Erp
...has become more difficult and complicated to manage a company under intense pressures of competitive market pricing. Hence to compete efficiently, organizations today must rely on real-time information in order to make vital decisions correctly and promptly. This will in turn reap long-term competitive advantage, real-time and precise operation flows that are integrated within the organization. In this light, many enterprises have devoted themselves to implementing enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems.
1.1 Overview of ERP
Enterprise resource planning (ERP) is the industry term used to describe a broad set of activities supported by multi-module application software that helps a manufacturer or other business manage the important parts of its business. The immediate benefit of its implementation include reduced operating costs, such as lower inventory control cost, lower production costs, lower marketing costs and lower help desk support costs. Over time, it improves the efficiency of management decisions and plans and increases the flexibility with adjustments of functionality to react to changes in business needs. Despite these benefits, the cost of implementing an ERP system is high and it takes as long as 4 years to bring out its maximum benefits.
The success rate of the implementation of an ERP programme is highly dependent on several factors such as the accuracy of needs analysis of the company, perception of managers and styles of implementing the ERP system. Hence it is essential for vendors in today¡¦s society to understand the constraints and benefits of the ERP system to a firm prior to marketing them to ensure greater degree of acceptance by the organization and ensure fit with its practices.
1.2 Real-World Example: ABN AMRO Bank
An example of a company that has reaped the benefits of a successful ERP implementation is ABN AMRO bank. The...
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