Chapter 1

Supply Chain Information Systems

The ability to access global production and services has revolutionized business. Supply chain networks move inventories of various kinds from source to consumption. Being able to work with producers around the world provides opportunities to balance low cost with risk mediation. While logistics usually is associated with moving material, supply chains today can include intangibles such as services as well as inventories of goods. Using the Internet enables linking together supply chain networks in practically any business application, production or services.

Organizations such as Dell and Hewlett-Packard have operated collaborative supply chains with each partner focusing on a few key strategic activities. Supply chains also include organizations such as the military and nonprofit organizations like the Red Cross and Red Crescent. In the retail arena, Walmart has been very successful in the past in linking thousands of sources with their millions of customers. Organizations such as Bank of America have viewed their service operations as key to their success and evaluate their entire service supply chain seeking to apply the same general principles as lean manufacturing, focusing on providing maximum value at minimum overall cost. Information systems are needed to make these supply chains work.

Supply Chain Management

Supply chain management became a common term in the 1980s, heavily influenced by Japanese manufacturing processes such as those developed by Toyota, such as just-in-time (JIT) and lean manufacturing. In the 1990s electronic data interchange (EDI) made it possible to coordinate chains of organizations worldwide. This enabled integration of participant supply chain elements into cooperative components sharing information and enabling coordinated planning, operations, and monitoring of performance. There was a focus on core competencies, abandoning the vertical integration of Standard Oil, U.S. Steel, and Alcoa and replacing it with linkages of independent organizations specializing in what they did best. This encompassed the entire product process to include design, manufacture, distribution, marketing, selling, and service. Agile supply chains such as Motorola and Panasonic are flexible, enabling changing the set of partners for given markets, regions, or channels, accessing the specific price/quality mix that enable organizations to be competitive.

Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) shifted from making products to become brand owners. These brand owners needed to know what was going on across their entire supply chain, with the need to control from above rather than from within. Standard Oil in 1900 desired to control everything from within, seeking to own all elements in their supply chain. Conversely, Nike doesn’t make shoes anymore. They coordinate activities from design to retail through communication supported by a variety of information systems linked across their supply chain.

Supply Chain Processes

Collaboration across supply chains requires integration of all supply chain activities. This requires a continuous flow of information. Key supply chain processes include the following:

Product development can be obtained by linking customers and suppliers. Customers can express their needs (desires), while the supply chain organization can contribute what is possible. Communication enables identification of a product with a competitive life cycle.

Procurement (sourcing) involves selection of supply chain members. This can be for specific products or services, so that an organization like Walmart might have literally millions of temporary sourcing arrangements. A stable supply chain will have relationships benefiting all parties. Outsourcing refers to procuring sources outside the OEM organization. Outsourcing is broader, however, in that it can refer to obtaining any part of a tangible product or intangible service. Information systems can use EDI and web links to communicate rapidly, enabling effective cost and risk management. Procurement generally involves obtaining materials and components. Outsourcing enables many opportunities to develop a more cost-efficient (or lower risk) supply chain. This comes at the cost of requiring significantly more coordination.

A manufacturing process can be developed based on what the OEM organization selects as the best combination of cost and risk over the total product life cycle. Manufacturing processes should be flexible to respond to changes in market conditions. The activities of planning, scheduling, inventory, transportation, and coordination across the supply chain require software coordination.

Physical distribution involves moving products (or services) through the supply chain, ultimately reaching customers. The specific routing is referred to as a channel in marketing and can include a variety of transportation media to move goods. In a service context, the channel can involve the routing of who a customer interacts with to get the service desired.

CRM is the management of the relationships between the providing organization and its customers. Customer service provides information from the customers and has the ability to give customers real-time information on product availability, price, and delivery.

Linking independent elements to work together to deliver goods and/or services is flexible and enables rapid change to comply with new circumstances that are commonly encountered in contemporary business. By expanding beyond the core organization, a need to monitor performance is needed. Some of the key measures of effective supply chain management include cost, service, productivity, use of assets, and quality. This is often implemented through monitoring customer perceptions and identifying best practices as benchmarks to evaluate supply chain performance.

Supply Chain Information Systems

Many software applications are available for each step in the supply chain process. Many vendors specialize in particular steps supporting part of any one of the six elements given earlier. Each supply chain organization will find that they are best served by various combinations of these software products. Furthermore, as technology evolves, new software is developed to serve specific needs as information systems continue to evolve.

A supply chain management stream can be divided into three main streams: product, information, and finances.

Because of advances in manufacturing and distribution systems, the cost of developing new products and services is dropping and time to market is decreasing. This has resulted in increasing demand, local and global competition, and strain on supply chains. Supply chain management (SCM) software links suppliers to databases that show forecasts, current inventory, shipping, or logistics time frames within the customer organization. By giving this access to suppliers, they can better meet their customers’ demands. For example, the suppliers can adjust shipping to make certain that their customers have the inventory necessary to meet their customers’ needs. They also can monitor unexpected supply chain disruptions to organize alternative routing. Suppliers can download forecasts into their own manufacturing systems to automate their internal processes as well.

Planning applications and execution applications are the two primary types of SCM software:

A number of supply chain systems have evolved over the decades. The first was materials requirements planning (MRP). This was extended to include planning schedules (often labeled MRP-II). Enterprise requirements planning (ERP) systems seek to integrate all organizational information systems, although of course companies will always have special needs outside of an ERP. Nonetheless, ERP systems support much of supply chain activity, to include financial transactions with sources and customers, inventory dealings with sources, forecasting to support planning, MRP to support assembly operations, and many other activities. The trend is for many functions that used to be outside the ERP to be offered as modules within ERP. One case in point is advanced planning system software (APS). There also have been systems marketed as warehouse management systems, transportation management systems, manufacturing execution systems, and the more general logistics management systems, targeted for specific industries such as the military and/or construction. The 21st century has seen a continued expansion of ERP systems to include additional functionality, such as customer relationship management (CRM) and SCM systems as part of the enterprise information system (EIS). There also are other uses of information technology available to support supply chains, such as online marketplaces.

Materials Requirements Planning (MRP)

The term “MRP” is used as a general term to include all MRP versions, namely, MRP-I (i.e., materials requirements planning), Closed-loop MRP (i.e., MRP-I with capacity planning and shop floor management), and MRP-II (i.e., Closed-loop MRP integrated with the other functions such as finance and marketing).¹ The concept of an integrated information system took shape on the factory floor. Manufacturing software developed during the 1960s and 1970s, evolving from simple inventory tracking systems to materials requirements planning (MRP) software. MRP at its core is a time-phased order release system that schedules and releases manufacturing work orders and purchase orders, so that subassemblies and components are available at the assembly station when they are required. Some of the benefits of MRP are reduction of inventories, improved customer service, and enhanced efficiency and effectiveness. MRP software allows a plant manager to plan production and raw materials requirements by working backward from the sales forecast, the prediction of future sales. Thus, the manager first looks at marketing and sales forecasts of demand (what the customer wants), the production schedule needed to meet that demand, calculates the raw materials needed to meet production, and projects raw materials purchase orders to suppliers. For a company with many products, raw materials, and shared production resources, this kind of projection was impossible without a computer to keep track of various inputs.

Electronic data interchange (EDI), the direct computer-to-computer exchange of standard business documents, allowed companies to handle the purchasing process electronically, avoiding the cost and delays resulting from paper purchase order and invoice systems. SCM began with the sharing of long-range production schedules between manufacturers and their suppliers.

The MRP system should provide four basic items of information: when to place the order, how much to order, who to order from, and when the items need to be on hand. MRP systems are used to acquire or fabricate component quantities on time both for internal purposes and for sales and distribution. MRP is a planning instrument geared exclusively to assembly operations. Each manufacturing unit informs its suppliers what parts it needs and when it requires them. The main aim for evolution of MRP was to tackle the problem of “dependent demand,” that is, determining how many of a particular component is required knowing the number of finished products.

The next stage of MRP-II evolution was just-in-time (JIT) methodology in the late 1980s. MRP-II (manufacturing resource planning) is a method to plan all resources for a manufacturer. A variety of business functions are tied into MRP-II systems, including order processing as in MRP, business planning, sales and operations planning, production planning, master production scheduling, capacity requirements planning, and capacity planning. MRP-II systems are integrated with accounting and finance subsystems to produce reports including business plans, shipping budgets, inventory projections, and purchase plans. A major purpose of MRP-II is to integrate primary functions (i.e., production, marketing, and finance) and other functions such as personnel, engineering, and purchasing into the planning process to improve the efficiency of the manufacturing enterprise.

Many within the operations management field consider ERP as a natural extension of MRP-II. The APICS Association for Operations Management definition for ERP is a method for effective planning and control of all resources needed to take, make, ship, and account for customer orders.² There is at least some truth to this view, but ERP systems are even more comprehensive than simply on manufacturing operations. ERP systems are found in practically all types of large organizations, including chemical facilities and even universities. MRP-II functions are covered by production planning and other ERP modules.

Advanced Planning Systems (APSs)

Computer technology makes it possible for improvements at both the cost and value ends of the supply chain. Demand uncertainties can be better managed through improved inventory demand forecasting, reduction of inventories, and improved transportation costs through optimization of coordinated activities across the supply chain. Advanced planning systems (APSs) provide decision support by using operational data to analyze material flows throughout the supply chain. This supports the business functions of purchasing, production, and distribution and through the entire spectrum of planning. Purchasing is supported by planning and MRP. Production is supported by strategic, master, and production planning as well as short-term scheduling. Distribution is supported by distribution planning and transportation planning. These planning systems interact, enabling management of demand across the supply chain. APS products are shown in Table 1.1.

Table 1.1. APS Software Suppliers3
i2	Consulting and managed services
Manugistics	Resource planning and supply chain management
Wassermann	Smart manufacturing, distribution and after-sales services, procurement management, and information technology
Visopt	Supply chain optimization for process industries
Logic-tools	Supply chain optimization tools to complement existing software
Fygir	Optimized scheduling and planning
Quintig	Suite of supply chain planning tools
Seeburger	Business integration platform
Infor	ERP with APS module option
proAlpha	Multiresource, real-time supply chain optimization
Axxom	Mobile supply chain optimization and planning
Epicor	Acquired Vista and Vantage—ERP with APS module option
Oracle	11i advanced planning and scheduling system
SAP	SAP APO
Source: Extracted from company websites.

Advanced planning systems use historical demand data as the basis of forecasts that are used to manage future demand. However, in order to optimize systems, a certain level of stability is required. John D. Rockefeller was able to manipulate demand for petroleum products over 100 years ago, obtaining the stability he needed. Demand manipulation is still possible in some markets today but is much more difficult. The idea of supply chain optimization is more difficult to implement in conditions of constant product innovation, highly volatile global demand, and increased product customization (such as applied by Dell and other computer vendors allowing customers to custom design their computer systems online). This turbulent market environment makes it difficult to obtain extensive pertinent demand history. It is easy to collect data, but demand changes too rapidly to take advantage of it for extended periods of time.

Warehouse Management Systems (WMSs)

Warehouse management systems provide the functionality of tracking parts throughout a supply chain. Systems such as HighJump Software and RedPrairie Corp offer products using electronic input such as bar code scanning to track materiel through the supply chain system, maintaining accurate information flow to parallel physical flow. Radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology provides another form of electronic data input to WMSs.

Manufacturing Execution Systems (MESs)

Manufacturing execution systems appeared in the mid-1990s, evolving as all other supply chain information technology. The original focus was to manage demand on manufacturing organizations with respect to quality, standards, cost reduction, schedule, and ability to react to change. With time, functions have emphasized support traceability. MES functionality now integrates support to most manufacturing execution processes from release of production orders to finished goods delivery. MES also triggers supply chain replenishment upstream (telling sources that replenishment inventory is needed). These systems use a common user interface and data system to integrate support to multiple locations or organizations within a supply chain. An MES offers the following functionality:

An MES can interact between the organizational ERP and the shop floor, taking production orders from the ERP and allocating machines and labor to tasks or products. Real status from the shop floor in turn is passed on to the ERP to update resource availability, track products and inventory, and record production. Logistics functions in the ERP include plant production scheduling, shipping, and inventory. The MES will translate that to execution in the form of dispatching, detailed production scheduling, and tracking materiel.

Transportation Management Systems (TMSs)

Transportation management systems provide software support at an affordable level to control shipping. A variety of alternative sources are available to increase visibility and generate more efficient solutions to move materiel in an increasingly complex environment involving many risks (piracy, war, regulations). Functionality provided includes transportation mode planning, optimization models, and workflow management.⁴

TMS software can be obtained from vendors, some of whom are listed here:⁵

This list includes the two flagship ERP vendors: Oracle and SAP. It also demonstrates the volatility of the industry, showing a number of acquisitions. Other means of TMS acquisition include in-house development, hosting by an ASP, or software as a service. Firms also have options with respect to software within specific branches of the organization, or enterprise-wide support.

ERP

In the early 1970s, business computing relied on centralized mainframe computer systems. Today it is reported that 80% of Fortune 500 firms use ERP systems to manage operations.⁶ These systems proved their value by providing a systematic way to measure what businesses did financially. The reports these systems delivered could be used for analysis of variance with budgets and plans, and served as a place to archive business data. Computing provided a way to keep records much more accurately, and on a massively larger scale than was possible through manual means. But from our perspective at the beginning of the 21st century, that level of computer support was primitive.

Business computing systems were initially applied to those functions that were easiest to automate and that called for the greatest levels of consistency and accuracy. Payroll and accounting functions were an obvious initial application. Computers can be programmed to generate accurate paychecks, considering tax and overtime regulations of any degree of complexity. They also can implement accounting systems for tax, cost, and other purposes because these functional applications tend to have precise rules that cover almost every case, so that computers can be entrusted to automatically and rapidly take care of everything related to these functions.

Prior to 2000, ERP systems catered to very large firms, who could afford the rather high costs of purchasing ERP systems. Even focusing on a selected few modules would typically cost firms $5 million and up for software. After 2000, demand dropped, in part because firms were often concerned with Y2K issues prior to 2000, which motivated many ERP system acquisitions. Demand noticeably dropped off after 2000 came and went. Vendors reacted in a number of ways. First, the market consolidated, with Oracle purchasing PeopleSoft (who had earlier acquired JD Edwards). Microsoft acquired a number of smaller ERP software products, consolidating them into Microsoft Dynamics, which caters to a smaller-priced market, thus serving a needed gap in ERP coverage for small businesses. Notably, SAP advertises that they can serve small business too. But it appears that they are more valuable in the large-scale enterprise market. Additionally, there are many other systems to include open-sourced ERP systems (at least for acquisition) like Compiere in France. Many countries, such as China, India, and others have thriving markets for ERP systems designed specifically for local conditions, although SAP and Oracle have customers all over the globe.

An enterprise information system (EIS) is appearing as a term for the addition of what used to be independent add-on software such as supply chain management (SCM) systems and customer relationship management (CRM) to the core ERP. This trend manifested itself initially when Oracle purchased Siebel Systems, the leading CRM provider. SAP responded by acquiring their own CRM, and both vendors have added SCM functionality within their systems as well. The difference between ERP and EIS is primarily marketing semantics, so we will use ERP for both older and newer versions. One trend among ERP vendors is to expand their functionality to provide services formerly supplied by supply chain vendors such as Manugistics and i2 Technologies.⁷ SAP has introduced mySAP.com, which is an open collaborative system integrating SAP and non-SAP software. SAP APO supports supply chain activities such as forecasting, scheduling, and other logistics-related activities. PeopleSoft has Enterprise Performance Management to support decisions at many levels. JD Edwards products have support for planning and execution. Oracle’s 11i advanced planning and scheduling system was designed to automate customer, supplier, and firm interactions. Vendors are moving toward greater integration of supply chain products.

The ERP concept is not applied merely for the manufacturing environment but for all kinds of enterprises. Early ERP systems focused on manufacturing, although they quickly expanded to support all sorts of organizations. ERP facilitates enterprise-wide integrated information systems covering all functional areas and performs core corporate activities and enlarges customer service. ERP is a business management system that seeks to combine all aspects of the organization. It is capable of taking care of planning, manufacturing, sales, and marketing. The concept is to integrate legacy systems within a coordinated integrated system. Typically, an ERP system uses database systems, which are integrated with each other.

Common ERP Features: An ERP system is not merely the integration of diverse enterprise processes mentioned earlier but also can possess key characteristics to meet the requirements. Features often found in an ERP include the following:

Among the many reasons to adopt an ERP, they offer an integrated system shared by all users rather than a diverse set of computer applications, which rarely can communicate with each other, and with each having its own set of data and files. ERP provides a means to coordinate information system assets and information flows across the organization. The main benefit is the elimination of suborganizational silos that focus on their own problems rather than serving the interests of the overall organization. On the downside, ERP systems impose one procedure for the entire organization, which requires everyone to conform to the new system. ERP systems are thus less flexible. But the benefits of integration are usually much greater than the costs of conformity.

Data can be entered once, at the most accurate source, so that all users share the same data. This can be very beneficial, because shared data is used more and by more people, which leads to much more complete and accurate data. As errors are encountered, users demand corrections, but this is limited because a set of procedures is needed to ensure that changes do not introduce new errors. This makes it harder to make corrections, but again, this added inconvenience is usually well worth the gains of data integration.

ERP systems also can provide better ways of doing things. This idea is the essence of best practices, a key SAP system component. The downside to best practices is that they take a great deal of effort in identifying the best way to proceed with specific business functions, and that they often can involve significant change in how organizational members do their work. Further, as with any theory, what is considered best by one is often not considered best by all.

ERP systems are usually adopted with the expectation that they are going to yield lower computing costs in the long run. Ideally, adopting one common way of doing things is simpler and involves less effort to provide computing support to an organization. In practice, savings are often not realized, due to failure to anticipate all the detailed nuances of user needs, as well as the inevitable changes in the business environment that call for different best practices and computer system relationships. Training needs are typically underbudgeted in ERP projects. Furthermore, these training budgets don’t usually include the hidden costs of lost productivity as employees cope with complex new systems. Table 1.2 recaps these pros and cons of ERP systems.

Table 1.2. ERP Pros and Cons8
Factor	Pro	Con
System integration	Improved understanding across users	Less flexibility
Data integration	Greater accuracy	Harder to make corrections
Best practices	More efficient methods	Imposition of how people do their work
Less freedom and creativity	Cost of computing	More efficient system planned
Changing needs	Underbudgeted training expense	Hidden costs of implementation

The key rationales for implementing ERP systems are the following:

The motivations for ERP adoption were examined by three studies using the same format. Mabert et al. (2000) surveyed over 400 Midwestern U.S. manufacturing organizations about ERP adoption. Olhager and Selldin (2003) replicated that study with 190 manufacturing firms in Sweden. Katerattanakul et al. (2006) again replicated the survey, this time in Korea. These studies reported the following ratings with respect to motivation for implementing ERP (see Table 1.3).

Table 1.3. Reasons for Implementing ERP9
Reason	United States	Sweden	Korea
Replace legacy systems	4.06	4.11	3.42
Simplify and standardize systems	3.85	3.67	3.88
Improve interactions with suppliers and customers	3.55	3.16	3.45
Gain strategic advantage	3.46	3.18	3.63
Link to global activities	3.17	2.85	3.54
Solve the Y2K problem	3.08	2.48	NA
Pressure to keep up with competitors	2.99	2.48	2.94
Ease of upgrading systems	2.91	2.96	3.55
Restructure organization	2.58	2.70	3.33
Rating scale from 1 (not important) to 5 (very important).
Source: Extracted from Mabert et al. (2000), Olhager and Selldin (2003), Katerattanakul et al. (2006).

Initially, fear of Y2K was a major concern. The Swedish survey was later than the one in the United States, and that might explain the lower rating for this item in the Swedish study. The later Korean study did not ask about this dated issue. The U.S. response was actually neutral (only slightly higher than 3), but Y2K clearly was a factor in ERP adoption in the mid- to late-1990s. However, more important reasons were always present. In the first two studies, replacing legacy systems received a high positive response. The desire to simplify and standardize systems had the second highest rating in the first two studies and had the highest rating in the later Korean study.

There were two other reasons that received relatively high ratings in the United States (a bit lower in Sweden). These were to improve interactions with suppliers and customers, which is one way to gain strategic advantage. The supply chain aspects of ERP have led vendors to modify their products to be more open, although work continues to be needed in this direction (and seems to be proceeding). Linking to global activities was slightly positive in the U.S. survey, more negative in the Swedish study, and relatively higher in the Korean study.

Three other potential reasons received low ratings in both studies. Pressure to keep up with competitors received neutral support in the U.S. study. Ease of upgrading systems is a technical reason that received neutral support both in the United States and in Sweden. Restructuring the organization was rated lower.

From these studies, we infer that ERP systems are an important means to upgrade the quality of information systems. They can provide organizations with coordinated systems that have higher-quality data. Once the kinks are worked out, this information may be available in a more responsive way. Not all evidence indicates lower costs, but most evidence does indicate higher-quality information systems.

ERP and SCM: Originally ERP tools were not considered for SCM and thus the information flow between various members of the supply chain was slow. This was because until the late 1990s the concentration of organizations was on improving the internal efficiency alone. Organizations however, soon realized that although internal efficiency is important, its benefit would be limited unless complemented by increased efficiency across the supply chain. They also realized that, accurate flow of real-time information across the supply chain was the key to success in the emerging business climate, which was characterized by rapid advances in technology, shorter product life cycles, and so forth. Therefore, organizations started integrating ERP applications with SCM software. This ensures that efficiency was achieved across the supply chain, including a seamless flow of information. ERP became a vital link in the integrated supply chain as it serves as the integrated planning and control system.

In summary, ERP applications help in effectively delivering SCM in the following ways:

Web-based technologies have revolutionized the way business is conducted, and supply chain management and ERP are no exceptions. In order to leverage the benefits offered by this new technology enabler, ERP systems are being “web-enabled.” The Internet allows linking websites to back-end systems like ERP and providing connections to host of external parties. The benefits of such a system are that customers have direct access to the supplier’s ERP system and that the vendors in turn can provide real-time information about inventory, pricing, order, and shipping status. The Internet thus provides an interface between the ERP system and the supply chain members allowing real-time flow of reliable and consistent information. To illustrate a benefit of web-enabling ERP, such a facility allows customers to go online and configure their own products and get price information and immediately gets to know whether the configured product is in stock or not. This is made possible because the customer’s request directly accesses the ERP system of the supplier.

Online Marketplaces

Online marketplaces (OLMs) are exchange mechanisms that can benefit suppliers and purchasers by providing a more competitive environment with broader access. E-marketplaces aggregate buyers, sellers, content, and business services. They also provide a single point of integration for interaction of buyers and sellers. A buyer can log on to an e-marketplace, issue a request for proposal, and be flooded with bids. This creates a problem of bid comparison and interpretation. OLMs also provide services to help sift through large numbers of bids. Different types of OLMs are given in Table 1.4, demonstrating different transaction methods.

Auction-based OLMs are commonly used. One use of auction-based OLMs is as an exchange, seeking simultaneous bids and offers to determine efficient prices. Future contract variants allow buyers to lock in supplies or hedge prices. Pure auctions seek only bids to establish prices for unique products. Reverse auctions do the same, only from the perspective of offers rather than bids. Metacatalogs focus on reducing search costs rather than on pricing. Mall-based OLMs allow buyers to surf a single site, with visits to individual areas representing different suppliers.

Table 1.4. Types of Online Marketplace Methods
Transaction method
Auction-based	Exchange seeking simultaneous bids
Future contract variants	For risk reduction
Pure auction systems	To establish prices for buyers
Reverse auctions	To establish prices for sellers
Metacatalogs	Reduce search costs
Mall-based	Access multiple suppliers at single site

Conclusion

In the past, vertical integration was a way to gain efficiency in supply chains. Today, vertical integration doesn’t work as well, because specialty organizations have developed to perform specific tasks very efficiently. Efficiency is gained today through supply chains linking specialists throughout the vertical business hierarchy.

A number of software systems are available to support supply chains. This chapter reviewed MRP, APS, and ERP. OLM software was briefly described as an example of other software support. ERP systems were initially focused on integrating internal operations. Their high investment cost and often rigid procedures made them barriers to effective supply chain linkage. However, recent trends show movement toward more open systems that allow closer coordination across supply chains. One way to accomplish this efficiency would be through all elements in a supply chain adopting the same ERP vendor products, as well as software enhancements. However, this is not economically viable for most supply chain components. Many suppliers may not have the millions necessary to invest in technology adopted by the core company in the supply chain.

Other approaches are toward open ERP software. Advanced Planning Systems were originally developed to enhance the ability of firms to deal with other organizations in their supply chain. More recently, the trend among ERP vendors is to provide this functionality within their products, especially through Internet technology. Lean manufacturing is another philosophy related to gaining efficiency in production operations. While the concepts of lean manufacturing initially seem in conflict with the idea of ERP, there have been imaginative developments allowing ERP systems to support lean manufacturing.

ERP deployment, management, and evolution are significant operational concerns in today’s cost-conscious business climate. The performance of enterprise applications designed to streamline ERP processes and operations is dependent on the fundamental network infrastructure. Companies should take a holistic view of their mission critical applications and networking environments and include best-in-class networking solutions.

Enterprises have long made flamboyant statements about getting closer to their customers and streamlining operations. ERP, CRM, and SCM applications and the organizations implementing them are in part, “bringing teeth” to those superior intentions. It is not a trouble-free process, however. In reality, the highly publicized failures of these initiatives have in some minds brought concern about these applications and their possible benefits. However, more and more organizations are moving ahead with these initiatives, and the successful organizations will gain from higher margins, better customer relations, and improved back office operations.

The core idea of ERP is complete integration of an organization’s computing system. Despite obvious advantages to vendors of each adopting organization installing the entire suite of modules offered, however, only about half of the implementations seem to be of this nature. It is very common for organizations to select modules, which makes great sense because not every organization needs every module vendors develop. In fact, vendors seem to recognize this through their recent emphasis on products tailored to specific industry.

Organizations may have other very important reasons to implement ERP products differently than the vendors’ design. A very important one is that full system implementation is very expensive. By selecting particular modules, organizations can cut initial implementation costs significantly. While vendors might argue that in the long run this might be more ineffective than full implementation now, in practice information systems projects rarely go as planned, nor do they tend to stay within originally planned budgets. Thus, organizations reduce risk greatly by trying particular modules first, often seeing how the new system is digested by the organization, before plunging to additional modules.

There also is a difference in the difficulty of implementing different modules. Financial and accounting modules are typically installed first, as they involve the most structured application. This makes it easier to implement, and easier for the organization to digest. Other modules such as materials management and planning also tend to work well. Conversely, support to less structured environments, such as sales and marketing, tend to be more problematic.

Outline of the Book

This chapter introduced various information systems available to support supply chain operations. The second chapter will more completely describe the key supply chain process of MRP and describe its relationship to ERP systems. Chapter 3 will expand discussion of ERP options, to include APS as an available module or as a stand-alone system. Chapter 4 will discuss the relationship of business process reengineering with these integrated systems. Chapter 5 will present a systematic selection technique. Chapter 6 will discuss issues in implementing such systems, along with demonstration of project management in the supply chain software context. Chapter 7 will conclude the book, discussing three issues in implementing these systems.