Q.1 what is ERP? Describe its needs.
Ans. ERP is the short form of Enterprise
Resource Planning. In an organization there are many important processes such
as customer order fulfilment and manufacturing etc.
ERP uses ERP software applications to
automate or advance the performance of an organization. ERP System
ERP software designed to automate and
integrated major/important business process of a company. ERP system tries to
integrate all data and process of an organization. ERP software perform
multiple tasks which integrate different process like functional, department,
product planning, part purchasing, inventory control, product circulation to
order tracking.
Q.2 Explain evolution of ERP System.
Ans. Evolution in ERP:
In 1960‟s business had to depend on the traditional
ways of managing all major business processes to ensure smooth functioning of
the company. These theories are called classical inventory management. In this
the most popular technique as EOQ (Economic Order Quantity).
This technique was based on ordering cost
and inventory carrying cost of each item in stock.
In 1960‟s, a new technique known as MRP (Material
Requirements Planning) was evolved. This technique was focused on end product
demand obtained by Master Production Schedule (MPS) for a particular product
structure which is obtained from bill of material. MRP successfully showed the
effectiveness by avoiding delays and better coordination.
In 1970‟s modified technique of MRP evolved this
technique popularly known as Capacity Requirements Planning (CRP).
In 1980‟s financial resource with manufacturing
activities integrated together. This gave birth to Manufacturing Resource
Planning (MRP II).
In 1980‟s-90‟s MRP II
transform into ERP. By overcoming shortcomings of MRP II and integrating new
technologies.
Q.3. what are the common ERP myths and
evolving realities?
Ans. There are following myths about enterprise
resource planning.
Ø ERP means more work and procedures-
Transforming traditional system to ERP are difficult. For this new skills have
to be learned. Many employees think that ERP will add more work and make the
work more difficult. If management and implementation team plan properly and
employees are given proper training then transition can smoothly take place.
Ø ERP will make many employees redundant and
jobless- Another popular myth is implementation of ERP many employee will lose
their jobs because of the automation of business process and tasks.
ERP automate tasks in the organization and
also create new opportunities.
Ø ERP is just for the managers/decision
makers- Managers and decision makers uses ERP the most. But this is also true
that every employee in an organization benefits from ERP system by high quality
and timely information.
Ø ERP is the only responsible for the
management- ERP system and its work has the duty of all the employees, every
department and every single person within the department. Management just plays
a role of given that back to ERP system. When ERP system will have full backing
support from the management then only its will be able to work smoothly.
Ø ERP is just for manufacturing
organizations- This myth is basically due to ERP has evolve from MRP and MRP II
which are relevant to manufacturing organizations. ERP focuses on all of the
areas of enterprise, wide planning and its resources. It is not related to only
manufacturing or any other particular department.
Ø ERP slows down the organization- In the
traditional system most business tasks were performed manually which was a time
consuming process. ERP system automated the flow of information within
different departments of an organization without duplication of errors and
provides more accurate results.
Ø ERP is just for the ERP implementation
team- In an ERP implementation team there are consultants, vendors and group of
employees. After the implementation and the user training is over, consultants
and vendor representatives will leave and then it becomes the responsibility of
employees to make best use of ERP system.
Ø ERP is just to impress customers- ERP
system helps in serving better. It also help company to react faster, response
better and deliver accurate, fast and quality product which improves customer
goodwill and customer relations.
Ø ERP package will take care of everything- A
properly implemented ERP can automate tasks, reduce waste improve profits but
ERP system needs people to operate it.
Ø One ERP package will suit everybody- For
different organizations you need different ERP systems because one organization
is different from other in its functionality, price, technical supports size,
features. Thinking that one tool will be suitable for all organizations it is
wrong. For an ERP system implementations successful tool should be according to
organization culture needs.
Ø ERP is very expensive- ERP system comes in
different size and shapes. High-end tools are very expensive. Qualified people
are requiring for proper implementation and effectiveness. So implementing and
managing ERP system is expensive. But the ERP system gives more benefits
against expenses.
l. Organizations can succeed without ERP-
In today’s scenario organizations are becoming large
in size and technology. Today’s era is of distributed production in which different
parts of one product is developed in different parts of world. In such
scenario, to integrate and control the activities of an organization can be
only done through ERP system.
Q.4 Describe ERP and its related
technologies.
Ans. ERP system plays an important role in the
organization by integrating different business tasks-such as materials
management, product planning, sales distribution in one application.
However ERP systems have three limitations-
1.
Managers
cannot generate custom reports and queries without help of computer programmer.
2.
ERP
system provides current status only such an open orders. It does not provide
past record.
3.
The
data which is in the ERP application is not integrated with other enterprise or
division lack of external intelligence.
ERP related technologies-
A.
Business
Process Reengineering (BPR)
A Business process is a
series of logically related task/activities performed to achieve a defined
business outcome. Business process reengineering is design and analysis of
workflows and processes within an organization. BPR is also known as Business
Process Redesign, business transformation or business process change
management.
BPR helps organizations fundamentally
rethink how they do their work in order to dramatically improve customer
service, cut operational costs.
BPR is basically redesigning/rethinking in
a circular format using existing resources of an organization.
B. Supply Chain Management-
“A supply chain is the alignment of firms
that bring products or services to market.”-Lambert, Stock, Ellram
Supply chain is a network of facilities and
distribution options which perform the task of acquire of materials,
transformation of these materials to finished products and distribution of
these products to customers. Supply chain exists in service as well as
manufacturing organizations.
C. Data Mining
Data Mining is a process of acquiring
valid, useful and complete knowledge forms the database. This knowledge is used
to make major and important decision in the organization. A big problem is turning
data into effective information and then extracting knowledge from the
database. Organization, research institutes, academic institutions commercial
organizations create and store large amount of data in a day. It is impossible
for human to deal with huge amount of data.
One more benefit of automated data mining
systems is that this process has a much lower cost than hiring a team of highly
paid professionals.
ON-LINE
Analytical processing (OLAP)
According to http://www.OLAPReport.com, it
can be defined in five words:-
1. Fast – means the
target of the system is to deliver most response within about five seconds.
2. Analysis – means
that system can deal with any business logic and statically analysis which is
relevant to user and application.
3. Shared – means
system should follow all security measures for confidentiality.
4. Multi-Dimensional
– means system must provide a multi-dimensional conceptual view of data.
5. Information – means data and derived
information needed wherever it is and however much is relevant for the
application.
Q.5 Describe Decision Support System.
Ans. DSS is a part of CBIS i.e. “Computer Based
Information System” is a collection of variety of information system for e.g.:
office automation system, transaction processing system.
Definition – A computer based interactive
human-computer decision-making system that:-
1. Support decision
makers
2. Utilizes data
models
3. Solves problem
with different degrees or structures.
4. Focus on effectiveness instead of efficiency
indecision processes.
