chapter 12

Enterprise resources Planning (ERP)

Today’s managers require real time views into their businesses so they can make decision when they need to. Enterprise resources planning (ERP) integrates all department and function throughout an organization into a single IT system (or integrated set of system) so employees can make decisions by viewing enterprise wide information about all business operation.

Many organizations fail to maintain consistency across business operations. If a single department, such as sales, decides to implement a new system without considering other department, like marketing and accounting, inconsistencies can occur throughout the company, and operations can become discontinuous, like silos. Enterprise resource planning systems provide organizations with consistency. They allow for the effective planning and controlling of all the resources required to plan, sources, make, and deliver goods and services.

Bringing the Organization Together

The key word in enterprise resources planning is enterprise. At the core of an ERP system is a central database that gathers transactional data from operational systems across the company. Each time information is altered, it is automatically updated throughout the entire system. For example, sales representatives can access the ERP system automatically routes it to the next department in the order process.

The Evolution of ERP

ERP is an outcome of 40 years of trial and error. It has evolved as a strategic tool because of continuous improvement in the available techniques to manage business and the fast growth of information technology.

Prior to 1960s, business had to rely on the traditional ways of inventory management to ensure smooth functioning of the organization. These theories are called classical inventory management of scientific inventory control methods. The most popularly known amongst them is EOQ (Economic Order Quantity).

In this method, each item in the stock is analyzed for its ordering cost and the inventory carrying cost. A trade off is established on a phased out expected demand of one year, and this way the most economic ordering quantity can be decided. This technique in principle is a deterministic way of managing inventory.

Along with EOQ, we find various inventory models such as fixed order quantity, periodic order method, optional replenishment method, etc., which were in practice earlier. These theories were very popular in pre-MRP era.

In 1960s, a new technique of Material Requirements Planning, popularly known as MRP, was evolved. This was a proactive manner of inventory management. This technique fundamentally explodes the end product demand obtained from the Master Production Schedule (MPS) for a specified product structure (which is taken from Bill of Material) into a detailed schedule of purchase orders or production orders, taking into account the inventory on hand. MRP is a simple logic but the magnitude of data involved in a realistic situation makes it computationally cumbersome. If undertaken manually, the entire process is highly time-consuming.

MRP successfully demonstrated its effectiveness in reduction of inventory, production, and delivery lead times by improving coordination and avoiding delays, thus making commitments more realistic. MRP proved to be a very good technique for managing inventory, but it did not take into account other resources of an organization. In 1970s, this gave birth to a modified MRP logic, popularly known as closed loop MRP. In this technique, the capacity of the organization to produce a particular product is also taken into account by incorporating a module called capacity requirements planning (CRP)

Year’s	Evolution
2000s	Extended ERP
1990s	Enterprise Resources Planning (ERP)
1980s	Manufacturing Resources Planning (MRP 2)
1970s	Material Requirement Planning (MRP)
1960s	Inventory Control Packages

ERP systems can support numerous business processes far beyond order processing, such as employee benefits and financial reporting. An ERP system can also support supplier and customer business process infiltrating the entire value chain and helping the organization achieve greater operational efficiency.

Measuring ERP Success

One of the best6 methods of measuring ERP success is the balanced scorecard, created by Dr. Robert Kaplan and Dr. David Norton, both from the Harvard Business School. The balanced scorecard is a management system, as well as a measurement system, that a firm uses to translate business strategies into executable tasks. It provides feedback for both internal and external business processes, allowing continuous improvement. Kaplan and Norton describe the balanced scorecard as follows: “The balanced scorecard retains traditional financial measures. The balanced scorecard uses four perspectives to monitor an organization:

1.    The learning and growth perspective

2.    The internal business process perspective

3.    The customer perspective

4.    The financial perspective

Integrating SCM, CRM and ERP

 CRM, SCM, and ERP and so on. But there is just one way to get maximize revenue and profits synchronize supply and demand in real time while ERP applications help a business to manage the important parts of supply chain operation, interaction with customers, order tracking and parts purchasing although it’s neither SCM nor CRM

That is many companies led to a growing number of integration challenges for e-businesses of all sizes and types. Unfortunately, most of companies believe to making a web site and scrambling to get an e-commerce at first phase of building an e-business. That's not fortunate since usually there was little or no consideration how scalable or reliable the site needed to be or even how captivating the content. It was just a matter of beating the competition. And unfortunately, these first-to-market consumer sites were rarely integrated with the manufacturing side of the business, which was establishing its own Internet-based relationships with suppliers or consumer. This lack of integration has proved to be significant

 challenge for many organizations as the customer base has grown, real-time orders status requested and products returned.

In other words, considering SCM and CRM separately can result in missed opportunities and poor performance. Some bridges are necessary between them that are enterprises should consider. And it's not possible without an integrated strategy. As a result an e-business model can help to step forward and guaranty success. Some computing and IT companies offer some software solution which couldn't warranty to reach goals.

We try to offer a model so that each enterprise should adapt it with their needs and their sections. The model will show the implementation steps as well as integrating processes are necessary in an e-business.

Integration Tools

Implementing a new ERP system does not always guarantee successful results. There is according to Bermudez (1998) number of reasons why ERP systems failed to improve manufacturing planning:

·         The level of detail in ERP systems is too rough for adequate decision making. Also, the existing technology which is used for ERP systems does not allow greater detail for real time analysis and simulation, which enables adequate decision-making;

·         The tools used within ERP systems are used infrequently and are sometimes incomprehensible for senior management; and

·         There is no consideration given to the interdependency of material and capacity availability (Bermudez, 1998). Other reasons why ERP systems failed according to Kapp et al., (2001) can be:

·         Inadequate training: As companies try to cut back on the budget for implementing an ERP system, the first item on the chopping block is often training. This will seriously hamper long term chances of success.

·         Employees’ resist: The real reason ERP implementations fail is because employees resist the new ERP software rather than embrace it (Kapp et al., 2001). Companies fail to reconcile the technological imperatives of the ERP with the business requirements of the enterprise itself (Davenport, 1998). If a company rushes to install an ERP without first having a clear understanding of the business implications within an Internet economy, the dream of integration can quickly turn into a dreadful.

·         The logic of the ERP may conflict with the logic of the e-business. Thus, the main reasons for ERP implementation failures are due to business and management problems (Davenport,1998; Al-Mashari, 2003).

Enterprise Resources Planning’s Explosive Growth

No doubt that the market for Enterprises Resources Planning (ERP)( A group of interacting, interrelated, or interdependent elements forming a complex whole) is in great demand. Industry analyses {to examine methodically by separating into parts and studying their interrelations} are foresting growth more than 30% for at least next 5 years Why are so many companies replacing their key business system with ERP? We have good reasons for that.

• Cycle{The act or process of reducing} time reduction fast by ERP
• Increased business agility in ERP {The state or quality of being agile ; nimbleness}
• Inventory reduction{The state or quality of being agile; nimbleness}
• Order fulfilment{To bring into actuality; effect} improvement day by day by using ERP

To Support business growth requirements

• New products/product lines, new customers updated packages.
• Global requirements including multiple languages and currencies for different countries.

To provide flexible {Capable of being bent or flexed pliable}, integrated, real-time decision support

• Improve responsiveness across the organization every person takes works as.

To eliminate limitation in legacy systems

• Century dating issues
• Fragmentation{The act or process of breaking into fragments} of date and processing
• Inflexibility{Not easily bent; stiff or rigid} to change
• Insupportable{Not endurable; intolerable} technologies

To take advantage of the untapped mid-market (medium size organizations)

• Increased functionality at a reasonable cost
• Client server/open system technology
• Vertical{Being or situated at right angles to the horizon; upright.} market solution

REFERENCES

     Alwabel, S A., Ahmed, A M. And Professor Zairi, M. (2005) Working Paper Series: The Evolution of ERP and its Relation with E-Business.

     Baltzan. Business Driven Information System (2008) McGraw-Hill Irwin

     Baltzan, Phillips, Haag. Business Driven Technology (2006) McGraw-Hill Irwin International Edition

     ERP Pandit.com your guide to enterprise resources planning (2010)     http://www.erppandit.com/

     Muhammad A. Rashid, Liaquat Hussain, Jon David Patrick (1996) The Evolution of ERP System: A Historical Perspective 1

     Nasrollah Moghaddan, Neda Abdolvand (2010) A Proposal Model in Integrating SCM, CRM, & ERP

UMS chancellor announces partnership to double IT grads in 4 years

The Associated Press

Posted March 30, 2011, at 11:24 a.m.
Last modified March 30, 2011, at 11:49 p.m.

             

Kevin Bennett | BDN

University of Maine System Chancellor Richard L. Pattenaude addresses the 125th Legislature on Wednesday. Buy Photo

AUGUSTA, Maine — The chancellor of the University of Maine System announced Wednesday a new partnership with Maine businesses designed to double the number of graduates in computer and information sciences over the next four years.

Richard Pattenaude announced the formation of the University-Business Information Technology and Computer Science Partnership in his State of the University address to the Legislature.

“Maine business leaders are concerned about the number of computer science, information science and information management graduates coming out of our universities,” he told lawmakers. “These graduates are particularly critical because in this information age and in our changing economy, these skills are essential to all businesses — small and large, north and south, current and emerging.”

The chancellor said that some of the state’s large employers — including Wright Express, Hannaford, TD Bank, Unum, Idexx and Maine Medical Center — expect to see a significant shortfall of Maine graduates with degrees in computer science, information science and information management as their organizations grow and as employees retire.

“A rough estimate is that we will have to double the number of graduates from the current 50 to 60 per year to meet the long-term needs,” Pattenaude said. “If we don’t, it will stifle business expansion and will negatively impact business location decisions. And it will constrain business activity statewide.”

Pattenaude said the concern was raised by Mike Dubyak, president and CEO of Wright Express, a technology-intensive company with more than 500 Maine employees. Dubyak will co-chair the effort to implement a plan this fall to double the number of graduates in the field.

“UMS has computer science or information technology programs on five of our seven campuses,” the chancellor continued. “Much good work is being done. We are told that our graduates are of high quality, but there just aren’t enough of them.”

Pattenaude said the system would be working with high schools to recruit students interested in computer technology into programs on campuses in Orono, Fort Kent, Augusta, Farmington and Portland. Campuses at Machias and Presque Isle do not have IT programs, the chancellor said after his speech.

“We’re going to be looking at creating some specialized scholarships to attract more students into the programs, evaluating reallocating funds internally and asking for support from business,” he said in a telephone interview.

Pattenaude also told lawmakers that the system has made great strides in cutting back expensesto help offset a $43 million deficit brought on by the now-recovering economy. Although it has become more efficient, the seven-campus system still lacks sufficient funding, the chancellor said.

More than two years ago, in the midst of the recession, the university system came out with a financial projection showing that unless it changed how it did business, it would face a $43 million shortfall over four years, Pattenaude said. In response, the university trustees approved a strategy called New Challenges, New Directions.

“Like many businesses, we have trimmed our work force and now have 7 percent fewer employees. We finished last year with expenditures $5 million below the prior year,” Pattenaude told lawmakers. In addition, the system halved the unfunded liability for its retiree health care.

University employees have gone two to three years without raises, and administration has been cut back. Even while becoming more efficient, the university system still lacks sufficient funding, Pattenaude said.

“That, however, will not stop us from making progress, and that’s a promise,” the chancellor said. Pattenaude said the university system has tempered tuition increases, posting its smallest increase — 4.8 percent for resident undergraduates — in eight years. He said low tuition encourages student retention, leading to more graduations and economic development.

John Fitzsimmons, president of the Maine Community College System, and William Brennan, Maine Maritime Academy president, also addressed lawmakers. Like Pattenaude, Fitzsimmons expressed gratitude for Gov. Paul LePage’s budget proposal, which would continue current funding levels despite the state’s difficult fiscal challenges.

Fitzsimmons also told lawmakers that the community college system is making progress accommodating the thousands of Maine students who have been turned away even though they were qualified to enroll. For example, it is securing space for a campus at the former Brunswick Naval Air Station and negotiating for use of buildings at the Goodwill-Hinckley School in Hinckley, whose core operations as a residential school for at-risk youths ended last year.

Maine Maritime’s Brennan said the Castine school is “in a strong and vibrant position” with enrollment at maximum capacity, a record, and 90 percent of its graduates finding jobs — some in the six-figure range — within a half-year of getting their diplomas.

It was the first time a president of MMA has addressed the Legislature. The heads of the university and community college systems are required by statute to address the Legislature every two years.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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International Conference on IT July 11

Posted on May 11, 2011, Wednesday

KUCHING: The International Conference on IT in Asia (CITA) is an international forum run by the Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas).

The conference aims to bring together professionals and executives to share and exchange ideas and information pertaining to the roles of ICTs within the prevailing challenges of development faced by the region.

This international forum also aims to investigate how the technology can be adapted to improve local needs as well as to bring technology within reach of the communities.

The theme for the 7th CITA will be ‘Emerging Convergences and Singularity of Forms’.

For this year’s event, CITA ’11 Keynote speakers include Prof Bebo White of Stanford Linear Accelerator Centre (SLAC), from renowned Stanford University, USA; Prof Dr Leon Sterling, from Swinburne University of Technology, Australia; and Prof Dr Yoshiyori Urano from Waseda University,
Japan.

They will be presenting their keynote addresses on ‘Preparing for the Web of Things’, ‘Agent-Oriented Modelling for Converging Devices and Systems’, and ‘Building Lifelong Learning Schemes for Seniors’ respectively.

Additionally, CITA’11 is co-sponsored by IEEE Computer Society and is collocated with the International Workshop on Internalisation of Products and Systems (IWIPS 2011).

CITA’11 participants will also be able to listen to IWIPS 2011 keynote speaker, Dr Patrick Larvie of Google USA, who will be talking on ‘What trade history reveals about the Internet, and how ketchup can teach us to do our jobs better’.

Various workshops covering state of the art topics will be conducted on July 11 at the faculty’s impressive labs by experts.

Topics covered ‘Workshop on Mathematical Modelling’ by Assoc Prof Dr Jane Labadin from Universiti Malaysia Sarawak; ‘The Art of Agent Oriented Modelling for Agent Oriented Software Development’ by Prof Leon Sterling from Swinburne University of Technology, Australia; ‘Experiential and Exploratory Stimulation via A Virtual Environment’ by Dr Sylvester Arnab from Serious Games Institute, UK; ‘How to Deploy Technologies (ICT, Solar Power) to Remote and Rural Communities’ from Center of Excellence for Rural Informatics; ‘Multilingual Knowledge Management Workshop’ by Prof Dr Ahmad Zaki bin Abu Bakar from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia and ‘Joining the World of Linked Open Data’ by Prof Bebo White.

For more information, the public are advised to refer to the conference website http://www.cita11.org or email queries directly to the conference secretary at secretary@cita11.org

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UPM and UM Enhance Learning Facilities and Empower Student Lives with 4G Mobile Internet

Kuala Lumpur, 13 September 2010 – Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) and Universiti Malaya (UM) today joined the Education Partner Program (EPP) spearheaded by YTL Communications Sdn Bhd (YTL Comms). Under the program, both universities will apply the power of 4G Mobile Internet campus-wide to give their students cutting-edge learning facilities and further enhance the quality of life on campus for both students and academic staff.

UM plans to utilise YTL's 4G Campus-wide Network to boost research activities and be among the top 100 universities in the world

UPM and UM are the third and fourth local university respectively to join the EPP program in the last two months after UTM and UTAR. All twenty of Malaysia’s public universities and selected private universities are expected to join the program by the end of the year.

“We want the students to access our enterprise, learning and research services from anywhere and at anytime and therefore we are pleased to partner with YTL Comms to give our students the freedom and the convenience of 4G Mobile Internet,” said Professor Tan Sri Datuk Dr. Nik Mustapha R. Abdullah, Vice Chancellor of UPM.

“We champion the model of Ubiquitous Learning at UPM. This means learning whatever, whenever, wherever. We call it www-learning, which is, incidentally, the way the real Internet should be, too”, said Associate Professor Dr. Suhaimi Napis, CTO and Director, InfoComm Development Centre (iDEC), UPM.

The Ubiquitous Learning Environment (ULE) at UPM, the brainchild of Dr. Suhaimi, relies on the Malaysian Research and Education Network (MYREN), a high-capacity broadband network that connects universities, colleges, research organisations and scientific laboratories. UPM was one of the founding proposers of this dedicated network that provides a platform for creating research communities and encourages them to exchange ideas and collaborate with international partners.

YTL's 4G Campus-wide Network is set to take UPM's model of Ubiquitous Learning Environment (ULE) even further

While UPM’s ubiquitous learning model relies on MYREN as the foundation, the university also has a number of cloud services that can support blended learning – a mixture of remote and on-premise education. For example, the video collaboration services, 1VideoBridge, make live virtual classes possible, with up to 160 laptops, desktops and other compatible devices connected at one time, where students can interact with the lecturer and each other. We also have uCast, modelled after a popular video-sharing portal to facilitate video-on-demand.

“All this innovation that supports the ubiquitous learning model can’t be fully harnessed by the students without high speed Internet access that is available everywhere and from any device,” said Dr. Suhaimi. “The power of 4G Mobile Internet will create new ways for education to be delivered and we are already working with YTL Comms to enable interoperability between our learning and research cloud services and all platforms, including new Android-based devices, which we are eager to explore.” He added.

Under the EPP partnership, each student will receive FREE converged data and voice services of 300 megabytes per user, on a monthly basis over a period of 3 years at anytime and from anywhere throughout the campus grounds. On top of that, the students will be able to top up their accounts at special student rates.

“UM is currently rated the top ranking university in Malaysia, but it is our mission to see UM among the top 100 universities in the world in the next five years. Our partnership with YTL Comms and participation in the EPP program is a major milestone towards realising this vision,” said Datuk Dr. Ghauth Jasmon, Vice Chancellor of UM.

UM sees 4G Mobile Internet as a perfect tool to enhance students’ lives on campus, too. “The combination of 4G Broadband & Voice service under one account is a great value proposition to our students. When every ringgit needs to be stretched, it helps that our students can use their 300 megabytes of free broadband to make free phone calls, too. Considering that the majority of their calls are made to friends and colleagues on campus, the savings they will be able to realize are substantial,” elaborated Dr. David Asirvatham, Director, Center for Information Technology, UM.

UM is Malaysia’s first public university and a Research University, as designated by the Government. As such, UM actively spearheads a number of research-intensive projects in ICT and Computational Sciences, Biotechnology and Bioproducts, and Health and Translational Medicine in which it applies the power of Grid Computing. However, due to the current bandwidth limitations, the Grid Computing can only extend to the servers at the time being.

“With the superior performance of 4G, that delivers connectivity in megabits instead of the kilobits we currently get with 3G, the power of grid computing can easily extend all the way to desktops and devices, too, significantly improving our research process,” added Dr. David.

“We are very impressed with UPM’s and UM’s vision to create superior academic environments and we are extremely pleased to be their partner in realising this vision,” said Yasmin Mahmood, Executive Director, YTL Communications. “We are building a better Internet for everyone, a 4G Mobile Internet network that truly empowers all people, and we want our students, the leaders of a better tomorrow, to be the first to experience this most advanced Internet technology available today.”

 

 

About YTL Communications
YTL Communications is the communications arm of YTL Corporation. The Company plans to provide affordable, world-class services that improve the way people in Malaysia work, learn and play. With a strong financial backing from the parent company and the technological know-how from strategic, best-in-class partners such as Cisco, Clearwire, GCT Semiconductor and Samsung, YTL Communications will roll out a nation-wide 4G mobile Internet network in 2010. The company is committed in bridging the digital divide between the urban and rural communities, improving the quality of life, and supporting efforts to promote technological innovation. For more information, please visit: www.ytlcomms.my.

About Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM)
UPM is a multi-disciplinary, research centric Universiti, offering a diverse range of high-quality, world class programmes with 16 faculties, 2 schools, 9 institutes, 9 centres and a research academy with 68 undergraduate programmes and over 300 fields of postgraduate studies.

UPM has a community of about 25,000 students, including those from over 50 countries in both campuses (the main in Serdang, Selangor and a branch in Bintulu, Sarawak). In the early eighties, UPM shared its ambitious plan to be developed as a futuristic university, which would provide better and up-to-date skills and systems for science and technology education by taking full advantage of the rapid development in information technology (IT). Thereafter, UPM was transformed into a borderless campus, its name and reputation stretching far beyond the national boundaries. The climax of transformation came with the changing of the name- Universiti Pertanian Malaysia to Universiti putra Malaysia; as officially announced on 3rd April 1997. This was a strategic way of portraying the status of UPM as a centre of higher education capable of providing various fields of studies, especially information technology which facilitates national developments in the new millennium.

About Universiti Malaya (UM)
The University of Malaya (UM) is Malaysia’s oldest university, and recognized as one of the prominent research universities in Malaysia. The university's beginnings at the Kuala Lumpur campus dates back to 1959. At present, UM is a multidisciplinary research university that has more than 27,000 students and 1,700 academic staff with 17 faculties and research centres that cover the whole spectrum of learning from the Arts, Sciences and Humanities. The mission of UM is to advance knowledge and learning through quality research and education.

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