Related expressions

Software integration, communication standard ,

Explanation

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) is a multi-module software application, which attempts to integrate all data and processes of an organisation into a single unified system. The software helps a manufacturer or other business manage the important parts of its business.

A typical ERP system would include sales and marketing, master scheduling, material requirement planning, capacity requirement planning, bills of materials, product planning, purchasing, inventory control / Warehouse Management Systems (WMS), shop floor control, providing customer service, and logistics, tracking orders. ERP can also include application modules for the other departments and aspects of the business such as Accounting (accounts payable/receivable), Human Resources Management (HRM) and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) depending on the organisations requirements.

A key ingredient of most ERP systems is the use of a unified database to store data for the various system modules. From here the data from the different sectors can be integrated which means that for example if a change is made in a sales order, the information is passed through the whole system so that:

• an automatic check is made to see when the due date is,
• an automatic check is made with the bill of material to see what is required to make this product
• inventory is automatically checked to see if there is enough raw-material or parts to make the product
• if not, a purchase order is generated;
• a work order is then created to make the product
• a check is made to see if there is capacity to make the product on time.

Application / usage in Indisputable KEY

RFID can be used to track raw material, parts or end products. Traceability applications will publish data which can be subscribed by an ERP system that will use the data for example to update the inventory.

Institutions with teaching capabilities

Leading companies like Oracle, S.A.P. and Microsoft offer lots of training programs in collaboration with reputed institutes. They offer certifications that are well recognized. Leading business institutes conduct special programs on ERP.
Also, ERP Online courses have an important seat in the modern education system.

Available text books and training material

Enterprise resource Planning, by Mary Sumner, ISBN-13: 978-0131403437
White Paper “Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Considerations ” (2002): This paper presents certain considerations that needs to be taken before implementing the ERP. It is important to be aware of how ERP as a technology evolved, what its strengths and weaknesses are and the nature of important implementation challenges. Further, understanding of how ERP and legacy system metadata can be used to simplify implementation and help organizations best plan for this exciting new challenge.

http://www.erpwire.com/ : interactive platform for ERP users