zation,rawmat er
ial
,workin
progress and end pr oducts ar
er egularl
yi nspected.Thisi s
basicall
ytoensurethatnothinggoeswr ongdur i
ngt heprocessof
procurement, pr oducti
on or di stri
bution. Thus, qual it
y
management modul e engages entire suppl y chain qualit
y
operati
ons.Asapar toflogisti
csappli
cati
on, quali
tymanagement
modul ehandlesthetradi
ti
onaltaskofqualit
ypl anning,i
nspect
ion
andqual i
tycontr
ol.
QualityPlanning- Bef
oreaqual i
tyinspect i
oni scar r
iedout ,i
tis
necessar ytodefineprerequisit
einformat i
onofwhi chpr oductis
neededt obei nspected.Thei nspectionofsel ectedpr oductis
donebasedonsomeofi t
schar acteristi
c,ofwhi chmet hodof
i
nspect i
on/ testi
ng ist o be det ermi ned in adv ance.Qual it
y
i
nspect i
ons ar e not al way s a si mple measur ement of
characteri
sti
csbutmayi nvolvecompl excal culat
ions,forwhi ch
requisit
e algori
thm is ent ered i
nt he sy stem f oraut omati
c
calculat
ion ofqual i
tyscor e duri
ng inspect i
on.The ef fectthe
i
nspect
ionwi
llhav
eont hepr
oductandl
ocat
ionwher
einspect
ion
i
sdoneisal
soenteredi
nthesyst
em.
Inspecti
onPr ocess- 
Inspecti
onor dersmaybeor derspeci
fi
cand
canbecr eatedforasales,purchaseorpr oducti
onorder.However,
theremaybest andardinspectionpr ocedurewher einspect
ion
ordersaretri
ggeredbot hformov ingproductsaswel laspr
oducts
heldi n st
orage.Standardi nspection order
sar e automati
call
y
generatedforpurchaseorder,salesorderandpr oducti
onorderas
perapr edefinedquali
tygrouping.
QualityControl- Thisfuncti
onalityhelpsi ndet erminingsampl e
sizesandadopt ionofSt at
ist
icalQualityControl(SQC)t echniques.
Thecont r
oll
ingt oolssuchasqual i
tycontrolcharts,qualit
yscor es
forinspect
ionl ots,arepartoft hisprocess.Thi spr ocedurealso
helpsingener atingqualit
ynot i
ficati
onsforext ernalandi nternal
problemsandi niti
ati
ngcor r
ecti
v eact i
on.Thei nspect ionresults
arealsoarchivedf orfut
ureanalysisthrought hi
spr ocess.

5Q.
Expl
aint
hemat
eri
almanagementmodul
eofERP.

Mat eri
alManagementModul ei
nERPSy stem Det
erminesneeds,
i
dent if
ies a potenti
alsource ofsupply,compare alter
nati
ve
quot at
ions,create a pur
chase or
der
,track t
he stat
us oft he
purchaseor der,
recei
vegoods,andver
if
yinvoi
cesuponr ecei
ptof
goods.

AnERPSy stem prov

idesaneededi nt
egrat
ionbet weenMat eri
al
ManagementSy st
em andot hersub- modules.Forexampl e,All
purchaseorder
sareassignedt oacostcent erintheManagement
Accounti
ngmodul e.I
npr oducti
onpl anni
ng,theinventor
yfuncti
on
postcomponentneededt of i
l
lPr oducti
onOr ders.Thisshows
purchasi
ngandf i
nancial
account i
ngshar ecommonv endordata.
I
mpor tanceofMat erial
ManagementModul e:
Theef fi
cientandstructuredMater
ialManagementModul eisv er
y
advantageousf ormanycompani es.Also,customersat i
sfacti
on
i
scanbenot i
ceablyincreasedbecauseonl yawel l
-f
unctioni
ng
mat er
ialisavail
ableatt heri
ghtti
mei nther i
ghtplaceandi nthe
requir
edquant it
yandqual it
y.Thi
si nturnist hebasisf orhigh
adherencet odeadli
nesandt helowestpossibl
et hr
oughputt i
mes.

Materi
almanagementi s al
so import
antwithregardtot he
warehouse managementbecause companies wi
llknow how
manyr aw mat
erial
,fi
nishedproduct
s,andspar
eparts,et
c.are
avai
labl
einWarehouseatallt
hetime.

Also,wi
ththehel
pofthemater
ialmanagementmodul
efol
l
owi
ng
belowtaskscanbehandl
edmucheasier
:

Col
lecti
ngmat eri
al
Shi
ppingplanning
Contai
nerManagement
I
nventoryManagement

KeyComponent sf orsett
ingupMat eri
alManagementModul e
Whenmul t
iplepr oj
ectsarebei ng managed thenassigni
ng of
UniquePr ojectNumberSchemar educestheambiguit
y.
Mat er
ialStorageLocat ionmustbecl earl
ydefi
nedandmar ked.
I
nspect i
on, Cert
ificati
ons,Quali
tyManagement ,
TrackedDigi
tal
ly.
The unitofmeasur e and mat eri
alclassi
fi
cati
ons mustbe
descri
ptiveand accur atet o ensur
eal lmateri
alcan bef ound
quickl
yandef fi
ciently
.

Object
iveofMater
ial
Management
GetatRightPri
ce
HighTurnover
LowPr ocur
ementandSt
orageCost
Consist
encyinQual
i
ty
Conti
nuit
yOfSupply
I
nter-
Depart
mentharmony
NewMat eri
alandPr
oduct
ProductI
mprovement

6Q.
Appr
aiset
hecompar
ati
veassessmentandsel
ect
ionofERP
packages&modul
es.
Evaluati
onandselecti
onofERPpackagei sanessent i
alcri
ter
ion
forsuccessf
ulERPi mplementati
on.Quali
tyofselecti
onwillhave
alongt er
mimpactont heprocessesoftheor gani
zat
ion.I
tisalso
noteasyt oswit
cht oanotherproductwithconcomitantscaleof
i
nv estmentand compl exi
ti
es.Thi s evaluati
on and select
ion
processshouldbepr operl
ydirect
edandnor mall
ycompr i
sesof
fol
lowingacti
vi
ti
es:
Format ionofanev al
uat
ioncommi ttee: AnERPi mplementat
ionis
notanI Tproj
ectbutabusi nessorienteddev elopment.Ther
efore,
i
naddi ti
ont oChi efInf
ormationOf ficer,thi
scommi t
teeshould
compr iseofallfuncti
onalheadsanddr ivenbyat opmanagement
representat
ive.Sinceallbusi nessf unctionsar erepr
esent
edi n
selecti
on pr ocess,t he chosen package woul d hav e wide
acceptancesubsequent ly.
RequirementAnalysis:
 
This anal
ysis should out
li
ne functional
expectati
onsofvariousbusinessdivi
sions,suchaswar ehouse,
fi
nance, procur
ement ,f r
om pot enti
al ERP package. Vi tal
requi
rementsspeci
fictothecompanyshoul dbehighl
ightede.g.

 Must hav e Di st
ri
buti
on Requirement Planni
ng (DRP)
f
unctional
it
y.
 I
ntransiti
nv ent
oryandpall
ettr
acking,asapartofshi
ppi
ng
r
equirement.
 Mul
tiplepurchaseorder
sli
nkedtoonebi l
lofl
adi
ng.
  Mul
ticur
rencyandmul
til
ocat
ionsf
unct
ional
i
ty.

Requir
ementanal ysisformsabasef orpr eparingaRequestf or
Proposal( RFP) ,wher ei mpor t
antt echni caland commer cial
perqui
sites arei ncorporated.Common exampl es oft echnical
perqui
sites:f l
exibil
ity
,Upgr adabi
li
ty,Userf ri
endli
ness,fi
eldl evel
securi
ty,Oper atingsy stem anddatabasecompat ibi
li
ty.Common
examplesofcommer cialperqui
sit
es:cost ,r
eferencesites,high
l
evelproj ectplan,r esumesofconsul tants,posti mplement ati
on
support
,f inancialhealthoft hecompany ,localpresence,number
ofinst
allationandupgr ade.
Selecti
onCr it
eri
a: 
A pr
e-determinedselecti
onCr iter
iashoul dbe
readybef ore act
ualselection process commences.Sel ecti
on
cri
teri
a are normallyint he form ofquest ionnair
e and poi nt
system,wher eeachquest i
onr epresent
sabusi nessort echnical
need.Wei ght
age foreach poi ntora gr oup ofpoi nts ar e
predeter
mi nedwhichvariesaccor dingtocrit
ical
ityofthei ssue.
Thesepr ocesseshelpinmaki ngt heselecti
onpr ocessobjective
andt r
ansparent.
Sel
ect
ionProcess:
 Sel
ect
ionpr
ocessconst
it
utesv
ari
ousst
ages
asmenti
onedbelow:

1.Shortl i
sti
ng ofv endors: 
Hundreds ofERP packages ar e
avail
ablei nt he mar ket ,which hav e di f
fer
entconcept ,
archi
tectureand set soff uncti
onal i
ti
es.Analy zing al lthe
packagesi snotfeasible.Organizationneedt oident if
yaf ew
bestsui t
edpackagesbyl ooki
ngatpr oductliteraturesof
vendor,fi
ndingoutwhi chpr oductisbei ngusedbyt heirpeer
organizat
ionsandget tinghel pf rom ext ernalconsul tants.
Onceaf ew packagesar eshortl isted,respectivev endor s
shouldbeaskedt or espondt otheRFP, asperitsf ormat .
2.Demo and Pr esentation: 
Responses f rom shor t
li
sted
vendors are evaluated byt he sel ecti
on commi t
tee af ter
coll
ati
ng scores obt ained by t hem and a consensus i s
 reached aboutt heirf inalr anking.Any onenotf ulf
ill
i
ng a
predet ermi nedv i
talr equi rementi sel i
mi nat edatt hi
sst age.
Topt woort hreev endor s,ar et heni nv i
tedf ordemoand
present ation.Mode ofpr esent ation shoul d be car efull
y
scriptedandsendt ot hev endor si nadv ance.Theyshoul dbe
askedt owal kthroughapar t
icularbusi nesscy clethrough
theirv anill
asof twar e.Theyshoul dbespeci fi
callyaskedt o
clarif
yanyar eaofconcer naboutt heirpr oposal ,whi chmay
exposeweak/pr oblem ar eaoft heirof fer.
3.Sitev i
sitandcont r
actnegot i
ations: Aftert hecommi tteehas
reached a deci sion on best sui ted package,v i
sitst o
referencesi t esar ei mper at i
ve.Thev endorshoul dpr ov i
de
referencesi tesofsi mi l
arsi zeandi ndust ry,identicalversion
and bel ongi ng t o same geogr aphical l ocation. Team
member s shoul d hav el ook and f eelof t he sy stems
oper ati
ng atr eference si tesand askper ti
nentquest ions
cov eri
ngov er allsat isfact i
on,f unct i
onal i
ty ,cost /t i
meov er
run,suppor tconcer nset c.Af tersi tev isit,ift hecommi ttee
member sf eelt hatthei rsel ectioni sr i
ght ,theypr oceedwi th
fi
nal negot iat ionandpr ocur ement .Negot iationsar enormal l
y
heldonl icenseandannualmai ntenancecost ,pay mentpl an
i
ncl uding a l easing opt ion,suppor ti ssues and ot her
commer cial andl egal terms.

7Q.
Def
endhow dopl
antmai
ntenancemodul
ehel
pinachi
evi
ng
compet
it
iveness?
i
mportanceofPlantMaintenance:
(i
)Theimportanceofpl antmaintenancev
ari
eswi
tht
het
ypeof
pl
antanditsproduct
ion.

(i
i
) Equi pment br
eakdown l
eads t
o an i
nev
itabl
e l
oss of
product
ion.
a.Ifapieceofequi
pmentgoesoutoforderi
naf l
owproduct
ion
fact
ory
,thewholeli
newil
lsooncomet oahalt.Otherpr
oduct
ion
l
inesmayal sost
opunl
essthei
nit
ial
faul
tiscl
eared.

b.Thisresul
tsin an immedi
ateloss in pr
oduct
ivi
ty and a
di
minut
ionofsev
eral
thousandr
upeesperhourofout
put.

(i
i
i)Anun- properlymaint
ainedornegl ectedplantwillsooneror
l
aterr equi
reexpensi veandf requentr epai
rs,becausewi ththe
passage oft ime al lmachines orot herfacil
it
ies (such as
tr
anspor t
ationf aci
li
ti
es)
,buil
dings,et
c.,wearoutandneedt obe
maintainedt ofuncti
onproperl
y.

(i
v)Plantmai
ntenance pl
ays a pr
omi
nentrolei
n pr
oduct
ion
managementbecauseplantbr
eakdowncreat
espr
obl
emssuch
as:

TypesofPl antMai
ntenance:
Maintenancemaybecl assi
fi
edi
ntofoll
owingcat
egor
ies:
(a)Correct
iveorbr
eakdownmaintenance,

(
b)Schedul
edmai
ntenance,

ADVERTI
SEMENTS:

(
c)Pr
event
ivemai
ntenance,
and

(
d)Pr
edi
cti
vemai
ntenance.

Typi
calCausesofEqui
pmentBreakdown:
(i
)Fai
lur
etorepl
acewornoutparts.

(
ii
)Lackofl
ubr
icat
ion.

(
ii
i)Negl
ect
edcool
i
ngsy
stem.
(
iv)I
ndi
ff
erencet
owar
dsmi
norf
aul
ts.

(
v)Externalf
actor
s(suchast
ool
ow ort
oohi
ghl
i
nev
olt
age,
wrongfuel
,et
c.)

(vi
)Indi
ff
erencetowards-equi
pmentvi
brat
ions,unusualsounds
comingoutoft herotati
ngma¬chiner
y,equipmentgetti
ngt oo
muchheatedup,etc.

8Q.
Il
lust
rat
ethel
eadi
ngERPv
endor
sLi
keSAP,Or
acl
eandt
hei
r
st
rengt
handweakness.

1.SAP

BasedinWal dorf,Ger
many ,SAPhasbeenaf r
ontr
unnerforl
arge
enter
pri
ses.Althoughtheimplementat
ionprocesscanbelengt
hy,
i
tisoftenwell-
tail
oredtoanygivenorgani
zati
on,accor
dingtothe
repor
t.

SAPS/ 4HANA( High-performanceANal yt

icsAppl i
ance)"usesin-
memor y,col umn-ori
ent ed,and r el
ati
onalt echnologyt o speed
datar et
rieval.Itact s as an i nter
mediary bet ween sof tware
requesti
ng dat a and thedat abasest hemsel ves,"according t
o
TechRepublic's 
Smar tPer sonGuide.Bydoi ngt his,itcanfreeup
I
Tr esources.

SAPal sohascloudsol ut
ionsl ikeAribraandHy bristhatcanhel
p
consoli
datethesy stem l
andscape.Andi t
sBusi nessOne&SAP
Business ByDesign,idealf orsmal land mi dsize companies,
"pr
ov i
de compr ehensive f unctionali
ty for financial
s, sal
es,
operati
onsandcust omerrelations,"accor
dingt
ot hereport
.

2.
Oracl
eERPCl
oud
Or
acl
eisat
opnamef
orl
argeent
erpr
isesi
ntheERPbusi
ness,
and especiall
y withi t
s acqui
siti
on of NetSui
te,has been
successfulin off
ering a pl
atfor
m t hat can del
i
ver add-
on
funct
ionali
ty,
asharnessi
ngNetSuit
e'sSaaStool
s.

Accor
ding tothe repor
t,Oracl
e" pr
ovides an i nt
egr
ated and
comprehensi
ve suite of f i
nanci
als, pr ocur
ement, proj
ect
management ,r
isk managementand ent erpri
se per
formance
management power ed by machine l earning and arti
fi
cial
i
ntel
li
gence."

It"
ledtheMagi cQuadrantf
orcloudcorefi
nanci
almanagement
sui
tesforlarge,mi dsi
zeandgl
obalenter
pri
sesfort
hethi
rdyear
str
aight
,"accordingtoPanor
ama.

I
npar t
icul
ar,Net
sui
te"excelsinIPO,fast
-growingandmi dsi
ze
businesses,
"and"pr
ovi
despr e-
conf
igur
edwor kf
lows,dashboards,
functi
onalrol
esandKPIs,enabl
ingrapi
dimplementat
ion."

3.
Micr
osof
t
Forbusinessest hatarealr
eadyusing Micr
osoft'
st echnology
,
choosi
ngMi crosoftforERP couldbeasmar tidea.Mi crosof
t
off
ersrobustproductsf
orsmallandmid-
sizedorgani
zations,and
i
sbecomi ngagr owingf
orce,
looki
ngtowardsl
argerorganizati
ons
aswell
. 

Accordi
ngtotherepor
t,Micr
osoft"
hasastrongecosy
stem ofI
SV
channelpar
tner
sprovi
ding'l
astmil
e'f
unct
ional
it
y."

I
ts Dy
namics 365 Busi
ness Cent
ral,f
orinst
ance,of
fer
sthe
f
oll
owingf
eat
ures,accor
dingt
otherepor
t:

 Target
edforthesmal landmidmarketspace.
 Recentl
yrebuil
ti nAzuretechnology,makingi
tapur
eSaaS
modelwithotherdeploymentopt
ions.
 Basedonbestpr act
icesofNAV,GPandSL.  
4.
Inf
or 
Medium andlargecompani es,bot
hnati
onalandglobal,shoul
d
consi
derInf
or,whichisanemer gi
ngsol
uti
onf ort
heent er
pri
se,
off
eri
ngasetofapplicat
ionsspecif
ict
opart
icul
aror
ganizati
ons.
 

TheInforM3canoff
erhelpf
or"aft
er-
salesser
viceprov
iders,
di
stri
butor
sandav
ari
etyofmanuf
actur
ingver
ti
cals,
"thereport
st
ates.

I
nf orCloudsuit
eDistr
ibuti
oncanal l
ow whol
esaledist
ri
but
orsto
"detecttrendsandmoni torinventor
ydemand, "aswellasoff
er
organizat
ions a way t o" maintai
nal ean suppl
y chai
n and
i
mpl ementnewdi gi
talstr
ategies.
" 

And Infor Cloudsuit

e I ndustri
al which i s i deal for the
manufact
uringindust
ry,off
er san"opensour cetechnologystack,
whi
ch al l
ows f or mor e f l
exi
bil
i
tyt o r efi
ne manuf act
uri
ng
pr
ocesses" and i s "designed wi t
h f eatur
es f or repeti
ti
ve
manufact
uringandcapabili
tiestosimpli
fyimplement at
ion."

5.
IFS
Craf
tedf ori ndustr
iessuchasaer ospaceanddef ense,uti
li
ti
es
and resources,const r
ucti
on and infrastructur
e,manufacturi
ng
andser vi
cei ndustri
es,I
FShas" r
obustend- t
o-endfunct
ional
it
y,"
thereportstates,andiswell
-sui
tedfor" l
argeconsumerpackaged
goodsor ganizati
onswithaglobalfootpri
nt."

Ther
epor
thi
ghl
i
ght
sIFS'
abi
l
ityt
ohandl
ethef
oll
owi
ngdomai
ns:

 Ent
erpr
iseResour
cePl
anni
ng

 Ent
erpr
iseAssetManagement

 Ser
viceManagement
 I
FSAppl
i
cat
ions

 I
FSMai
nteni
x

 Ent
erpr
iseOper
ati
onal
Int
ell
i
gence

 I
FSCl
oud

6.
Wor
kday
Wor kday,whichprovidesHCM f ormedium andl argeenterprises,
hasr ecentl
ygr owni ntoaf ullERP soluti
on,offeringaf lexibl
e
productandexpandi ngi t
secosy st
em.Wi thitsf
ocusonf i
nanci al
management ,therepor tnotes,"theWor kdaysolutionisar obust
SaaSpr oductthati
sgr owingi ntoanend-to-endERP. "

Ther
epor
thi
ghl
i
ght
sWor
kday
'ssuccessi
nthef
oll
owi
ngf
iel
ds:
 

 Communi cati
ons
 EnergyandResour ces
 Financial Servi
ces
 Gov ernment
 Heal t
hcar e
 HigherEducat i
on
 Hospi tali
ty
 Insurance
 K-12
 LifeSci ences
 Manuf act uri
ng
 Medi a&Ent ert
ainment
 Nonpr of i
t
 Professi onalandBusinessSer
vices
RetailandTechnol ogy

7.
 Epi
cor
Smal
landmedi
um ent
erpr
isesshoul
dlookt
oEpi
cor
,whi
chhas
putresourcestowardR&D, andrecent
lypar
tner
edwithMi cr
osoft
.
Epi
cor10,i tsorigi
naloff
ering,i
ssuitedformanufactur
ing,and
al
so " pr
ovides mult
ipl
e deploymentmodels,incl
uding a SaaS
off
ering,asneeded,
"thereportst
ates.

Prophet21,a " bui

lt-
for-
pur
pose di
str
ibution appli
cat
ion..
.i
sa
l
eaderi nsupplychainoptimi
zat
ion.
"AndEpi cor
'sEagl
eNSer i
es,
ar et
ailappli
cati
on,offer
sPoSandomni channelcapabil
it
ies,t
he
reportstat
es.

8.
abas
The abas ERP sy st
em can assi st small and mi dsi
ze
manuf actur
ersi n"the assembl e-
to-
order,make-t
o-or
der and
engineer-to-
orderenv i
ronments,
"ther epor
tstat
es,offer
ingto
tai
l
ort heservi
cetocustomers'needs. 

Abas"
prov
idesmul t
ipl
edepl
oymentopt
ions,
incl
udi
ngon-
premi
se,
cl
oudandhybri
d,"aswell
.

Her
ear
esomear
easwher
eabascanhel
pyourbusi
ness:

 AdvancedPl anning&Schedul
i
ng
 BusinessI ntell
i
gence
 Product ionManagement
 CADI ntegrat
ion
 Quot ationManagement
 FullFinancialAccount
ing
 Fl
exibl eProductCosti
ng
 Returns, Servi
ceandRepair
 CRM &Sal esManagement
9Q.
Appr
aiset
hemai
nfact
orst
obeev
aluat
edwhi
l
egoi
ngf
oran
ERP?

1.Company
’sHi
stor
y&Backgr
ound
Pur
chasi
nganERPsol ut
ionisal ong-t
erm decisi
onandy ouwant
asoft
warevendort
hatcansuppor tandgrowwi t
hy ou.Besureto
doyourr
esearchandduedi l
igenceabouteachv endor.Hereare
somequest
ionsyoushouldconsideraski
ng/researching:

 Hast
hev
endorgonebankr
uptorbeensol
d?

 Does the v
endor out
sour
ce suppor
t and/
or dev
elopment
over
seas?

 I
sthev
endorar
esel
l
erordot
heyact
ual
l
ydev
elopt
hesof
twar
e?
Ify
ouhav ethetimeandr esources,consi
derav i
sitt
othev
endor’
s
headquart
erst or ev
iew thei
ri nt
ernalprocessesandhow they
supportt
heircustomersandmanaget hei
rcode.

2.Vendor
’sReput
ati
on
Oneoft hebestway stoquickl
ydet ermi
nei fav endor’ssoftwar e
willworkf
ory ouist oseeifitworksforothercompani esthatar e
i
dent i
caltoy ourbusiness.I fy ou al
ready hav e an exi sting
businessr
elationshi
pwi t
hanyoft hevendor’
scur rentcustomer s,
thencallthem.Thi swi l
lgivey ouanaccur atepor t
rayaloft he
softwarev endor’s act
ualper f
ormance.I n additi
on,consi der
tal
kingwit
hmul ti
plecustomersut i
li
zi
ngt hev endor’
ssof t
war e.I t
i
soneoft hebestway stoquicklydeterminei fthesof t
warewi ll
wor
kfory
ou.

3.Vendor
’sERP’
sFeat
ures&Capabi
l
iti
es
Oneoft hebi ggestandmostcr it
icalfactorinselecti
ngavendoris
knowi ng whatt hesof twarecan act uall
ydo and whatar eits
l
imi tati
ons.Muchoft hesalespr ocessr evolvesaroundaproduct
demonst r
ation.Consi derprovidi
ngsomesampl edataandhavea
scriptoft ypicalt r
ansacti
ons.I fyoue- mai laCofA,SDS,Or der
Invoicewi t
heachor der,makesur et heser equi
rementsaremet
and demonst rated.Iti s easy f ora v endort o say i
tdoes
somet hi
ng,butact uall
yseei ngi thappenwi l
lvali
datethatthe
funct i
onali
tyact uall
yexist
s.

4.Vendor
’sSuppor
t&I
mpl
ement
ati
onSt
ruct
ure
Muchofy oursuccesswi llrelyont heprofessionalserv i
cesy our
vendorof f
ersinaddi ti
ont ot heERPsof twar etheypr ov i
de.Be
suretov etyourpot enti
alimpl ement ationprojectleader.Seehow
muchexper iencet heyhav ei ny ourindustry.Cant heyof fer“Best
Practi
ce”adv i
ceandst eery ouint herightdir
ect i
onf r
om thest art
.
How doest heERPsof twar ev endormanaget heirsuppor tand
productdev el
opment ?Isi tov erseas?Doy ougowi t
hagener ic
helpdeskorar ey ouassi gnapr i
marysuppor tperson?How ar e
software modification and enhancementmanaged? How ar e
updatestothesof twar evalidatedanddel i
vered?

5.Vendor
’sTechnol
ogy
Fi
nal
l
y,y
oushouldconsiderift
hev endor
’sunderl
yi
ngtechnol
ogy
i
srel
i
abl
e,suppor
ted,
widelyused,
andposi t
ionedf
orthefut
ure.

Put
ti
ngI
tAl
lToget
her
To recap,whenconducti
ng anERP soft
waresearchconsi
der
these5keyfact
orsabouteachsof
twar
evendort
odiscov
eri
fthey
ar
eagoodpar
tnerf
ory
ourbusi
ness:

 Vendor
’sHi
stor
y&Backgr
ound

 Vendor
’sReput
ati
on

 Vendor
’sERP’
sFeat
ures&Capabi
l
iti
es

 Vendor
’sSuppor
t&I
mpl
ement
ati
onSt
ruct
ure

 Vendor
’sTechnol
ogy
Withsomanydi f
ferentvari
ablestoconsideriny oursear
chitis
i
mpor tantt hatyou take the necessarytime tor esear
ch and
eval
uat eeachv endorthoroughly.Fi
ndingtheperfectpart
nerwil
l
enabley ourbusi
nesst oreachitsful
lpotent
ialandmaxi mi
zeyour
success.

10.
Discusst
hedi
ff
erentERPmodul
esandi
tsspeci
fi
ccov
erage
ofbusi
ness

1.Finance
The financeandaccount i
ngmodul e i
st hemosti mportantERP
modul ebecauseitallowsbusinessest ounder st
andtheircurrent
fi
nanci alstat
eandf utur
eout l
ook.Keyf eat
uresofthismodul e
i
ncludet r
acking 
accountspay able( AP) 
and accountsreceivable
(AR) andmanagi ngt hegeneralledger.Italsocreat
esandst or es
crucialfi
nancialdocumentsli
kebal ancesheet s,pay
mentr eceipts
andt axstatements.

Thefi
nancemodulecanautomat
et asksrel
atedtobi
ll
ing,v
endor
payment
s and accountr
econci
l
iation,hel
ping t
he account
ing
depar
tmentcl
osethebooksinatimel ymannerandcomplywith
currentr evenue r
ecogni
ti
on standards.Italso has t
he dat
a
that 
financialpl
anni
ngandanal ysi
s employeesneedtoprepar
e
keyr eports,i
ncl
udi
ngprofi
tandloss( P&L)stat
ementsandboar
d
reports,andrunscenar
ioplans.

2.Pr
ocurement
The 
procurementmodul e,al
soknownast hepurchasingmodul e,
hel
psanor ganizat
ionsecurethemater
ial
sorproductsitneedsto
manufactureand/orsellgoods.Compani escankeepal i
stof
appr
ovedv endorsinthi
smodul eandti
ethosesuppli
erstocertai
n
i
tems.Themodul ecanautomaterequest
sf oraquote,t
hent r
ack
andanalyzethequotesthatcomein.

Onceacompanyaccept saquote, t
heprocur
ementmodul ehelps
thepurchasi
ngdepar tmentprepareandsendoutpurchaseorders.
Itcanthent rackthatpurchaseorderasthesell
erturnsitint
oa
salesorderandshi psthegoods,automati
cal
lyupdat
inginvent
ory
l
ev el
soncet heorderarri
ves.

3.Manuf acturi
ng
The  earli
estversionofERP,  
mat er
ial requirement spl anni ng(MRP)
systems,wer edesi gnedf ormanuf acturers,andmanuf act
uring
remai nsakeypi eceofERP.Today ,ERPsy st
emst y pi
cal lyhavea
product ion managementormanuf acturing execut ion sy stem
(MES) .
 The manuf acturi
ng modul e helps manuf actur ers plan
product ionandmakesur et heyhav eev erythingt heyneedf or
planned pr oduction r uns,l ike raw mat erials and machi nery
capaci ty.Dur i
ngt hemanuf act ur
ingpr ocess,i tcanupdat et he
status ofgoods- i
n- progress and hel p compani es t r
ackact ual
outputagai nstf orecast edpr oduction.I talsopr ov i
desar eal
-ti
me
pictureoft heshopf loor,capt uri
ngr eal-ti
mei nf ormat i
ononi tems
i
npr ogressandf inishedgoods.I tcancal culat et heav eraget i
me
topr oduceani tem andt hencompar esuppl ywi thf orecasted
demandt oplanadequat epr oduction.
4.I nv entoryManagement
The  i
nv entorymanagementmodul e enabl esinventorycont rolby
tracki ngi tem quant iti
esandl ocationdownt oindi v
idualSKUs.
Thi smodul eof f
ersacompl et
epi ctureofnotonl ycur r
entbutal so
i
ncomi ngi nv entory,throughani ntegrationwi ththepr ocur ement
tool .Thi spi eceofsof t
warehel psbusi nessesmanagei nventory
cost s,maki ngsur et heyhav esuf fi
cientst ockwi t
houtt yingupt oo
muchcashi ni nventory.Ani nv entorymanagementappl i
cati
on
can wei gh sal es t rends agai nstav ailable productt o hel ps
compani esmake i nf or
med deci si
onst hatboostmar ginsand
i
ncr easei nv entorytur n(ameasur eofhowof teninv entoryissol d
ov eracer tainper i
od) .Itcanhel ppr eventst ockout sanddel ay s,
whi chenhancescust omerservice.

Businessest hatlackot hersupplychainmanagementmodul es

mayal souset heinventorymanagementappl icat
iontohandl e
purchaseorder s,sal
esor dersandshipping.Lar
gerorganizat
ions
wil
lneedav ersionofthissolut
ionthatcantrackinv
entoryacross
multipl
elocations.

5.OrderManagement
An ordermanagementmodul e t
racks order
sf rom r eceiptt o
deli
very .Thispieceoft heERPf eedsallor
derst ot hewar ehouse,
distr
ibutioncent erorretai
lst
oreaf t
ercustomerspl acethem and
tr
ackst hei rst
atusast hey’
reprepared,f
ulf
il
ledandshi ppedtot he
customer .Theor dermanagementmodul epr eventsor dersfrom
beingl ostandboost son-ti
medel iver
yratest okeepcust omer s
happyandcutunnecessar yexpensesforexpeditedshi pping.

Mor e advanced ordermanagementappl icat

ions can helpa
companydet erminethemostcost -
eff
ecti
veoptionforful
fi
ll
i
ngan
order—astorevs.awar ehousevs.athi
rd-
partyful
fi
ll
mentpartner,
for example—based on av ai
l
ableinventory and the buyer’
s
l
ocation.
6.War ehouseManagement
A war ehousemanagementmodul e candel i
verar apidret urnon
i
nv estmentf orbusi nessesthatoper at
et hei
rownwar ehouses.
This appl icati
on can ef f
ici
entl
y gui de war ehouse empl oyees
through al lwar ehousepr ocessesbased on t hel ayoutoft he
facil
ity,fr
om put awaywhenshi pment sarriv
etopi ckingtopacki ng
andshi pping.I tcanal sohelpcompani esplanl aborbasedon
expect edor derv ol
ume.Thewar ehousemanagementmodul ecan
suppor tdi fferentpi cki
ng strat
egies like batch pi cki
ng,wav e
pickingandzonepi ckingdependingonwhi chismostef ficientfor
agi venbusi ness,andsomemodul escanshow empl oy eest he
mostef fi
cientpickpat h.

When the warehouse managementmodul ei sintegr

ated with
i
nventory managementand or der managementappl i
cati
ons,
employeescanquicklyfi
ndtheri
ghtproductsandgetshipment s
out the door quickly
. Fast
er del
ivery ult
imatel
yi ncreases
cust
omersatisf
acti
on.

7.SupplyChai
nManagement
A suppl
y chai
n managementmodul e t
racks each st
ep int he
mov ementofsuppli
esandgoodst hroughoutthesupplychai n,
fr
om sub-suppl
ier
stosuppli
erstomanuf act
urerstodistr
ibut
ors
toretai
l
ersorconsumer s.I
tcanalsomanageanymat eri
alsor
product
sretur
nedforref
undorrepl
acement .

Asnot edearli
er,supplychainmanagementcani ncl
udeawi de
array of modules li
ke procurement,i
nventor
y management,
manufacturi
ng,ordermanagementandwar ehousemanagement.
Howev er
,itmayhav efunct
ional
i
t ybey
ondthecorecapabi
l
iti
esof
thosemodules.

8.Cust
omerRelati
onshipManagement(CRM)
The 
customerr
elati
onshipmanagement(CRM)module 
stor
esal
l
cust
omerandpr ospecti
nfor
mati
on.Thatincl
udest
hecompany’
s
communicati
onhistor
ywithaperson—thedat eandt i
meofcalls
and email
s,forexample—and theirpurchase hi
story.A CRM
i
mprovescustomerservi
cebecausestaf
ferscaneasilyaccessal
l
thei
nfor
mat i
ontheyneedwhenwor ki
ngwi t
hacustomer .

Manybusi nesses al
so use CRM t o manage sal es leads and
opportunit
ies.Itcant rackcommuni cati
onwi thpr ospectsand
suggest whi ch customer s should be t ar
geted f or certai
n
promot i
ons or cr oss-sel
l opportunit
ies. More r obust CRM
modul esmaysuppor tcust omersegment ati
on( enabling more
target
ed mar ket
ing) and adv anced cont act manager s and
report
ingtools.

9. Pr ofessional Ser vi
ces Aut omat i
on ( Ser vi
ce Resour ce
Management )
A professionalservicesaut omat ion( PSA)modul e,alsocalleda
servicer esourcemanagementmodul e,al
lowsanor ganizati
ont o
planandmanagepr ojects.Services-basedbusi nessesof tenuse
this modul e.The appl i
cation t racks the status ofpr ojects,
managi nghumanandcapi talresour cesthroughout ,andal l
ows
manager st o approve expenses and t i
mesheet s.Itf acil
i
tates
coll
abor ationbetweent eamsbykeepi ngallr
elateddocument sin
ashar edpl ace.Additi
onally,thePSAmodul ecanaut omaticall
y
prepareandsendbi l
lstocl i
entsbasedonr ul
esar oundt hebi l
l
ing
cycle.

10.Wor kforceManagement
A wor kf
orcemanagementmodule i
ssimil
artoahumanresource
managementmodul ebutisdesignedforcompani
eswithmor e
hour l
y than salari
ed employ
ees. It can monit
or workers’
attendance and hours and measuret hi
ngs li
ke employee
productivi
tyandabsent
eei
sm.

Payr
ollcoul
dal
sofal
lundert
heworkfor
cemanagementmodule.
A payrol
lsub-
modul
e automat
ical
l
y dist
ri
but
es pay
checks t
o
employ
eesonasetschedulewi t
htheappr
opri
atetaxesdeduct
ed
andhandlesexpenserei
mbursement.I
tcanal
sopr ovi
dereport
s
onpayrol
lexpenses,
tot
alov
erti
mehoursandsimil
arKPIs.

11.HumanResour cesManagement
A human r esource management ( HRM) or  
human capi tal
management ( HCM)  module usuall
y encompasses al lt he
features of wor kforce management appl icati
on and of f
ers
additi
onalcapabi lit
ies.HRM coul d be viewed as CRM f or
empl oyees.This popul armodule has detailed r
ecords on all
empl oyeesandst oresdocument sl i
keperformancer evi
ews,job
descripti
onsandof f
erletter
s.I
ttracksnotonlyhourswor kedbut
alsopaidt i
meof f(PTO) /si
ckdaysandbenefitsinf
ormation.

SincetheHRM modul estor

esav astamountofi nformat
ionon
everyemployeeacr osstheorganizat
ion,i
teliminatesal otof
dupli
cateori naccurat
edatathatmanyor gani
zationsst
or ein
vari
ousspreadsheets.

12.Ecommer ce
Certai
nERPv endorsof f
eran  ecommer cemodul e f
orbusi nesses
thatwanttosellonli
ne.Thismodul eal
lowscompani estoqui ckl
y
l
aunch a business-t
o-business (B2B)orbusi ness-to-
consumer
(B2C) ecommer ce websi te.Leadi ng commer ce appli
cations
i
ncludeuser-f
ri
endlytool
st hatallowempl oyeestoeasi l
yaddnew
i
tems,updat eproductcont ent(it
em descripti
ons,titl
es,specs,
i
mages, et
c.)andchanget hel ookandf eelofthewebsi t
e.

Whent heecommer ceappli

cati
onisintegrat
edwi thot herERP
appli
cati
ons,allpayment,or
derandinventoryinf
ormationf eeds
[f
rom theecommer cemodule]int
otheshar eddatabase.That
ensuresalltransact
ionsareadded tot heledger,out-of-
stock
i
temsar eremov edfr
om thesi
teandordersshipontime.

13.Mar
ket
ingAut
omat ion
Li
kewit
hecommer ce,cert
ainsof
twar
epr
ovi
der
shav
edev
eloped
a marketi
ngaut omati
onmodul e.A mar keti
ngmodul emanages
marketing campaignsacrossdi gitalchannelsli
keemail,web,
soci
almedi aandSMS.I tcanaut omat eemailsendsbasedon
campaign r ul
es and has adv anced cust omer segmentat
ion
feat
ures,socustomersonlyrecei
v er el
evantmessages.

Marketi
ngautomati
onsof t
ware,whetherpartoftheERPsy st
em
ora separate sol
uti
on,can pr ov
ide detai
led reports on the
perf
ormanceofcampai gnstoshapef utur
emar ketingplansand
spend.Theseappli
cat
ionsincreaseleads,cust
omerl oyal
tyand,
overti
me,sal
e

ASSI
GNMENTUNI
T5SECTI
ONB
- PGUNAHARSHA

1.Exami
net
hesel
ect
ioncr
it
eri
aofERPpackage.

Top10keycr it
eriawhensel ecti
nganERP:
Businessr equi rement s
Uppermanagementsuppor t
Usersuppor t
Funct i
onal requi rement s
Integr ati
onwi thexi stingsy stems
Budgetandr esour ces
Technol ogyandf utur escal ability
Total costofowner shi pandROI
Ev aluateandsel ectopt ions
Necessar ycust omi zation
ERPsel ectioncr i
teri
a#1: businessr equi r
ement s
Dev elopacl earandcompr ehensi v
el i
stofy our requi rement sf oryourERP.  Useev er
yresour ce
availabletomaket hisli
stexcellent. Talkt oy ourpr oduct ionwor kersandy ourpur chasing
manager . Listentoexecut ivemanagement ,andy ourcust omer sandsuppl i
ers.  Calli
nf ormer
empl oy eesandcur rentsalespeople.Whenev eryt houghti swr i
tten,thenpr i
oriti
zet heent i
relist.
 
Reachasol i
dconsensusast owhi chr equirement sar eabsol utely“musthav e”.Thenextpr i
or i
ty
ti
erincl udest hingsthatar enotmandat orybutt her ei sgener al agreementt hati ncludi
ngt hem
wil
l benef i
tt hecompany . Anyot herlisteditemsar ei nal owercat egor y,mer ely“ nicetohav e”.
Takey ourpr iori
tyli
staroundt ot hesamepeopl ewhopr ov i
dedy ourinput s. Dot heyagreewi th
ther equirementl ist?Doesi tneedt obeupdat ed?Cansomeonepr ovideasol idcaset oel evatea
pointf rom tier2t otier1? Muchofev eryot hercr iterionassumest hislistisasgoodasi tcanbe.
ERPsel ectioncr i
teri
a#2: uppermanagementsuppor t
Thiscoul dseem l i
keanobv iouscr i
terion. Tooof ten, i
tisnotr ecogni zedf oritsi mportance.
 
Onecansel ecttheabsol utebestERPf ortheiror gani zati
on, yetwi thout  
uppermanagement
suppor t,thepr oj ecti sl ikel ydoomed.  Suppor tgoesbey ondsi mpl yget ti
ngaspendi ngappr ov al
.
Youwanty ourmanagementt oact i
v elyembodyt heirsuppor t.Whenar esour cef r om anot her
depar tmenti sneeded, themanagercant hrot tlepr ogr essbypr ov i
dingl ukewar m suppor t
.  When
achoi cear i
sest osuppor tt henewERPoruset hepr esentsy st em, youwantconf idencet hatt he
managert rulysuppor tst heERPev eni ft her ei sashor t-ter m costatt hepoi ntoft hechoi ce.
ERPsel ect ioncr i
t eri
a#3: usersuppor t
Peopl ei nev eryf unct i
onal areawi l
l beuser soft henewERP.  Gai nt hei rsuppor tbyensur ing
theirneedsanddesi r esar ei ncl udedi nt her equi r
ement sl ist . Thoseuser s, wher ev ert heywor k,
willhav emucht ogai nt hrought hesuccessofy ourERPi mpl ement ation.  Lett hoseuser sknow
theywi l
l hav et hesuppor tt heyneedsuchast r
ai ningandequi pmentt heyneedt ouset heERP
andr ecei v ev aluef ort hem aswel l asf ort heov er allor gani zat ion.  Makecer taint heyknowt hey
willhav esuppor thel pi ngt hem t hrought heneededchanges.I nr et urn, theywi ll suppor tyour
effortst ouseandbenef i
tf rom y ournewERP.Makesur eher et hatt hedocument at i
onuser swi ll
needi sav ai l
abl ewhenandwher eneededbyuser sandi sofsuf fi
cientqual i
tyt omeett hei r
needs.
ERPsel ect ioncr i
t eri
a#4: funct ional requi rement s
Yourbusi nesshascer tainf unct ional requi rement st hatmustbesat i
sf i
edev enbef orey our
changeandupdat er equi rement s. Doest hisERPsuppor tsal esor der sthati ncl udebot h
phy sical product sr elat edandser v i
ces?I ft hati swhaty ourbusi nesssel l
s, ithast o. Your
busi nessoper atesi nmul tiplecount riesar oundt hegl obe.Dot heaccount ingcomponent sof
ERPi ncl udemul ti
pl ecur renci esandt heabi lityt owor kwi tht hev arietyoft axsy stemsi nt hose
count ries?
ThinkaboutanyERPcomponent snotr equi redbyy ourbusi ness.  Ify ourbusi nessi sdi stribut ion
andy ouper f
orm nomanuf act ur i
ng, cany oueasi lywor kar oundanywor k- i
n- pr ocessdemands
madebyani ntegr atedi nv ent orysy st em i ncludedi nsomeERPs?
ERPsel ect ioncr i
t eri
a#5: i
nt egr ationwi thexi stingsy stems
Mostbusi nessesconsi der i
nganERPsel ect ionhav eot hersy st emst hatar equi teadequat ef or
theirpur poseandt hebusi nessi snoti nter est edi nchangi ngmul ti
plesy stemsal ongwi tht hei r
ERP.  Thequest ionnowt obeasked: howwi ll thosesy st ems  int egr atewi thERP?  Al most
alway s, ther ear ecommondat ael ement s.  CanERPr eadanduset heexi st ingdat ai nthatot her
system?  Wi l
l youal lowt hesamedat at oexi standhowwi ll youkeept hosesepar at elyupdat ed
datael ement scompat ibl
e?  Wi ll youbebet terser v
edbychangi ngt heot hersy st em t ouset hat
dataf rom ERP?
Whati ntegr ationt ool scomewi tht hisERP?  Itshoul dhav esi mpl ei ntegr at i
onsuchas. csvf iles
foroccasi onal dat aupdat es.  Thatt y peofupdat eisi nef fici entandl i
kel yt oosl owf orev er yday
use.Webser vi
cesandXMLf i
lest hatal lowdi ffer entsy stemst oqui ckl ytr ansf erdat abet ween
systemsar eamor emoder nwayt owor k.
Manycust omer sandsuppl i
er suseEDI( elect roni cdat ai nt erf ace)t oshar edat abet ween
compani es.  I
ft hisi sneeded, besur ey ourERPsuppor tst hatneed.
ERPsel ect ioncr i
t eri
a#6: budgetandr esour ces
Howmuchmoney  i
sav ail
abl ef oranERPsy st em?  I
fy ouonl yhav e$10, theny ouhav et ohav ea
veryst rictsel ect ioncr iterion.A  2019Sof twar ePat hr epor t st atedt hatonav er age  y oucan
expectt ospendabout$7, 200oneachuserofy oursy st em -t hat '
sabi ginv est mentanda
remi ndert hatERPsel ectioni sal ong- t
erm consi derat i
on.MostERPsy stemswi llbeusedf ora
decadeorl ongersoongoi ngmai ntenanceandsuppor tf ort heERPaswel l ast hei nfrast ruct ur e
rel
at edar eabudgetconcer n.  Yourchoi cet odaywi lllockcost si ntof ut urebudget s.
Whoi sgoi ngt ot aket het imeandper f
ormt hewor ki nv ol vedi nsel ect i
ngandi mpl ement i
ngERP?
 
Ideal ly ,youcandev ot ef ul l
-ti
mer esour cest ot hepr oj ectbutmanybusi nesseswi l
l wantt ouse
part-timer esour ces.  Youneedt opl anwhowi llper f
or mt henecessar ywor kt hoser esour ces
perfor m nowwhi l
et heydev otet imet owar dERP.
ERPsel ect ioncr i
t eri
a#7: technol ogyandf ut ur escal abi l
ity
Theseconcer nsappl yt ot hesof twar eusedt odev elopy ourERPsy stem andt ot hehar dwar e
requi redt ouset hatERP.  Weknowt her ewi llbeongoi ngdev elopment sandi mpr ov ement sin
bot hdomai ns.Wemi ghtnotwantei t
hert oper form ont hebl eedi ngedgeoft echnol ogybut
nei therdowewantei theronet ouseobsol et et echnol ogyt oday . Att hesamet ime, wewantt o
buyourERPf r om apr ov idert hathasagoodr ecor dofaccompl ishmentofkeepi ngupwi th
technol ogydev elopment sandwhopr omi sest omai ntaint hatst rategy.
ERPsel ect ioncr iteria#8: tot al costofowner shi pandROI
Addup  all thei ncr ement al cost s y ouwi lli
ncurduet othi sERP.  Ther ewi ll bet hei nitial pur chase
amountandsomei nit
ial consul t
ingexpense.  Youmi ghtneedsomeupdat est oy ourser vers
andnet wor ksi mmedi atel y.Youwi llspendmoneyont raini ngandt empor ar ylaborwhi ley our
peopl ear ei mpl ement ingERP.  Youwi l
lhav esuppor tandmai ntenancecost sev er yy earwhi le
youuset heERP.
Att hesamet ime, y ouwi l
l benef itf rom i mpr ov ement sint hecostt oper f
or m wor k.  Youmi ght
seeaddi tional rev enuebecausey ounowcanpr ov i
deser vicesandpr oduct st oy ourcust omer s
thatwer enotpossi blewi thoutt hisERP.
Spr eadt hosecost sandbenef it
sov ertimeandcal culat ey ourr et urnoni nv estment .  Most
busi nesseshav eat hreshol dr eturnneededbef oremaki ngani nv estment .Ensur et hatt hi sERP
passesy ourbusi nessROIt hr eshol d.
ERPsel ect ioncr iteria#9: ev aluat eandsel ectopt i
ons
Thet radi tional ERPsy stem r unni ngonanon- pr emi sesser verandsuppor tedbyani n-houseI T
staf fi snott heonl ychoi cet oday . Manybusi nesseschooseanERPt hatr unsi nt hecl oudusi ng
aSaaSf ramewor k.Thei ni ti
al i
nv est menti sr educedi nf av orofmont hl
y“ rent al”pay ment sthat
i
ncl udet hesof t war eandmostsuppor tneeds.
Youcanchooseahy br i
dappr oachwher ey ourbusi nessownst heERPbutoper atesi tint he
cloudr unni ngonshar edser ver s.
ManyERPsy st emst odayar edev elopedusi ngopensour cesof t
war etoo.  Thesebenef itfrom
freeorv er ylowcostt oacqui ret hesof twar e.Youhav et hesour cecodef oropen- sour cesoy ou
hav et hepowerf orcompl etecust omi zations.  User sev ery wher eupdat e opensour ceERP  and
theyf i
ndandf i
xbugs.  Thosei mpr ov ement sar eav ailabl et oall usersi mmedi atelywi thnoneed
towai tf oradev elopmentcompanyt oi ssueanewr evision.
Ify ouhav econcer nsr el
at edt ot heseopt i
ons, yourchoi cewi l
l poi nttowhatERPsy st em
sel ect ioncr iteriaar eessent i
al f
ory ourbusi ness.
ERPsel ect ioncr iteria#10: necessar ycust omi zat i
on
Theper fectERPwi l
lnev err equi reanycust omi zation.  Sincenonear elikel yt obeper fect ,any
cust omi zat ionwi llbeasel ect ioncr iterion. Under standamongy ourt eam whatcust omi zat i
oni s
desi redandwhet heri ttrul yisessent ial. Today ’
sERPsy st emsuseknowl edgegai nedf rom
thousandsofcust omer s.I st her esomecomponentofy ourbusi nesst hati suni queamong
ev er yot herbusi nessar oundt hewor l
d?  Notl ikel y
.Ify ourdesi redcust omi zationcanbewor ked
aroundeasi lyusi nganexi st i
ngERP, thatcust omi zat i
oni snotasel ectioncr i
terion.I ft hat
cust omi zat ioncanbedef erredwhi l
ey ouuseanexi stingERPandev aluat edl ater, i
ti snot
i
mmedi at elyacr i
terion, butt heabi l
ityt oimpl ementt hatcust omi zationlat erisacr iterion.

1.Expl
aint
hev
ari
ouschangemanagementst
rat
egi
esadopt
edbycompani
esf
oran

ERPi
mpl
ement
ati
on.

5ChangeManagementSt
rat
egi
esf
oranERPPr
oject
Asani
ndependent
 ERPconsul
ti
ngf
ir
m, 
changemanagementi
sat
opi
cthatcomesupof
tenas
proj
ectt eamsl ookt oUl trat ounder standt hebestwayt owor kt hroughandERPpr ojectt o
i
mpr ovekeypr ocesses.   
Weof tengui deourcl ient st owor kt hr ought hesekeychange
managementst rategi esf oranERPpr oject .
1–Mobi l
izeandAl ignLeader s&Ar t
iculat et heCasef orChange
Asaf i
rstst rategy , i
ti skeyt ocl ear lyar ti
cul atet hecasef orchange.Weencour aget eamst o
communi cat epr oj ectscope, rolloutst rategyandi mpl ement at i
onschedul east heERPpr oj
ect
getsunder way . 
Keyaspect soft hi sst rategyi ncl ude:
 Leader shi punder st andsi mpl ement ationst rat egyandcl ear lydef inel eader shipact i
ons
tosuppor tt hechange
 Communi cat epr oj ectscope, r
ol l
outst rategyandi mpl ement at ionschedul e
 Empowert hei mpl ement ationt eam andempl oy eesf orbr oadbasedact ionby
sanct i
oni ngt hem wi tht heaut hor itytomakedeci sions
2–I dent i
fyandManage“ Peopl e”Oppor tunityandRi sk
 I tisal socr iti
cal fort he  ERPpr oj ectt eam  tol ookatbot ht heoppor tuni tyandr iskofa
project .Her e’swher eachangemanagementst rategyandt eam i sputi npl acet o
addr esst hecul tural changest hei mpl ement at ionwi l
lcr eat e.Keyar east oaddr ess
i
ncl udet hef ollowi ng:
 Conductor gani zationandpeopl er eadi nessassessment st oi dent ifybot hoppor tunity
andr iskasear lyaspossi bleanddef ineact ionst or ealizet heseoppor tuni ti
esand
mi ti
gat er isks
 Moni tort he“ peopl e”r iskmi ti
gat ionpr ogr essbyconduct ingmi d-cour seandpost
i
mpl ement ationchecks
 I dent ifykeyst akehol der swi thint hebusi nessandacr osst heent er priseandi mpl ement
bestpr act icesf oradopt ion
3 –St akehol derCommuni cat ions
 Ani mpor t antst rategywheni tcomest o or gani zat i
onal changemanagement  i
st odef i
ne
anddepl oyadet ailedcommuni cat ionpl an–whi chanswer swhatwi ll becommuni cated,
why ,towhom ( audi ence) , bywhom, when, andhow.Al l communi cat ionsshoul dinclude:
 Def initi
onofpr ojectscope, object ives, mi l
est ones, del iverabl es, critical successf act or
s
andappr oaches
 I nfor mat ionbet weenandamongal lproj ectst akehol der s
 Pl anf ort het r ansi tionpr ocesst hr oughi mpl ement at i
ont opostgo- li
v e
4–Cr eat et heFut ureOr gani zat ion
 As  busi nessi mpr ov ementconsul tant s, wehearal l aboutt hedesi ref ora
transf or medor gani zat iononceanERPi mpl ement ationi scompl et e.
 Dev elopi nganddesi gni ngt hedesi redf ut ur eor gani zat i
oni sal sokeyt ochange
managementandERP.Thi sphasei ncl udesassessi ngj obr edesi gnandcompet ency
requi rement sf ort henewenv ironment .
 Theseef for tsal soi ncl ude:
 Anal yzet hecur r entcondi tionoft hebusi ness, locat ions, anddepar tment si ntermsof
pr ocesses, or gani zat i
onandpeopl esy stems
 Dev elopat ransf or mat i
onpl ant hatdef inesact ions, responsi bilitiesandt imef ramet o
gett ot argetcondi tion
 Anal yzei mpl icat ionsf orHRsuchasper for mancemanagement ,compensat i
onand
classi ficat ion, recr ui ti
ng, hiri
ngandon- boar ding, etc.
5–Enabl et heWor kf orce
 Acr i
tical par tofchangemanagementst rat egi esf oranERPpr ojecti nv olv esenabl i
ngt he
wor kf orcet ot hr i
v ei nt het ransf or medor gani z at i
on.Thi sphasei smor et hansi mpl y
trainingonanewt echnol ogy .Thi susual lyi nv ol vesov er alljob, ski l
l andor gani zation
desi gnchanges.Wesuggestaf ocusont hef ollowi ngi niti
at i
v es:
  Assesscur r
entworkf
orcei nter
msofski l
ls,abil
i
ties,experi
encesandcapabili
ti
es;
assessstaffi
ngimpacts
 Develop/i
mplementtraini
ngst r
ategi
esandpl anst ocloselearni
nggaps
 Wellbeforego-l
i
ve,helpend-users,l
eaders,
implement at
ionteam members,process
owner s,
customer,
suppl i
ersunderstandhowt hei
rpr ocessesandworkwillbeimpacted

2.Cat
egor
izet
hedi
ff
erentt
ypesofERPv
endor
s.

I
nt hesoftwar eindust r
y , oneoft hemostcommon  classificationoft heERPv endor sisby
ti
ers.
 Basedont he company ’
s sizeandt heabi lit
yt opr ovideeconomi cal andbusi nessneeds
ERPv endors  are classi fiedasTi er1, Tier2andTi er3.
 ERPv endor s oft ypeTi er1pr ov i
deERPsof twar esol uti
onsf orl arge  mul t
inati
onal
corpor ati
ons.  TheseTi er1  Vendor soff erappr opriatesuppor tandser vi
cei nfrast ructures
forthei rcust omer sallov ert hewor l
d. Thi st ypeofERPsof twareal soof fersal ar ge
varietyofpr ocessopt ions.I ti sv eryf l
exi bleanddesi gnedt omeetal lt
her equi rement s
andneedsofy ourbusi ness.  Tier1ERPsy stemsar ev er ycost lyduet ot heirvast
capabi li
ti
es, whi chi ncludebei ngabl etohandl etheoper ationsofacongl omer atewi t
h
mul tiplegl obal  subsi diaries.  
Due  tothecompl exit
ycost sofi mpl ement ationand
suppor t, 
these  ERPpr oduct shav eahi ghcostofowner ship.
 Ti er2v endor ssel lERPpr oduct sf ormi d- sizedbusi nesses.ERPsof twar esolut i
onsof
thatt ypear esi mpl et oimpl ement ,manageandsuppor t .Tier2sol ut i
onsar eof ten
speci fiedasv ertical.Thi st ypecompr i
sesofatl east20wel l
-knowncompet it
ive
compani es.ERPsof t
war esol uti
onspr ov idedbyt hist ypeofv endor shav eal owercost
ofowner shipandt heypr oposel owerannual licensef ees.
 Ti er3  ERPv endor s (orhy br i
dv endor s) sel lpr oduct st hatar edesi gnedf orsmal ler
compani es.Thei rcust omer shav efewl ocat ionsandl esscompl exity,theirsolut ions
usual lyhav et hel owestt ot al costofowner shi p. 
Most l
yt heypr ov i
deERPsy stemsf or
busi nesseswi thupt o20user s.ManyERPsof twar esol uti
onsi nt hi sgr oupar esi ngl e
locat i
oni nst allat i
onsandbui l
tf orasi ngl ev ertical.Theyar esituat edl ocallyandoper ate
withinonecount ryorr egion.Ti er3v endor sal l
owf requentandf ast ersof t
war e
devel opmentandmodi f
icat ions.

3.Di
scusst
heERPi
mpl
ement
ati
onl
i
fecy
clewi
thdi
agr
am.
Step1: Sel ect i
onofpackage
Everybusi nessi sdi ffer entandsoar ei tsneeds.Thus, choosi ngt heright ERPsof twar e foryour
businessi st hef irstandt hemosti mpor tantst ep.Wi thnumer ousopt i
onsav ai
lablei nthe
mar ket, i
tcoul dber atherdaunt ingt ochooset her ightf i
tfory ourbusinessoper ations.Thus, i
n
thisstep, ERPmodul est hatdonotf ityourr equi rementar eel iminated.
Step2: Proj ectpl anni ng
Whenki cki ngof fanypr oj ect,itneedst obepl annedoutper fect l
y,sothatt herearenosur pr
ises
duringt hei mpl ement ation.Fr om choosi ngt her ightr esour cest oall
ocat i
ngt askst or espective
team member s, pl anni ngi skeyt oachi ev eaccur ateERPi mpl ement ati
on.
Step3: Anal ysisGAP
Anot heri mpor tantst epi nt hel ifecy cleofERPi mpl ement ationst ep,GAPanal ysisi sper f
ormed
toev aluat eandcompar et hecur rentsy st em oft heor ganisat i
onandi tsfutureposi tionas
needed.Thi swayy oucaneasi lyi dent if
yt hekeypr ocessest hatneedt hemostat tent i
onwi th
yourERP.
Step4: Re- engi neer ing
Tomaket hepr ocessmor eef f i
ci entandwor thy ,re-engi neer i
ngi simpl ement edast hepr ocess
i
nv olvessev eral changesandal ter ationsbasedont hepl anni ngandgapanal ysis.
Step5: Trai ning
Sincet her ei sanewsy st em i npl ace, i
twi llr
equi r ef orempl oyeest ogetpr opertrainingsot hey
canst ar tusi ngt hepr oduct ,seaml essl y.
Step6: Test i
ng
Thisi sanot hercr ucial st epi nERPi mpl ement at i
onl if
ecy cle.I tisbasicall
ycar ri
edoutt oassess
theer rorsandt ryt or esol vet hem bef oret heact ual applicationpr ocess.
Step7: Appl i
cat ion:
Thisi sthest agewher etheact ual impl ement ationoft heERPsy stem occur s.Onceal lthedata
i
scol lated, anal y sedandconv er tedt obef edi ntot hesy stem, thenewi mplement at i
oni sapplied,
andt heol dersy stem i sdi scar ded.
Step8: Mai ntenance:
Thel astandt hef i
nal step, oft heERPl if
ecy cleismai ntenance.Nowt hatt henewsy stem isin
place, i
ti st her esponsi bili
tyoft heempl oy eeswor kingoni ttost ayupdat edwi tht hel atest
technol ogyof ferings.Empl oyeesal soneedt ol ear nhowt okeept hesy st
em upandwor king
whenev ert heneedar i
ses.

4.Expl
aint
hesuccessandf
ail
uref
act
orsofERP.

Foll
owingaret hecommoncausesofcr it
icalsuccessf act or
sf orERPimplement ati
on:
 Compl etef ocusonbusi nessr equirement s
Thepr i
ori
tyshoul dbef ocusedont heef fectiverunningofabusi ness.Onceyouhav edef i
ned
theneedspr oper l
y,youcani nvolveinamuchmor eef f
ectiveERPsof twareselecti
on.I twil
llead
totheaccurater unningofy ourbusi nessoper ati
ons.
 Selectionofsof tware
Select
ingthewr ongsof t
warei sthemostcommonf ault.Atleastsomepeopl edoi twhi l
e
executi
ngan  ERPsy st
em.Af terunder st
andingt heexactneeds, t
hepri
ori
tyshouldbegi vento
choosingaper f
ectERP.I twilll
etyoubet terknowy ourf utur
eneeds, pri
ori
ti
es,vendor s,sal
es,
andmor e.
 Scopeoft hepr oj
ect
Clearl
ydescribingt hescopeofapr oj ectwi l
lundoubt edlyconv eythestat
us,it
smi nutedet ails,
thestepsneededt obei ncl
udedi nt hepr oject,etc.Becauset heERPsy st
em maynotsat i
sfyall
yourrequi
rement s.Simplycreati
ngt hestrategiesandr ecognizingthemoduleswi l
l onlyall
ow
youtoexactl
yuset hetool
sandcomponent sassociatedwi thit
.
 ROI
Thesearenotrevoluti
onar
yorev enf r
eshideas,butitshouldbehandl edcareful
lyt
oimpl ement
theERPsy st
em andt omakepr ofi
ts.Forabusiness,theperformance, tar
gets,model
s,
deadl
ines,et
c.shouldbemeasur edcar ef
ull
ysinceitdirect
lyaffectstheprof
itofabusiness.
 Budget
Eachcompanyhast ogenerateaconv i
ncingbudget.Thebudgeti ncl
udesthewholepri
cel i
ke
soft
ware,hardwareandstaffresourcesfortheexecution.Allofthesehavetobedonef or
makingROIfrom anERPpr oject.

Notev erycompanyachi ev ehi ghpr ofi

tsf rom ERP.  ERPf ailurer ates areal sohi ght hatar e
consi der edast hechal l
engesof  
ERPi mpl ement ation.Fai l
ur efact orsmakeabusi nessl oss,loss
ofmar ketshar eandmar ketpr ice, etc.Fol lowi ngar et hecommoncausesofcr it
ical f
ailur
e
factor sf orERPi mplement at ion:
 Lackofknowl edge
Ifthest af fisnoteducat edandup- to-dateaboutt hef unctioningoft heERPsy stem and
conf identaboutt hesaf etyoft hei rjobsbyt heuppermanagement ,t
heywi llstarttrustingthe
storiesot herssayandi nter ruptt heERPexecut ion.
 Absenceofenoughmanagementcommi t
ment
Themanagementshoul di nitiateandpr ov et hatt heERPexecut i
onhast heircompl etesuppor t.
AnERPoper at ionisnotsi mpl yclickingabut ton, itt akest imeandf ocusest ogetcor rectl
ydone.
Ifnotpr oper lyi mplement ed, itwi lldisturbt hemaj or ityoft hemai nbusi nesspr ocedur es.The
projectt eam shoul dcommuni catecl ear lyandr egul ar lywitht hecompanyaboutt hepr ospects
forthepr oj ect, keepingaposi tiveat t
itude, showi ngappr eciation, etc.forapr oduct ivebusiness.
 I nsuf ficientresour ces
Thepr imar ybudget scanbef requent l
yexceededandt heremaybest i
llnumer oushi dden
char gesi nanERPexecut i
on.Thoughi mpl ement ationscangetexpensi ve, t
hepr i
ceofmov i
ng
forwar dwi thinexper i
encedr esour cesi sf arbi gger .So, whilemaki ngthebudgetandassi gning
resour ces, caremustbet akent ost udyal lthef eat urest hatcoul daf f
ectt hecost s, i
nfrast
ructure
requir ement s,et c.
 Wi decust omizat ion
Wheny ouwi del ycustomi zeanERPi nst allation, y ounotonl yenhancet imeandpr icesbutal so
i
nst allingt henextpubl i
cat ionoft heERPsof twar ehi ghlytoughandex pensi ve.
 Unr eal isticexpect at ions
ERPsy st emscancr eatei ntensepr oduct i
v ityifef fect i
velyimpl ement ed.Themanagementand
wor ker smustbeawar eoft headv antagest or educeanyov erexpect ations.

5.Compar
evar
iousERPsy
stem packagesav
ail
abl
einmar
ket
.Whi
choneoccupi
es

t
het
opmostposi
ti
onandwhy
?

Top12Ent
erpr
iseResour
cePl
anni
ngSof
twar
e
Tool#1:Or acleERP
OracleERP isacompl eteandintegr
atedproj
ectfinanci
alandexecut
ionmanagementsystem
thatguaranteesbetterenter
pri
seperfor
mancemanagementst rat
egi
eswithgr
eatergovernance,
ri
sk,andcompl i
ancefactorsonacompar at
ivel
ylargerscal
e.Oneofthet
opmostenterpri
se
resour cespl anni ngsol ut i
onspr ov ider si nt hemar ket ,
itsext ensi v eintegr ationofcl oud
technol ogyi swor thment i
oni ng.
Feat ures:
 Ful l-fledgedi ntegr ationofcl oud- basedt echnol ogi cal suppor tsy stem
 St rongbackupandst or agef aci l
iti
eswi thref erencet ot heent er pr i
sedat a
 Ext ensi vemodul ari mpl ement ationf orbet termanagementofv ariousoper at i
ons
 Excel lenti ncor por ationofsuppl ychai nmanagementf eat ures
 Thepr esenceofpr ojectpor t foliomanagementf eat uresf orbet terinsi ghti nt othepr oject
wor kf lowcr iteria
 Reducedt imecompl exi tysol ut ionswi thaut omat edr esponsest rategi esf ordeal i
ngwi th
thev ar i
ousquer iesoft he  cust omersuppor tsy stem
 Thecr oss- platfor mi nst al l
at i
onf eaturesqui teanaf for dabl ecostsol ut ionont hewhol e.
Tool #2: Dat aNot e–OpenLogi cERPFr amewor k
Dat aNot eERP  i
saf eatur e-richERPsof twar esol utiont hatenabl esy out oshar ebusi nessdat a
secur ely ,col labor at eint ernal ly, andachi ev ey ourbusi nessobj ect ives.Thi scompr ehensi ve
solut i
onr unsonOpenLogi cFr amewor kt echnol ogyandhel psy ouov er seeal l busi ness
oper ationsl ikeaccount ing, pay rol l,inv ent ory,andmor e.Thesol ut ioni sbestsui t
edf or
manuf act ur i
ngcompani esi nsect orsl i
keengi neer ing, met al, elect roni cs, text ile,food&
bev erage, andmanymor e.
Feat ures:
 Ext ensi vei ntegr at i
onofal l thebusi nesspr ocessesandf unct ional i
ties
 I ndust ry-
firstOpenLogi cf ramewor kbasedl ogi cal sour cecodeowner shi p
 Dedi cat edmar ket ingand  CRM modul es  tobet teri nt eractwi thy ourcust omer s
 Cut ti
ng- edge  ERPi ni nv ent or ymanagement  capabi li
t i
esf orsuper i
ori nv entor ytracking
andef fi
ciency
 Qual itycont rol feat ur est oi mpr ov epr oductqual i
ty
 Lev eraget hepr ocur ementf eat ur etokeepsuppl i
er si nf or medandengaged
 St ayont opofy ourf inancesandt axeswi thadedi cat edFi nanceCont rol modul e.
 Managey ourwor kfor cef rom onepl acewi thHRandpay rollmanagementcapabi li
ti
es.
 I nt egr ationwi t
hmul tipl eent er pr i
seappsf oruni fiedbusi nessmanagement
Tool #3: Focus9
Focus9i sanul tr
amoder n, AI -enabl ed  ERPsy st em f orev er ybusi ness  from smal l,medi um, to
enter prise- l
ev elbusi nessest oov ercomet heiroper at i
onal hassl es.Thesol utioncomeswi t
h
adv ancedt ool st hatal lowy out oaut omat ey ourbusi nesspr ocessesandi ncr easepr ofitabi
li
ty.
Besi des, theeasy -to-usei nter faceofFocus9makesi tani deal pickf oral lty pesofbusi nesses.
Feat ures:
 Scal e-upy ourbusi nessseaml essl ywi thcl oudcapabi liti
es
 Adaptt ot henewsy st em qui ckl ywi thaneasy -
t o-usei nt erface
 Moni toral l yourf i
nanci al i
nf or mat i
on–l ikebi l
lingandi nv oicing, account s, andt axes–
from onepl ace
 Lev eraget heCRM modul et obet t
erunder st andy ourcust omer s
 Opt imi zey oursuppl ychai nbyt racki ngsuppl y,demand, andpr oduct ionst at us
 Gener atei n- dept hr epor tswi thbusi nessi nt elli
gence( BI )f eat ures
 St reaml inepr oduct ionschedul i
ngandmat er i
al planni ng
Tool #4: Mi cr osof tDy nami cs
Micr osof tDy nami cs  isoneoft het opt wel veERPsof t
war esol ut ionsexi st i
ngi nt hecur rent
mar ketandi st hepr efer redchoi cef orqui teal argenumberofuser s.I tcomesatqui tean
affordabl ecostandi squi teeasyt oi ntegr atewi tht hebusi nessmai nst ream act i
vities,thus
maki ngi tthemostpopul arofbr andsi nt ermsofERPsof twar ei nt heexi stingmar ketscenar i
o. 
Featur es:
 Hi ghl ycr eat i
veanduser -fri
endl yi nt er facewi theasyt ousenav igat i
onsol utions
 Ext ensi v edat abasesol ut ionsf orbet terupdat ingandr et ri
ev al ofdat a, alongwi thcr oss-
ref er enci ng
 Secur edat ast or ageandaccesssol utionf orbet termar ketoppor tuni ties
 Cl oud- basedDat amoni tor i
ngf eat ur esf orgr eat eri nsi ghti ntot hev ar i
ousoper ations
conduct edbyt hispar ti
cul arERPsof t war e
 St rat egi cpr ojectmanagementf eat uresf ormet hodi cal execut i
onofi nt egral oper at i
ons
 I nfr ast ruct ur e,Har dwar eandI Tcostmanagementmodul esf orbet terf unct ional itylev els
ont hewhol e
 Engagi ngi mpl ement ati
onofr eal -timedat apr ocessi ngsol utionsf orst rategi c
managementt echni quesofv ariousoper ational processesaccor dingl y
Tool #5:  Inf orERP
Oneoft het rendi ngent erpr i
ser esour cepl anni ngsof twar ei nt heexi st i
ngmar ketscenar i
o, Infor
ERP gener at eshi ghl yef fectivesol ut i
onsi nt er msofcust omeri nter act ionandgov er nance
regulationoper ationsonacompar ativ elyl ar gerscal e.Hi ghl yef fect ivef orv ar iousl ev elsof
enterpr i
ses, thisi soneoft hemostpopul arERPsol ut ionsi nt hel istoft opt wel veERPsof twar e
gener atedbyt hepar ti
cul arbr andf ort hebestent er pr iser esour cepl anni ngopt ions.
Featur es:
 Ext ensi v equal itymanagementf eat ur eswi thi ntegr at edr epor tgener at ionf orcr iti
cal
anal ysi sst rategi es
 I ncor por ationofhumancapi tal managementf eat ur esf orbet terf inanci al planni ng
str ategi esi nt er msofempl oy eeengagementopt ions
 Cr eat i
v ecust omermanagementopt ionswi t hbet teri mpl ement ationoft icketgener ation
andquer yr ecept ionst r
at egi es
 Mobi lemoni toringf eatur esf orgr eat ercont rol ov ert hev ariousoper at ional  processes
whi l
eont hego
 MRO/ Ser vicemanagementf eat ur esf orensur i
ngbet terbusi nessoppor t
uni ties
cust omi zedi naccor dancewi tht hel at estmar ketst andar ds
 Cr oss- pl atfor mi nstal l
ationappl icabi l
ityf ort hebet terscopeofi mpl ement at i
oncr i
ter i
a
 Excl usi ve  dat abasemanagementsy st em  wi t hbet tersecur i
tyf eat uresi nt ermsoft he
var ioust ransact ional dat a
Tool #6:  Epi corERPSof twar e
EpicorERP  isoneoft het opmostent er priser esour cepl anni ngsof twar esol ut i
onspr ov i
der sin
themar ketandi spopul ar lyknownf ori tsappl icabi lityt oend- to-endeconomymanagement
systemsi nt heexi stingbusi nessor gani zat ionsatl ar ge.Oneoft hebesti nt hemar ket ,ithas
gainedsubst ant ial impor tancei nt hev ar i
ousmi d-sizedbusi nessesandi ncor por atessome
excellentf eat uresi nt ermsoft hel at estERPsol utiondemands.
Featur es:
 Themodul ari mpl ement ationofpr oductmanagementst rategi esf orbet teri nsi ghti nto
thev ar i
oust ransnat ional oper ationsi nt ermsofpr oducthandl i
ng
 Suggest ivepl anni ngandschedul i
ngopt ionspr ov idedf orst rat egicmai ntenanceof
var iousbusi nessoper at i
onsont hewhol e
 Pr oductdat amanagementf eat ures, int ermsoft hev ariousi nter medi at epr ocedur es,
rightf rom t hepr oduct iont ot hedel iver yend
 Bet terser v icemanagementst rat egi es, forensur inggr eat ereconomi cst andar dsand
bui ldi ngofast rongser v icebasef ort hev ar i
ouscust omer sint heexi stingmar ket
scenar i
o
 Hi ghl yengagi nganduser -friendl yi nt erf acef orgr eat ernav igabi lit
yopt ionsandsof twar e
 handl i
ng, hencei mpl y ingbet termanagementsol utionsont hewhol e
 Real -timedat aupdat ingandr etriev al str at egiesf orbet termanagementoft hev arious
transact i
onst hatt akepl acei ncompl iancewi t
hapar ticul arst rat egici mpl ement at i
on
Tool #7:  Tal l
yERP9
TallyERP9  isaone- st opsol ut ionf ort hev ar iousbusi nessandcor respondi ngor gani zat i
onal
needsf ori nv ent or ymanagement , pay rollmanagement ,andaccount ingser v i
ces.Oneoft he
topmostent er priser esour cepl anni ngsof twar esol ut i
onspr ov ider si nt hecur rentmar ket ,it
s
vari
ousmodul arimpl ement at i
onspr ov idef orbet termanagementoff inanci alsol utionsont he
economi cf oref rontaccor di ngl y .
Featur es:
 Ext ensi v e pay rollmanagementsy stem  wi thaut omat edr epor tgener at i
onand
compar ativev isual anal ysisst rategi es
 Real -timedat aupdat est rategi eswi thr educedt i
mecompl exitysol utionsf orbet ter
per for mancel ev elsi nt hegi v enor gani zat ional l
ev el
 ERPhel pst ocompl et econt rol overpr oduct ion andi nv ent or ymanagement ,
int otal
compl iancewi tht hel at estmar ketst andar dsandsuggest ivei mpl ement at i
onof
i
nv entor ydisposal
 Excel lentqual ityassur ancet echni quesf orpr ov i
dinghassl e-pr oofpr oductdel iver y
ser vicest ot het ar getbusi nesscl ient sandcust omer sint hei nt ernat i
onal mar ket
 Ext ensi v e ERPdat abasemanagement  wi thgr eatersecur i
tyandcont rol featur est ot he
conf i
dent ial dat aoft hecor respondi ngbusi nessor gani zat i
onatl arge
 Cr oss- pl atfor mi mpl ement at ionf aci l
itiesf orbet termanagementoft hegi vendat a
throughv ariousdev icesandsy stemsunderconsi der ation
Tool #8:  I
FSERP
IFSERP  isoneoft hebestent er priser esour cepl anni ngsof twar ei nt hegi venmar ketand
i
ncor por at essomehi ghl yef f i
ci entf eat urest ar get edt owar dst heagi ledev elopmentof
technol ogi cal l
ycompat ibleERPsol ut ionsf orv ar iousbusi nesses.Thi spar ti
cul arsol ut i
oni nthe
topt wel veERPsof twar el istcomesatqui teanaf for dabl ecostanddel iversexcel lent
performancel ev elsf orachi ev inggr eat ereconomi cst andar dsi nt hegi venmar ket .
Featur es:
 Cr eat i
v ei mpl ement at ionofpr oductl ifecy clemanagementst rat egiesf orensur i
nghassl e
proofpr oductdev elopmentanddel iver yt ot het argetbusi nessor gani zation
 Pr ov i
desf oreasy -to- usei nt erf acesol utionswi t
hbet teroper at i
onal standar dsaspert he
cur rentmar kett r
ends.
 Pr ov i
desanext ensi v ev i
sual repr esent at ionoft hest at ist i
cal inf ormat ionf orcr i
tical
anal ysi spur poses
 Bet terpr ojectandcont ractmanagementopt i
onswi theasydat abasemanagement
sol utionsf ort het ransact i
onsandt heschedul edoper at ionsbei ngcar r
iedout
accor di ngly
 I ntegr at ive suppl ychai nmanagementsol ut ions  f
ort hest rategi ci mpl ement ationoft he
cust omspr ocessesoft hegi v enpr oj ectandbet terf i
nanci al l
ev els
 Gr eat ercust omercol labor at ionmanagementst rategi esf orengagi ngt hecl i
ent sand
cust omer swi tht hemai nst ream act i
v iti
esoft hegi venor gani zat ion
 24* 7cust omersuppor tsol ut i
onsf ori nst antquer ydeal ingandr esponsegener ation,for
ensur ingbet tercust omerr etent i
onf eat ur esont hewhol e
Tool #9:  I
nt egr aERP
Thebestqual i
t yret ail managementoper at i
onswi tht hemostext ensi veofuseri nterfacesand
easynav i
gat ionopt ionsar epr ov i
dedby  Integr aERP.Oneoft hebestent erpr i
ser esour ce
planningsof twar ei nt hemar ket ,thispar ticul arsof twar eisi nmaxi mum demandandowesi ts
popul arityt owar dst hev ar iousbusi nessor gani zat ionsexi stingi nt hegi venmar ketscenar io.
Features:
 Amodul arimpl ement ationofpur chasemanagementf orbet termoni toringoft he
pur chasesol utionsgener at edi nt hedueexecut ionoft hev ar iousor deri nt akes
 Ext ensi v esal esmanagementoper ationswi thgr aphi cal anal y sisanddet ailedr epor t
gener at ionf eat ur eint er msoft hesal esobt ainedf ort hecur rentf i
nanci al per iod
 I nv ent or ymanagementopt ionswi thbet terst ockar rangementanddi sposal sol utions,
forensur i
nggr eat erf inanci al standar dsi nt heeconomi cf oref rontatl ar ge
 Ext ensi v eaccount smanagementopt ionsf orbet teranal ysisoft hest rat egi c
impl ement ationofv ariousi deasf orensur inggr eat erf i
nanci al oper at ions
 Cr eat ivesol ut i
onswi thahi gh- enduser -fr
iendl yint er facef orbet ternav igat i
onev enf ora
nov iceuser
 Aut omat edr esponsesol utionsf ordeal ingwi tht hev ar iousquer iesoft hegi v enuser s
accompani edbyhi ghl yef fect iveandst reaml inedoper at i
onsi nt ermsofcust omer
managementsol ut i
ons
Tool #10:  
Net sui t
eERP
Oneoft hebestweb- basedent erpr iser esour cepl anni ngsof twar esol ut ionspr ov ider si nt he
mar ket,
 Net sui te setsi tspl acei nt het opt wel v eERPsof twar eknownf ori tsqui ckt ransnat i
onal
operationsanddat amanagement , wi t
hf ast eri mpl ement ationopt ionsont hewhol e.The
developer sofhi ghlyengagi nguseri nter facesol uti
ons; theyar et hemostpopul arsof twar e
sol
ut i
onspr ov ider sint heexi st ingmar ket .
Features:
 Real -ti
medat apr ocessi ngst rategi esandi mpl ement at ioncr iter i
af orbet teri nsi ghtinto
thebusi nessoper ationsatl arge
 Or der  bi lli
ngsof twar e andmanagementmodul ef orper fectandaccur atebi l
lingopt ions
anddocument ationoft hesamei nt hemai nstream dat abase
 Ther ev enuer ecogni tionmanagementsol utionf orcr i
tical anal y sisoft her ev enue
gener at ionagent sandt hei rimpl ement ationpr ospect sf orgr eat erf inanci al st andar dsof
thecor r espondi ngor gani zat i
on
 Recur ringr ev enuemanagementf ormai ntainingr ev enuegener ationst rat egi esand
per fectsuppor tsy stem wheni tcomest oemer gingmar ketsi tuat i
ons
 Bet terandsecur edat abasesol ut ionsi nt ot alcompl i
ancewi tht hel at estmar ket
standar ds, forpr ov i
dinghassl e- freeoper ationsaccor di ngl y
Tool #11:  
Mar gERP9+ 
Mar gERP9+  st andst obet hei deal i
nt egr at edr esour cemanagementsol ut ionspr ov iderf or
vari
ousbusi nessesatl ar ge.Oneoft hebestsof t
war ei nt het opt wel v eERPsof twar ei nt he
mar ket,Mar gERP9+i st hei deal ERPsol ut ionf orv ariousmi d- sizedt ol ar gebusi ness
enterprisesi nt heexi stingmar ket .Thi spar ticul arsof twar ecomesatqui t
eahi ghl yaf fordabl e
pri
ceandof fer sgr eatcompat i
bi li
t ywi tht hel atestmar ketst andar ds.
Features:
 Ext ensi v eretailmanagementst rat egi esf orbet terr etail mar ket ingandoper at ionsi nthe
cur rentmar ket
 I ntegr at i
v esuppl ychai nmanagementi mpl ement at i
onf orensur ingabet terandhi ghly
streaml inedbusi nessoper at ionatl ar ge
 I ncor por ati
onofmanuf act ur i
ngmanagementt echni quesf orgr eat eri nsi ghti nt othe
manuf act uri
ngsegment ,wi thgr eatdet ailtopr oductr esear chanddev el opmentcr it
eria
 Hi ghl ysecur edat abaseandsuppor tsy stem f oraut omat edt ransnat i
onal dat asecur it
y
sol ut i
ons
 Aut omat edr esponsemanagementsy st em t odeal wi tht hev ariousaspect sofhi ghly
eff ect i
v ecust omermanagementsol ut ionsaccor di ngl y
 Cr oss- plat f
or m sy nchr oni zat ionf eat ur esf orcompat ibilitywi thv ariousdev i
cesand
 syst emsaccor dingl y
 Mobi l
ei mpl ement ationoft hegi vensof twar ef orgr eat ermoni t
or i
ngandcont rolfeatures
whi l
eont hego
Tool #12:  SAPERP
SAP  enter priser esour cepl anni ngsof twar esol utionsar eoneoft het opmostERPsol ution
provider sint heint ernat i
onal mar ketandst andt oof ferext ensi vesol utionsf orbet terbusi ness
oppor tunities.Thi spar ticul arsof t
war ecomesatqui teanaf fordabl ecostandi soneoft he
easiestsof twar ei nt ermsofi mpl ement ationt echni ques.
Featur es:
 Pr ov idesr eal -t
imeupdat i
ngoft hev ar ioust r
ansnat ional dataf orgr eaterinsi ghtint othe
variousaspect sofbusi nessi mpl ement at i
ons.
 Pr ov iderofi ntegr atedbusi nesspr ocessi ngsol utionsf orenhanci ngmodul arbusi ness
processesi nter twinedwi thv ariousoper ational strat egiesi nt hegi venbusi nessmodel .
 Hi ghl yaut omat edcust omerengagi ngmanagementsol utionsf orbet tercust omerbase
buildupandr etent i
on.
 Easygener at i
onoft icket sanddeal i
ngwi thv ar i
ousquer i
esoft heuser sforbet t
er
i
mpl ement ationofbusi nessst rategi esi nt hecur rentmar ket.
 Cl oud- basedcompat iblesol utionspr ov iderf orensur ingbet t ersaf etyandsecur ity
standar dsoft hegi vent ransnat ional dat aandst r
at egi ci mpl ement ationoft hegi ven
busi ness.
 Themobi l
ei ntui t
ivei nt erfacei sav ailablef orbet t
eri nt egr ationi ntomai nstream
oper at i
onsf orgr eat ersuppor tst atistics.
Enterpr i
ser esour cepl anni ngi soneoft hecr uci alelement sandt hemosti mpor tantdet er mining
factorswhi chi mpl ythebusi nessst andar dsofanygi venor gani zat i
on.Theper formancel evels
ofthegi venbusi nessar et ot all
yj udgedbyt heef fectivehandl i
ngt echni quesoft heERP
solutionsassuch, andal mostasal way s,st andst ocr eateahi ghlyposi tiveimpactf orbet ter
sustainabi li
t yint heexi sti
ngmar ketscenar io.
Witht hei mpl ement ationoft hel atestt echnol ogical innov ations, thebusi nessst andar dsar e
l
ikelyt ohav ei nfl
at i
onandar edest i
nedt ocr eat egr eat erpot ent i
al forbet t
erf i
nanci al l
ev elsin
theeconomi cf orefronti nt hei nternational mar ketaccor di ngl y.Al so  beforei nvestingi nERP
Softwar econsi dergoi ngt hr ought hesepoi nt s.
Witht hei mpl ement ationoft hel atestt echnol ogi cali nnov ations,t hebusi nessst andar dsare

l
i
kel
ytohav
einf
lat
ionandar
edest
inedt
ocr
eat
egr
eat
erpot
ent
ialf
orbet
terf
inanci
all
evel
sin

t
heeconomi
cfor
efr
onti
nthei
nter
nat
ional
mar
ketaccor
dingl
y.

6.I
ll
ust
rat
etheper
sonsi
nvol
vedi
nERPi
mpl
ement
ati
on

 Execut iverol
esondi gi
tal t
ransformat ionandERPi mplement ationprojectt eams
Apr ojectteam isonl
yasgoodast heexecut iv
egui dancepr ovidedbyl eadersoft hecompany .
Thisiswhyt he 
ERPexecut i
vesteer i
ngcommi ttee issoi mpor tantt
oanef fecti
vet ransformation.
Forexampl e,t
hereareseveralexecutiv
er olest hatar eev enmor eimpor tantthant hatoft heCIO:
CEO.  
TheCEOneedst oprovi
decl eardir
ect i
onandv isi
onf ortheproject.Thisgoeswel lbeyond
providingli
pser vi
ceofhowi mpor tantt
hepr oj
ecti s,appr ovi
ngt heprojectbudget ,andbei nga
fi
nal pointofescalat
ionwhent hingsgowr ong.I naddi ti
on, t
heCEOal soneedst opr ovideclear
di
rect i
ononhowexact lyt
het r
ansf ormati
onwi llenabl ethecompany ’
sl ong-t
erm st rategyand
vi
sion.
CFO.  
CFOsar eof tendesi gnat edasexecut ivesponsor sbecauset ransf ormat i
onsof tenf ocuson
thef inancef unct i
onandbecauset heyhav eaknackf ormanagi ngt hedol l
ar sandcent sofbi g
capi tal i
nv est ment s.Butt obeef fect i
v e,CFOsneedt opl ayamor est rategi cr olethatext ends
bey ondkeepi ngt het r ainf rom goi ngof fther ai l
s.
COO.  Unlessy ourt ransf ormat ioni spur el yaback- officef inanci alsandaccount ing
transf ormat ion, y ouroper ationsbusi nessl eader swi ll needt ohav ei nst rument al r
ol esi nt he
project .Thi swi llensur et hatt hebusi nessdr iv est het echnol ogyi mpl ement at ionr at hert hant he
technol ogydr ivingt hepr ojectof ft hewr ongt r ack.Onl yt heCOOcanpr ovidet hisbusi ness-
cent ricleader shi p.
 Keysuppor tingr olesondi gi t
al transf or mat ionandERPi mpl ement ationpr oj ectt eams
Inaddi ti
ont oexecut ivel eader shi p, otherr olesar eal sopi votal insuppor ti
ngt he ERPpr oject
team:
Or gani zational changemanagementt eam.  
Thi smaybeasepar at et eam, orify out ake
the trojanhor seappr oacht ochangemanagement , i
tmaybeembeddedwi thint hecor epr oject
team.Ei t
herway ,asol idor gani zat i
onal changemanagementt eam i scr i
tical toensur ingt he
successofy ourpr oj ect .Unf or t
unat ely,mostsy stemsi ntegr ator sdon’ thandl ethisf unct ionwel l
andmostt ransf or mat ionpr oj ectt eamsunder est i
mat et hisr ole, sobesur enott of all i
ntoei ther
oft heset raps.
Subj ectMat terExper ts. Themor ei nv olvementy ouhav ef rom busi nesspr ocessowner sand
subj ectmat terexper tswi thiny ourcompany ,t hemor esuccessf ul yourpr ojecti sl ikel yt obe.Of
cour se, toomuchi nv olvementf rom t oomanypeopl ecandel aydeci sionsandexposeal ignment
i
ssues, buti tisi mpor tantt ocr eat ebuy -i
nandowner shi pf rom t hef rontl i
nes.
HumanResour cesDepar tment . Giv ent hei mpactonpeopl eandt hei rjobs, theHRdepar tment
maybet hemostunder r
at edr oleondi gital transf ormat ions.Thi si swhy  
HRi sof t
ent heunsung
her oofasuccessf ul digital transf ormat i
on.Wi thoutt hei rhel paddr essi ngt hepeopl esi deoft he
transf ormat ion, y our si sdoomedf rom t hest ar t.
Theser olesshoul dbecl ear l
ydef i
ned, andr esour cesshoul dbemobi li
zeddur ingt he  ERP
i
mpl ement ationr eadi ness  phaseofy ourpr oject .
 Ov errat edr olesondi gi tal transf or mat ionandERPi mpl ement at i
onpr oj
ectt eams
Inaddi ti
ont ot hei mpor tantr ol esout linedabov e, ther ear esomer ol est hatar eimpor tantbut
ov erratedonERPi mpl ement at ionanddi gital transf or mat ionpr oject s.Thesear eexampl esof
rolest hatmadeourt op10l ist ,butar en’tr ankedashi ghasy oumi ghtt hink:
Pr ojectmanager . Agoodpr ojectmanagercancer tainlyi ncr easey ouroddsofsuccess.
Howev er,ev ent hebest  
ERPpr ojectmanager  
can’ tov er comel ackofexecut ivei nvol v ement ,a
weaksy st emsi ntegr at or ,orl ackofchangemanagement .Thi nkoft hisasacapst oner olethat
canbesuccessf ul onl ywheny ouhav eshor edupal lt heot herr ol esi nourt op10l ist .
ERPsy stemsi nt egr at or. Thi si sar guabl yt hesi ngl emostov erratedr oleonERP
i
mpl ement ationsanddi gi tal transf ormat ions.Compani est ooof tent akean“ out sour cing”
ment alityt hatl eadst ol ossofcont rol andexcessi vecost s.Iti simpor tantt of i
ndasol id ERP
sy stemsi nt egr ator ,butdon’ tov er i
nv esti nt hi sr oleatt heexpenseofot her s.

7.Def
endt
het
echnol
ogi
cal
,oper
ati
onal
,andbusi
nessr
easonsf
ori
mpl
ement
ing

ERP.

I
fyouror
gani
zat
ioni
scur
rent
lyaboutt
oimpl
ementERP,
her
ear
ethekeyr
easonst
omaket
he
move.
1.ERPSol
vesI
TMul
ti
-Pl
atf
ormI
ssues

Overti
me, organi
zati
onsmayf i
ndthemsel
vesr
unni
ngmanydi fferentsof
twaresystemsacross
multi
pledepartments.Thesesyst
emsmayhavebeeninher
itedwithabsorbedcompaniesor
pi
ecedt oget
hertobeabl etoworkwit
hpart
ner
sandvendors. Yetthi
slackofconformi
tycan
haveadet r
imentaleff
ectonprocessfl
ow.

Problemsari
sewhensy st
emsareincompati
ble,
tooexpensiv
et omai nt
ain,
out
dated,
and/
orar
e
unabletobeser
vicedorupgr
aded.Whenitbecomesapparentt hatthesyst
emsneed
i
mpr ovement
s,t
hisiswhenanov er
hauloft
hecur r
entI
Tstructureisrevi
ewed,
andanERP
solut
ionbegi
nstomakebusinesssense.

Syntaxdevel
opsandi mplement sERPapplicat
ionswithaf ocuson JDEdwar dssoluti
on set
.
Oracle’
sJDEdwar dsEnterpri
seOnepr ov
idesacompr ehensivesetofapplicat
ionsthatenables
customerstoaggr egateandsecur eappli
cati
oncontentwithinacentrali
zeduserinterf
ace(UI)
.
Thismeanst hatsoftware,implementati
on,andtrai
ningarepr e-
confi
guredandal l
from asingl
e
sourcetokeepy ouincont rol
.Thiscomprehensivesetoflow-cost,l
ow-ri
skJDEdwar ds
appli
cati
onsdelivershighfunctional
i
tyinaccordancewithindustrybestpract
ices.

WithacommonI Tplat
forminplace—thehal
l
markofanERPsy st
em—IToperati
onalcostsar
e
drast
ical
l
yreduced,astheyhelpautomatepr
ocesses,
incr
easepr
oduct
ivi
ty,
reduce/
re-pur
pose
headcountandreti
recostl
ylegacysyst
ems.

2.ERPI
mpr
ovesPer
for
mancei
naDownEconomy

Asf orecastsconti
nuetopredi
ctfl
ateconomi
cactiv
ityi
nthenewy ear,
2013willsee
organizati
on’sITbudgetsascompactastheywerein2009and2010.Howev er,
highgr
owthand
medi um-sizedcompaniesareexpect
edtocont
inuetoexpand,andtheywil
lneedtosuppor
tand
nurturethisint
ernalgr
owth.

Wit
hERPappli
cat
ions,
busi
nessact
ivi
ti
esandcompanyper
for
mancecanbebet
termoni
tor
ed
andcont
rol
l
ed.

Accordi
ngtoa2012surveyofnear
ly250organi
zat
ionst
hathaveimpl
ementedanERPsyst
em
wit
hinthepasty
ear,94per
centofr
esponderssai
dthebi
ggestbenef
it
sreal
i
zedfrom t
he
i
mplementati
onincl
uded:

 Av
ail
abi
l
ityofi
nfor
mat
ion
 Fasterr
esponset
imesandincreasedi
nter
act
ionacr
osst
heor
gani
zat
ionasa
resul
tofstr
eamli
ningpr
ocesses

3.St
andar
dizesBusi
nessPr
act
ices

Di
sconnectsbetweenfi
nance,
sal
esandproduct
ioncausedbymult
ipl
esoft
wareplat
forms,
al
lowforincr
easederr
orsandwastedempl
oyeetimetry
ingtof
ixpr
oblems,orf
indneeded
i
nfor
mation.
ERPsystem f
uncti
onali
tyi
ncl
udesthesof
twar
epiecesforCustomerRelat
ionshi
pManagement
(CRM)andsalesautomati
oninordert
ostr
eamli
nesalesprocessesandstopworkr
edundancy
.

Wheny oursal
esprof
essi
onals,pr
oductmarketingt
eam, customerserv
icepersonneland
fi
nanci
algroupsworkonacommonsal espl
atform,pract
icesandreport
ingf
lowt hr
oughoutt
he
organi
zati
onhelpi
ngtoi
ncreaseemployeeproducti
vit
y,andgeneratehi
gherrevenues.

4.I
ncr
easesandI
mpr
ovesI
nter
act
ion

ERPsystemsar eshowntoincreaseandimproveinteract
ioninter
nall
yandbetweencust omers
andsuppli
ers.I
fyoursuppli
erscanalsocommuni catemor eeffi
cient
lywi
thsales,
mar keti
ng
andfi
nance,orevenint
egratewithyourERPsystem, i
magi netheincr
easedproducti
vi
tythatcan
begai
ned.

Avai
labi
li
tyofreal-
ti
mecompanyi
nfor
mationt
odiffer
entgr
oupswi
thi
nthecompanywi
l
lal
l
ow
forf
asterresponseti
mesandast
reamli
nedworkf
low.

8.Expl
ainOr
gani
zat
ionoft
heERPi
mpl
ement
ati
onpr
ojectwi
thdi
agr
am.

PhaseI :Pr oj
ectDev elopment
OnceanERPsol uti
onhasbeensel ected,thef i
rstphaseoft heimplement ati
onbegins.The
customerdef inesthet eam member swhowi l
lbeinv ol
vedandr esponsibleforasuccessful
project.Likewise,yourERPv endordef inestheirrole.Thiscanv arywidelyfr
om onecompanyt o
thenext ,dependingont hel ev elofsuppor trequir
ed.
Partoft hisphasei ny ourERPi mpl ement ati
onpr ojectplanalsoincl
udesnet work/hardware
requirement sandi nst all
ation–unl essy ou’vechosenacl oud-basedSaaSmodel ERPsuch
as I
nforCl oudSui t
eI ndust ri
al .
Thei mplement at
ionpl anningmeet ingtakespl ace,ledbyt heERPv endorandi ncl
udingthecore
member soft hecust omer ’st eam.Thi smeet i
ngshoul dreviewtheplan,alongwi t
hexpectati
ons,
scope, andt i
mel i
nedi scussi ons.  Afterthemeet i
ng, t
hev endorputstogetheranERP
i
mpl ement at
ionpr ojectpl anf ort heexecut i
onoft hesolution.
Related: 
InforERP: Ev eryt
hingYouNeedt oKnow
PhaseI I: Dat aConv er sionandLoadi ng
Ever ycompanyi mpl ement i
ngERPsof twar ehasanexi st ingsy st em.Whi lesomet hinkt heyhav e
nocur rentsy stem, theycer tainlydo.I tcoul dbespr eadsheet sandmani ll
af oldersi nf ile
cabi nets–t hatI Sasy stem!  Notagoodone, butt hat ’
swhywe’ r eher e.
InphaseI I,webegi nt hepr ocessofgat her i
ngcr iti
cal dat af rom t heexi stingsy stem, andt hen
scrubbi ngandcl eani ngt hatdat a, soi t’sf ormat tedi namannert hatal l
owsi tt obel oadedi nto
yournewERPsof t
war e.Ther ear emanydat ar ecor dswecanadd, butt y pical l
ythemi nimums
arecust omer s, vendor s, andpar ts( bot hf inishedgoodsandr awmat er ials).Anci l
larydat a
rel
at edt ot heset hreemai ncat egor iesi sal soi ncl uded, suchascont act s, billto/remi tt o/ shipt o
addr esses, vendorpr icing, customerpr icing, bill
sofmat er i
als, etc. 
Datacl eansi ngandmi gr ationi soneoft hemostunder est imat edt asksofanERP
i
mpl ement at ionpl an, from at i
mecommi tmentst andpoi nt .Butt hegoodnewsi swedon’ tneed
towai tfort hecompl et i
onofphaseI Ibef orebegi nni ngphaseI II.
PhaseI II:Pr ocedur al Dev elopment
Whendi scussi nganERPi mpl ement at iont i
mel ine, thisi st hephaset hatwi llundoubt edl y
cont aint hemostdi scussi onanddebat ef orhowl ongt hei mpl ement at i
onshoul dt ake.
Inthi sphase, bot ht hecust omerandERPv endort eamswi lldef i
net hecur rentpol iciesand
procedur esi nor dert odev elopt her oadmapf ort henewpol i
ciesandpr ocedur es.Requi red
document ationandr epor tingwi llalsobepar toft hisphase.
Buildingoutt hedat abaset omeett henewr equi rement s, andi nit i
al simul ationoft henew
processest hr ought hei ndi vi
dual depar tment st akespl ace.Oncet henewpr ocedur esar epr oven
andaccept ed, theywi llbedocument edandappr ov ed.
InphaseI IIoft heERPi mpl ement ationpl an, end- usert rai ningbegi ns.Unt ilthispoi nt,t hecor e
i
mpl ement at iont eam hasbeendev el opi ngandpr ov ingoutt henewpr ocesses.Nowi t’
st imet o
i
nv olv eal lot heruser si nt hesy stem.Enduser smaybr ingupweaknessesi nt hepr ocessest hat
mayhav ebeenov erlookedbyt hecor ei mpl ement at iont eam.Thi sisv er ynor mal .
Allnecessar yr epor tmodi ficationsandr equi rement shav ebeenmet , ordel egat edi fnot
necessar yt omov etot henextphase.
PhaseI V: I
mpl ement at i
onPr epar ation
Att hispoi nt, thenewpr ocessesar eingoodshape, end- usert r ainingi scompl et
e, andnew
procedur esar edocument ed.Nowi t’st imef orev er yonet odemonst rat et heycansuccessf ully
uset heERPsy st em.Br ingont heconf er encer oom pi lot( ordr essr ehear sal ). 
Takesev er al exampl esoft ypical order sandr unt hem t hr ought henewsol ut ionf rom begi nning
toend.Thi si ncl udespul li
ngi ndi fferentuser sal ongt hewayt odot hei rpar t–andpr ov et hey
knowhowt odoi twi thl ittl
eornoassi st ance.  I fuser sgetst uck, t
heyshoul dr efert ot hei r
procedur al document ation.
Aftert hepi lot ,det ermi nei fyoucangol iveonschedul eornot .Wer esi gni ficanti ssuesf ound
duringt hepi lott hatcan’ tbeaddr essedi nat imel ymannert okeept hego- li
v edat e?Dot heend
user sneedmor et rainingt hanpl annedf or?Mor et rainingi salway sneeded, butitshoul dbe
mini mal andnoti mpactt het imel i
ne.
Schedul eanot herpi loti fnecessar y.Ifpr ocedur eswer ef oundt obei naccur ateori ncompl ete,
theyshoul dbeupdat edandr epubl i
shed.
PhaseV: Go- Li ve
Withal lthepi ecesi npl aceandpi lotr unscompl eted, it
’st imet ot urnt henewERPsol ut ionon
andst artusi ngi t.Justaf ewmor edet ai l
sbef orego- li
v eday …
Nowi t
’st imet ol oaddy nami cdat a.Thi si st hedat at hatchangesandi st ransact i
onbased, such
asopenWI P, inv ent ory ,cust omeror der s, pur chaseor der s, account sr ecei vabl e,account s
pay able, trial bal ances, et c.Loadi ngdy nami cdat ai susual l
yat wot of i
v e-dayt askpr iort ot hego
-l
ivedat e, whi chshoul dbeanaccount ingper iodst ar tday .Openi ngbal ancesi nthenewERP
shoul dmat chcl osingbal ancesi nt hecur rentsy stem.
Celebr at e!Mont hsofhar dwor khav ef inal lymat er i
al i
zed.Takeamomentt or eflectupont he
tr
iumphsandt r
ibulationsal ongtheway .Butdon’tbaskf ortoolong–nowt herealworkbegi ns!
PhaseVI :PostGo- Live
ERPi mplementat i
onsuccessshoul dbemeasur ediny ears–notday s,weeks, ormont hs.Any one
canbesuccessf uli
mmedi at el
yaftergoingliveonanewsol uti
on.Thet r
uemeasur eof
achievementishowwel lthepr ocesseshol dupov erthey earsandwi t
hstandi nevi
tablechanges,
suchasempl oyeet urnover,businessexpansi onandmer gers,andot herpot enti
all
yunsettl
ing
events.
AsIst at
edear l
ier,there’
snoper fectERPi mplement ati
onpl antempl ate.Runningdai l
y,weekly,
andmont hlystatusr eportst ovali
datethatt hecorrectproceduresar ebei ngfoll
owedi scrucial
tothecont i
nuedsuccessr eali
zedatt hego-liv
etime.Checki ngt hatyourpr ocessesarest i
l
l val
id
astimegoesonandy ourbusi nesschangesshoul dbeanongoi ngef fort.

9.I
ll
ust
rat
ethemai
npr
e-i
mpl
ement
ati
ont
askst
hatshoul
dbeper
for
med.

Duri
ngpre-i
mpl ementat
ion,y
ou’llfocusonact ivi
ti
esthathelpensur easmoot hi
mpl ementat
ion
andgo-l
ive.
 Afewoft hemosti mpor tantact i
vi
ti
esinclude:
 Ensur i
ngy ouhaveenoughr esour cesall
ocatedtot heproject
 Ensur i
ngev er
yoneony ourt eam agr eesont heprojectscope
 Ensur i
ngt her
eisnoconf usiononbusi nessrequirements
Aft
eryoucompl et
eyourpre-
implement ationphase,your ERPprojectteam wi
lll
aunchstrai
ght
i
ntothedesignphasewher eyouwi ll
det erminetheexactf uncti
onali
tyofyoursyst
em.That ’
s
whyit’
simportanttogeteveryoneont hesamepagebef oremov ingforwar
d.

8Pre-
impl ement ationAct ivi
t i
es
1.
 Bui
l
daPr ojectTeam
 YourERPpr ojectwi l
l becompr isedofanumberofpr e-def i
nedt asks,eachcar ryi
ngi ts
ownschedul esanddependenci es.Thatsai d, i
t’
si mpor tantt obui ldat eam thatcanhel p
over seeorper f
or mt heset asksandwor kt oget hert okeept hepr oj
ectont rack.
 Whenbui ldingy ourt eam, lookf orempl oyeesf r
om acr ossdepar tment swithsubj ect
mat terexper ti
se.Si mi l
arly, whenchoosi ngapr ojectmanager ,lookf orsomeonewhoi s
i
ntimat elyfami liarwi thy ourbusi ness, haspr ovenpr ojectmanagementski llsandcan
wor kwel lwi t
hav ari
et yofper sonal i
ti
es.
2.
 Def
ineaResour ceSt r ategyandBackf il
l St
rat egy
 Manycompani esst rugglet ounder standt her esour cesr equiredt oi mplementanERP
syst em.Thi sisof tenbecauset heirERPv endorf ail
st osetr eal i
sticexpectations.
 Thet r
ut hisy ourcompanywi l
lli
kelyber esponsi blef oranumberofi mpor t
antpr oject
activ i
ti
es, suchaschangemanagementanddat ami gration, whi chmayormaynotbe
i
ncl udedi nthev endor ’
spr oj ectplan.
 Ensur ingadequat eresour cesr equiresopencommuni cat i
onwi thyourv endoraswel las
anunder standingofi mpl ement ati
onbestpr acticesandt heimpor tanceofchange
management .
 I naddi tiont oar esour cest rategy,y ouwi l
lneedbackf ill
st rategy .Wi t
hsomanyofy ourA-
Team member shar datwor kony ourERPpr oject ,howwi llyourcompanycont inuet o
oper ateandgr ow?Whi l
ei tcanbedi f
ficultt opul lpromi nentt eam member sawayf rom
theirday -to-daydut i
es, youcanal way sempl oyabackf i
llstrategy .Thisensur esyouhav e
resour cest otakeov erorhel psuppor ttheser olessopr ojectt eam member scanf ocus
ont heERPpr oject .
3.
 Def i
neandExecut eaDat aSt rat egy
 Yourdat ast rategyi ncludest hest epsy ouwi lltaket omi grateyourbusi nessi nformat i
on
from l egacysy stemsont oy ournewERPpl at form.Todot hissuccessf ul
ly, youwi l
lneed
todef i
necl eardat aconv er sionanddat areconci li
ationpr ocesses.Youwi l
lalsoneedt o
assi gndat aowner sanddel egat er esponsi bili
ties.
 Thef ir
stst epof  ERPdat ami gr ati
on  i
sanal y zingthest atusofy ourcur rentdat a.Then,
youshoul dconsi dert het echni cal dat aconv ersionr esour cesy ou’l
l needt omov e
infor mat i
onf rom onest or agel ocat i
ont oanot her.
 Dur ingt hispr ocess, i
t’simpor t
antt oensur et hatanynon- sy st
emat icdat ay oucar r
yov er
iscl eanofr edundanci es, inaccur aciesanddupl i
cit
ies.Att hesamet i
me, thenew
dat a youent er shoubeaccur ate,consi stent ,compl et eandv ali
d.
 Rat hert hanmi gr ati
ngev er ythingatonce, remembert owor ksystemat icallytomi ti
gate
theoppor tunityf orer ror.
4.
 SetupI nf r
ast r
uct ur eandSy stem Env ironment s
 Thi si swher ey oudet er minet hespeci f
ic 
sy stem infr astructureinwhi chy oupl ant orun
yourERPsol ut i
on.  Thet womostpr omi nentopt i
onsar eon- premiseERPandcl oudERP.
 As  therei sn’taone- size-fits-allanswer ,you’llneedt ot akei ntoaccounty ouruni que
busi nessr equi rement s,budgetandl ong-term goal st odet erminet hei nfrast r
uct urethat
wor ksbestf ory ourcompany .
 Then, consi dert henumberofsy stem env i
ronment snecessar y.Doy ouneedasandbox
test i
ngenv i
ronment ?Whataboutonef or end- usert raini
ng?Howof tenwi l
l t
hese
env ironment sber efreshedandwhohasaccesst ot hem?  
5.
 Establi
shPr ojectChar ter
An ERP projectchar ter isashor tdocumentt hatdescr i
best hemosti mpor tantaspect sofy our
proj
ect.Someoft hekeydet ail
st oi ncl udear e:
 Yourpr ojectgoal s
 St epsy ouwi lltaket oachi ev et hesegoal s
 Yourkeyst akehol ders
 Al lident ifi
edr i
sks
 Agener albudgetov erview
Thisdocumentcanser veasar esour cet ogobackt oi fyouf eel yourprojectv eer i
ngof fcour se.

6.EducateExecut i
v estoEnsur eCont inuedBuy -i
n
 Toensur et haty ourexecut i
vescont inuet opr ov idemuch- neededsuppor t,we
recommendest imat ingt hepr ojected ERPbusi nessbenef it
s.Howmuchmoneywi l
l the
system sav ethecompany ?Wi ll
youi mpr ov eakeyper for mancei ndicator(KPI)bya
certainper cent ?
 Thesest akehol dersar einv est
ingasi gnif
icantamountofmoneyi nyouref f
orts.Creat i
ng
abenef itsreal i
zationpl ancanhel pt hem v isually underst andt hevalueandROI .An ERP
consul t
ingf irm canhel py ouquant i
fypot ent ialcostsav ingsandot hertangibl
e benefits
ofERP.
7.FocusonChangeManagement
 Ther e’
snodeny ingt hatERPpr ojectscanbedi sconcer ti
ngt oempl oyees,especial
lyt o
thosewhohav en’tbeeni nv olv
edi nt heeffor tsi nceitsincept ion.Tot hi
send, youmi ght
exper i
enceal itt
lepushbackwheny oupr epar et or ol
louty ournewERPsol uti
on. 
 Tohel pquel lanyanxi ety,it’
simpor tantt oensur eprojectawar eness.Inotherwor ds,
defineanyr olechangest hatarer equiredandcommuni cat easf r
equent l
yaspossi ble.
Youshoul dal sobeav ailabletoanswerquest ionsast heyar i
se.
 Theseact i
v iti
esshoul dbepar tofacompr ehensi ve 
organi zati
onal change
management  
plant hatt r
ansi t
ionsempl oyees, managesr esistanceandhel psev eryone
 inthecompanyembr acechange.
8.St
andardi
zeandSt r
eaml ineBusi nessPr ocesses
 Anyt i
mey oudepl oyanewbusi nesstechnology,i
t’shelpfult
ogivey ourcurrentbusiness
processesasecondl ook.Wher ecany oustandardizeandst reamlinet oincrease
effi
ciency?
 Whi l
eit’
seasyt ogetcar ri
edawayandwantt ooverhaul ever
ythi
ng, keepi nmi nd
that 
ERPcust omi zation canbeanexpensi veandl abori
ouspr ocess.Thatsai d,we
recommendkeepi ngt heout-of-theboxfunctionali
tyofy our 
ERPsof t
war e 
topofmi ndso
youcanensur ethesy st
em iscapabl eofhandl i
ngy ourrequestswi thmi nimal
adjustments. 
 Inotherwor ds,any  
businesspr ocessr eengi
neering youdoshoul dheav i
lyfocuson
standardi
zationandadopt i
ngt hebestpr act
iceswi t
hintheERPsy stem.

CASESTUDY
ERPCasest
udy:ANSWERS
1.Uni
ver
sit
yAdmi
nist
rat
ionandI
nfor
mat
ionTechnol
ogy
:

Strategi cplanni ngmeanst hef uturepl anningofanor gani zati

on; i
not herwor ds, itrefers
tot hedi r
ectiont hatt heor gani zationwant st omov eint hatdi rect ion.St rategicpl anni ng
of i nformat i
on t echnol ogy f or any or gani zation i s an ev idence t hat t he
organi zat i
on’ sinf or mat i
onar chitect ure i nl ightofst rategicconsi derat i
ons suchas
mi ssion,obj ectiv es,and pr iori
ties of t he or ganizat i
on becomes ev i
dentand i t
det ermi nes t he necessar yadmi nist rati
on pl an t o achi eve sy stems and f or ms t he
i
nf ormat i
onaldat abasesatt he or gani zat i
onall evel .To put di fferent l
y , st rategic
planni ngoft hei nf or mationt echnol ogychar terandt hemacr opr ogr am i nt hef i
eld
ofi nfor mat i
on sy stems ar e gener ally consi der ed as t he i nf ormat i
ont echnol ogy.
The absence ofa wel lest ablished st rategi c plan wi lllead t of ragile sy stem of
oper at i
onswher edev elopmentandpr ogr esswi llbeadv erselyimpact ed.
Thedeci si
onbyt heHODofCSdepar tmentt oconnectt oasepar atecabl enet wor kisa
greatoneasi tal lowst hest udent sandst af foft heCS depar tmentt owor kwi th
efficiencyandmeett heirends,al lt hewhi lekeepi ngt hecur rentnet wor kinfrast ructure
andst afft raffi
cdat asaf ef rom unaut hor isedaccess.Needl esst osayasepar ate
net wor kwoul dr equi r
eext ensi v eplanni ngaheadandt heot heri mpact si tcanhav e.
Firstandf or emost ,asepar atecabl ednet wor kr equi resupt odat efirewal ls,prot ection
andsecur ity.A pl anni ngcommi tteer egar dingt hesecur it
yoft henet wor kmustbe
est ablished.I ndiv idualwor kspaceandcomput er sshoul dber egular l
ymoni tor edt o
prev enti tfrom anysor tofmal practicesl ikehacki ng, phishinget c.Theneedsandwant s
oft he CS depar tmentst udent s and st af fmustbe hear d,and t he necessar y
requi rement smustbef ulfi
lledt oal l
owmaxi mum ef f
iciencyandgr owt h.
Keepi ngt rackofdat ausageaswel lasmai ntainaSecur it
yManagementPl anf or
technol ogyi nf r
ast ructuret hatal i
gnswi tht hegui del i
nesout linedbyt her espect ive
governingbodi esmustbest ri
ctlyadher ed.Selectingani ndividualoragr oupwhocan
overseeaswel lascont rolt heoper at
ionsoft heCSdepar tmenti snecessar y.Theymust
possessl eader shipqual itiesandbeknowl edgeabl eofI Tpr oblemsandshow keen
i
nnov ativei deas to sol vei t.They mustr egularly keep i nt ouch wi tht he latest
i
nnov ationsandi deasi nt heI Tf iel
dsoast oal low t hest udentstohav eadecent
exposur et onewt echnol ogi esandpr acticalappli
cat ionsi ntheirfi
eldofwor k.
Wi t
ht hel argeamountofdat athatist obeut il
i
sedawel lorganisedst or agef aci
li
ties
mustbepr ov i
ded.Pr opercar eandmanagementofdat aal l
thewhi lekeepi ngi tsafeand
protectedi snecessar y.Per iodicassessmentandchecksoft hecomput erhar dwar eand
softwarebyI Tprofessional sisr equir
edf orthesmoot hander r
orlessfreewor kflow.
Wor ket hi
csmustbef ollowedi nt heCSdepar t
mentandanymi suseoft hei nstit
uti
ons
technologyandcomput erhar dwar e,mustbest ri
ctlypr ohibi
tedandpenal i
sedi fdoneso.
Apr operet hicscommi t
teewi l
lkeept hisincheck.Thef r
eedom ofexpr essi onandt he
spiri
tofenqui r
yandi nnov ationsmustbeadv ocatedt ot hest udentsandst affsoast o
createaconv enientwor ki ngat mospher e.

2.Or
acl
eatQual
comm CDMATechnol
ogy
:

A1:

Qualcomm CDMATechnol ogi esistheleadingdev el

operandsuppli
erofCDMAchipsets,
hardwareandsof t
waresol utions,andt ools,withmor ethan115mi ll
i
onMSM chi ps
shi
ppedwor ldwi
de.QCTof ferswirel
essposi ti
onl ocati
ontechnol
ogybySnapTrack,a
whollyownedsubsidi
aryofQual comm.QCTsuppl i
eschipsetstotheworl
d'sl
eading
CDMAhandsetandi nf
rastruct ur
emanuf acturers.Qualcomm CDMATechnologi
esisthe
l
argestprov
iderof3Gchipset sandsoftwar etechnologyint
hewor l
d
QCT f aced a lotofpr oblems due t ot he compl ex nature oft he suppl y chain
managementi tpreviousl
yf oll
owed.Theyr ealisedthatasolidandef fecti
v esuppl ychain
managementwasr equir
edf orcosteffecti
veandef fi
cientprogress.Duet oext ensive
customisati
onswhi chwasmanual l
ydonei twasexpensi veanddi ffi
cultt oupgr ade.
Theyneededawayt omakei nt
eracti
onwi thcust omer scheapanddi git
alised.Thus
QCT sel ect
ed Oraclet o ease compl exityr egar
ding the customeri nteraction.The
soft
war edevel
opedbyOr aclehelpedQCTi ntegrat
ef ut
ureplansandsof twar eupgrades
wit
hease.Theycanaddf utureappli
cationsandpr oj
ectscosteffectively.Theser vices
off
ered by Or acl
e al l
owed QCT t oi mplementt hei
rpr oduct s withoutext ensive
customisati
on.

A2:

The i
ntegrat
ion ofSuppl
ychai
n managementand ERP al
l
ows manuf
acturi
ng and
di
str
ibuti
onbusinessestheabi
l
ityt
ogaingreat
ervisi
bil
i
tyint
oal
loperat
ionswhi l
e
i
ncr
easi
ngspeed,
eff
ici
encyandov
eral
lcust
omersat
isf
act
ion.
Agr owingnumberofbusi
nessesr ecogni
zethemanypot ent
ialbenef
it
sofEnt erpr
ise
ResourcePlanni
ng(
ERP)wheni tcomest omanagingbusi
nessinformati
on,i
ntegrat
ing
var
ioussystemsandworki
ngprocesses,andensur
ingopti
maloperati
onaleff
ici
ency.
Wheni tcomest oSupplyChainManagement( SCM),businessesneedt ointeractwit
h
numer oussuppliersandpar t
nersi
nordertoobt ai
nt heraw mat eri
alsandr esour
ces
needed to bring fini
shed goods t
o market
.ERP pl ay
sav i
talr ol
ei n combat i
ng
i
neffi
ciency;reducing wast
eand ensuri
ng thatwor kersarebet terabledi recttheir
eff
orts.Theintegrat
ionofbothsyst
emsmayposesomeuni quechallenges.
Withi
tsint
egratedOracleappli
cati
ons,QCThasalsoreducedinv
entor
ythr
oughoutthe
suppl
ychainandgai nsbetteri
nformati
onaboutsupplyanddemand.Inaddi
ti
on,QCT
si
mulates supplyforecast
s much mor e ef
fect
ivel
y now thatit
s appl
i
cati
ons are
i
ntegr
ated.
Duetothei
mplement
ati
onofERPt
hesuppl
ychai
nmanagementhasi
mpr
ovedi
nthe
fol
l
owingmanner
:
•Impr
ovedeff
ici
encyacr
ossmul
ti
pledepar
tment
sandor
gani
zat
ionswor
kingwi
thi
nthe
suppl
ychai
n
•Impr
ovedcustomerserv
icefori
ncr
easedcust
omerr
etent
ionandgr
eat
erchanceof
r
epeatbusi
nessoppor
tuni
ti
es
•Aut
omat
ionofwor
kfl
owf
orr
educedov
erheadandoper
ati
onal
cost
s
•I
Tissuesandpr
obl
emst
hatar
elessl
i
kel
ytocr
eat
ebot
tl
eneckst
oimpedeef
fi
ciency
•Moreflexi
blesupplychai
nsolut
ionst
hatmaybereadi
l
yadapt
edtomeett
heneedsof
changi
ngcircumstancesorfut
urebusi
nessgr
owt
handexpansi
on
3.Bui
l
dingt
heI
TInf
rast
ruct
ure

A1:

Manager
ial
issuesf
acedbyAl
fr
edar
easf
oll
ows:

1.CostofInter
netconnect ion. 
2.Leasedtimeordedi catedlinetobei nst
all
ed. 
3.SpeedofInternetconnect i
on.
4.Levelofsecuri
tyneededi nconnect i
on. 
5.Typeofappliancerequiredf orconnecti
on. 
6.Costshiddeninthepr escribedproj
ect.

Asmanagers,t
heymustbecomeknowledgeabl
ewithdi
ff
erentki
ndsof
i
nf or
mati
onespeci
all
yint
hebusi
nesssett
ing.I
tisi
mport
antformanager
stobe
techsav
vytobecomeawareofthear
easofconcernandalsotoavoi
dany
attemptsofdecei
torunknownagendat
hatmightr
uinhi
sbusi
ness.The
i
mpor tanceofmanagerstobet
echsavvy
:Theimport
anceofmanagerst
obe
techsavvyis

1.Infor
mationsystemsandtechnol
ogiesar
esomeofthemosti mport
anttool
s
avail
ablet
omanager sforachi
evi
nghigherl
evel
sofef
fi
ciencyandproduct
ivi
tyi
n
businessoperat
ions.

2.Inf
ormati
onsystemsandtechnol
ogi
esareamajort
ool
forfi
rmst
ocr
eat
enew
productandser
vicesaswel
lasenti
rel
ynewbusi
nessmodel
s. 

3.I
nformationsyst
emscanhel pabusi
nessknowit
scust
omerandservest
hem
well
,thewayt heywanttobeserv
ed,t
hecustomer
sgener
all
yrespondby
ret
urningandpurchasi
ngmore.

4.I
nformati
onsy
stemsandtechnologieshav
emadeitpossi
blef
ormanager
sto
userealt
imedat
afrom t
hemarketplacewhenmaki
ngdecisi
ons.

5.Thesesy stemshel pabusi nessachieveacompet i

ti
v eadv antage,i.
e.
perfor
mingbet terthanot hers,charginglessforsuperiorproduct sandcharging
l
essf orsuperiorpr oduct sandr espondingtocustomer sandsuppl iersinr
eal
ti
me.
6.Fordoingbusi ness, busi
nessf irmsinvesti
not hersy st
emsandt echnol
ogies.
Thus,fi
rmst ur ntoi nformationsy stemsandt echnologiestopr ovidecapabil
i
t yt
o
respondtoinf ormat ionretentionandoper ati
ngrequirement s. 

A2:

Systemsconsul tantisaconsul t
ingpr ofessionalwhoi scommi tt
edtodeliv
er
superiorservicest oleadingITorganisationsacr osst helocati
ons.
Thev alueofhav i
ngasy stemsconsul tantinanor gani sati
onisofgreat
i
mpor tanceast heycanpr ovi
deanexper topini
ononapr oblem wit
hanexisting
soluti
oni nordert ocreateadesi gnbr i
efandspeci ficat i
onforanew, more
appropr i
atesolution.Whet herupgradingy ourexist i
ngf acil
i
tyordesigni
ngfrom
thegroundup, wor ki
ngwi thasy st
emsconsul t
antwi llintheend,l
eadt oamor e
costef f
ectivesolutionthatactuall
ydoeswhaty ouneed, thefi
rstti
meout .
Theimpor t
anceofsy stemsconsul tantliesinfollowi ng:

1.Studyofneedforchangest ot
het echnologyadoptedbycompeti
tor
s. 
2.Rev i
ewofbusinessstrategywithreferencetotherecentt
echnol
ogy
developments.
 
3.I
nv esti
gat
ionofcompet i
tiveadvantaget hr
oughIT.
 
4.Providi
ngspecial
istexperti
se,suchasdat abasedesign.
 
5.Advi
singonsy stemsint
egrati
onandcompat ibil
i
ty.
 
6.Prov
idingcontractmanagerstocopewithloadsinacompany. 
7.Deci
dessuppor twithpr
ojectpl
anningandmanagement .
8.Prov
idingstaf
ft r
aini
ngandhelpcli
entstodev el
opandmaint
ainfunct
ional
IT.
 

Ski
l
lsofSy
stemsConsul
tant

Asyst
em consul
tantsupport
ingt heservi
cesofacompanyshoul dpossessthe
fol
l
owingski
ll
s:
 
1.Heshoul
dpossessmanager i
al ski
ll
sfordecisi
on-makingandplanni
ng. 
2.Hemustpossesssomeexper i
encei nITindustr
y. 
3.Heshoul
dhaveenoughpat ience. 
4.Heshoul
dhavetechnical
ski l
l
sofcomput erappli
cati
ons, 
5.Heshoul
dhaveleadershi
pqual iti
estocontrolandmanaget heorgani
sati
on.

CASESTUDY
10.Sy
stem XI
NC.wi
thdr
aws1bi
l
li
onsof
tgui
deacqui
sit
ionof
fer

 
Whyshoul
dSy
stemX besoconcer
nedaboutt
hecapabi
l
iti
esofSof
tGui
de’
sdat
a-
pr
ocessi
ng?

Sy
stemXshoul
dber
eal
l
yconcer
ned.
 Fi
rst
ly,t
hisonebi
l
li
onof
feri
snotaj
oke.Imean,
t
heycan’
treal
l
ytel
lwhet
hert
hiswi
l
lbecomeanassetoral
i
abi
l
ityt
oit
sbusi
ness.
Secondl
y,t
heSof
tGui
deCEO di
dn’
tci
teenoughev
idencest
opr
ovehi
sreasont
hat
Sof
tGui
de’
s dat
a-pr
ocessi
ng was,i
ndeed,qui
te compet
ent
.Sof
tGui
de mayhav
ea
consi
der
abl
emar
ketshar
einTr
aini
ngandDev
elopmentser
vicesormayhav
eabsor
bed
atl
eastonenew pr
oductamont
hfort
wo y
ear
s,butt
hesear
ejustsomeofi
ts
achi
evement
s,nott
hequal
i
tyofser
vicei
tsel
f.

I
nmyopi
nion,
theSy
stemX’
sof
fi
cial
swer
ejustr
ightf
orbei
ngskept
icali
nmaki
ngt
hei
r
deci
si
on.Theyf
ir
stt
ryt
oobser
vet
hepr
act
icabi
l
ityoft
hisdat
a-pr
ocessi
ngsy
stem t
o
t
hei
rbusi
nessbef
orebuy
ingsuchanexpensi
veof
fer
.

B.Whatcompet
it
iveadv
ant
agest
o aTr
aini
ng and Consul
tancyser
vicescompany
may
 bepr
ovi
dedbyani
nfor
mat
ionsy
stem?

Agoodcompet
it
iveadv
ant
agewoul
dbehav
ingi
ntel
l
ect
ualpr
oper
ty.Thi
sisact
ual
l
y
whatmakesacer
tai
ndat
a-pr
ocessi
ngsy
stem uni
quei
nawayt
hati
tisbenef
ici
aland
ef
fi
cientt
othecompanyascompar
edt
oot
hersy
stems.Wi
thi
ntel
l
ect
ualpr
oper
ty,t
he
companyy
ou’
reof
fer
ingmi
ghtbei
mpr
essedandconv
inced.

Anot
hergoodcompet
it
iveadv
ant
agewoul
dbeaddedv
alueandl
esscost
s.Sof
tGui
de
coul
d’
ver
educedt
hepr
iceoft
hei
rdat
a-pr
ocessi
ngsy
stem f
orSy
stemX’
sconv
eni
ence;
butmosti
mpor
tant
ly,
theymustaddv
aluet
othei
rqual
i
tyofser
vicei
nst
eadofbr
aggi
ng
i
tsachi
evement
s.

11.
 TenGui
del
i
nesf
orSt
rat
egi
cMI
SPl
anni
ng
A.
 Whatcanbet
hedr
awbackofhav
ingaf
ormal
syst
em asment
ionedi
npoi
nt5?

Onepossi
bledr
awbackofhav
ingaf
ormalsy
stem asment
ionedi
npoi
nt5i
sinf
lexi
bil
i
ty
i
nsy
stemspl
anni
ngbecausehav
ingaf
ormalmechani
sm i
shav
ingaf
ixedf
low of
pr
ocedur
es.Meani
ng,cer
tai
nadj
ust
ment
sorf
inal
i
zat
ionscan’
tbemadeatal
lduet
oa
f
ixedandsy
stemat
izedmechani
sm,t
hati
sper
for
mingamet
icul
ousr
un-
thr
oughoft
he
sy
stemspl
an.
“
Toomuchf
ormal
i
tyatanyev
ent
scanbesomet
imesbad.
”-
Anony
mous

B.Cant
ranspar
encymakeor
gani
zat
ional
responsi
bil
i
tymor
eef
fect
ive?

I
ndeed.Bei
ngt
ranspar
entmeansbei
ngf
reef
rom decei
torunt
rut
hful
ness.Soi
not
her
wor
ds,t
heor
gani
zat
ioni
sbei
ngopent
othei
ror
gani
zat
ionalr
esponsi
bil
i
ties.Thi
swi
l
l
notonl
yshow t
hei
ntegr
it
yofacer
tai
nor
gani
zat
ion,butal
soshow how et
hicalt
he
or
gani
zat
ioni
s.Ther
efor
e,t
hev
alueoft
ranspar
encyi
shi
ghl
yef
fect
ive.