Introduction of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)
Every
organization in the world needs a very effective management method or technique
that is capable to manage their resources as well as provide better support to
the business. For this purpose, a very effective software tool proposed for the
management of the business and its resources. The enterprise resources management
(ERP) is the software of business process management that provides the facility
to use integrated applications for better management of the business activities
as well as several types of automated business or office functions. There are
several types of tools of ERP that can be implemented and used in the ERP
framework. The tools which are implemented within the ERP framework are discussed
in this report. The report is all about the tools which are used in the ERP
tools as well as it is also described how these tools can be used. Furthermore,
it is also discussed where ERP tools are used by organizations such as Sap.
Although, some related information about such tools is also provided. But the
main focus of this report will be based on the tools of ERP, use of such kind
of tools such as SAP and other software.
ERP Tools and
Usage of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)
In this
section, several types of ERP tools are listed as well as the brief information
of these tools including the use of ERP tools is discussed. The report is discussing
the tools which are used in the ERP as well as their characteristics for several
types of functions. There are some functional requirements of the ERP systems
which will make the software powerful and making the functionalities of the
software very effective. The very first requirement of the ERP system is that
the system should be unified. It is because the unified system makes the use of
the system applications as well as interfaces easy to use and it can be easily
used in multiple departments without any kind of issues in the system or the
workability of the software. The ERP system must have a shared database that
can be accessed by the use of different types of applications. another functional
requirement of the ERP system is the use of various parameters in reporting as
well as searching utilities to reports of every activity into the system. The last
requirement for the ERP system is the customization, scalability as well as the
integration of ad-Hoc modules when the system will require for better working.
The
requirements discussed above are very significant requirements which should be
fulfilled for better work. For the purpose of meeting these mentioned
requirements for the better experience of ERP software usage and workability, several
types of tools and requirements are discussed in this report below.
Tools for ERP Tools of Enterprise Resource
Planning (ERP)
Many different
types of ERP tools are discussed in this section below.
·
Workflow management tool of Enterprise
Resource Planning (ERP)
The
ERP system is a very big software system in which the vast number of modules
exist as well as it also has very complicated data repositories where the data
is updated as well as several actions also performed. Furthermore, the ERP is almost
the very heaviest and very complex software system in the world that has a
large number of very complex directory structures. It is very difficult for a human
to remember as well as perform all of the actions manually but the ERP makes everything
possible. But due to a large amount of data repositories, multiple directories
or complex directory structures as well as the heavy load of tasks, the
workability of business can be very difficult to handle. To make all of the
work automated as well as workflow effective, the workflow management tool is
needed to be designed as well as implemented in the ERP system.
The
workflow management tool is very powerful as well as a very effective tool that
has the ability to make the flow of working of the ERP system very smooth. The
main functionality of the workflow management tool is that it can make the
workability of the system better as well as the ERP system will also become able
to handle and manage the functions as well as multiple processes of the system
effectively. As the ERP system or software is developed to handle all of the business
processes of the organization, it is very important to embed as well as
implement the workflow management tool to handle all types of functions and
processes of the organization. Furthermore, there are several departments in
the organization that use the ERP system for multiple works at one time (Kelle & Akbulut, 2005).
Due
to this reason, the workability, as well as the reliability of the ERP system,
may fail in this environment. So that’s why it is very important to implement
the workflow management tool in the ERP system which can easily manage all of
the processes. The workflow management tool assigns the processes spaces or
aligns all of the processes in the bath queue for the better management of
working of all of the processes. furthermore, the workflow management tool is
also taken all of the processes into the sequence. The workability of the workflow
management tool can also be understanding as to the mind-controlling of several
types of body functions such as air inhaling, blood circulation, heart beating
as well as other body functions or movements. Some works and functions are
necessary to be handled as well as accessed at various levels to perform all of
the workflows in a better way. So, those functions are clearly defined in the
workflow management tool (Ünal & Güner, 2009).
Some very important tools are implemented
in the framework of ERP including Inceptico, Simple ECM, Intelex Business
management, Agiloft workflow as well as WorkflowGen.
·
Dashboard or reporting Tools of
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)
The
ERP system has another important requirement for generating reports at the
department, management team as well as department level. No doubt, the system
is effective as well as very important in the organization but it will be
useless if it is unable to generate the reports related to every department
including each individual working in the organization because every department
and individual are performing their tasks, they require the effective template
or user interface where they can easily access the system to insert daily tasks
as well as manage their resources including their efforts.
It
is generally available in either the customizable reports which can be
generated in the common document or word or data editing application such as
spreadsheets or excel sheets or in the form of the dashboard to show the data
or information of the received orders, generated requests, payments or the
failed payments or canceled orders of last weeks or in the previous time. The
dashboard is required for the ERP system to show the running operations or
progress, show the old reports as well as the insert or create new entries into
the system. It is required in the system because if the ERP system will not
have any kind of user interface then the user cannot interact with the system.
It is also required because of generating reports to make information about the
system more meaningful and understandable (Parry & Turner, 2006).
The
reporting tools and dashboard work in real-time. These tools or applications of
dashboard views are available in the web browsers working on the system website
or it can also be seen in desktop applications. There are many significant
components or visual things such as graphs, tables as well as charts included
in the system to provide the information of business progress and the employee's
performance on daily basis, weekly as well as a monthly basis. Furthermore, the
information related to the business can also be saved on the system by on the
word or excel sheet by uploading the document on the system server.
·
Communication tool of Enterprise Resource
Planning (ERP)
The organization will have several
departments that are working effectively as well as they are also connected to
each other. They need to communicate with each other working within the system.
For working effectively, communication between departments is an essential thing.
The ERP system is also providing the facility to communicate with each other
with the help of tools that are based on automated email generation, chat,
instant messages or the general broadcast features at the group as well as
individual levels. The communication tool which is embedded into the ERP system
very powerful and effective. When the management of the company or operator of
this system mark an order as “ready to ship”, the system will automatically
call the automated mailer and it will be triggered to the logistics departments
of the organization having the instructions to start the dispatching process. it
can also be understood with the help of an example. If the fast-food company
has received many orders for pizza delivery and the fast-food chain has no
enough resources to fulfill or deliver more pizzas then the general broadcast message
will be sent to all departments to not take further orders. It can be an effective
example of communication among departments (Bunker, 2000).
Some functions of instant messaging are
embedded to enable instant communication among departments such as Yammer,
Chatter or Lync.
·
Analytical tools of Enterprise
Resource Planning (ERP)
Several analytical tools can be integrated
into the ERP for data mining, business intelligence, the predictive as well as
other business-related analysis. The analytical tools which are very useful to
get effective and valuable insights to make effective strategic decisions onto
the available data. The analytical tools can track the behavior of the consumers
around shopping on holidays (Lavric, Forstmeier, & Rippon, 2000).
·
Task scheduling and resource management tools
Resource management and task scheduling
tools are also important components of the ERP system. Every organization may
face several types of problems at the time scheduling the tasks because a
manager or the line manager will have many employees and it may also possible
that they may forget or schedule or assign the tasks to the wrong worker who is
not capable to perform those tasks. furthermore, time management for every task
is also a big challenge to the manager. On the other side, it is also important
to manage the resource s of the company. The management of the available
resources is really a very challenging task but the resource management tool is
a very effective tool that can effectively manage the resources of the
organization on a daily basis. It has also the ability to keep check and
balance of every resource of the company that where the resources have been
used in the company as well as how many resources are available.
The task scheduling and resource management
tools work on the principles of the defined time. The tools make the resources
available for the tasks to the labors for the given time. furthermore, the
tools also have the ability to assign the resources of the company to the
appropriate labors and workers by matching their skills with the appropriate
jobs. There are several kinds of advantages of these tools for the ERP system. They
provide clear insight and visibility of the available and consumed resources to
the managers, task schedulers as well as supervisors. It also shows the current
workload, utilization as well as future business pressure (Tarantilis, Kiranoudis, & Theodorakopoulos, 2008).
·
Interfaces and application with suitable
permission control tool
Every system in the world needs security as
well as permission control strategies for their business and the organization. there
are many attackers, hackers and the competitors who always focus to steal or
damage the confidential information of the company. The ERP system has very
interactive interfaces. The permission control tools are embedded in the ERP
system’s interfaces as well as applications. The permission control tool ensures
that the system interfaces will not be accessible by any unauthorized person.
In short, this tool enhances the security of the ERP system (Shi & Halpin, 2003).
·
Database management tools or information
management tools
The data management of the organization is a
very important aspect of the companies. The ERP system will have the database
management tools or the information management tools to save the information of
the company. By using the database management tools, the organization can
easily save the information in the database servers and warehouses. Most of the
software companies used MySQL, PostgreSQL, Apache or other database tools but
the most effective tool is the Oracle-based database management tool which is
more secure and more effective to handle the load on the database.
Use of ERP
Software (SAP) of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)
Sap ERP
software is a very effective and powerful tool to handle and support the
business of the organization. a sap ERP system is basically the centralized
system that is capable to handle and deal with different types of areas of the
business. SAP can easily handle and making better plans for production. It also
handles and controls the sales of the organizations by ordering customers as
well as increase customer satisfaction.
The
software is mostly used in big organizations and especially the retailing
organizations are using the sap ERP in their store to save their daily and
every sale or purchase information on the sap ERP. They effectively use this
system to generate the daily reports of their resources and consumption of the
resources. Furthermore, it provides the best facility to manage the inventory
including the point of sale module of the system that will handle the business
selling.
Conclusion of
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)
It is
concluded that there are some functional requirements of the ERP systems which
will make the software powerful and making the functionalities of the software
very effective. The ERP system must have a shared database that can be accessed
by the use of different types of applications. The ERP system is a very big
software system in which the vast number of modules exist as well as it also
has very complicated data repositories where the data is updated as well as
several actions also performed. It is generally available in either the
customizable reports which can be generated in the common document or word or
data editing application such as spreadsheets or excel sheets. The ERP system
is also providing the facility to communicate with each other with the help of
tools that are based on automated email generation, chat, instant messages or
the general broadcast features at the group. The management of the available
resources is really a very challenging task but the resource management tool is
a very effective tool that can effectively manage the resources of the
organization on a daily basis
References of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)
Bunker, D. (2000). Enterprise resource planning (ERP)
system tools: The context of their creation and use within the technology
transfer process. AMCIS 2000 Proceedings, 210.
Kelle, P., & Akbulut, A. (2005). The role of ERP
tools in supply chain information sharing, cooperation, and cost optimization. International
journal of production economics, 93(1), 41-52.
Lavric, A., Forstmeier, S., & Rippon, G. (2000).
Differences in working memory involvement in analytical and creative tasks: An
ERP study. NeuroReport, 1613-1618.
Parry, G. C., & Turner, C. E. (2006). Application
of lean visual process management tools. . Production planning &
control,, 77-86.
Shi, J. J., & Halpin, D. W. (2003). Enterprise
resource planning for construction business management. Journal of
construction engineering and management, 214-221.
Tarantilis, C. D., Kiranoudis, C. T., &
Theodorakopoulos, N. D. (2008). A Web-based ERP system for business services
and supply chain management: Application to real-world process scheduling. European
Journal of Operational Research, 1310-1326.
Ünal, C., & Güner, M. G. (2009). Selection of ERP
suppliers using AHP tools in the clothing industry. International Journal of
Clothing Science and Technology.