Enterprise Resource Planning - An Overview .
Enterprise Resource Planning - An Overview.
Enterprise Resource Planning systems are a new type of business management computing systems that integrate all the facets of a business including planning, marketing, sales, and manufacturing. ERP systems were originally used to serve the information need of manufacturing companies. Over time they have grown to serve many other industries such as health care, financial services, and the consumer goods sector. The first ERP systems ran on mainframe computers. They then migrated to the more popular client/server systems and today they are moving towards a web based network system that includes numerous applications. These web-based ERP systems help automate a company's business process by employing an integrated user interface, and integrated data set, and an integrated code set.
Today, ERP systems software lies at the heart of any large enterprise's computing activity. ERP software integrates all the information used by an organization's many different departments and other cross functional groups into a unified computing system. This software enables everyone within the company to access information from the same database. Information such as employee records, customer data, purchase orders, and inventory can all be stored and accessed within the same network.
ERP systems are being positioned as the foundation of enterprise wide information systems. Such systems will link together all of a company's operations as well as connect the organization to its customers and suppliers. These systems are also an essential aspect of supply chain management, which is also a growing concept among successful businesses today. ERP systems can be used to give automated intelligence to a network of vendors, suppliers, manufacturers, distributors, retailers, and a host of other trading partners. ERP systems help track the flow of raw materials and other resources into an organization, the integration of these elements into final products and services, the costs and processes associated with running the business, and the delivery of products to the customer.