How to Extend the Capabilities of ERP

8/8/2019 How to Extend the Capabilities of ERP

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How To Extend the Capabilities of ERP

To be and remain competitive, todays businesses require the ability to have a full and up-to-

date view of their businesswhenever they need it. To achieve this, you need an integrated

business environment and automated processes that can consolidate the data from your ERP

and CRM systems with your other business applications, quickly and simply.

Integrating your ERP with your CRM, and integrating ERP and CRM with your companysother internal systems and with systems external to your business may help you to extend

functionality by automating business processes such as:

y Automating manual communication with your trading partnersy Connecting your eCommerce site to your ERPy Handling service requests via the Weby Allowing your customers to submit their orders via the Weby Facilitating EDI transactionsy Sharing data across systems and/or combining processesy Consolidating a chart of accountsy Synchronizing your companys data across multiple sitesy Logging your incoming email

Increase Profits With ERP

Many manufacturers' information technology (IT) budgets are skewed toward maintenance

and integration activities. This can prevent strategic investment in the systems the company

really needs and restricts the organization's ability to grow and remain profitable. It becomes

even more confining as the demands of the industry change, requiring new information.

A

core problem is that while many IT shops can tell you about the frugality of their budgetand targeted project ROI, few can explain IT's impact on productivity or profitability.

A litmus test for IT budgets is comparing IT operating expense to IT capital investment. A

good rule of thumb suggests numbers should be in the range of 70 percent for operating

expenses to 30 percent in capital investment. This tells us that systems are being invested in

and renewed and that IT is continually addressing new business problems with technology.

If you compare the cash outflow of the IT budget to employee productivity you'll find some

interesting things.

Is productivity improving or slowly deteriorating over time? Depending upon the level of

detail available here, the answer shows up in high indirect to direct employee ratios in

manufacturing and often in high SG&A numbers for the overall company. The implicationwe can draw is that the systems may no longer be helping the firm succeed.

How so? Look for disconnected processes and systems that hamper communication and see if

you find lots of workarounds. It's likely these prevent employees from doing the right

thingsslowing down decisions and customer response times while pushing up overhead

or they are doing the right things, but by spending far too much effort. The cost, ultimately, is

profitability.

There a several areas that today's ERP systems can make a substantial difference.


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Gain visibility into all aspects of the supply chain

Benchmarking studies have shown that one of the keys to supply chain success is forecast

accuracy. A better forecast helps you make better decisions throughout your operations. For

example, smoothing production plans uses labor and your manufacturing assets more

effectively.A

nd accurate procurement from your suppliers minimizes inventory. Moreefficient operation leads to more efficient customer response. And it's worth it. Supply chain

benchmarking done byAMR Research has shown that improving sales forecast accuracy by

as little as 1 percent can improve profitability by 2 percent.

To determine whether an ERP system would optimize your supply chain, assess forecasting

and demand management systems. Look at how analytics systems reveal true performance. If

there's room for improvement, consider how today's ERP systems provide the capabilities to

access information through familiardesktop tools, so that employees can make rapiddecisions informed by real-time, accurate data.

Get new products to market faster

New product development and launch is improved when good information and collaborationtools are available. Companies must quickly assess projects, pick the right ones, and manage

intellectual property. Collaboration extends beyond coordinating the project and engineers,

now it embraces marketing, sales, and all supply chain activity, both internally and

externally.

Streamline manufacturing processes

While most manufacturers agree that lean manufacturing improves customer-response time

and reduces costs, many organizations run their lean processes with manual systems,

spreadsheets, and standalone personal computer applications rather than with enterprise-class

applications. The challenge is to make data available to everyone. But this is difficult,laborious, and costly when sharing information with staff, customers, vendors, and partners

must be done manually.

Increase collaboration and customer satisfaction

In most industries, supply-chain transparency is essential to success. Manufacturers need to

be tightly integrated with their suppliers and to provide critical product, price, availability,

and shipment information to their customers. This is especially true in a global supply

network. Responding to changing demands rapidly requires visibility across the entire supply

chain and accurate information about the supplier's capacity.

Yet capabilities, such as inventory visibility, vendor-managed inventories, electronic Kanbanreplenishment signals, or working with new suppliers, are often done manually or not at all.So, the supply chain is difficult to manage efficiently. To increase efficiency, many

companies invest heavily in integrating data from their customers and suppliers into theirERP systems. And they're adding customer portals to reduce order-taking costs, speed

fulfillment, and increase customer satisfaction.

Ensure compliance with regulations


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There is probably no sector of the manufacturing industry that is not concerned with newregulatory compliances. Simply put, regulatory compliance means collecting critical data and

ensuring that production and the resulting products meet the constantly evolving requiredsafety and quality standards. For far too many manufacturers, collecting and compiling this

data is an offline task that consumes valuable employee time and reduces profit margins.

Compliance can't be ignored, but it can be done more efficiently when data is captured by a

current ERP system.

Implement integrated information systemsfrom making

do to moving on

Just because a business doesn't request an integrated system doesn't mean they don't need it.

People have an amazing ability to accept what they have. When they need data, people go to

great lengths to get it even if it means re-keying data into spreadsheets and other

applications. But when they do, it can add to overhead costs and slow down business

processesespecially those critical to bringing new products to market or are customer

facing.

Integrated systems can speed time-to-market, improve customer delivery performance, andprovide the data executives need to make the right cost and investment decisions as markets

and products change.

Succeeding in today's fast-moving manufacturing world requires a combination of exciting

new products, collaborative development, partnerships, and acquisitions. Integrated ERP

systems have already embedded the best practices for many state-of-the-art global business

processes. And, with powerful and familiar desktop tools integrated to the corporate data

source, ERP systems give real-time, accurate visibility to the specific information needed to

make decisions and move your organization forward.

Enterprise Resource Planning

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) is a company-wide computer software system used tomanage and coordinate all the resources, information, and functions of a business from

shared data stores.An ERP system has a service-oriented architecture with modular hardware and software units

or "services" that communicate on a local area network. The modular design allows abusiness to add or reconfigure modules (perhaps from different vendors) while preserving

data integrity in one shared database that may be centralized or distributed.

There are many different systems in a large company's "back office," including planning,manufacturing, distribution, shipping, and accounting.Enterprise resource planning (ERP) is a

system that integrates all of these functions into a single system, designed to serve the needs

of each different department within the enterprise. ERP is more of a methodology than a

piece of software, although it does incorporate several software applications, brought together

under a single, integrated interface.


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An ERP system spans multiple departments in a corporation, and in some cases an ERP willalso transcend the corporate boundary to incorporate systems of partners and suppliers as

well, to bring in additional functions like supply chain management. Because it is so vast andall-encompassing, the ERP system goes far beyond being just a simple piece of software.

Each implementation is unique and is designed to correspond to the implementer's various

business processes. An ERP implementation can cost millions of dollars to create, and may

take several years to complete.

An ERP system likely represents a company's largest IT investment, so some companies

prefer to implement ERP in a more incremental fashion rather than all at once. Some ERP

vendors provide modular software units together with a unified interface to allow for this

gradual approach.

Some organizations typically those with sufficient in-house IT skills to integrate multiple

software products choose to implement only portions of an ERP system and develop an

external interface to other ERP or stand-alone systems for their other application needs. For

example, one may choose to use human resource management system from one vendor, and

the financial systems from another, and perform the integration between the systems

themselves.

This is common to retailers, where even a mid-sized retailer will have a discrete Point-of-Sale

(POS) product and financials application, then a series of specialized applications to handle

business requirements such as warehouse management, staff rostering, merchandising and

logistics.

Ideally, ERP delivers a single database that contains all data for the software modules, which

would include:

y ManufacturingEngineering, bills of material, scheduling, capacity, workflow management, quality

control, cost management, manufacturing process, manufacturing projects,

manufacturing flowy Supply chain management

Order to cash, inventory, order entry, purchasing, product configurator, supply chainplanning, supplier scheduling, inspection of goods, claim processing, commission

calculationy Financials

General ledger, cash management, accounts payable, accounts receivable, fixed assetsy Project management

Costing, billing, time and expense, performance units, activity management

y Human resourcesHuman resources, payroll, training, time and attendance, rostering, benefits

y Customer relationship managementSales and marketing, commissions, service, customer contact and call center support

y Data warehouse and various self-service interfacesfor customers, suppliers, and employees

y Access controluser privilege as per authority levels for process execution

y Customizationto meet the extension, addition, change in process flow


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ERP Analysis

ERP calls for different operations and applications in different industries. Each industry has

their own drawbacks and plus points in dealing with the enterprise applications. A

comparative study will help in analyzing them precisely.

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) software helps integrate management, staff, and

equipment, combining all aspects of the business into one system in order to facilitate everyelement of the manufacturing process. ERP groups traditional company and management

functions (such as accounting, human resources [HR], manufacturing management, andcustomer relationship management [CRM]) into a coherent whole. Manufacturing

management also includes inventory, purchasing, and quality and sales management.

ERP systems aid in the control and communication of business activities, such as:

y efficient handling of order processing and production schedulingy management and analyses of business processes within an interactive environmenty synchronization of departmental activities (e.g., within human resources or finances)with the needs and output from production facilitiesy monitoring, sharing, and tracking of information throughout the organization

Enterprise Resource Planning Evaluation helps in

y Examine how each solution addresses your management and manufacturingrequirements.

y Compare systems to see if they offer the functions critical to your industry.y Analyze each solution's capacity to support your company's growth and operations

over time.

Some of the well known beneficiaries include the following sectors:

y Manufacturing ERP has helped to increase the efficiency and quality of the manufacturing process.

The manufacturing process experienced slumps quiet often because of impropercommunication, miscommunication, wrong communication and even lack of

communication. ERP provided solutions to those troubles by coordinating the actionsof supply chains, ware house and logistics.

It also helped greatly in functions like tracking down the status of the product.

Formerly customers were made to run from pillar to post to enquire the status of

product or for enquiring a technical problem. The customer service representative

would not be in a position to directly reply to these queries. On the contrary he would

ask the person from the concerned department. The person would check the detailsand get back to him be it the status of a product or technical issue. This seemed to be

time-consuming and meaningless. The longer the chains of communication greater are

the chances of mistakes. CSC erp finance is a software meant for accounting

purposes.y Software

The manufacturing sector has been rated as the largest beneficiary. This sector can be

rated as the one who uses ERP easily because it is a product from their species. This

does not undermine ERP'S use in Software sector because it becomes easy to manage


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projects with acute deadlines. ERP industry paper will also reveal that it is easy totrain and make people work in this sector than anywhere else.

y InsuranceEnterprise Resource planning has played a vital role in this business by covering three

vital areas. Firstly it has provided a common platform for insurers and his agents. This

has helped in easing the transactions and keeping an eye on the performance of the

agent. This has addressed the difficulties of both the agents and insurers and thusfacilitated coordination in the better interests of the business.

Secondly it has helped in curbing procedural delays and inefficiencies for which the

sector is famous for. This statement can turn out to be truer if the sector is owned and

controlled by the government either fully or partially. Of course bureaucracy and

redtapism are inborn features in a state's set up but their presence in an insurance

industry can do more harm because it calls for dispensing immediate information

during lawsuits and pending claims. IBM erp Insurance is a famous player in this

sector.

y HealthcareThe sharing of databases among hospitals seemed to be a great advantage for doctorsand patients. This even makes one to exaggerate that a person need not maintain a

collection of his medical problems provided that his/her choice of hospital/hospitalshas a database of patient records(or commonly shares them by any other means).Even

though it is not practical to follow those practices ERP has been a lifesaving measureto patients who are admitted in a hospital in an emergency condition irrespective of

the fact that the doctor in charge is aware of his medical history as ERP provideseverything. ERP industry analysis here will reveal that confidentiality is affected but

the life of a person is to be given the utmost priority.

y HospitalityERP has helped a lot in bringing down the operational costs and coordinating the acts

of individual departments. Hotels are well known for the segregation of functions.

One can find many small departments like house keeping beverage supply room

service etc. Even though these segregations sound small they have a large impact on

the organizational structure. ERP offers a common medium to coordinate their

actions. The entire action can be controlled in the reception desk. ERP industry paper

points the exact benefit as per ERP industry analysis. Besides this textile erp

insurance is equally famous.

How ERP Vendors Operate

Success of an ERP system depends on it's capability of successfully integrating

manufacturing with the other processes of a company. Keeping this in mind, a number of

vendors are adding a wide variety of tools to their products. One example of such value

added product is the integration of sales automation with supply chain maintenance. This

have become some of the most important areas of development.

PeopleSoft became the market leader in human resources ERP software in the late 1980s. As ameasure of market expansion they moved to software programs that dealt with finance. The

company continued to maintain a high level of dominance in this market also. Yet forcomplete success in ERP market PeopleSoft integrated othersoftware tools

in their ERP System.


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While it is possible to specialize in certain things, tailoring your products towards multipleindustries can allow you to gain a great deal of success. A number of ERP suppliers are now

offering their products in two basic types, and these are business solutions and industrysolutions. The industry products are designed for people who are working in specific

industries. An example of this could be finance, communications, education, or healthcare.

ERP Vendors are offering various powerful tools ranging from manufacturing to humanresources to finance.The finance tools allow companies to successfully maintain their

financial information like assets, accounts, budgets, and cash. A company that uses ERP

financial products can save a great deal of money over the long term becuase the productivity

of the organization improves over the period. It can assist a company in managing internal as

well as external factors. Enterprise Resource Planning is instrumental in getting rid of time

consuming things such as paper management. Besides the ERP implementations help

companies take crucial and important decision on time.

The business solutions are designed for companies that work in a wide variety of different

areas. For instance, while industry solutions are specific to certain industries, business

solutions will be much more diverse. They will combine a large number of different elements

into a single unit. A number of ERP vendors have offered what are called "suites." Thesesuites will often be comprised of modules that a client can purchase in groups or a single unit.

The key to success for companies in the global market today is to properly measure their

performance. Enterprise Resource Planning has made things considerable easier. A company

is now able to study their processes, earnings, and performance by merging their operational

information with their financial information. Once this information is integrated,

competitiveness and and productivity of the company increases. Synergy is an important part

of ERP solutions. The concept of combining multiple processes into a single whole helps the

company to become successful in the long term.

Materials Management is yet another area of the company where ERP Vendors are offeringend-to-end solutions. Enterprise Resource Planning allows a company to successfully

automate the process of buying materials and maintaining them. It is possible for a companyto predict the demand of the market based on history, economic statistics, and data from their

employees. They can decide when a product should be producted, and they can do this basedon the raw material that is available. The modules in Materials Management keeps track of

the supplies that are purchased and make calculations about how these materials should bedistributed.

Through real time planning, it is possible for a company to decrease their inventory and

improve the processes of their goods and supplies. Another powerful aspect of Enterprise

Resource Planning is that it can give companies a high level of accuracy. Their orders and

shipments can have a much higher level of precision. ERP vendor to remain competitive inthe market should always focus on these aspects and take necessary steps.

The Importance of Enterprise Resource Planning

ERP is a Rising Need of Enterprises. is a strategic tool helping an organization to gain and

edge over its competitors by helping in successfully integrating its key business operations,


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synchronizing, planning and optimizing the resources available in the existing extremelycompetitive environment.

Its use has a much broader scope in today's world rather than of just planning the use of the

enterprise resources.

Organizations (especially those which are borderless) face many difficulties in quickly

making out the information required. The integration of the business processes improvescoordination between bodies, streamlines workflows and processes and benefits them in

terms of retaining and satisfying customers by delivering their orders "just-in-time" and

keeping them well informed about their orders' current status rather than keeping them

waiting for just a small piece of information. ERP has the effect of making an enterprise more

time-sensitive. Another benefit is of better marketing opportunities. ERP penetrates one

segment after the other and addresses solutions to many debacles existing in an enterprise.

Different ERP systems have been made to facilitate organizations in Enterprise Resource

Planning. Leading ERP giants making ERP systems are Microsoft, Oracle, PeopleSoft and JD

Edwards, SAP AG etc. These systems link the order, inventory, sales, purchase,

manufacturing, supply chain and warehouse management modules in an enterprise for better,

fast and accurate information availability to every single person which is its 'primaryobjective' because every single operation and action taken at any place by any person depends

on consistent and updated information availability. Whatever a person needs can beimmediately accessed by him subject to the delegated authority. ERP function has thus

helped individuals.

They also enhance management decision making by making future projections about sales

during a certain period of a certain product. Management would then be able to make

decisions whether to increase/decrease production of that particular product which in turn

would help save resources from being wasted which could be used for other purposes e.g for

making other products. They also help managers make decisions about introducing some new

value added features to an existing 'hot-demand' product to enhance sales further. This is howproduct quality is also enhanced. Inventory costs reduction must be given a great importance

in every organization. ERP helps reduce inventory costs by better planning and forecasting ofrequirements. ERP system helps getting higher return on investments (ROI) in a fast manner.

While there are absolute benefits, an ERP system also poses significant challenges in the

areas of information security and business continuity planning. Above mentioned things pointto a very critical step, the right choice of an ERP for your enterprise! Off all the ERP systems

exiting in the market, all seem to be performing the same function but the one best suiting

your requirements needs to be picked up in order to achieve required results. The choice

depends upon the structure and type of the organization e.g financial, manufacturing etc. This

is why some organizations experience higher benefits as compared to others because they've

made the right choice and are able to make the right use of their system.

One of the most powerful advantages to ERP is the implementation of software. Even though

Y2K didn't become the disaster that many people expected, it gave rise to the concept ofmaking sure software was properly implemented. In addition to dealing with software issues,

ERP can also help companies integrate their operations. At the same time, it is important torealize that there are a number of challenges involved with utilizing ERP. Perhaps one of the

greatest of these challenges is cost. Enterprise Resource Planning tools are outside the price

range of many organizations.


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It is important to understand that ERP tools must be customized to meet the needs of thecompany. In most cases, it will not be useful when it first purchased. Each company has

unique needs, and ERP tools must be able to meet them. A number of companies run intoproblems when they attempt to customize the software.

To summarize, ERP has a great importance and ERP systems have become the biggest need

of today's organizations to survive. They provide tremendous benefits provided the CriticalSuccess Factors of ERP system implementation are kept in mind.

ERP systems and ADC Tools

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) integrated application software systems and Automated

Data Collection (ADC) tools are experiencing a resurgence. Existing users are expanding

their use of existing functionality, and new users are acquiring one or both applications to

meet business requirements. This increased interest has been driven by customer

requirements

ERP systems are a well-established IT application in today's medium to large multi-nationalorganizations. They have evolved into fully integrated supply chain tools, including customer

relationship management (CRM), business-to-business transaction support, vendor-managed

inventory tools and customer self-service interfaces and portals.

Automated Data Collection, orADC/barcoding tools, employ fixed and portable barcodescanners that read labels as products pass through the production cycle, so that transactional

and product data is wirelessly transmitted via a wireless network to radio antennae, which

seamlessly update the ERP system.

Often a secondary implementation to an ERP installation, ADC/barcoding tools effectively

leverage the existing capabilities of ERP systems. While these tools are also not a new

development (the first barcode was actually scanned in 1972), there is now an increaseddemand for them, particularly now that they may include radio frequency identification

(RFID) tags, which provide an efficient solution for regulatory and customer food/product

security requirements, particularly in high volume environments.

With RFID, portals can be positioned so that a forklift driver could pass through with a full

pallet of mixed items, and all of the RFID labels could be read simultaneously and discretely.

Large organizations like Wal-Mart and the U.S. Department of Defense, which deal with

millions of pallets of material a year, foresee large savings in labour and increased data

accuracy, by employing RFID technology. Driven backwards through the supply chain,

primarily by large retailers, RFID will eventually become a universal, entrenched part of the

physical buyer/seller transactions in industries where large volume transactions exist, inaddition to a regulatory environment where issues of food/product security, lot traceability

and real-time data accuracy are paramount. The rela-tively high cost of RFID labels and the

lack of standardization of the format are still obstacles, but RFID will become a standard in

these industries over time.

Shifting paradigm


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The impact of this evolution on accounting and management information systems (MIS) hasbeen substantial, even revolutionary. However, the impact hasn't been limited to these areas.

All areas of the organization have had to evolve with changing organizational paradigms.

One of the fundamental organizational changes that ERP systems have created is a demand

for more strategic staff and fewer clerical staff. Given the inherent integration of transaction

processes connected to ERP systems, users need to understand at least one step before andone step after their own job functions, both inside and outside the ERP system. ERP systems

are configured around key business processes outside the system itself, which means users

have to understand these connections and work with them to create an efficient organization.

Optimal ERP system configuration and transactional processing requires that the

implementation integrate business processes and train the users in the integrated transactional

processes of the system. This process creates an expanded organizational knowledge and

greater functional capabilities for the system users.

The rigorous requirements that ERP systems place on their users is evident in the people

focus of the implementation models and methodology of IT consulting firms. Many of these

firms consider the relative importance of resource allocation and effort as follows: people--50%, process--35%, technology--15%. Hence training with, and user understanding of, the

ERP system is paramount.

These considerations have obvious impacts on the HR function. An ERP system

implementation is a large scale change management initiative. Organizational processes are

reviewed, documented and rationalized, often in a "current state/future state" analysis, or as

part of a business process re-engineering plan. Management must manage the change

efficiently and effectively. HR must work closely with management, the project manager and

any external consultants, to ensure these considerations are addressed.

In the same manner that ERP systems can be viewed as leveraging the human capital of an

organization, ADC tools have leveraged the inherent capabilities of ERP systems, which are

often described as integrated, "real-time" systems. The reality is that while ERP systems arecapable of real-time reporting for an organization's MIS, data capture often isn't automated.

ADC tools form the last link in this information chain, turning "real time" into "real, realtime." Thus the accounting assertion that there need be a trade-off between relevance

(timeliness) and reliability (accuracy) of financial information is no longer the case.

These developments have also enhanced quality assurance (QA) capabilities and compliance

effectiveness. With the timely and accurate tracking of supplier and customer lots in real

time, efficient and effective lot tracking and mock recall protocols are also possible. This is a

major boost for the product and process components of any food/product security program,

for instance.

It's interesting to note that in the same manner that inventory items are barcoded and scanned

by ADC tools, so too can employee ID badges, as the employee moves within the plant orwork centre. Not only does this enhance the people and plant components of a security

program, but it can be interfaced with the ERP system to produce additional labour reports. Inmany labour-intensive plants, accurate labour reporting is difficult to attain. With this tool,

labour variances can be analyzed.


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Selecting the right system

To derive the benefits of an ERP implementation, a number of considerations must be

evaluated. These include considering:

yboth the current and future/growth business requirements (scalability);

y the appropriate trade-off between application software complexity and related userneeds (usually a mid-market vs. high-end software application acquisition decision);

y an assessment of the "time-to-benefit" for key business processes in the organization'sstrategic plans;

y the key metrics that indicate relative application software complexity and time tobenefit, such as the historical ratio of consulting dollars to initial license fees (the

application software vendor and/or consulting firm can provide this);

y the software version of the application being selected (leading edge vs. bleedingedge);

y the stability of the software vendor;y the ability of the organization to devote sufficient resources (people, amount of

dedicated project time per person, minimum funding) over time;y the involvement of key users in the planning process (when key players "plan the

battle" they don't "battle the plan");

y producing a specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, time-oriented project plan andbudget; and

y selecting application software certified implementation consultants with relevantindustry experience.

Given that each application is provided by a different software vendor, it's crucial that theERP system and its integrated ADC tool have significant, successful implementation history

together.

A second important proviso is that the appropriate procedures and controls must exist bothinside and outside the system, including appropriate levels of user training and system

familiarity, with the ERP system, the ADC tool, and their integration. With a tight integration

of these applications there are fewer change management challenges when, for instance,

implementing an ADC solution subsequent to the initial ERP implementation (the standard

sequence of events).

The substantial benefit to accounting and MIS of ERP systems, ADC tools, and more recentlyRFID, will continue to be simultaneously relevant and reliable data. At the same time,

organizations will be able to devote more of their human resources to strategic challenges.

ERP SuppliersIn looking at the ERP value proposition from a market research perspective, functionality,

market penetration, industry orientation, and partnership strategy are the keys. ITmanagersand staffs look at these same characteristics from their perspective, sometimes after first

making an architectural or platform decision, but most often Functionality rules! By ERPValue Proposition, IT Investment Research refers to the advantages of a single database for

all business information being updated in real time from consistent user interfaces such that itis theoretically the only piece of business software the enterprise needs.


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End users such as plant managers and budget planners assume all software offers this valueand become very frustrated when they find that standalone application software does not.

The characteristics are important to IT staffs for a variety of reasons. For example, a higher

market penetration translates to an increasing likelihood that you will find references in your

specific industry and size of company classification. The suppliers partnership strategy also

helps in terms of industry centricity. Infor, Microsoft, Oracle and SAP are the leading suppliersof ERP software.

Delivery methods such as software-as-a-service or availability in a hosting arrangement are

important also, but all the leading suppliers offer all the leading methods, so the differences

are less relevant.

The suppliers visions for the future are equally important but since enterprises still tend toturn over their ERP applications only once per decade, you can be pretty sure your supplier

will be where you need it by the time you are ready to move.

Of the characteristics considered in ERP product research and the value proposition IT is

looking for, IT Investment Research thinks industry centricity is the most important to users.And of course, functionality rules.

The Current State of Enterprise Resource Planning

ERP evolved from manufacturing resource planning (which originated from material resource

planning).The functioning of ERP has gained much prominence and utility with the

intervention of web enabled and open source technologies.ERP II the latest advancement in

ERP software deserves special mention.

ERP has a significant impact right from the time it is conceived in the organization. It paves

way for restructuring which would not have otherwise happened in organizations sticking totraditional and conventional values. ERP is an eye-opener for organizations because they get

to realize the fine distinction involved in modifying the business processes. Organizationsnow disclose vital information in the public domain, which was otherwise, considered

confidential and not meant for dissemination.ERP has undoubtedly become an important business application to all industries. It has

almost become a must for all organizations irrespective of the type of business manufacturing

or service .If companies feel that coordination and enterprise communication are their only

problems they don't have any other alternative but to go for ERP, provided they want to make

profits and remove the existing setbacks.

Needles to say ERP has helped companies in monetary and nonmonetary aspects if they are

keen in utilizing it to the core and take the necessary steps to overcome the setbacks.

However ERP needs lot of improvement (this statement included the latest versionsalso).ERP is an effective application. It will be great if one can bring an ERP system that id

devoid of the drawbacks from the existing ones. The latest intrusions namely open source and

web enabled technologies has increased the effectiveness of the application.However they

are not enough (technically speaking).ERP applications should be designed to make the

maximum use ofinternet so that the user can access data from any part of the world just by a

click of the mouse. This has further deepened the future of ERP. ERP's future is yet to reachsaturation.


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According to a research on predominantly Fortune 1000 companies, some startling resultshave been revealed. About 48 per cent reported that returns from their ERP project were

lower than expected while only 17 per cent reported gains which exceeded expectations.However, 76 per cent of all respondents report not having done a business case for their ERP

projects.

According to the research, following is the current situation of ERP:

y Over 42 per cent indicated that additional user training, better skilled people, and/orchange management are required to fully leverage ERP;

y 32 per cent indicated that changing or standardizing processes, organizing differently,changing the work culture, or "adapting to the power of ERP" are necessary to

leverage ERP;

y 32 per cent indicated that full implementation, better integration, or economies ofscale are necessary.

Formerly ERP was purely restricted to fortune 500 companies, in the sense only they could

afford to invest on them. This put the small and Medium Industries at a large disadvantage.

They were not able to make use of the application to gain the necessary benefits. ERP's future

seemed to be dooming on them.

However this drawback has been removed after the intervention of open source facilities. The

concept of outsourcing has helped in removing the difficulties faced by small and medium

enterprises. Hence a large potential for ERP still exists in the S.M.E. market.

The ERP vendors are targeting this market effectively. However both the vendor and the

companies in this segment have to remember that there are lot of competition in this sector

and one is not likely to succeed unless he serves the best product.

ERP has thrown open opportunities for many companies to trade with foreign counter parts in

the name of outsourcing, implementation and deployment of the existing ones. It has

contributed lot to the economy .Academics also boast its own share of ERP relations.

It has promoted lot of employment and educational opportunities. India happens to be a key

beneficiary in this aspect.

The Effect of ERP on Organisations

ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) systems are used in the organizations for information

integration and aligning & streamlining their processes for delivering high value to the

customers. Through its very use, it influences manager's jobs and the organization structure

as well.

ERP has significant impact on the organizations and has tremendously changed the way of

manager's job and organization structures.ERP implementation on five dimensions of

Manager's job (autonomy, use of power, delegation, people skills and privileged

information), five dimensions of organizational structure (specialization, formalization,

centralization, standardization and complexity of work flow) and on the flexibility of

organization has been effected by the use of ERP in organisations of all levels.


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ERP systems have become the system of choice for the majority of publicly traded companiesand have radically changed the way accounting information is processed, analyzed, audited,

and disseminated. In this study, we examine whether ERP system implementations haveimpacted the decision usefulness of accounting information. We find that ERP adoptions lead

to a trade-off between increased information relevancy and decreased information reliability

for external users of financial statements. After implementing the system, firms concurrently

experience both a decrease in reporting lag and an increase in the level of discretionaryaccruals. Contrary to expectations, adopting more ERP modules did not augment these

effects. These results should be of interest to financial statement preparers initially adopting

or implementing new versions of ERP applications, auditors serving clients with ERP systems,

and regulators overseeing the financial markets and consolidation in the ERP industry.

While ERP has been around for little more than a decade, more companies are now seeing the

benefits of using it. Many companies in the Middle East and Africa have failed to utilize the

benefits of ERP, and the reason for this deals with procedure rather than cost. Many of these

companies have used the same methods for many years, and are unwilling to switch to

something new.

At parieto-occipital sites, in both experiments, the repeated possible and impossible non-

target items elicited less positive ERP waveforms than did first presentations beginning at

about 300 ms. The briefly reduced frontal negativity to repeated items is consistent with

familiarity arising from a facilitation of access to conceptual, semantic and visuo-spatial

representations during object categorization. The polarity of the parieto-occipital effect was

the reverse of what is usually found in stimulus repetition tasks, although it is consistent with

earlier work using similar visual stimuli. It is interpreted as reflecting the availability of a

newly formed representation (i.e., token) of the object just experienced.

The Essence of ERP

ERP is an outcome of 40 years of trial and error. It has evolved as a strategic tool because of

continuous improvement in the available techniques to manage business and the fast growth

of information technology. Prior to 1960s, the business had to rely on the traditional ways of

inventory management to ensure smooth functioning of organisation. The most popularly

known amongst them is EOQ (Economic Order Quantity). In this method, each item in the

stock is analysed for its ordering cost and the inventory carrying cost. A trade off isestablished on a phased out expected demand of one year, and this way the most economic

ordering quantity can be decided. This technique in principle is a reactive way of managinginventory

How does an ERP system make it all happen? The essence of it is the fundamental premise

that the whole being greater than the sum of its parts. The traditional application systems,

which the organisations generally employ, treat each transaction separately. They are built

around the strong boundaries of specific functions that a specific application is meant to


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cater. For an ERP, it stops treating these transactions separately as stand-alone activities andconsiders them to be the part of the inter-linked processes that make up the business.

Almost all the typical application systems are nothing but the data manipulation tools. They

store data, process them and present them in the appropriate form whenever requested by the

user. In this process, the only problem is that there is no link between the application systems

being used by different departments. An ERP system also does the same thing, but in adifferent manner. There are hundreds of such data tables, which store data generated as a

result of diverse transaction, but they are not confined to any departmental or functional

boundaries, rather integrated to be used by multiple users, for multiple purposes and at

multiple places.

The first of these is flexibility. Many companies need to change their operations and

transactions on a regular basis, and the ideal ERP system must be able to adapt to these

changes. Client server technology is important, because it will allow the ERP system to

operate on multiple database back ends, and it will do this through a process that is called

ODBC, or Open Data Base Connectivity. Another important feature of ERP systems is

modularity. The term modularity is used to describe a system that is "open." The module

must be capable of being detached whenever it is needed to work with other system modules.It should also be capable of supporting multple computer platforms.

Most companies will use a variety of system platforms, and they may also be in need of third

party platforms. The ideal ERP system must be capable of offering this. It is also important

for an ERP system to be comprehensive. It must be able to support a large number of

different functions that are related to the company. In addition to this, it must be calibrated

for a diverse range of companies and organizations. When one is looking at the quality of an

ERP system, they must look beyond the company. Instead of limiting it to boundaries within

the company, they should make sure it supports the internet and other elements within the

company. It is also crucial for the organization to look at best business practices. A collection

of these business process should be used on an international scale. The overall goal of acompany should be to take the business processes of the physical world and apply them to

compERP Impact on Organizations

ERP implementation can positively affect the process capital of a company; process capital

can positively affect customer capital and customer capital ultimately affects businessperformance. Companies implementing ERP can build process capital to meet the challenges

of the competitive market environment.

uters.

ERP'S impact on its stakeholders:

Impact of ERP on the role of managers or organization or stakeholders can be best studied

and understood if the subject is analyzed right from the implementation stage. Nevertheless ithas a strong influence on the business process itself as soon as it is gripped and decides major

issues for employees, customers and other stake holders. It is better to analyze it in thiscontext rather than debating on "How will ERP impact the accounting Profession?"

Impact during the Implementation Process:


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ERP has a significant impact right from the time it is conceived in the organization. Firstly itfacilitates the members in the organization to arrive at a consensus though after a detailed and

deliberate discussion. It paves way for restructuring which would not have otherwisehappened in organizations sticking to traditional and conventional values. ERP is an eye-

opener for such organizations because they get to realize the nuances and edge involved in

modifying the business process. This would not have happened but for the intervention of

ERP. Organizations disclose vital information in the public domain which was otherwiseconsidered confidential and not meant for dissemination. All this happens in the

implementation process as this it is the time the seeds sown (FOR ERP Intervention) gets

shaped in this phase. Nevertheless the impact of ERP on managers is noteworthy.

Impact on Departments:

It brings about interactions and tends to nurture healthy relationships among departments in

organizations which would have otherwise remained isolated. The problems of coordinations

faced by each department are made known to the company. They can arrive at a better means

of doing things on such group discussions. It is therefore necessary to study the impact of

ERP on all departments rather than restrict it to issues like "How will ERP impact the

accounting profession"?

Impact on the organization as a whole:

The ERP consultant will able to identify the flaws and guide the organization in devising

better procedures. It helps organizations to adapt and adjust to change right from the

implementation process.

Impact on Employment:

It throws job opportunities to many individuals, whom the organizations hire at theimplementation process. They even realize the need to retain them on permanent rolls once

ERP goes full-fledged in the organization. The good news is that it gives another room of

employment for the existing IT professionals in the country. They were able to update

themselves on ERP modules and continue serving the organization in terms of enhancing user

interface with ERP applications.

Impact on the nature of Job and information access:

ERP has directly and indirectly helped to redefine functions in the organization. Anything

that people wanted to know about the company was available by a click of the mouse. There

was no more relying on the department of internal communications even for single

information. Outsiders don't have the hassle of obtaining permission and following stringent

procedures to access information. IT has helped vastly and so it is not necessary to askexclusive questions like "How will ERP impact the accounting Profession"?

Impact on the individual employees:

ERP provided more freedom, authority and responsibility to the individual employees which

were mutually beneficial to the management. Each employee became more aware of his/her

function while ERP has given the confidence to execute it individually and successfully

Above all it resulted in transparency and accountability. The tasks of employees became


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totally independent as ERP succeeded in doing away the need of exclusive interdepartmentaldependence in order to elicit information. This has resulted in easing the process of handling

and answering customer queries and undertaking clientele orders.

Conclusion:

A one phrase explanation for the impact of ERP would be "Simplifying Complex Process".One has to have an idea of the above issues which will help in understanding the impact of

ERP on the role of managers.

ERP Sales Solution

Essentially a point of sale system acts like an electronic cash register that impacts on the

whole business environment. Basically, wherever a retail sale occurs a point of sale system

should come into play. Early point of sale systems were simple mechanical cash registers that

began in the 1970's. As a result of time factors and technological constraints these early

machines had limited functionality. Over time, as they evolved in functionality, they became

operational in many business environments such as restaurants, hotels and grocery stores.Today's point of sale systems are powerful electronic solutions that are utilised commercially.

Even better is the fact that most point of sale modules available today can be fully

integratable with stock management systems, accounting systems, as well as payroll systems,just to name a few.

Competition has never been more rife between businesses than it is today. In order to survive

in today's market a retail entrepreneur needs to be able to efficiently run their store,

effectively keep track of stock, as well as maintain customer satisfaction to ensure their

loyalty. Thus the implementation of an effective point of sale solution is pivotal. Most

business owners want a point of sale system that is easy to understand and operate, but at the

same time is effective. However, choosing a point of sale solution that will work wonders for

yourbusiness can be a dilemma because of the abundance of POS solutions available on themarket today.

One needs to look for a point of sale module that is able to operate effectively, but at the

same time is within the company budget. Although it would be nice to have a system that has

phenomenal functionality most businesses should not take a risk of getting a system that they

cannot afford. One should therefore look for a system that is effective but affordable.

Look for a system that is simple to use and that employees will understand. In most instances,

when business owners purchase a point of sales module, they have to learn how to operate it

themselves. If the system is extremely complicated it can be frustrating and time consuming

to the learner. Additionally one needs to take into account that existing, as well as new

employees, will have to learn how to use the system. Therefore getting a system that is easyto understand should be a top priority.

One needs to look for a system that is physically appealing. Most entrepreneurs need to

consider the following factors when trying to persuade customers to make purchases. The

physical environment of your business which refers to the actual appearance of your business

plays a vital role in influencing peoples impressions of your business. Moreover the qualityof the service you provide is just as important. A point of sale system needs to work hand in


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hand with these two factors as it needs to blend in with the type of impression you are tryingto convey to potential customers. Therefore a POS system needs to be appealing to the

employees that are going to be operating on it.

Choose the correct ERP

The success rate for implementing not just MRP and ERP systems but all large software

packages has never been very good. In survey after survey, in the USA, Europe andelsewhere, less than one third meet the basic criteria set out at the start of the implementation.

Too many software engineers know how the software works but do not know how tointegrate it into the business in a way that delivers real business benefits. With enterprise

resource planning (ERP) packages costing hundreds of thousands, many costing millions, this

failure rate is frightening.

The question is - how can you minimise the chance of failure or, more difficult, rescue a

package that is not delivering sufficient business benefits to justify the cost of

implementation? The good news is that, when properly implemented, an ERP package can be

the most cost effective project a company has ever seen.

ERP failure cannot be tolerated by organizations as it involves great money. On the contrary

ERP success makes great money. Selecting a new ERP system can be time-consuming andrisky but with the right strategy and tools, the selection can be turned into a positive

change. Here are some steps to help identify the best solution for a company. The following

elements acting in combination or individually results in good planning and choosing the best

posssible ERP solution:

Meeting and consultations in the organizations to decide

ERP

Selecting ERP software does not happen all on a sudden or as a result of an overnight's

discussion. There is lot of groundwork that needs to be done in this regard. There are many

reasons for the ambiguity, with the foremost being advent ofInternet. This has expanded the

scope ofcomputers and redefined the technological implications in the business. As a result

there is more expectations and demand. These were not foreseen earlier. Advancement in

computing indirectly implies the advancement in enterprise resource planning. Needless to

say the constant updating, upgrading and innovating have become the benchmark of ERPpackages. The indecisive mind of companies in choosing ERP soft ware solutions needs no

explanation.

Hire or Buy ERPThere are two alternatives in choosing ERP software for the company. The first one is

purchasing the software while the second one is obtaining one on hiring basis. There aren't

any differences in terms of costs or benefits irrespective of the option that the company goes

for. It all lies in how best the company makes use of ERP. However the company has to stick

on to any one option as soon as it finalizes.


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ERP should Suit company preferences

Companies that choose ERP on grounds of their own preferences succeed in the long run than

other companies. Other companies who sail by some decision that does not justify their

preferences are most unlikely to succeed.

Choosing the ERP vendor

The quality of the services offered by the vendor is equally detrimental in choosing ERPsoftware. Buyers generally tend to purchase from sellers who have got adequate experience in

ERP Products and services. This is the usual practice for any commodity. This has to bestrongly followed in the case of ERP as there are several dimensions involved with regards to

decision making. Nevertheless Choosing to buy from the right person is alone not enough.How the organization makes the best use of it in response to the specific needs, to avail the

best services is more important in deciding to buy ERP Systems.ERP implementation will be successful if certain guidelines are followed in choosing ERP

software. There is a dual purpose in ERP. It is neither meant exclusively to benefit the trade

procedures in the organization nor help the technological contents. It has to make both endsmeet. This Key function holds ERP in a special manner when compared with any other

system. Therefore the company must be prudent enough to choose an application that caters

to this advantage to the maximum extent. Therefore if a company chooses an enterprise

process to assist the business or technology alone the decision will not yield the required

results.

Essential Elements of an ERP System

If a company is able to obtain all the related products of ERP from one seller /vendor then it

can be termed as a profitable Venture. The company will be able to avail their services in all

matters relating to ERP solutions. This is highly recommended and regarded as a wonderfulcombination. When they choose to buy an ERP application of a particular module it must be

ensured that they enable connectivity and facilitate data transfer which should easily be made

available to the stakeholders. The advantage in buying a modular application is that the

company can choose to select them on the basis of the function for which it is purchased.

These are the essential element of ERP systems.

Time constraints in respect to the organizations function

The ERP system should be purchased based on the long term needs of the organization. In

that sense the firm should visualize its prospects, position and requirements in the long term

also. Therefore it has to be made sure that ERP is not restricted to meeting the current needs.This will also help in implementation of ERP.Suppose if a company is engaged in one particular domain of banking it also needs to

understand that it may have to cater to the entire banking sector if the need arises. Hence itmust purchase ERP that can serve related banking applications or if not be capable of

modification for the said purpose in the future. This will also stand out to be true in the caseof organizations that aim at diversifying the business. A choice is to be made from ERP

implementation models. This will also help in implementation of ERP


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Employees to express their opinion on ERP

The core members in the decision making body (for ERP) should hear and heed to the views

of all the employees in the company as long as they are valid. This will make sure that

everyone is given an opportunity of being heard so that they don't lament that they were not

allowed to express their opinions on ERP. This discussions will facilitate the decision makingbody to know how well ERP is received in the company and what are the setbacks that are to

be removed. This will also help in implementation of ERP

There is another important objective in these meetings. They help to bring out the various

modifications and technological changes that the company has to undergo to become ERP

friendly.Gap meeting and business process requirements do help in bringing out them. But

these processes will witness the employees difficulties and requirements directly. The impact

is also bound to be more when it is voiced out in person and in detail.

Customizable and predefined Modules

A large majority of ERP sellers sell customized application in addition to predefined

applications to ERP customers. They assist the customers in making all decisions right fromimplementation to use. Both have their own advantages and disadvantages. In the case of

customizable applications the buyers will be instructed about the various options available for

modifying. The users have to make a decision of choosing the appropriate combinations on

the basis of their business requirements.

Resorting to an External Body for ERP Services

Some organization finds it tedious to undertake the above mentioned steps. Their workload

would be too large to concentrate on this. In that case they can be outsourced to a third party

who can take care by keeping the needs of the organizations in mind. There are many

competitive advantages in availing the services of such person. Firstly they have theprofessional expertise and the required experience. The third party will also face the

difficulties of the firm but there wont be any mindset or favoritism as far as he is concerned

.these are all inevitable when the company is doing the service. Their services will be suited

even for bigger operations that have numerous complexity and ambiguity in operations. This

will also help in implementation of ERP.

Verifying the credibility of Vendor's services

The company has to check if the Vendor has already installed a similar configuration

elsewhere as it would not be advisable to be subjected to first time testing given the huge

investment in the name of ERP. If possible the company can try to get information from theERP customers of the vendors but it is not practically possible to elicit the necessaryinformation whether they are competitors or not, as business ethics and professional code of

conduct would not permit the same. They will also help in analyzing ERP Systems.

Application Service Provider


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Application service provider is an emerging concept in ERP packages. These are built inpackages that have their own setups for hardware and business process. The usual manner of

choosing ERP viz Deciding, buying and installing has even been given a go by in someoccasions. This will also help in ERP integration

The edge enjoyed by S.M

.E.'sASP was discussed as a profitable option. The actual fact is that it is a boon to small andmedium enterprises (S.M.E.'S).They would not have been able to think about ERP but for

ASP and outsourcing. They would choose these due to efficient services and affordable costs.

Choosing an outsource service provider

These companies may also choose to select the systems on a rental basis so that they are not

burdened with the tasks like administration, handling network as these are too big whencompared with the size of their firms. As perASP arrangement the infrastructure part will be

taken care of by the service provider. The company can access everything online, while the

customers access to ASP at an agreed Service charge for the stipulated periods.In the case of business process outsourcing the organization can avail the services of a

consultant for its business that will perform the required functions on behalf of the company.

The company can also choose to outsource inhouse operation to the outsourcer to get

maximum benefits be made from ERP implementation models.

Choosing ERP vendors for ASP

Companies must exercise caution in choosing Asp service provider. Many ERP sellers offer

ASP services in response to the rising market demand. Their expertise is unquestionable but

the trouble lies in terms of costs as the ERP vendor would price them at high rates. In

addition the choices are not plenty interms of choosing players. Therefore it is advised torefrain from vendors offering ASP services and approach ASP service providers alone. This

will also help in implementation of ERP.

Resorting to an External Body for ERP Services

Some organization finds it tedious to undertake the above mentioned steps. Their workload

would be too large to concentrate on this. In that case they can be outsourced to a third party

who can take care by keeping the needs of the organizations in mind. There are many

competitive advantages in availing the services of such person. Firstly they have the

professional expertise and the required experience. The third party will also face the

difficulties of the firm but there wont be any mindset or favoritism as far as he is concerned.these are all inevitable when the company is doing the service. Their services will be suited

even for bigger operations that have numerous complexity and ambiguity in operations.

There are different software solutions available for both purposes.

Verifying the credibility of Vendor's services


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The company has to check if the Vendor has already installed a similar configurationelsewhere as it would not be advisable to be subjected to first time testing given the huge

investment in the name of ERP. If possible the company can try to get information from theERP customers of the vendors but it is not practically possible to elicit the necessary

information whether they are competitors or not, as business ethics and professional code of

conduct would not permit the same.

The Nuances in choosing ERP Software

Pre ERP implementation includes analysis, constructive criticism; homework's has asignificant place in the whole process of ERP. Lot of research and background work needs to

be completed prior to the implementation of ERP or even before thinking about bringing Erp

into the organization. The plans of the organization must be clearly charted out and how it

intends to benefit from Erp operations have to be looked from a broader context.

Important Points in the discussion

This discussion should include important element namely financial issues. Besides it shouldalso account for the potential threats, strengths and weakness.How much profit will be

incurred have to be discussed and substantiated? Other non monetary benefits should also

find a place. These studies should involve the contribution of the entire group in the

organization right from the person in the highest hierarchy to the one in the lowest level. The

contribution should be validated and sharpened by means of presentations which will help

everybody to get insight of the different perspectives, and views. All of them will be helpful

in implementation of ERP.

The cost factor and compensation

ERP will definitely yield the required monetary benefits to organizations whether they havethe practice of built in systems or individual practices. If we are to calculate the costs

involved in preserving and building them over a period of time it will be evident that the ERP

costs incurred to support and facilitate the said functions will be comparatively less.

This calculation will prove to be equally true even if we take the case of individual

department for that matter. Another important point in this issue is that it has to align with the

target goals of the organization (the purpose for which it is sought and justified) as

organizations generally tend to go far ERP with a view to improve or increase the efficiencyof a particular section /dept and the whole process in general. Similarly the costs incurred to

facilitate that particular function must not be monetarily pinching on the organization andeven if they are the benefits and profits from that particular department or the whole

organization preferably should exceed the exorbitant costs. Everything has to be calculated

on the basis of the chosen ERP software systems

Committee to look after ERP process

Analysis and criticism will go a long way in deciding the fate of the ERP product. They are

alone not enough. The next process would be the services of the team who can decide

everything concrete with regards to ERP. The required powers are to be delegated to them.


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They will do the screening of the potential vendor based on the organizational needs thathave been classified and discussed earlier. This will be helpful in implementation of ERP.

The organization should focus on what it wants to achieve out of ERP before going ahead

with the process. When that is done successfully the ERP operations will have to be shifted to

that particular objective in general and to the whole organization in particular. This cannot

happen in the absence of ERP integration.

ERP Human Resources Management Sysytem

AHuman Resource Management System (HRMS, EHRMS), Human Resource Information

System (HRIS), HR Technology or also called HR modules, refers to the systems and

processes at the intersection between human resource management (HRM) and information

technology. It merges HRM as a discipline and in particular its basic HR activities and

processes with the information technology field, whereas the programming of data processing

systems evolved into standardised routines and packages of enterprise resource planning(ERP) software. On the whole, these ERP systems have their origin on software that

integrates information from different applications into one universal database. The linkage of

its financial and human resource modules through one database is the most important

distinction to the individually and proprietary developed predecessors, which makes this

software application both rigid and flexible.

A growing number of businesses are adopting ERP (enterprise resource planning) systems in

order to give their departments accurate and accessible shared data. HR isn't being left out of

the loop. In fact, most major ERP vendors now offer their customers HR modules that help

automate an array of tasks while generating crucial data for enterprise planning and

optimization.

HR processes of an organization can be optimised with a complete and integrated human

capital management solution. Such ERPs helps to attract the right people, develop and

leverage their talents, align their efforts with corporate objectives, and retain top performers.

ERPHuman Resources, also referred to as HR Modules, bridges the gap between Human

Resource Management and Information Technology. The data processing systems oftentimes

utilized in the IT realm are easily applied to many of the needs ofHuman ResourceManagement Systems (HRMS. The integration that ERP software makes possible aids in the

linking of the two diverse systems.

Many EHRMS supports multiple languages, currencies, tax definitions, benefits, security

configurations and platforms. Resource Management component of EHRMS can supportadministration, payroll, FSAs (flexible spending accounts) and compensation.

Work-Force Management aims to help HR departments cost-effectively handle complex

work-force management challenges. It includes scheduling, time and attendance, absence

handling and performance support.


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Talent Management provides work-force development capabilities that are focused onrecruitment, learning, employee performance and competency management. Succession-

planning capabilities are also provided.

Most Human Resource Management Systems provides support for a variety ofHR tasks,

including benefits, training, recruiting and compliance. Flexible design of this module lets

users select their own database platform.HRMS also includes powerful reporting andanalysis tools that provide customized insight on almost any HR issue. Hundreds of standard

report templates are included. An integrated database is designed to feed a steady flow of

information to managers and staff.

The software can automate virtually all fundamental, and most advanced, HR processes,

including employee administration, payroll and reporting. The product supports compliance

with both global and local regulations. Other features include talent management,

performance measurements and real-time insight into just about any HR trend.

HRMS are designed to automate practically every HR-department function. A single

integrated data model aims to supply a fast, immediate and accurate view ofHR-related

activities, including recruiting, payroll, benefits, performance management, learning,compensation, time management and real-time analytics.

Many EHRMSsoftwares aim to help businesses create professional development plans

focused on employee's goals and skills. Features include a "competence framework" with a

development process that incorporates personal interviews, training curriculums, skills

matching, skill-gap analysis and other components. The software's various processes are

collaborative and allow follow-up from employees and managers to improve dialogue

between the two groups.

ERP Success Stories

When enterprise resource planning software fails, it's usually because the company didn't

dedicate enough time or money to training and managing culture-change issues. "Faulty

technology is often blamed, but eight out of nine times, ERP problems are performance-

related," says Pat Begley, senior vice president of educational services at SAP, an ERPsoftware company in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania.

ERP success stories will reveal that they were made possible through deliberate and hard

work. The assessment of enterprise planning resource and defense enterprise planning

resource are important tasks in this context. ERP success stories need not necessarily meanthat an organization needs to be contended with what they have achieved. They must think of

extending the scope of enterprise operations so that many and thereby be a role model for

more ERP success stories.Some of them requiring attention are as follows:

y Jada precisions Plastics co INC and IQMS ERP software:The manufacturing Company Jada Precisions Plastics INC was not happy within theinitial ERP systems that were established to help them in raising the competence


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levels. The software definitely helped them to reduce the complexity of the labor butit was not the ultimate answer.

They finally got the much desired results from IQMS ERP software. The softwarewas instrumental in giving the results. Upon analysis it was found that the former

ERP systems tried to give ready made solutions to their problems in the form of

packaged solutions while the later facilitated tin creating an automatic system for data

transfer. This resulted in ERP success.The point to be learned from this issue is that the ERP vendor should provide

appropriate solutions based on the requirements of the client and not on the basis of

his services. They are meant to make one understand the critical success factor for

ERP implementation.

y Eiffel ERP software's implementation in U.S. based chemical company: In this situation their main challenges of the software lay in facilitating

communication between the corporate office and the manufacturing unit that uses

very old systems on one hand and managing a new chemical plant. Both these process

had to be done simultaneously with the second process coming under the control of

the first one after the intervention of ERRP software. Deciding this is like squaringupon critical success factor for ERP systems.

The main challenge with the first issue was that the data processed by the corporateoffice was to be reverted and resend by the manufacturing setup which was using

primitive systems that were not capable of processing large information. Themanufacturing unit neither required the whole information nor had the ability to

process the same. This was the critical success factor for ERP implementation.Eiefeel ERP system was designed to filter the required information and storing the

rest till the retrieval. In the meanwhile ERP also processed the complex information in

order to suit the capability of manufacturing unit.

The issue with the second process was that the newly setup unit had to become a part

of the manufacturing unit. The problem was that the new process could work on the

latest software whereas it had to be coordinated with the old manufacturing unit. The

new software was designed to do the very old process but by making use of the latest

equipments and thus ERP success followed. This again points the facts that ERP has

to be designed based on the systems in the organization.

y WinMan ERP in Athena controls: Success stories usually explain how ERP facilitated organizations to reach milestones.

This story has a different style. They explain the concrete steps that are to be taken in

an organization in order to attain the maximum benefits from ERP. This company is a

concrete example and a living proof to substantiate the fact regarding the steps that acompany needs to take and in not believing that a more implementation of ERP will

give the necessary impetus for success in the organization.The basic factor for success in this company is backed by the fact that they believed

software to be a tool and not the solution to the enterprise problems. This is backed up

by the fact that the company successfully combined the business practices with thenuances of the software. This process took place during a crucial time for thecompany i/.e. when they experienced a sudden deflation of profits.

They had a successful collaboration with Winmap software to unleash the enterprise

Solutions. The cordial work atmosphere among the two prevailed over any mishaps.

They experienced an increase in the profits level and various aspects of business like

inventory management, cost reduction and so on. The facts and figures were amazing

and would not have happened if the company had not used the circumstance like a


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platform for doing their best and understanding the fundamental mistake of notaligning software with business process.

y Intitutive ERP Software in San Antonio's Lighthouse SanAntonio's Lighthouse is a company that provides employment opportunities to the

visually challenged and others undergoing some form of physical hazards. The

company's core business is to manufacture products that best suit them to carry on a

trade or profession of their own choice. In addition to making them the company alsosees to that it reaches the end user.

The market trend underwent a sea change. The company decided to change their

strategy in order to ensure that the customers received the products in the correct time.

The pressure from competitors circle also led them to think an alternative for their

existing distribution system.

The company had also ventured into selling goods and services online. They went

ahead with Intitutive ERP systems as it gave them advantage of services likeMicrosoft

Environments and platforms. The implementation process and shipping time were

drastically improved. The company was able to realize its full potential and sailed in

tune with the market demands.

y SAP ERP Solutions in TISCO (Tata Iron and steel company Limited): The steel majors prompt response to market change and shifting to customerorientation from product coupled with the implementation of ERP will speak more

than volumes of their success for the timely action. The company is now able to reapbenefits in all aspect and make further progress in each and every operation of an

enterprise.The company decided to implement SAP ERP 3 after careful consideration for they

matched best with their requirements. In addition the company also forecasted on

what would happen to their operations in the future while making this choice .This

anticipation helped them to obtain the proper solution at the right point of time. The

implementation process took a long span of about a year owing to the volume of

operations and the major steps to be taken.

The company never got bogged down by the reported failure rate of ERP

implementations especially in bigger units and kept continuing their endeavors with

vigor to get the best and make the whole process learning cum experimental one. The

net result brought substantial increase in profits. The speed at which they worked (and

without even the minutest error) deserves great appreciation and is accorded as one of

the main contributing factors for the success.

Reasons to get ERP

Many people say that ERP is the future, that it is completely necessary nowadays. The

following are the reasons to implement an ERP software system in an organization.

y Enhance productivity, flexibility and customer responsiveness: From quote to cash, anintegrated business system helps you get product out the door faster. ERPgives you the toolsto maximize the efficiency of business processes across the entire enterprise. Forecast

demand to suppliers. Increase on-time delivery. Automate the shop floor. Decrease leadtimes. Increase order capacity. Make commitments you know you can keep.

y Enable new business and growth strategies:Undertaking new business strategies requires aninfrastructure that can handle the demands of an industry that is increasingly dependent on

technology. Updating and integrating your business processes with an enterprise system


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enables you to take on more business and grow in new directions. Connect multiple plants.Take advantage of the Internet and wireless technology to connect to customers and partners.

Introduce new product lines. Mobilize your sales force.

y Eliminate costs and inefficiencies: Using an enterprise system to standardize your business

processes can dramatically improve your companys bottom line. Better resourcemanagement results in more inventory turns. Management of your vendor relationships

reduces costs for purchased items. More efficient scheduling on the shop floor reducesdowntime and overtime. Improved customer service leads to repeat business.

y Expand your knowledge of key business data : An ERP system integrates all businessmanagement functions, eliminating contradictory information from disparate systems.

Reports, graphs and charts on key business data can be automatically generated to provide a

higher level of business performance visibility, with the drill-down capability into details

behind the data that youve always dreamed of.

y Extend your business using the Internet:Taking your business onto the Internet can give

your company a competitive edge. Web-enabled technology allows you to access

information, sell product, run business processes, and communicate with your customers and

partners at any time and from anywhere in the world.

Benefits of ERP

ERP systems are great to help your company streamline your processes. In order to have asuccessful implementation of your ERP system, you need to make sure you have your

information in line to help make the process swift. It doesnt matter whether or not yourcompany deals with paper or plastics, ERP pr

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How to Extend the Capabilities of ERP

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