Tips for choosing an ERP (enterprise resource planning)

What are ERPs?How do you choose one?What are they for?What do you do with one?Should you look into finding one?These are all questions that you may have regarding ERPs (enterprise resource planning).This article will give you tips for choosing an ERP as well as answer many of your questions about them.

First, what is an ERP?It is a system that integrates all data and processes of an organization into a unified system.Usually, an ERP will use various parts of computer software and hardware to achieve the integration.Most ERP systems have a unified database to store data for the various system models.

ERP once referred to a system that was designed to plan the use of company-wide resources.It originated in the manufacturing environment and today's term "ERP" has a much wider scope of use.ERPs cover all basic functions of an organization, no matter the type of business.Anyone from nongovernmental groups, governments, and other large entities use ERP systems.An ERP system also only needs to provide functionality in a single package that would usually be covered by two or more systems.For example, a software package that includes both payroll and accounting features could be considered an ERP package.Examples of areas which require an ERP system include the following: manufacturing, warehouse management, support systems, human resources, customer relationships, supply chains, and finances.

Some organizations choose to implement only parts of an ERP system and develop an external interface to other ERP or stand-alone systems for their other application needs.For instance, the PeopleSoft HRMS and financials systems may seem to be better than SAPs HRMS solution.Certain organizations may justify the purchase of a specify type of ERP system.

The term "enterprise resource planning" evolved into ERP when "routings" became a major part of the software design.ERP software can help in many aspects of business activities, like sales, marketing, billing, production, delivery, management and human resources.

So if you're thinking about choosing an ERP, you should looks for a system that can handle the following:
- Manufacturing
- Supply Chain Management
- Financials
- Projects
- Human Resources
- Customer Relationship Management
- Data Warehouse

You should be wary of certain ERP software that is exceedingly complex and requires an expert to run and install.However, even simple ERP software can be difficult to run.You may find that your best option is to hire a specialist in ERP implementation.This may, of course, depend on the size of your business, how long you'll be needing the ERP software, your willingness to learn and train employees on the ERP system and how large your project is.But as a business manager, you must take responsibility and ownership of your ERP implementation.It's the only way to ensure success with your ERP software.

A good ERP system should also include some of the following: design engineering, order tracking, revenue cycles from an invoice, management, tracking purchase orders, inventory receipts, accounting, and tracking of revenue, cost and profit.But you should also be sure that you install some good security measures on your ERP, since ERPs usually contain such highly confidential information.A bad ERP system may be too complex to use, require a licensing fee, be too rigid to adapt to the workflow or business process of your company, be too restrictive in usage, and have compatibility problems with your current systems.So you want to be sure that when you're looking for an ERP, you get one with as few of the negative traits as possible.And then you'll be on your way to a better, smoother, and more efficient business!