The ABC's of ERP?
In a competitive environment comprised of information technologies and globalization, where human factors, knowledge and effective management are gaining importance, and where change is constant and management of change is becoming increasingly difficult, it is no longer sufficient to be a producer only. The importance of factors such as responsiveness, quality, cost minimization and unconditional customer satisfaction is becoming increasingly evident. More than ever, you need rapid and secure access to the data that is continuously flowing in and out of the departments of your organization, and you need to convert this data into organizational information, thereby speeding up and bolstering your decision making processes.
In addition to the planning capabilities offered by ERP, it is just as important to have a single application system architecture under which the collection of organizational operations that are realized is integrated in a coherent and consistent fashion. In this manner, ERP use will conveniently enable the monitoring and analysis of operations within the organization as a whole.
For an organization with numerous departments each having distinct and diverse business workflows and operations, achieving integration by using a single systems platform and database is vital in terms of reliable, robust, and accelerated access to shared information, leading in turn to operations that are carried out to completion with success. This unity will lead to maximization of the quality of products and services produced, by enabling efficient use of enterprise resources, increasing work performance, allowing reliable data transfers among departments and boosting the speed and health of decision making.
ERP applications not only provide internal integration, but also support operations that expand outside of the organization. Such processes are characterized by cohesion and continuity, and display the following common features as part of an ERP system:
- ERP applications regulate the workflows within the departments of the organization as a whole.
- ERP applications are comprised of structures that are integrated in nature.
- ERP applications are composed of interacting and compatible modules whose development have been specifically targeted for departments and operations.
- ERP applications not only provide internal solutions for an organization, but also support operations that expand outside of the organization, encompassing customers, partners and suppliers in physically separate locations.
- The most effective use of all resources, including materials, equipment, and labor, and accompanying reduction in costs, are targeted.
- Rapid response to changes in the production environment is pursued, leading to increased competitiveness.
- Ensuring the tracking and monitoring of quality and traceability.
- Ability to execute activity-based costing at every phase.
- Providing simulation capability.
- Increasing quality and customer satisfaction through customer care services.
- Ensuring responsiveness and discipline at all levels within the organization.
- Having management speed up organizational decision making processes and increase control within the enterprise.
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