1.1 Introduction:
Enterprise Resource Planning is Software for running a
business. ERP was coined as an extension of the concept of manufacturing
resource-planning (MRP) software, which automated the process of keeping a
manufacturing line supplied with materials to meet incoming orders. ERP is a
suite of applications including financials, manufacturing, human resources and
other modules, that together automate the back-office business administration
functions of an enterprise. Leading ERP vendors include SAP, Oracle, People
soft and JD Edwards. Enterprise Resource Planning refers to the integration and
extension of a business's operational IT systems, with the end goals of making
information flow within (and beyond) a company more immediate and dynamic; increasing
the usefulness and shelf life of information; eliminating redundancy and
automating routine processes; and making information system components more
flexible. Departmental boundaries generally become softer, accessibility of
data is increased for partner companies and customers, and the company's
ability to respond to the marketplace is generally enhanced.
Enterprise Resource Planning is the latest high-end solution
information technology has lent to business application. The ERP solutions seek to streamline and integrate operation processes and information flows in the
company to synergies the resources of an organization namely men, material,
money and machine through information. Initially implementation of an ERP
package was possible only for very large Multi National Companies and
Infrastructure Companies due to high cost involved.
Today many companies in India have gone in for
implementation of ERP and it is expected in the near future that 60% of the
companies will be implementing one or the other ERP packages since this will
become a must for gaining competitive advantage.
1.2 Definition
ERP (Enterprise resource planning) can be defined as a
software solution that addresses the enterprise needs taking the process view of the organization, to meet the organizational goals tightly integrating all
functions of an enterprise It is an industry term for the broad set of
activities supported by multi-module application software that help a
manufacturer or other business manage the all the parts of its business. ERP
facilitates integration of company-wide information systems with the potential
to go across companies.
Figure1.1 Components of ERP
