Enterprise Resource Planning Implementation
Introduction
Enterprise resource planning can be defined as an information system of organizations designed to help in the coordination of all resources, activities and information that are important for a accomplishing a business process (Umble et al, 2003). An enterprise resource system supports most of an organizations system and maintains the data needed in a single database. Business functions such as supply chain management, manufacturing, projects, financials, human resources management and customer care can be supported by the ERP system. This paper analyses various processes and stages involved in ERP.
Requirements and Gathering Information
Requirements and gathering information is an important step towards developing and ERP systems in organizations. Requirements and gathering information ensures that ERP system meets the specific needs of organizations (Scheer & Habermann, 2000). It is important for individuals involved in designing and ERP system to determine the requirement of the organization. The determination of the requirements of an organization involves gathering relevant information from the organizations and its major stakeholders through various techniques such as interview, questionnaires, focus groups and discussions among others.
The three main strategies that are important for gathering information for ERP business include requirement driven strategy, solution driven strategy and configuration driven strategy. Requirements driven strategy considers the requirements of the business regardless of the technological capability of the organization. The focus of this strategy is towards meeting the businesses requirements and does not consider the constraints of the organization and technology. This method can result to gathering of information that is not relevant with respect to the requirements of the business. Hence it is advisable for the individuals involved in gathering information using this strategy to conduct a gap analysis so as to be able to come up with the relevant requirements of the business.
Solution driven strategy focuses on the gap business requirements. This approach is appropriate for business requiring rapid ERP implementations. Solution driven strategy also takes the least amount of time as it does not have to seek information from the stakeholders of the business. The focus of this strategy is to ensure that business activities conform to the available business software. As a result the strategy can have significant impact towards acceptance by the organization stakeholders since the ERP software is based on market requirements instead of customers’ requirement.
Configuration driven strategy is another strategy that can be used to gather information of the requirement of ERP system. The configuration driven strategy is based on the assumption that the new system should be able to perform the same function as the exiting system (Bradford & Florin, 2003). This can be necessitated by the need of an organization to replace its current system as result of either becoming obsolete or ineffective. This process can start with the investigation of the business requirements by gathering information from customers of the business. Information technology professional can also be contacted to provide the specific requirement of the business hence reduce the time taken to gather information.
General System Design
The general system design of ERP system should consist of a single database that is used by the business and contains all the data and information from various software modules. The software modules of organization that should be included in ERP systems include manufacturing, financials, human resources, supply chain management, projects, customers’ relationship management and data warehouse.
The design of ERP system may take various forms according to the requirements of the business. The general system design should be in accordance to the requirements of the businesses so as to be able to meet its objectives. Information gathering from the stakeholders of the business is important in determining the design that ERP system should take. It is not practically possible to come with a design that is universal.
Various considerations should be analyzed when determining the general system design of an ERP. The most important consideration that should be observed includes the ability of the design to meet the needs and requirement of the business. The level of technology is also another important factor that should be considered when designing the ERP system for a business. The level of technology determines the design and features of ERP system (Bradford & Florin, 2003).
Organizations can also consider the amount of data that needs to be captured in the ERP design. The amount of data to capture in ERP system can determines the design of the ERP system. The amount of data to be captured in most cases can be evaluated through analysis of the business operations and units. This can include elements such as the employees, levels of production, production capability, input and output levels, the supply chain management and the level of inventory.
Build and Test
Build and test is another important stage in ERP planning where the system under development is built based on the prescribed design. Building of the ERP system should follow the design of the systems. In building of an ERP system important modules of the business should be included so as to ensure the efficiency of the system. The consultant involved in the development of the ERP system should be reputable and able to understand the organizations needs and objectives. Staff members and other stakeholders should participate in the building of the ERP system. The Building process should be conducted in stages to ensure that each stage is effectively built according to the specification.
Testing of an ERP system is important since it ensure that the ERP system developed is functioning, effective and meets the requirement of the company (Holland at al, 1999). Consultants involved in the ERP development should conduct the test before handing over the system to the organizations. In case of any defects in the ERP system, appropriate action should be taken to ensure that the problem is fixed. The duration that the testing of an ERP system takes depends on factors such as the nature of the company, the business units of the organization and the requirement of the stakeholders among others.
Implementation
The implementation process of an ERP system requires the involvement of all the organizations stakeholders that are affected by the changes in the system. In most cases the implementation of ERP requires significant changes in staff practices and processes. There are three main services that are important in the implementation of the ERP changes and include customization, consulting and support. The time that it takes for an organization to implement the ERP system depends on various factors such as the organization size, the scope of changes, the number of modules, customization and the willingness of stakeholders to accept the changes.
Studies show that for modular ERP systems, the project for large organization takes approximately 14 months and can involve an average of 150 consultants (Markus et al, 2000). On the other hand small projects can take few months while multinational companies with operations in various countries can take years to implement the ERP system. Customization can make the implementation time of an ERP system to increase significantly
The implementation of ERP system should cover every essential component of a firm such as accounting, marketing, financing, procurement, sales and human resources. This is to ensure that the company corresponds to the technological and market changes so as to be able to increase its efficiency and gain competitive advantage in the market place. Information processing plays a significant role in connecting the various business units together and this enables the information of the organization to be shared across the organization.
Stabilization and Production Support
Stabilization and production is important in ensuring the effectiveness, operations and efficiency of the ERP system. This process involves a combination of the organization stakeholders and consultants. It is appropriate for the organization to form the stabilization and production support team that is made up of the ERP experts and experienced employees. The support team should constantly monitor the operation of the ERP system from the initial implementation stage to the end of the support period (Scheer & Habermann, 2000). The support team should assist the employees on how to operate the new ERP systems as well as respond and correct any challenges that can incur during the projects operation. Stabilization and production support process should take a long duration of time to ensure that the ERP system is perfect and also that the employees are able to operate the system effectively.
Summary
Many of the current organization have adopted the use of ERP system in their business operations so as to be able to achieve the benefits associated with it. This research paper analyzed the processes and stages of enterprise resource planning implementation. The main stages of enterprise resource planning implementation analyzed in this paper include requirements and gathering information, general design, build and test, implementation and stabilization and production support. Different aspects of ERP processes ad stages that ensures improvement of organization efficiency are discussed in the paper.
Reference List
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