ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning):
What is ERP?:
In today's competitive business environment, there has to be much greater interaction between customers and enterprises. For example, in order to produce goods tailored to customer requirements, and provide faster deliveries, the enterprise must be closely linked to both suppliers and customers. To achieve this improved delivery performance, decreased lead times within the enterprises and improved efficiently and effectiveness, manufactures need to have efficient planning and control system that enable very good synchronization.
Purpose of ERP:
By becoming the integrated information solution across the entire organization, ERP systems allow companies to better understand their business. With ERP software, companies can standardize business process and more easily enact best practices. By creating more efficient processes, companies can concentrate their efforts on serving their customers and maximizing profits.
Details of ERP:
ERP is an industry term multi-module application software packages that are designed to serve and support multi business functions. An ERP system can include software for manufacturing, order entry, accounts receivable, general ledger, purchasing, human resources. ERP modules may be able to interface with an organization's own software with varying degrees of effort, and, dependent on the software, ERP modules may be alterable via the vendor's proprietary tools as well as proprietary or standard programming languages.
Advantages of ERP:
Using ERP, enterprises will get lots of benefits such as early ROI than the software developed in-house, dependency on human resources elimination, wide information sharing within enterprises, automatic adaptation to new technology, online communication between suppliers and customers.
Market Leaders of ERP:
The top five ERP vendors (SAP, Oracle Corporation, Peoplesoft, inc, JD Edwards & company, and Baan international) accounts 64 percent of total ERP market revenue. These vendors continue to play a major role in shaping the landscape of new target markets, with expanded product functionality, and high penetration rates. Market readers offer the following modules: financial accounting, treasury, controlling, enterprise controlling, investment management, production planning, materials management, plant maintenance & service management, quality management, project system, sales & distribution, human resource management, and business information warehouse. SAP is considered to be the most exhaustive ERP system. And other vendors provide more or less similar functionality in their product.
Common Solutions From Top ERP vendors:
CRM (customer relationship management): helps in developing and maintaining customer relationship by tracking customer information throughout the business transaction process.
SCM (supply chain management): provides for an enhanced relationship and management between customers and business partners by sharing information.
PLM (product lifecycle management): makes product information available by rolling together design, simulation, and testing information, procurement and logistics documentation, manufacturing data, and CRM technologies.
PM (project management): identifies and captures project costs, manages job resources tracks materials, labor and overhead, calculates financial indicators as it relates to billing, sales, earnings, interest, performance and completed projects, and allows viewing of project status.
Related Websites:
http://www.cio.com: Articles about information technologies. "The ABCs of ERP"
http://www.erpcentral.com: ERP tech update
http://www.multex.com: Global provider of investment information and technology solutions.
http://sap.com: Software supplier of all types of e-business solutions.