EPR Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

EPR - Essay Example The uniqueness of an ERP is that it can be implemented into large and small sized organizations alike. ERPs are divided into different modules like procurement, sales, marketing, etc. which makes it possible for an organization to implement only those modules that are descriptive of their business. Some of the widely known applications available off-the-shelf are my SAP by SAP, PeopleSoft by Oracle, Microsoft Dynamics by Microsoft and Sage ERP by Sage Group. Due to the popularity of 'free' technologies (paid by through advertisements), several open source ERP software are also available. ERPs have gained enormous popularity in the business world and are considered as a 'dream come true'. Thus by looking at the advantages it can be found out whether it is a good dream or not. (TechFaq, 2008) (Swartz and Orgill, 2001) A seller of cartons of steel nails gets an order through the customer service representative who forwards the request on the ERP system to the production department after checking all necessary customer information through the same ERP system. Procurement, Production and all other concerned departments see the same information and update it as its get completed. A route is created where the information is automatically sent to relevant departments who track it down till its completion and its sales to the customer through the Customer Relationship Management systems. The customer gets the carton of nails faster and with fewer errors while the company gets lower cost and tracking facility. Reality Check Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) appears to be a 'dream come true'. These commercial software packages promise the seamless integration of all the information flowing through a company. Mostly companies implement ERPs to try to integrate the financial and customer order information, standardize and improve organizational processes, reduce inventory and standardize HR information (Koch, 2008). However hidden costs such as training,