Enterprise Resource Planning – An Introduction

When an ERP system is implemented in an organization, it automatically automates this activity with an integrated software application. Thus the information is approachable by any of the departments of the enterprise. The software is supported by a common database which holds the information for all the domains of the enterprise. An ERP system can run on various types of systems having different configurations. An organization would typically implement the ERP systems because of several advantages that it provides. A few could be listed as follow:-

• Order Tracking: An order could be tracked well in time and delivery could be made as scheduled.
• The productivity of both the process and personnel is improved as a whole.
• Faster service to consumers.
• Saving of time and effort in data entry.
• Planning is made in advance which reduces the risk of loss to the organization.
• Proper utilization of resources.
• Timely and accurate decisions can be made as the actual data is readily available.
• Reducing of unnecessary paper work and documentation.
• Easy project management.

ERP software once implemented in an organization automates the business process and it can be upgraded as per the requirements.

The benefits of using open ERP solutions over commercial ERP solutions are:-

1. Pricing: No fee is associated with the open ERP solutions and one can implement in the organization free of cost. The modules are available free of cost and there is no restriction in the number of users using the software.
2. Flexibility: The software is highly flexible and could be adapted as per the organization’s need.
3. Develop own software: As the source code is available for free, one can make changes in the code thereby requiring less time and resources.

An ERP should be able to meet the changing business requirements and should be able to merge with emerging technologies. In the current scenario, web enabled ERP’s are very much in demand where there is client and server. The server is accessed from anywhere across the world by the client and the data could be collected. An ERP typically has a life cycle which has various phases. The phases are listed as below:-

ERP-Rollout->Optimization->Maintenance->Extending Values->Decaying Performance->Reimplementation

A large number of vendors are available in the market selling the ERP software. ERP software is available either as open source or as commercial software. Commercial ERP solutions are available through companies such as SAP, Oracle or Microsoft and open ERP solutions through Adempiere or Compiere. Software product development companies are employed for implementing ERP.