Ch 3Defining and Understanding ERP Systems

Topics:-3.1 INTRODUCTION3.2 ENTERPRISE RESOURCE PLANNING (ERP) DEFINED3.3 AN OVERVIEW AND RATIONALE FOR ERP SYSTEMS3.4 BENEFITS OF ERP3.5 COMMERCIAL ERP SYSTEMS3.6 THE ERP MARKET TRENDS AND TECHNOLOGIES3.7 CONCLUSION

3.1 INTRODUCTIONThe historical origin of ERP is in inventory management and control software packages that dictated system design during the 1960s.In the 1970s, we saw the emergence of Material Requirements Planning (MRP) and Distribution Resource Planning (DRP), which focused on automating all aspects of production master scheduling and centralized inventory planning, respectively.

During the 1980s, the misnamed MRPII (Manufacturing Resource Planning) systems emerged to extend MRPs traditional focus on production processes into other business functions, including order processing, manufacturing, and distribution. In the early 1990s, MRPII was further extended to cover areas of engineering, finance, human resources, project management, etc.

MRPII is a misnomer, as it provided automated solutions to a wide range of business processes, not just those found within a companys manufacturing and distribution functions.

An ERP system differs from the MRPII system, system requirements, technical requirements, graphical user interface, relational database, use of fourth-generation language, and computer-aided software engineering tools in development, client/server architecture, and open-systems portability

Also, while MRP II has traditionally focused on the planning and scheduling of internal resources, ERP strives to plan and schedule supplier resources as well, based on the dynamic customer demands and schedules.

3.2 ENTERPRISE RESOURCE PLANNING (ERP) DEFINED1. An ERP system can be thought of as a company-wide Information System that tightly integrates all aspects of a business. 2. It promises one database, one application, and a unified interface across the entire enterprise.

2. ERP systems are highly integrated enterprise-wide standard Information Systems (software packages) that automate core corporate activities (business processes) such as finance, human resources, manufacturing, and supply and distribution.

3. ERP is an integrated package of software applications designed to automate and integrate a companys business processes throughout its entire supply chain and to provide immediate access to business information. ERP systems can be thought of as wide-ranging, general-purpose management information systems (MIS) for business.

4. ERP systems, a form of Enterprise-Wide Information System (EWIS), represent sets of business applications that allow for an organization-wide management of operations. ERP systems are seen as optimization and integration tools of business processes across the supply chain (within and beyond organizational boundaries) implemented through modern information management systems.

5. ERP is known as a large-scale, cross-functionally integrated, packaged system. 6. ERP is an integrated comprehensive Enterprise-Wide Information System. 7. ERP systems are software packages that integrate information across the entire organization. This integration removes inconsistencies and enables the organization to attain consolidated reports.

8. ERP is a comprehensive Information Technology package built on the promise that all critical information should be totally integrated in a single information database.

9. ERP links all areas of a company with external suppliers and customers into a tightly integrated system with shared data and visibility. ERP systems are designed to solve the problem of the fragmentation of information over many legacy systems in large business organizations.

10. ERP systems are comprehensive, fully integrated software packages that provide automated support for most of the standard business processes within organizations.

11. An ERP system is a packaged business software system that enables a company to manage the efficient and effective use of resources (materials, human resources, finance, etc.) by providing a total, integrated solution for the organizations information-processing needs. It supports a process-oriented view of the business as well as business processes standardized across the enterprise.

12. ERP systems allow a company to share common data and practices across the enterprise and produce and access information in a real-time environment. These systems are designed to solve the fragmentation of information in large business organizations and to integrate information flow within a company.

13. ERP plays a critical role in improving or reengineering outdated infrastructures, gaining tighter control over internal operations, and driving down costs.

14. ERP consists of massive computer applications that allow a business to manage all of its operations (finance, requirements planning, human resources, and order fulfillment) on the basis of a single, integrated set of corporate data.

15. ERP systems are large and complex integrated software packages that support standard business activities.

ERP can be further defined as a strategic business solution that integrates all business functions, including manufacturing, finance, and distribution. ERP systems are also being referred to as enterprise systems and enterprise-wide Information Systems.

They are customized, packaged software-based systems that handle the majority of an enterprises information systems requirements. They provide a software architecture that facilitates the flow of information among all functions within an enterprise.

As a result, ERP systems are traditionally thought of as transaction-oriented processing systems or transactional backbones, they are continually redefined based on the growing needs of organizations.

3.3 AN OVERVIEW AND RATIONALE FOR ERP SYSTEMSERP systems use a modular structure (i.e., multimodule) to support a broad spectrum of key operational areas of the organization.The multiple core applications comprising an ERP system (a standard ERP framework) are themselves built from smaller software modules that perform specific business processes within a given functional area.

For example, a manufacturing application normally includes modules that permit sales and inventory tracking, forecasting raw-material requirements, and planning plant maintenance.

Typically, an ERP system is integrated across the enterprise with a common, relational database, storing data on every function. They are widely acknowledged as having the potential to radically change existing businesses by bringing improvements in efficiency, effectiveness, and the implementation of optimized business processese.

One of the key reasons why managers have sought to proceed with difficult ERP projects is to end the fragmentation of current systems, to allow a process of standardization, to give more visibility on data across the entire corporation, and, in some cases, to obtain competitive advantage. A seamless integration is essential to provide visibility and consistency across the enterprise.

ERP, in its embryonic stages, catered specifically for manufacturing and production systems, while providing weak support in less data-intensive areas, such as supply chain planning, customer management, marketing, and sales.

However, enterprise systems expanded to include back-office functions (such as operations, logistics, finance, and human resources) and nontransaction-based systems or front-office functions (such as sales, marketing, and customer service), as integral components of ERP systems.

These inclusions result from the emergence of Supply Chain Optimization (SCO), or SCM and CRM strategies and systems. beyond the corporate walls integration as extreme integration in this approach to integration, SCM can be viewed as the brain and ERP as the strong body.

While the names and numbers of modules in an ERP system provided by various software vendors may differ, a typical system integrates all these functions by allowing its modules to share and transfer information freely and centralizing all information in a single database accessible by all modules.

ERP packages force an organization to implement a proven set of business processes, which means that there is no need for the organization to reinvent the wheel, because ERP packages encapsulate reusable best practice business processes. As state-of-the-art technologies and processes move forward, purchasers of packaged software move with them.

ERP packages give the foundation to the business, and thus, management can concentrate on grabbing market share.Kalakota and Robinson (1999) stressed that the popularity of ERP systems stemmed from the fact that they appear to solve the challenges posed by portfolios of disconnected, uncoordinated applications that have outlived their usefulness.

These legacy systems provide one of the biggest drags on business productivity and performance, because maintaining many different computer systems leads to enormous costs.

These include direct costs, such as rationalization, redundancy, rekeying, reformatting, updating, debugging, deleting, etc., and,

more importantly, indirect costs, such as a companys purchasing and sales system that cannot communicate with its production/scheduling systems, so that both its manufacturing productivity and customer service suffer.

Management may be left to make vital decisions based on information from incompatible systems, thereby relying on instinct rather than on sound business rationale.

MacVittie (2001) identified three goals behind the implementation of an ERP system:Integration of financial data: When managers depend on their functions or units perspective of financial data, conflicting interpretations will arise (e.g., Finance will have one set of sales figures, while Marketing will have another). Using an ERP system provides a single version of sales.

Standardization of manufacturing processes: A manufacturing company that has grown through acquisitions is likely to find that different units use different methods to build the same product. Standardizing processes and using an integrated computer system can save time, increase productivity, and reduce head count. It may also enable collaborating and scheduling production across different units and sites.

Standardization of human resource information: This is especially useful in a multisite company. A unified method for tracking employee time and communicating benefits is extremely beneficial, because it promotes a sense of fairness among the workforce as well as streamlines the company as a whole.

Some of the core ERP modules found in the successful ERP systems are the following: Accounting management Financial management Manufacturing management Production management Transportation management Sales & distribution management Human resources management Supply chain management Customer relationship management E-Business

3.4 BENEFITS OF ERPClearly, an ERP system, as defined earlier, and one that is properly implemented, can achieve unprecedented benefits for business computing (Watson & Schneider, 1999). However, some companies have difficulty in identifying any measurable benefits or business process improvements (James & Wolf, 2000; Donovan, 2001).

In a recent product brochure titled Optimize Your ERP Investment by Cap Gemini Ernst & Young (CGEY), promoting their E solution, CGEY revealed the following: most companies have high expectations of their ERP implementations but some of these fail to deliver on all the benefits that were promised. In fact, these ERP implementations experience high dissatisfaction levels, which is evidenced by many operational glitches and limitations.

Furthermore, they state that:in effect, the ERP implementation gives you sight of business potential but may not deliver much of the expected value. As a result, they propose that:E can help you detect and correct ERP-related lost value in your business and deliver those benefits you expected in the first place.

Rutherford (2001) observed that only around 10% to 15% of ERP implementations deliver the anticipated benefits.According to James and Wolf (2000), companies that were able to identify benefits thought they could have been realized without the implemented ERP system.

As stated in James and Wolf (2000): 80 percent of the benefit that we get from our ERP system comes from changes, such as inventory optimization, which we could have achieved without making the IT investment. Therefore, ERP systems can be considered catalysts for radical business change that results in significant performance improvement (i.e., business process reengineering) (Watson & Schneider, 1999).

With this in mind, it is clear that ERP systems should have significant impacts on industry. According to James and Wolf (2000), reporting on an instance of an ERP implementation:many of the benefits that we are able to achieve today could not have been predicted at the time that we started work on ERP. In fact, in hindsight it appears that much of the value of these large systems lay in the infrastructure foundation they created for future growth based on Information Technology.

Shang and Seddon (2000) posed the question what sort of benefits did they [the organization], or can they, achieve? In answering this question, they presented a comprehensive framework of business benefits that organizations might be able to achieve from their use of ERP systems.

They presented 21 ERP benefits consolidated across five benefit dimensions, as illustrated in Table. Shang and Seddon (2000) analyzed the features of ERP systems, the literature on IT benefits, Web-based data on 233 ERP-vendor success stories, and interviews with 34 ERP cases to provide a comprehensive foundation for planning, justifying, and managing the ERP system.

The focus and goal of the Shang and Seddon (2000) framework is to develop a benefits classification that considers benefits from the point of view of an organizations senior management. Therefore, they addressed the issue raised by Seddon et al. (1999), who argued that it is not meaningful to highlight benefits of IT systems without identifying the stakeholder group of interest.

They (Shang & Seddon, 2000) proposed that the framework could be used as a good communication tool and checklist for consensus-building in within-firm discussions on benefits realization and development.

Shang and Seddon (2000) focus on the benefits of an ERP system in use and comment that there are few details of ERP-specific benefits in academic literature. They further noted that trade-press articles and vendor-published success stories were the major sources of data. However, Shang and Seddon (2000) pointed out that cases provided by vendors may exaggerate product strength and business benefits, and omit shortcomings of the products.

Although Shang and Seddon (2000) highlighted the fact that the purpose of their study was not to evaluate the degree of achievement of benefits of ERP systems, it is an issue that is extremely important as a means of assessing the suitability of the ERP system to the organizations needs.

A study conducted by Sammon and Lawlor reiterated this argument, highlighting that a failure to carry out analyses of the mandatory and desirable features required in a system, with an open mind, will lead to blind acceptance of the models underlying the ERP packages currently on sale on the market, with detrimental effects on the organization and its operations.

The justification for adopting ERP centers around their business benefits, which, according to Markus and Tanis (2000), can be divided into business and technical. However, Donovan (1998) believes that to receive benefit from implementing ERP, there must be no misunderstanding of what it is about, or underestimation of what is involved in implementing it effectively, and even more importantly, organizational decision makers must have the background and temperament for this type of decision making (Donovan, 2001).

3.5 COMMERCIAL ERP SYSTEMSThe five dominating ERP software suppliers are SAP, Oracle, PeopleSoft, Baan and J.D. Edwards.

SAP R/3The leading software vendor for ERP and collaborative e-business solutions (SAP, 2003) is SAP AG, with its products SAP R/3. SAP was founded in 1972 in Walldorf, Germany, by five former IBM systems engineers (SAP, 2003), with the goal of producing an integrated suite of applications software that would run all mission-critical corporate operations, from purchasing to manufacturing to order fulfillment and accounting.

SAP R/3 is composed of four major parts accounting, manufacturing, sales, and human resources containing more than 70 smaller modules (Turban et al., 2001). R/3 is packaged as a set of application modules plus the core system called the Basis System (Bhattacherjee, 2000).

R/3 is a totally integrated system, allowing companies to automate or eliminate many costly and error-prone manual communication procedures. SAP R/3 can work for multinational corporations due to the fact that it has a strong international appeal, with capabilities to support multiple currencies, automatic handling of country-specific tax laws and regulations, and legal and language needs.

The complete suite of SAP R/3 applications is available in 24 languages, including Japanese and other double-byte character languages. Furthermore, SAP software is available for 21 comprehensive industry solutions (SAP, 2003), known as verticals, for all types of industries and for every major market.

R/3 is designed as an open standard (it can run on a variety of hardware and platforms and software environments), and it uses a thin client and a three-tier architecture, consisting of database, application, and presentation tiers.

There are more than 8000 data (configuration) tables in the SAP database containing user data and system data. These complicated tables direct the users through many menus and screens.

Implementing these tables in a multilanguage, multicurrency, multifunction, multiproduct environment can take two to four years.Accordingly, implementing R/3s basic modules typically takes 18 to 24 months, however, SAPs rapid implementation methodology, Accelerated SAP (ASAP), promises an implementation cycle time of six months.

The ASAP methodology provides a detailed roadmap of the implementation life cycle, organized in five phases (project preparation, business blueprint, realization, final preparation, and go live), with detailed lists of activities to be performed in each phase.

Although SAP R/3 typically supports 80% to 95% of a large organizations needs and can be implemented as a standard application, certain unique functionality or specialized business processes may not be supported to meet customer-specific needs.

However, according to Bhattacherjee (2000), this unique functionality can be obtained in four ways:Interfacing R/3 to existing legacy systems using SAP-supported middleware, which adds to the complexity.Interfacing R/3 to third-party (SAP partners) solutions.Writing custom software in ASAP/4 to extend R/3s functionality.Modifying R/3 source code directly.

The broad scope and immense complexity of an R/3 implementation requires hiring a consulting firm for configuring the system based on business specifications, custom-coding additional requirements, and planning and managing company-wide rollout, training, and change management.

As a result, introducing SAP means significant changes in organizational structure, job descriptions, business processes, and organizational strategy. The R/3 software may cost between $50,000 and $10 million, hardware and related components may cost approximately an equal amount, and consulting typically costs at least twice that of the software costs.

3.6 THE ERP MARKET TRENDS AND TECHNOLOGIESThe commercial market for ERP systems grew rapidly in the 1990s for a number of reasons, as follows:The client/server environment became a popular enterprise computing platform for many organizations, and ERP systems are designed to take advantage of this platform.

ERP systems implementations became the catalyst and enabler for many corporate reengineering activities.ERP systems are Y2K compliant. Aggressive and powerful ERP providers with research and development organizations are pushing the enterprise systems frontier.

According to Chen (2001), the popularity of ERP systems started to soar in 1994, when SAP released its next-generation (Chen, 2001) client/serverbased product, R/3. As a result, ERP systems dominated the Information Technology (IT) landscape of large and organizations, with ERP strategies representing more than 80% of new large-scale systems development projects.

The ERP software market is considered one of the fastest-growing markets in the software industry.Numerous growth rate and annual revenue figures were presented in trade and academic literature and, in one instance, the eventual size of the market was predicted to reach US$1 trillion.

Contributing to this phenomenal growth of the ERP market is the estimation that 70% of Fortune 1000 companies and 60% of Fortune 500 companies have or will soon install ERP systems. As an example, the sales of the largest vendor, SAP, soared from less than $500 million in 1992 to approximately $3.3 billion in 1997, making it the fastest-growing software company in the world.

The market can be divided into three segments or tiers that identify vendors target markets.The tiers of ERP providers are loosely defined categories that overlap, for example, each of the Tier 1 vendors is aggressively pursuing companies with less than $500 million in annual revenues, while many Tier 2 vendors sell their systems to independent divisions of very large companies.

Therefore, ERP vendors are aggressively cutting deals to make their products more affordable, for example, SAP started selling its products to customers in the $150-400 million revenue range.

Despite a slowdown of ERP package sales in 1999, continued in 2001 and every year since, the trend toward ERP and extended ERP systems is well established. Although the high-end of the ERP market is saturated, based on the reality that all of the Y2K problems are resolved, the future growth and new driving force for the ERP market is e-commerce, Enterprise Application Integration (EAI), and Data Warehousing (DW).

Furthermore, Chen (2001) stated that the environment of ERP systems is constantly shifting with the development of new information technologies and the formation of new partnerships. Also, there is a shift in the distribution of revenues between the sales of licences (in decline) and the provision of additional services, in particular, consultancy aimed at leveraging the ERP investment and obtaining the benefits promised by the vendors.

3.7 CONCLUSIONfour reasons why managers are prepared to spend so much money on ERP systems:ERP systems create a framework that will improve customer order-processing systems, which were neglected in recent years.ERP systems consolidate and unify business functions, such as manufacturing, finance, distribution, and human resources.ERP systems integrate a broad range of disparate technologies into a common denominator of overall functionality.ERP systems create a foundation on which next-generation applications can be developed.