What is ERP - Enterprise Resource Planning?

ERP is an industry acronym for Enterprise Resource Planning. Broadly speaking, ERP refers to
automation and integration of a company's core business to help them focus on effectiveness &
simplified success.

SYSPRO defines the meaning of ERP

As one of the longest standing ERP vendors, we often get asked by prospects (and potential
employees) to define ERP. The Information Technology industry is renowned for its adoption of
acronyms, which are often widely used, but not fully understood. The term 'ERP' itself is not self-
explanatory and refers to the business software that has been designed to record and manage your
enterprise data.

An ERP System automates and integrates core business processes such as taking customer
orders, scheduling operations, and keeping inventory records and financial data. ERP systems can
drive huge improvements in the effectiveness of any organisation by:

assisting you in defining your business processes and ensuring they are complied with
throughout the supply chain;

protecting your critical business data through well-defined roles and security access

enabling you to plan your work load based on existing orders and forecasts

providing you with the tools to give a high level of service to your customers

translating your data into decision making information

Read more about SYSPRO Resource Planning Software

Benefits of ERP for your Business

1. Integration across all business processes - To realize the full benefits of an ERP system
it should be fully integrated into all aspects of your business from the customer facing front
end, through planning and scheduling, to the production and distribution of the products you
make.

2. Automation enhances productivity - By automating aspects of business processes, ERP

makes them more efficient, less prone to error, and faster. It also frees up people from
mundane tasks such as balancing data.

3. Increase overall performance - By integrating disparate business processes, ERP ensures

coherence and avoids duplication, discontinuity, and people working at cross purposes, in
 different parts of the organisation. The cumulative positive effect when business processes
integrate well is overall superior performance by the organisation.

4. Quality Reports and Performance Analysis - Analysis on ERP will enable you to produce
financial and boardroom quality reports, as well as to conduct analysis on the performance of
your organisation.

5. Integrates across the entire supply chain - A best of breed ERP system should extend
beyond your organisation and integrate with both your supplier and customer systems to
ensure full visibility and efficiency across your supply chain.

Defining Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Benefits & Solutions

A true Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system integrates both internal and external information flows
used by the organization within a single, comprehensive solution. An ERP solution incorporates the
practical systems used by organizations to manage the basic commercial functions of their business,
such as: planning, inventory/materials management, purchasing, manufacturing, finance,
accounting, human resources, marketing and sales, services etc. The objective of the ERP solution is to
drive the flow of information between all internal business functions while managing connections, or
"touchpoints," to outside stakeholders.

ERP solutions run on a variety of computer hardware and network configurations, including "on premises"
(i.e. client/server) or hosted (i.e. "cloud-based" or Software as a Service).

Regardless of the configuration, typically ERP solutions use a common database to hold information from
the various business functions that's accessible in some form or another by various users. The use of an
integrated database to manage the solution's multi-module application framework within a common
information system is one of the primary ERP benefits of this kind of system over "point solutions."

Unlike point solutions (historically used by small to midsize businesses) that rely on multiple (sometimes
duplicating) databases which strain IT resources, ERP solutions standardize the use of one application to
run an entire business. This not only increases efficiencies, but also decreases the overall total cost of
ownership (TCO), thereby reducing operational costs and improving the company's profitability.
Additional ERP Benefits:
 Tighter controls for financial compliance declaration (e.g. Sarbanes-Oxley and Basel II) as well as
other forms of compliance reporting.
 The single data source for product and services information - such as information related to suppliers,
vendors, customer orders and the products themselves - drive rapid product development and launch
cycles which increases a company's overall market share.
 Increased access to valuable corporate data delivers a clear, global view of the business that drives
continuous improvement strategies and establishes common performance metrics and measures to
gauge the health of the business.
 Effectively managing projects holistically fosters decision making at critical levels in the development
and/or manufacturing process.
 Support for streamlined sourcing and procurement processes drive alignment to customer demands,
and also deliver a centralized buying model to reduce unauthorized and unnecessary expenses.
 Providing sales and operations planning with access to critical information fosters "closed loop"
processes that ensures the business does not overpromise and/or underdeliver to customers.
 Automating business processes such as invoicing and sales and purchase orders within one systems
improves forecasting accuracy and reduces inefficiencies.
 Using a single base of information for billing and other customer interactions improves service levels
and increases customer retention.

Reaping ERP Benefits: Implementing the Right Solution

ERP solutions are continually refined and updated. With the myriad of different systems that are available
today, it's critical for organizations who are considering an ERP system for the first time or migrating to an
alternative ERP solution to partner with a company that first assesses their needs and helps them identify
the system that will support their business objectives. Equally, if not most important, is to work with a
company that defines and integrates an ERP solution that seamlessly supports their business processes.

Since ERP solutions are the operational backbone of a growing or established organization, it's
necessary to partner with a company that understands your business, can improve the quality and
efficiency of your organization, and delivers a solution that will ultimately save time and expense.

Vertical Solutions: Retail Supplier Solutions (RSS)

Green Beacon’s “Retail Supplier Solutions” module makes Microsoft Dynamics® AX the premiere ERP
solution catered specifically to Retail Suppliers.

RSS enables your company to streamline the supplier-retailer relationship with the use of one seamless
platform — all powered by Microsoft Dynamics® AX.

Making use of Big Data, our program planning and execution enhancement system provides the ideal
launchpad for harnessing customer centric capabilities with efficient automation processes and
optimization.

As a Microsoft Dynamics® Gold Certified Partner, we provide a fully integrated set of tools such as shelf-
aware, pre-season and in-season demand planning, data visualization, supply chain execution and
remittance management.

Retailers are asking for more from suppliers, Green Beacon is providing the tools to meet and exceed
those demands.

To learn more about this unique solution, please visit our official RSS website.

Are you a supplier, distributor or retailer? We want to hear from you. Take our survey. Note: Thanks for
everyone who filled out our survey and entered for a chance to win a Surface 2. A winner has been
selected. Your feedback is still welcome

Advantages & Disadvantages of ERP

(Enterprise Resource Planning) Systems
Rajesh K June 9, 2011Applications

In order to understand computer networks better, it would be helpful to have an overview of the
applications running on the network. ERP or Enterprise Resource Planning is an important
enterprise application that integrates all the individual department functions into a single
software application.
ERP Systems make it easier to track the workflow across various departments. They reduce the
operational costs involved in manually tracking and (perhaps) duplicating data using individual
& disparate systems. In this article, let us have a look at the advantages and dis-advantages of
implementing ERP (Enterprise Resource Management) Software Systems.
Advantages of ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning)
System:
1. Complete visibility into all the important processes, across various departments of an
organization (especially for senior management personnel).
2. Automatic and coherent workflow from one department/function to another, to ensure a
smooth transition and quicker completion of processes. This also ensures that all the inter-
departmental activities are properly tracked and none of them is ‘missed out’.
3. A unified and single reporting system to analyze the statistics/status etc. in real-time, across
all functions/departments.
4. Since same (ERP) software is now used across all departments, individual departments
having to buy and maintain their own software systems is no longer necessary.
5. Certain ERP vendors can extend their ERP systems to provide Business Intelligence
functionalities, that can give overall insights on business processes and identify potential areas of
problems/improvements.
6. Advanced e-commerce integration is possible with ERP systems – most of them can handle
web-based order tracking/ processing.
7. There are various modules in an ERP system like Finance/Accounts, Human Resource
Management, Manufacturing, Marketing/Sales, Supply Chain/Warehouse Management, CRM,
Project Management, etc.
8. Since ERP is a modular software system, its possible to implement either a few modules (or)
many modules based on the requirements of an organization. If more modules implemented, the
integration between various departments may be better.
9. Since a Database system is implemented on the backend to store all the information required
by the ERP system, it enables centralized storage/back-up of all enterprise data.
10. ERP systems are more secure as centralized security policies can be applied to them. All the
transactions happening via the ERP systems can be tracked.
11. ERP systems provide better company-wide visibility and hence enable better/faster
collaboration across all the departments.
12. It is possible to integrate other systems (like bar-code reader, for example) to the ERP system
through an API (Application Programing Interface).
13. ERP systems make it easier for order tracking, inventory tracking, revenue tracking, sales
forecasting and related activities.
14. ERP systems are especially helpful for managing globally dispersed enterprise companies,
better.

Disadvantages of ERP (Enterprise Resource

Planning) Systems:
1. The cost of ERP Software, planning, customization, configuration, testing, implementation,
etc. is too high.
2. ERP deployments are highly time-consuming – projects may take 1-3 years (or more) to get
completed and fully functional.
3. Too little customization may not integrate the ERP system with the business process & too
much customization may slow down the project and make it difficult to upgrade.
4. The cost savings/payback may not be realized immediately after the ERP implementation &
it is quite difficult to measure the same.
5. The participation of users is very important for successful implementation of ERP projects –
hence, exhaustive user training and simple user interface might be critical. But ERP systems are
generally difficult to learn (and use).
6. There maybe additional indirect costs due to ERP implementation – like new IT
infrastructure, upgrading the WAN links, etc.
7. Migration of existing data to the new ERP systems is difficult (or impossible) to
achieve. Integrating ERP systems with other stand alone software systems is equally difficult (if
possible). These activities may consume a lot of time, money & resources, if attempted.
8. ERP implementations are difficult to achieve in decentralized organizations with disparate
business processes and systems.
9. Once an ERP systems is implemented it becomes a single vendor lock-in for further
upgrades, customizations etc. Companies are at the discretion of a single vendor and may not be
able to negotiate effectively for their services.
10. Evaluation prior to implementation of ERP system is critical. If this step is not done
properly and experienced technical/business resources are not available while evaluating, ERP
implementations can (and have) become a failure.
excITingIP.com
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