Chapter 10. Enterprise Resource Planning
(+2 Computer Application , Text book Questions and Answers)
An enterprise is a group of people and other resources working together for a common goal. An enterprise may consist of different sections or departments such as manufacturing or production, planning, sales, purchase, finance, distribution etc
2. ________ is a fully integrated business management system.
Ans. ERP(Enterprise Resourse Planning)
3. Analysis and redesign of work flow within an enterprise is called ________
Ans. Business Process Re-engineering (BPR)
4. List any four commonly available modules in ERP.
Ans. Financial module
Manufacturing module
Production-Planning module
HR module
5. In ERP, information about all the departments of an enterprise is stored in ________?
6. DSS stands for
Ans. Decision Support System
7.SAP stands for
Ans. Systems, Applications and Products
8. Pick the odd one is out
SAP
Oracle
C++
Odoo
Ans. C++
SAP,Oracle Odoo, Microsoft Dynamics, and Tally are ERP packages.
9. Give the significance of HR module in an ERP package
HR stands for human resource. HR module of ERP focuses on the management of human resources and human capital. HR module maintains an updated and complete employee database including personal information, salary details, attendance, performance, promotion, etc. of all employees in an enterprise.
10. Give the relation between BPR and ERP
Before implementing ERP in a business, the need of such a new system must be ensured. Business process re-engineering will help an enterprise to determine the changes in the structure or process of a business for better aspects. So ERP and BPR are related and they go hand in hand, and in most of the cases business process re engineering is performed before enterprise resource planning. Conducting business process re engineering before implementing enterprise resource planning will help an enterprise to avoid unnecessary modules from the software. BPR first ensures that business processes are optimized before software is configured and also ensures that software functionality will closely match the actual process steps.
11. Write a short note about two ERP solution providers
SAP
SAP stands for Systems, Applications and Products for data processing. It is a German multinational software corporation headquartered in Walldorf and founded in 1972. The company started by developing software for integrated business solutions. In the beginning, the software was developed aiming at large multinational companies. After gaining good acceptance from them, the company started developing packages for small scale enterprises also. SAP also developed Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Supply Chain Management (SCM), and Product Life cycle Management (PLM) software.
Odoo
Odoo is an open source ERP. In open source ERP the source code or program can be modified as necessary, based on the requirement of organization. Odoo was formerly known as OpenERP until May 2014.
12. LIst the advantages of ERP implementation in an enterprise
1. Improved resource utilization
An enterprise can plan and manage its resources effectively by installing ERP software. So the wastage or loss of all types of resources can be reduced, and improved resource utilization can be ensured.
2. Better customer satisfaction
Customer satisfaction means meeting maximum customers’ requirements for a product or service. Using an ERP system, a customer will get more attention and service of an enterprise without spending more money and time. With the introduction of web based ERP, a customer can place the order, track the status of the order and make the payment from his/her home.
3. Provides accurate information
In today's competitive world, an enterprise has to plan and manage the future cleverly. So, an enterprise needs high quality, relevant and accurate information. An ERP system will be able to provide such information for the better future planning of the enterprise.
4. Decision making capability
Accurate and relevant information given to decision makers will help them to take better decisions for running a system more smoothly. Better decision from an enterprise will help them to go a step ahead of its competitors.
5. Increased flexibility
An ERP system improves the flexibility of manufacturing operations and the entire organization. A flexible organization can adapt to the changes in the environment rapidly. ERP system helps organizations to remain flexible by making enterprise information available without any departmental barriers.
6. Information integrity
The most important advantage of ERP is in its promotion of integration of various departments and hence we will get an integrated form of information about the enterprise. The entire information about an enterprise is stored in a centralized data base, so that complete visibility into all the important processes across various departments of an organisation can be achieved.
13. Write a short note about any one of the technologies related in ERP
Management Information System (MIS)
there are three components in MIS - Management, Information and System. Management is the ultimate user or the decision maker, information is the processed data and system is the integration and holistic view of the enterprise. In the technical perspective, an information system collects, stores, and distributes information from an organization's environment and internal operations to support organizational functions. It is also used for decision making, communication, coordination, control, analysis, and visualization of an enterprise. Information systems transform raw data into useful information through three basic activities: input, processing, and output.
An enterprise may contain different categories of employees like clerks, assistants, officers, executives, managers etc. All of them are the users of MIS. A management information system will collect relevant data from inside and outside an enterprise. This data is processed and stored in a centralized database and is made available to its users whenever it is needed. MIS has the capability to generate reports as and when the user demands it. It is mainly used to create reports on the basis of which decisions are made. So Management Information System can be defined as an integrated system of man and machine for providing the information to support the operations, the management and the decision making function in an organisation.
14. Briefly explain different phases of ERP implementation
Pre evaluation screening
• Package selection
• Project planning
• Gap analysis
• Business Process Reengineering
• Installation and configuration
• Implementation team training
• Testing
• Going live
• End user training
• Post implementation
Pre evaluation screening: There may be a number of packages available in the market for implementing ERP in an enterprise. Instead of evaluating all the packages, for selecting an appropriate package, we have to limit the number of packages to be evaluated. So pre evaluation screening is the first phase of implementation of a ERP package.
Package selection: In the previous phase, we selected a few packages for evaluating their performance and efficiency. The package that we select will decide the success or failure of the project. Since an ERP system needs huge investment, once a package is selected and purchased, it is not an easy task to switch to another one.
Project planning: In this phase, the implementation process is planned and designed. The time schedule and deadlines for different activities are determined. Roles and responsibilities of the concerned staff are identified and assigned to each person. This phase decides when to begin the project, how to do it and when to complete it.
Gap analysis: There is no ERP package available in the market which fulfils all the requirements of an enterprise perfectly. Although ERP vendors may claim that their software will solve all problems, there will still be some gaps. Even the best ERP package will be able to meet only 80 percentage of the needs of the enterprise.
Business Process Reengineering (BPR): The fundamental rethinking and redesign of the business process to achieve improvements in performance such as cost, quality, service and speed of an enterprise is called business process re engineering.
Installation and configuration: This is the main functional phase of an ERP implementation. Before installing a new ERP package, the whole process of the enterprise should be analyzed in detail. Instead of replacing the old system with the new ERP system, it will be better and effective to develop an appropriate prototype. This prototype is a miniature of the actual ERP that is going to be implemented. In future, we have to conduct continuous testing of the prototype to find out the weakness, and steps can be taken to avoid these mistakes when the real ERP system gets introduced.
Implementation team training :This is the phase where the company trains its employees to implement and later run the system.The ERP vendors and the hired consultants will leave the organisation after the implementation is over. So the company must select employees with the
right attitude, willingness to change and learn new things, and who are not afraid of technology.
System testing: The software is tested to ensure that it performs properly from both the technical and functional areas of an enterprise. The validity of output can be determined with the help of sample data. If any mistakes are found out at this stage, it should be corrected before the operation of ERP system.
Going live :This is the phase where ERP is made available to the entire organization. After this phase, the system is ready for use.After configuration and testing, removing errors, and checking the correctness of reports, the system becomes 'live' to perform the enterprise operations. For the smooth functioning, the ERP vendors will provide support and service to the enterprise.
End-user training: The actual users of the ERP system need training on how to use the system. This phase may be started before the system goes live. The employees who are going to use the new system are identified. Their skills are noted and they are divided into groups, based on the skill. Each group is then given training on the new system. Since the success of ERP system is in the hands of end-users, this training is very important.
Post implementation: After installing and operating a new ERP system, there may be the need of updating and evaluating the system. So, after implementation, it is to be checked whether the objective set for the ERP system is met. In this phase, errors may be corrected and necessary steps may be taken to improve the processing efficiency.
