A company can go for open source if is satisfied that its business modalities will be addressed. The point to be considered is will open source ERP cater to the particular business needs of the company. This decision is detrimental in making the companies chose open source ERP. Companies that are more dependent on external factors can resort to open source ERP technologies than those relying on internal factors.
Task “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.” Suggest
notes
11.5 What are the facilities offered by Web-enabled erp services?
Web enabled ERP services have helped to remove many drawbacks of the earlier applications. This has gained momentum as it has made ERP function more meaningful and dynamic with the latest inclusions.Some of the facilities offered by WEB ERP are as follows:
1. Dependability: Web enabled ERP services help the companies to keep track on what is going on. Since the entire system comes under the purview of internet it is not possible for the employees to engage in any sort of misappropriations funds or otherwise. In addition the errors could be easily deduced and corrected. This system not only helps the personnel in the company but also its stakeholders and well-wishers or anyone who would like to obtain information on the company. They can access the details anytime online.
2. Convenience in Reaching: Formerly when customers had to know the status of their order or any other query he must communicate to the marketing department. They will inurn speak to the concerned department trace the product or get clarifications in the case of technical query or any another information and then get back to them after confirming the required and relevant details. This process could take a few days and few weeks in the case of errors.
With the intervention of WEB ERP all that the customer has to do is to speak to the person in charge. He then gets back to the customer within few minutes. On the other hand web enabled ERP has reduced that time to a few seconds. In addition the customer can access the details from his personal computer and need not even depend on the company for trivial information. ERP on the web has done away with all these.
The C.E.O. can know the status of the company’s business and problems by sitting anywhere in the world. Similarly any other person can obtain the desired information at the shortest possible span of time. This has thrown lot of issues on confidentiality especially in sensitive subjects like hospital details and financial information.
3. Easy to use: Web enabled applications makes the job of the employees easy. They don’t have to rely on others before taking a decision for every petty issue. Infact it has helped them to work efficiently and in a relaxed manner. Besides the company the outsiders will be benefited lot as all the clarifications can be made online. Since they tend to be crisp the outsiders will not make mistakes in dealing with the company. The errors if any will be easily filtered in the online tracking system and hence the rectifications will be very quick. This would not have been possible without ERP on the web.
4. Integrating Technology and Manual Data in Public Domain: Web enabled applications have greatly reduced the limitations of manual data. These manual data became easily accessible after computerization and enterprise resource planning. However the data brought under public domain was still not satisfactory. Web ERP applications have helped to improve this feature by offering everything online.
future
Web enabled ERP have been citied as one of the important reason for ERP’s dominance in the days to come. This system needs more development apart from the present changes.
Unit 11: ERP-II
notes
11.6 Benefits of ERP Logistics Package
11.6.1 central components
The process layer is the central component which reflects the transaction-based systems. ERP II is web based, open and componentized. This is different from being web enabled, and the ultimate ERP II concept may be implemented as a set of distributed web services.
ERP is the central component in the ERP II conceptual framework. The traditional ERP modules like financials, sales and distribution, logistics, manufacturing, and human resources are still the backbone of ERP along with additional modules like quality management, project management or maintenance.
ERP II systems are based on business process management (BPM). ERP has been based on “Best- practice” process reference models but ERP II systems build on the notion of the process as the central model entity including tools to design (or orchestrate) processes, to execute and evaluate processes (business activity monitoring).
BPM allows for a flexibility of ERP II as regards different business practices, but for specific segments that otherwise would require problematic customization, like apparel and footwear or the public sector, ERP II also has vertical solutions. Vertical solutions are sets of standardized pre-configured systems with “add-ons” to match specific requirements or partial models in CIMOSA terms.
11.6.2 corporate components
The analytical layer comprise the corporate components that enhance and extend central ERP functions by providing decision support for the management of relations and corporate issues. These components are not necessarily directly synchronized with the integrated database: 1. SCM systems support the planning and production of goods. For instance, SCM provides
information such as where the product is to be produced, the procurement of parts and delivery schedules.
2. CRM systems facilitate the managing of a broad set of functions that primarily include the customer identification process and customer service management.
3. SRM is the vendor side analogy to CRM aimed at the effective management of the supplier base. SRM enables the enterprise to manage its supplier relations in their entire life-cycle. 4. Product lifecycle management (PLM) including product data management (PDM) enables
enterprises to bring innovative and profitable products to market more effectively, especially in the evolving e-business environment. PLM enables extended enterprises to harness their innovation process through the effective management of the full product definition lifecycle.
5. Employee lifecycle management (ELM) is the integration of all aspects of information relation to an employee from hiring to retirement from the company. ELM enables enterprises to effectively manage their portfolio of competencies.
6. Corporate performance management (CPM) is an umbrella term that describes the methodologies, metrics, processes and systems used to monitor and manage the business performance of an enterprise. Thus CPM provides management with an overall perspective on the business.
notes
11.6.3 collaborative components
The e-business layer is the portal of ERP II. The collaborative components deal with communication and integration between the ERP II system and external actors:
1. Business to consumer (B2C) or e-commerce denotes commercial sales transactions either with businesses or with individual customers over the electronic medium, usually the internet. This does indeed require an extensive infrastructure of which the main features are a catalogue, online ordering facilities and status checking facilities. The ERP system serves as the transaction processing back end for the Internet-based front end.
2. Business to business (B2B) or e-procurement improves efficiency by automating and decentralizing the procurement process. The traditional procedures of sending Request for Quotes (RFQ) documents and obtaining invoices etc. are carried out over the web through purchasing mechanisms such as auctions or other electronic marketplace functions, including catalogues.
3. Business to employee (B2E) or an intranet provides the employee with an updated, personalized portal to the enterprise on his desktop. The perspectives of the intranet and knowledge management in combination increase with the ERP II concept.
4. EAI or extranet provides the ERP II system with a platform for integration with other systems inside or outside the corporation. EAI provides the support for automating processes across various IT platforms, systems and organizations.
Task What is the use of EAI (Enterprise Application Integration) in ERP-II? Discuss with the help of real life example.
11.6.4 the adoption of next-generation enterprise systems
The conceptual framework for ERP II is a theoretical model based on generalized observations and on an analysis of the past and the present of enterprise systems. The analysis focused on business requirements and the available technology, but the framework does not consider the actual business transformations. Therefore we need to consider the adoption of the technology. A recent survey on ERP adoption in large Danish enterprises concluded that:
1. ERP has become a pervasive technology 2. ERP has become a contemporary technology 3. The ERP market has matured; and
4. The dominant ERP strategy is still the single vendor strategy.
The study was based on telephone interviews with ERP managers in 88.4 per cent of the top 500 enterprises in Denmark. 13.6 per cent of the enterprise had more than one ERP system. It provides a summary of the findings distributed on the top-five vendors, in-house developed ERP and other vendors. We assume that the five largest ERP vendors in Denmark accounting for 66.6 per cent of the installations all have incorporated part of the ERP II components in their recent releases.
Did u know?The early inventory control systems (ICS) and bill of material (BOM) processors gradually turned into standardized material requirements planning (MRP).