In the ERP industry, the systems are often referred to as the 4M’s. Man, Money, Materials and Machines. This type of system brings all four aspects of business together, giving th

On the other hand, the proponents suggest that ERP systems are fundamental components in the e-business-centric information system infrastructure of the future. It is not outdate, what it needs is just “change”. For that reason, in 2000, industry analyst Gartner, Inc. was the first to define ERP II. Very broadly speaking, it refers to software that allows a company to share more information with its partners via the Internet.

The history of ERP can be traced back to the 1960’s, when the focus of systems was mainly towards inventory control. Most of the systems software were designed to handle inventory based in traditional inventory concepts. The 1970’s witnessed a shift of focus towards MRP (Material Requirement Planning). This system helped in translating the master production schedule into requirements for individual units like sub assemblies, components and other raw material planning and procurement. This system was involved mainly in planning the raw material requirements.

With more and more big companies invest in ERP, small and mid-size companies begin to consider using ERP to manage their operation processes. The sluggish economy, IT talent shortages, the complexity of ERP and executive skepticism about the value of in-house IT are all contributing to the interest in ERP outsourcing. (Time to outsource ERP? 2003) The major vendors of ERP are offering outsourcing programs to small and mid-size organizations that are unable to implement the systems themselves.

As Gartner says, "In a collaborative world, organizations must compete not only on the availability, cost and quality of their products and services, but also on the quality of information that they can publish for consumption by collaborative partners. By 2004, in most industries, small to medium businesses that adopt a more virtual, flexible business model based on inter-enterprise collaboration will gain a substantial competitive advantage over those that do not."

Then, in 1980’s came the concept of MRP-II (Manufacturing Resource Planning) which involved optimizing the entire plant production process. Though MRP-II, in the beginning was an extension of MRP to include shop floor and distribution management activities, during later years, MRP-II was further extended to include areas like Finance, Human Resource, Engineering, Project Management etc. This gave birth to ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) which covered the cross-functional coordination and integration in support of the production process. The ERP as compared to its ancestors included the entire range of a company’s activities.

So the next frontier of ERP is incorporating internet in its applications. Organizations that have implemented ERP software are now looking for a way to give external parties - customers, partners, and suppliers access to scheduling, delivery, inventory, manufacturing, invoicing, and planning information. New ERPII packages let users browse product catalogs online, check availability, and order supplies directly through the system. By doing so, they can reduce the time taken to move information from one place to another. Instead of answering calls from customers about when a shipment will be delivered, a customer can access the suppliers’ delivery information online. He can enter ERP systems directly; dynamically control the process of the order implement and production manufacture. And instead of suppliers relying on a customer to sen

Some topics in this essay:
ERP II, Resource Planning, Companies Internet, Outsourcing ERP, Solutions Management, GIT Transit, Marketing Strategy”, Separate ERP, ERP-Systems IT-systems, ERP Web, erp systems, business processes, supply chain, erp software, erp ii, resource planning, supply chain management, systems integrate, operation processes, chain management, erp enterprise, enterprise resource planning, erp systems integrate, oil natural gas, traditional erp systems,