An Introduction to ERP

Information technology has transformed the way we live live in and the way we do business. Since last decade, I.T. has made a drastic change in our life. As compared to earlier stage, when computer was used just as a typewriter, nowadays users have become more intelligent and IT literate. Now the user knows that a PC can do many more things rather then just typing a letter in a word processing software or making balance sheets in excel. They expect more things out of their PC. During this phase of industry, every one of us must have heard the word ERP in one or the other form. It may be in title of any IT magazine or may be a point of discussion in any IT Seminar or may be in an advertisement of big IT Company. Thus in any form, we all have been through this word. In this short article, Ill try to concisely explain the basic yet important concepts relevant to ERP. What is ERP ? ERP is one of the most widely implemented business software systems in a wide variety of industries and organizations. ERP is the acronym of Enterprise Resource Planning. ERP is just not only a software. ERP definition refers to both; ERP software and business strategies that implement ERP systems. ERP implementation utilizes various ERP software applications to improve the performance of organizations for 1) resource planning, 2) management control and 3) operational control. ERP software consists of multiple software modules that integrate activities across functional departments - from production planning, parts purchasing, inventory control and product distribution to order tracking. Most ERP software systems include application modules to support common business activities like finance, accounting and human resources. ERP Systems ERP is much more than just a computer software. An ERP System includes ERP Software, Business Processes, Users and Hardware that run the ERP software. An ERP system is more than the sum of its parts or components. Those components interact together to achieve a common goal - streamline and improve organizations' business processes. Most important factor for ERP system is the users. Successful implementation of any ERP System more depends on intelligent users who are going to use them, because

any standard ERP Software would consist hundreds of input information for any particular business activity. Thus good knowledge of each entity of system to the users is most important factor in ERP Software. History of ERP Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) is the evolution of Manufacturing Requirements Planning (MRP) II in 1980s, which was mainly related to Manufacturing Industry and was designed to control manufacturing process and planning the required production with efficient output. Where as MRP is the evolution of Inventory Management & Control conceived in 1960s, which was mainly designed for management of Stocks in any particular industry. ERP has expanded from coordination of manufacturing processes to the integration of enterprise-wide backend processes like production planning and scheduling of delivery. In terms of technology, ERP has evolved from legacy implementation to more flexible tiered client-server architecture. Benefits of ERP ERP software attempts to integrate business processes across departments ionto a single enterprise-wide information system. The major benefits of ERP are improved coordination across functional departments and increased efficiencies of doing business. The implementations of ERP systems help to facilitate day-to-day management as well. ERP software systems are originally and ambitiously designed to support resource planning portion of strategic planning. In reality, resource planning has been the weakest link in ERP practice due to the complexity of strategic planning and lack of adequate integration of ERP with Decision Support Systems (DSS). Famous ERP Software No one from IT industry will be unknown from the word SAP. SAP is the most successful ERP Software. To name more here are some examples: PeopleSoft www.peoplesoft.com SysPro www.syspro.com ORION Enterprise www.3i-infotech.com Matrix www.matrixinfosystems.com (In the past, we have implemented Matrix ERP solution for one of our clients)

ERP Failures I couldnt conclude my brief guide to ERP without mentioning ERP failures. The failures of Crore rupees ERP projects are reported once in a while even after many years of ERP implementation. There are four components of an ERP System 1) ERP software, 2) Business Processes that ERP software supports, 3) Users of ERP systems, and 4) Hardware and Operating Systems that run ERP applications.

What is ERP? ERP stands for enterprise resource planning. The definition of enterprise resource planning is an integrated software solution used to manage a companys resources. ERP systems integrate all business management functions, including planning, inventory/materials management, engineering, order processing, manufacturing, purchasing, accounting and finance, human resources, and more. Why implement an ERP system? ERP software integrates all departments and functions across a company onto a single computer system that can serve all those different departments particular needs. ERP combines finance, HR, manufacturing and distribution all together into a single, integrated software program that runs off a single database so that the various departments can more easily share information and communicate with each other. This integrated approach can have a tremendous payback provided the software is installed and used correctly. What are the benefits of an ERP System? The benefits derived from ERP can far outweigh the costs of the system, providing that the system is selected carefully and is appropriate for your company from a feature, cost, and technology standpoint. Some of the benefits realized are:

* A single integrated system * Streamlining processes and workflows * Reduce redundant data entry and processes * Establish uniform processes that are based on recognized best business practices * Information sharing across departments * Improved access to information * Improved workflow and efficiency * Improved customer satisfaction based on improved on-time delivery, increased quality, shortened delivery times * Reduced inventory costs resulting from better planning, tracking and forecasting of requirements * Turn collections faster based on better visibility into accounts and fewer billing and/or delivery errors * Decrease in vendor pricing by taking better advantage of quantity breaks and tracking vendor performance * Track actual costs of activities and perform activity based costing * Provide a consolidated picture of sales, inventory and receivables An ERP system provides the solid operational backbone manufacturers and distributors need to improve the volume of production and fulfillment of orders while reducing costs. By optimizing your manufacturing and distribution operations with ERP, youll also be able to focus on new business opportunities. Why should I choose Mosaic 21 Applications for my ERP solution? The four main reasons to choose Mosaic 21 Applications are: * Software Functionality - superb user friendly functionality to meet all your business process requirements * Technology platform - ensures the security and integrity of enterprise data while providing the lowest total cost of ownership * Proven Implementation Control - with the Mosaic Implementation Methodology (MIM) you are ensured an expeditious and successful implementation * Industry Knowledge and Expertise - Mosaics resources have real world experience in the manufacturing and distribution industries Mosaic Data Solutions offers the functionality, technology platform, industry knowledge and implementation expertise to help you realize the full benefits of an ERP solution. What are the supported platforms for Mosaic 21 Applications?

Mosaic 21 Applications are IBM Server Proven and run on the powerful IBM iSeries and AS/400 Advanced Midrange Computers. This platform is the most flexible, stable, secure, and evolving suite of computers available. As the IBM iSeries evolves to include multiple operating environments, Mosaic Data Solutions will be supported on other operating systems like UNIX, Linux, Windows and AIX. Find out why the iSeries is the right platform for your growing business. How does the total cost of ownership (TCO) of the iSeries compare with other platforms? The five-year Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) is 90+% greater for Unix servers and Standard Intel Architecture Servers (SIAS) than for the IBM eServer iSeries servers. See this IDC study. What is the timeline to implement the Mosaic 21 solution? The time to implement can be affected by many factors including customizations, process re-engineering, customer resource time and availability, and testing. However, many of our customers implement the Mosaic 21 Applications in less than 90 days. What kind of training do you offer? Training is conducted on a Just-In-Time basis to minimize the time span between training and application of training to daily tasks. Training is done on-site and in the same environment that will be used once the ERP system goes live. This helps to re-enforce the knowledge transfer and practical use after Go Live. What is the cost to implement the Mosaic 21 Applications? The cost of the Mosaic 21 Applications is based on the number modules that are licensed with the base system. While we cannot post actual figures on our web site, we are proud to say that we offer a solution that meets the criteria of most budgets: our software is affordable to small and mid-sized businesses. The industry average cost for an ERP implementation can be as much as two to three times the cost of the software. The cost of implementing the Mosaic 21 Applications are a fraction of the cost of the system. How do you license your software? Like all ERP software, Mosaic 21 Applications are licensed, not sold. Unlike other ERP software, Mosaic 21 Applications are licensed and installed on a per processor basis, meaning that the number of concurrent users which can access the system is unlimited. This is an advantage to the growing enterprise because your yearly ERP budget

is fixed and not dependent on the addition of users as your business expands. The Mosaic 21 license requires participation in our Annual Maintenance program, which provides you with all product updates as well as access to Mosaic Data Solutions acclaimed support. Your first maintenance invoice will not be received until 90 days after installation and is based on a standard of 15% of list price. Can I purchase individual modules? Modules can be purchase individually. Some modules have integrated functionality and must be purchased together. Can I purchase source code for Mosaic 21 Applications? Yes, source code can be purchased for each of the modules. Modifications to the original source code will affect the maintenance contract of base applications. Mosaic Data Solutions provides a way for you to customized your modules without affecting the base applications. Are Mosaic 21 Applications available in a GUI or browser format? Mosaic Data Solutions maintains a commitment to dependability and ease of use of our applications. The character based mode continues to be the most stable environment available. Mosaic Data Solutions maintains an ongoing development effort to develop a Graphical User Interface (GUI) which will be released when it is proven to be as stable as the current character based system. For a limited time, new customers will receive the GUI upgrade as a part of the license agreement.

Enterprise resource planning helps in integrating all departments and functions within a company in a single computer system that serves specific needs of different departments. ERP is often referred as back-office software and does not run the up-front selling process. When the customer service representative enters the customer order in the ERP system, he has access to all the required information such as customers rating, companys inventory levels from the warehouse module, and shipping docks trucking schedule from the logistics module.

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) originally implied systems designed to plan the use of enterprise-wide resources. Although the acronym ERP originated in the manufacturing environment, in todays world ERP systems has much broader scope. Tetra has always been a protagonist of Open Source technologies and is one of the very first companies to have moved completely into this arena. Tetra-ERP has been specially developed for SMEs and is being used in live environment. It has all the basic modules e.g. Marketing, Purchase, and Order processing, Stores, Production, Excise & Accounts. Many clients are already reaping rich benefits from it. Enterprise Resource Planning systems (ERPs) integrate (or attempt to integrate) all data and processes of an organization into a unified system. A typical ERP system will use multiple components of computer software and hardware to achieve the integration. A key ingredient of most ERP systems is the use of a unified database to store data for various system modules. Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) delivers a database containing: Manufacturing Supply Chain Management Financials Projects Human Resource Customer Relationship Management Data Warehouse SME Organizations with international and domestic Purchases through multiple channels would benefit the most from this type of technology. COMMON FEATURES This technology is web based and can be accessed from anywhere in the world through secure VPN. Linux based Server no licensing fees. MySQL based, one of the strongest open source databases available, for which no license fees needs to be paid. Porting Option for any database Independent Platform for all major browsers.

Takes very less resources. Supports multiple companies. User based authentication. Transaction Log user specific. Can merge CRM & SCM at a later point to integrate with suppliers and clients Source code with the client, so not a vendor dependent solution. Advantages offered by Tetra Our ERP solutions offer high operational efficiency by facilitating greater integration and focusing attention on specific demands of businesses. Our ERP solutions help in improving business responsiveness with the help of fast and effective applications and agile IT architecture. Our industry tailored application helps in speeding up delivery times, greatly reducing project risks and setting & running up the process fast. ERP Customization Services Tetra helps in customizing an ERP package that can be very reliable and cost effective. ERP packages are designed to support customization, so most businesses implement the best practices embedded in the acquired ERP system. Some ERP packages are very generic in their reports and inquiries, such that customization is expected in every implementation. It is important to recognize that for these packages it often makes sense to buy third party plug-ins that interface well with your ERP software rather than reinventing the wheel. Customization work is usually undertaken as bespoke software development on a time and materials basis. Because of the specialist nature of the customization and the 'one off' aspect of the work, it is common to pay in the order of per hour for this work.

How can ERP improve performance :

companys

business

ERPs best hope for demonstrating value is as a sort of battering ram for improving the way your company takes a customer order and processes it into an invoice and revenue otherwise known as the order fulfillment process. That is why ERP is often referred to as

back-office software. It doesnt handle the up-front selling process (although most ERP vendors have recently developed CRM software to do this); rather, ERP takes a customer order and provides a software road map for automating the different steps along the path to fulfilling it. When a customer service representative enters a customer order into an ERP system, he has all the information necessary to complete the order (the customers credit rating and order history from the finance module, the companys inventory levels from the warehouse module and the shipping docks trucking schedule from the logistics module, for example). People in these different departments all see the same information and can update it. When one department finishes with the order it is automatically routed via the ERP system to the next department. To find out where the order is at any point, you need only log in to the ERP system and track it down. With luck, the order process moves like a bolt of lightning through the organization, and customers get their orders faster and with fewer errors than before. ERP can apply that same magic to the other major business processes, such as employee benefits or financial reporting. 1. What is ERP? - ERP is a package with the techniques and concepts for the integrated management of business as a whole, for effective use of management resources, to improve the efficiency of an enterprise. Initially, ERP was targeted for manufacturing industry mainly for planning and managing core business like production and financial market. As the growth and merits of ERP package ERP software is designed for basic process of a company from manufacturing to small shops with a target of integrating information across the company. 2. Different types of ERP? - SAP, BAAN, JD Edwards, Oracle Financials, Siebel, PeopleSoft. Among all the ERPs most of the companies implemented or trying to implement SAP because of number of advantages aver other ERP packages. 3. What is SAP? - SAP is the name of the company founded in 1972 under the German name (Systems, Applications, and Products in Data Processing) is the leading ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) software package. 4. Explain the concept of Business Content in SAP Business Information Warehouse? - Business Content is a pre-configured set of role and task-relevant information models based on consistent Metadata in the SAP Business Information Warehouse. Business Content provides selected roles within a company with the information they need to carry out their tasks. These information models essentially contain roles, workbooks, queries, InfoSources, InfoCubes, key figures, characteristics, update rules and extractors for SAP R/3, mySAP.com Business Applications and other selected applications. 5. Why do you usually choose to implement SAP? - There are number of technical reasons numbers of companies are planning to implement SAP. Its highly configurable, highly secure data handling, min data redundancy, max data consistency, you can capitalize on economics of sales like purchasing, tight integration-cross function. 6. Can BW run without a SAP R/3 implementation? - Certainly. You can run BW without R/3 implementation. You can use pre-defined business content in BW

using your non-SAP data. Here you simply need to map the transfer structures associated with BW data sources (InfoCubes, ODS tables) to the inbound data files or use 3rd part tool to connect your flat files and other data sources and load data in BW. Several third party ETL products such as Acta, Infomatica, DataStage and others will have been certified to load data in BW. 7. What is IDES? - International Demonstration and Education System. A sample application provided for faster learning and implementation. 8. What is WF and its importance? - Business Work Flow: Tool for automatic control and execution of cross-application processes. This involves coordinating the persons involved, the work steps required, the data, which needs to be processed (business objects). The main advantage is reduction in throughput times and the costs involved in managing business processes. Transparency and quality are enhanced by its use. 9. What is SAP R/3? - A third generation set of highly integrated software modules that performs common business function based on multinational leading practice. Takes care of any enterprise however diverse in operation, spread over the world. In R/3 system all the three servers like presentation, application server and database server are located at different system. 10. What are presentation, application and database servers in SAP R/3? - The application layer of an R/3 System is made up of the application servers and the message server. Application programs in an R/3 System are run on application servers. The application servers communicate with the presentation components, the database, and also with each other, using the message server. All the data are stored in a centralized server. This server is called database server. 11. What should be the approach for writing a BDC program? - Convert the legacy system data to a flat file and convert flat file into internal table. Transfer the flat file into sap system called sap data transfer. Call transaction(Write the program explicitly) or create sessions (sessions are created and processed ,if success data will transfer). 12. Explain open SQL vs native SQL? - ABAP Native SQL allows you to include database-specific SQL statements in an ABAP program. Most ABAP programs containing database-specific SQL statements do not run with different databases. If different databases are involved, use Open SQL. To execute ABAP Native SQL in an ABAP program, use the statement EXEC. Open SQL (Subset of standard SQL statements), allows you to access all database tables available in the R/3 System, regardless of the manufacturer. To avoid conflicts between database tables and to keep ABAP programs independent from the database system used, SAP has generated its own set of SQL statements known as Open SQL. 13. What are datasets? - The sequential files (processed on application server) are called datasets. They are used for file handling in SAP. 14. What are internal tables check table, value table, and transparent table? Internal table: It is a standard data type object, which exists only during the runtime of the program. Check table: Check table will be at field level checking. Value table: Value table will be at domain level checking ex: scarr table is check table for carrid. Transparent table: - Exists with the same structure both in dictionary as well as in database exactly with the same data and fields.

15. What are the major benefits of reporting with BW over R/3? Would it be sufficient just to Web-enable R/3 Reports? - Performance Heavy reporting along with regular OLTP transactions can produce a lot of load both on the R/3 and the database (cpu, memory, disks, etc). Just take a look at the load put on your system during a month end, quarter end, or year-end now imagine that occurring even more frequently. Data analysis BW uses a Data Warehouse and OLAP concepts for storing and analyzing data, where R/3 was designed for transaction processing. With a lot of work you can get the same analysis out of R/3 but most likely would be easier from a BW. 16. How can an ERP such as SAP help a business owner learn more about how business operates? - In order to use an ERP system, a business person must understand the business processes and how they work together from one functional area to the other. This knowledge gives the student a much deeper understanding of how a business operates. Using SAP as a tool to learn about ERP systems will require that the people understand the business processes and how they integrate. 17. What is the difference between OLAP and Data Mining? - OLAP - On line Analytical processing is a reporting tool configured to understand your database schema ,composition facts and dimensions . By simple point-n-clicking, a user can run any number of canned or user-designed reports without having to know anything of SQL or the schema. Because of that prior configuration, the OLAP engine builds and executes the appropriate SQL. Mining is to build the application to specifically look at detailed analyses, often algorithmic; even more often misappropriate called reporting. 18. What is Extended Star Schema and how did it emerge? The Star Schema consists of the Dimension Tables and the Fact Table. The Master Data related tables are kept in separate tables, which has reference to the characteristics in the dimension table(s). These separate tables for master data is termed as the Extended Star Schema. 19. Define Meta data, Master data and Transaction data - Meta Data: Data that describes the structure of data or MetaObjects is called Metadata. In other words data about data is known as Meta Data. Master Data: Master data is data that remains unchanged over a long period of time. It contains information that is always needed in the same way. Characteristics can bear master data in BW. With master data you are dealing with attributes, texts or hierarchies. Transaction data: Data relating to the day-to-day transactions is the Transaction data. 20. Name some drawbacks of SAP - Interfaces are huge problem, Determine where master data resides, Expensive, very complex, demands highly trained staff, lengthy implementation time.

21. What is Bex? - Bex stands for Business Explorer. Bex enables end user to locate reports, view reports, analyze information and can execute queries. The queries in workbook can be saved to there respective roles in the Bex browser. Bex has the following components: Bex Browser, Bex analyzer, Bex Map, Bex Web.

22. What are variables? - Variables are parameters of a query that are set in the parameter query definition and are not filled with values until the queries are inserted into workbooks. There are different types of variables which are used in different application: Characteristics variables, Hierarchies and hierarchy node, Texts, Formulas, Processing types, User entry/Default type, Replacment Path. 23. What is AWB?. What is its purpose? - AWB stands for Administrator WorkBench. AWB is a tool for controlling, monitoring and maintaining all the processes connected with data staging and processing in the business information whearhousing. 24. What is the significance of ODS in BIW? - An ODS Object serves to store consolidated and debugged transaction data on a document level (atomic level). It describes a consolidated dataset from one or more InfoSources. This dataset can be analyzed with a BEx Query or InfoSet Query. The data of an ODS Object can be updated with a delta update into InfoCubes and/or other ODS Objects in the same system or across systems. In contrast to multi-dimensional data storage with InfoCubes, the data in ODS Objects is stored in transparent, flat database tables. 25. What are the different types of source system? - SAP R/3 Source Systems, SAP BW, Flat Files and External Systems. 26. What is Extractor? - Extractors is a data retrieval mechanisms in the SAP source system. Which can fill the extract structure of a data source with the data from the SAP source system datasets. The extractor may be able to supply data to more fields than exist in the extract structure. ------------------------------------------------ABAP is an Object Oriented Language. To be more precise, ABAP has an extension which supports object oriented programming. Much like with C++, you can still write a mixture of procedural code and object-oriented code in ABAP. The concept of OO in ABAP is fairly new. It was introduced in 1999, along with R/3 release 4.6. ABAP Workbench The ABAP Workbench contains different tools for editing Repository objects. These tools provide you with a wide range of assistance that covers the entire software development cycle. The most important tools for creating and editing Repository objects are: ABAP Editor for writing and editing program code (Transaction:SE38 ABAP Editor) ABAP Dictionary for processing database table definitions and retrieving global types(Transaction:SE11) Menu Painter for designing the user interface (menu bar, standard toolbar, application toolbar, function key assignment)(Transaction:SE41)

Screen Painter for designing screens (dynamic programs) for user dialogs (Transaction:SE51) Function Builder for displaying and processing function modules (routines with defined interfaces that are available throughout the system) (Transaction:SE37) Class Builder for displaying and processing ABAP Objects classes (Transaction:SE24)

Data dictionary Data dictionary is a workplace for defining table, define data type, display table content. Go to transaction code SE11 (SAP Menu->Tools->ABAP Workbench->Development>Data Dictionary). Data classes Master data: It is the data which is seldomly changed. Transaction data: It is the data which is often changed. Organization data: It is a customizing data which is entered in the system when the system is configured and is then rarely changed. System data:It is the data which R/3 system needs for itself.

Transparent tables and pooled tables Transparent tables: Transparent tables in the dictionary has a one-to-one relation with the table in database. Its structure corresponds to single database field. Table in the database has the same name as in the dictionary. Transparent table holds application data. Pooled tables. Pooled tables in the dictionary has a many-to-one relation with the table in database. Table in the database has the different name as in the dictionary. Pooled table are stored in table pool at the database level.

Internal tables

Internal tables are a standard data type object which exists only during the runtime of the program. They are used to perform table calculations on subsets of database tables and for re-organising the contents of database tables according to users need. ABAP/4 Query ABAP/4 Query is a powerful tool to generate simple reports without any coding. ABAP/4 Query can generate the following 3 simple reports: Basic List: It is the simple reports. Statistics: Reports with statistical functions like Average, Percentages. Ranked Lists: For analytical reports. For creating a ABAP/4 Query, programmer has to create user group and a functional group. Functional group can be created using with or without logical database table. Finally, assign user group to functional group. Finally, create a query on the functional group generated. Screen painter and menu painter Screen painter: Screen painter is a tool to design and maintain screen and its elements. It allows user to create GUI screens for the transactions. Attributes, layout, filed attributes and flow logic are the elements of Screen painter. Menu painter: Menu painter is a tool to design the interface components. Status, menu bars, menu lists, F-key settings, functions and titles are the components of Menu painters. Screen painter and menu painter both are the graphical interface of an ABAP/4 applications.