Thursday, February 23, 2012

Assignment 12

What is ERP?
It describes how different and advanced business software can be developed to create a shared database across multiple business units.  The idea was to maximize synchronization throughout the organization, thereby improving processes, performance metrics, and ultimately business performance. 
Sample Organization that Implements ERP
Philips Medical Systems
            Is a leading global manufacturer of a wide range of diagnostic imaging, monitoring, and other equipment to customers in more than 100 countries around the globe.
Activities
In the 1990s, the company set an ambitious goal to transform its information systems so that they could support agile new business models and maintain a strong focus on customer satisfaction. At the time, Philips Medical Systems had a highly distributed business – factories on different continents, dozens of sales offices, support and spare parts centers in 30 countries – that used more than 50 different systems. The initial business integration strategy was based on an internally developed, point-to-point integration that transferred data each night. When immediate information was required, personnel had to know which system to log on to, access that system directly, and then enter the data manually – sometimes even multiple times – to be able to retrieve the information. According to Reinier Lodewijks, manager of global application integration at Philips Medical Systems, this mishmash of architectures was “a classic spaghetti problem” that demanded a radical new approach to integration. If Philips had used the original point-to-point integration approach, it would have required more than 3,000 separate interfaces to obtain a fully integrated business model, which would be highly costly and complex.
ERP System Used (SAP R3)
            According to Wikipedia, SAP R3 is the former name of the main enterprise resource planning software produced by SAP AG. It is an enterprise-wide information system designed to coordinate all the resources, information, and activities needed to complete business processes such as order fulfillment or billing.



Applying ERP Management
Enables Real-time Information Flow
Business integration solution empowers business processes with real-time information flow and verification of the accuracy of all data entering the network. These capabilities are vital to the company’s relationships with healthcare providers. For example, when a hospital urgently needs a replacement part for a piece of medical equipment, requests and confirmations immediately zip across the network to place, fulfill, and settle the order. No more silos of information and slow communication. In fact, this improved data exchange was accompanied by an overall reduction in network traffic.
Accomplishes Massive Integration with Ease
            It enables the rapid integration of new applications during implementation and will make the process equally simple in the future. , Philips could more quickly unify its own business processes with those of the newly acquired companies so as not to miss a beat in delivering to its customers.
New Integration Strategy
This approach will make it possible to roll out new application integration projects in mere days. As a result, Philips further reduces its development costs while maximizing the flexibility of its IT architecture
Comparison to SDLC
            ERP and SDLC differ in many ways, for example, some of the ERP features like it facilitate company-wide Integrated Information System. ERP performs corporate activities and increases customer service. According to some of the study that ERP is the best solution for better Project Management compared to other planning tools, addressing not only the current requirements of the company but also providing the opportunity of continually improving and refining business processes and above all, and provides business intelligence tools.
            

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