A good way to understand what Enterprise Resource Planning,
or ERP, is to think of the domino effect. In ERP, say an order is placed with a
retail company or store. Enterprise Resource planning software sets off this
domino effect; thusly, when an order is placed, it travels, via this software,
to every department involved.
The literature on Enterprise Resource Planning, states that
its dream, or goal, is to coordinate and “make interactive" all the
various activities of all the interrelated departments, from packaging to
warehouse, to invoicing. The dream is to have one single software solution to
combine and integrate the operations and activities of all the various
departments, so that the action taken by one department sets off a chain of
reactions, which results in the completion of the order, or task. This is where
the domino effect comes in; one action sets the next one off.
The benefit, as anyone of average intelligence can figure
out, is that a business that uses Enterprise Resource Planning will become more
cost-efficient and effective. In short, they save money; and, in today's
economy, that's a good thing. Also, it increases efficiency across the board,
and in a general sense. It also increases communication between departments, so
there is less human error involved, that way. All of that makes it a good thing
to do; please check out Wikipedia for more details and information, as well as
more examples of Enterprise Resource Planning, of which custom ordering and
delivery is one.
