A multi-disciplined civil and structural engineering, project management, construction and contracting group, VDM wanted to integrate their financial and people management information, thereby gaining efficiencies through a consolidation of multiple systems and be able to streamline and standardize their business processes.

VDM selected Microsoft Dynamics AX in order to improve tracking of project management and costing, and improve reporting capabilities, ultimately gaining better visibility of their projects and provide more timely management information. VDM also selected people management solution, PayGlobal, to manage the Payroll processing and HR requirements for their team of over 950 staff.

That all changed recently with JunctionMCR™, a complete enterprise retail management (ERM) solution that offers retailers of all channels a way to manage merchandise planning, price management, supply chain management, customer relationship management, and accounting functions all fully integrated in one database. Whether you are a direct marketer, retailer, e-Commerce company or all the above. JunctionMCR™ provides the backbone you need to bring all of your critical functions together, increasing your ability to operate effectively to serve customers and capture demand.

At its heart, JunctionMCR™ is a full ERP system that manages all of the central headquarters functions for retailers and brings together the management of retail store chains, cross-channel product management, and a central repository for all customer interactions, regardless of the channel sold through.

An ERP system typically has modular hardware and software units and “services” that communicate on a local area network. The modular design allows a business to add or reconfigure modules (perhaps from different vendors) while preserving data integrity in one shared database that may be centralized or distributed.

Origin of the term ERP systems compared

MRP vs. ERP — Manufacturing management systems have evolved in stages over the past 30 years from a simple means of calculating materials requirements to the automation of an entire enterprise. Around 1980, over-frequent changes in sales forecasts, entailing continual readjustments in production, as well as inflexible fixed system parameters, led MRP (Material Requirement Planning) to evolve into a new concept : Manufacturing Resource Planning (or MRP2) and finally the generic concept Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)

The initials ERP originated as an extension of MRP (Material Requirements Planning; later manufacturing resource planning and CIM (Computer Integrated Manufacturing). It was introduced by research and analysis firm Gartner in 1990. ERP systems now attempt to cover all core functions of an enterprise, regardless of the organization’s business or charter. These systems can now be found in non-manufacturing businesses, non-profit organizations and governments.

To be considered an ERP system, a software package must provide the function of at least two systems. For example, a software package that provides both payroll and accounting functions could technically be considered an ERP software package.

Examples of modules in an ERP which formerly would have been stand-alone applications include: Product lifecycle management, Supply chain management (e.g. Purchasing, Manufacturing and Distribution), Warehouse Management, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Sales Order Processing, Online Sales, Financials, Human Resources, and Decision Support System.

This is common to retailers,[citation needed] where even a mid-sized retailer will have a discrete Point-of-Sale (POS) product and financials application, then a series of specialized applications to handle business requirements such as warehouse management, staff rostering, merchandising and logistics.

Ideally, ERP delivers a single database that contains all data for the various software modules that typically address areas such as: The term “Enterprise resource planning” originally derived from manufacturing resource planning (MRP II) that followed material requirements planning (MRP). MRP evolved into ERP when “routings” became a major part of the software architecture and a company’s capacity planning activity also became a part of the standard software activity. ERP systems typically handle the manufacturing, logistics, distribution, inventory, shipping, invoicing, and accounting for a company. ERP software can aid in the control of many business activities, including sales, marketing, delivery, billing, production, inventory management, quality management, and human resource management.[citation needed]

ERP systems saw a large boost in sales in the 1990s as companies faced the Y2K problem (real or imagined) in their “legacy” systems. Many companies took this opportunity to replace such information systems with ERP systems. This rapid growth in sales was followed by a slump in 1999, at which time most companies had already implemented their Y2K solution.

ERP systems are often incorrectly called back office systems indicating that customers and the general public are not directly involved. This is contrasted with front office systems like customer relationship management (CRM) systems that deal directly with the customers, or the eBusiness systems such as eCommerce, eGovernment, eTelecom, and eFinance, or supplier relationship management (SRM) systems.

ERP systems are cross-functional and enterprise-wide. All functional departments that are involved in operations or production are integrated in one system. In addition to areas such as manufacturing, warehousing, logistics, and information technology, this typically includes accounting, human resources, marketing and strategic management.

ERP II, a term coined in the early 2000s, is often used to describe what would be the next generation of ERP software. This new generation of software is web-based and allows both employees and external resources (such as suppliers and customers) real-time access to the system’s data.

EAS — Enterprise Application Suite is a new name for formerly developed ERP systems which include (almost) all segments of business using ordinary Internet browsers as thin clients.

Best practices are incorporated into most ERP vendor’s software packages. When implementing an ERP system, organizations can choose between customizing the software or modifying their business processes to the “best practice” function delivered in the “out-of-the-box” version of the software.

Prior to ERP, software was developed to fit individual processes of an individual business. Due to the complexities of most ERP systems and the negative consequences of a failed ERP implementation, most vendors have included “Best Practices” into their software. These “Best Practices” are what the Vendor deems as the most efficient way to carry out a particular business process in an Integrated Enterprise-Wide system.[8] A study conducted by Ludwigshafen University of Applied Science surveyed 192 companies and concluded that companies which implemented industry best practices decreased mission-critical project tasks such as configuration, documentation, testing and training. In addition, the use of best practices reduced over risk by 71% when compared to other software implementations.

The use of best practices can make complying with requirements such as IFRS, Sarbanes-Oxley, or Basel II easier. They can also help where the process is a commodity such as electronic funds transfer. This is because the procedure of capturing and reporting legislative or commodity content can be readily codified within the ERP software, and then replicated with confidence across multiple businesses who have the same business requirement.

Implementation of ERP systems

Businesses have a wide scope of applications and processes throughout their functional units; producing ERP software systems that are typically complex and usually impose significant changes on staff work practices. Implementing ERP software is typically too complex for “in-house” skill, so it is desirable and highly advised to hire outside consultants who are professionally trained to implement these systems. This is typically the most cost effective way. There are three types of services that may be employed for – Consulting, Customization, Support. The length of time to implement an ERP system depends on the size of the business, the number of modules, the extent of customization, the scope of the change and the willingness of the customer to take ownership for the project. ERP systems are modular, so they don’t all need be implemented at once. It can be divided into various stages, or phase-ins. The typical project is about 14 months and requires around 150 consultants. A small project (e.g., a company of less than 100 staff) can be planned and delivered within 3–9 months; however, a large, multi-site or multi-country implementation can take years. The length of the implementations is closely tied to the amount of customization desired.

To implement ERP systems, companies often seek the help of an ERP vendor or of third-party consulting companies. These firms typically provide three areas of professional services: consulting; customization; and support. The client organization can also employ independent program management, business analysis, change management, and UAT specialists to ensure their business requirements remain a priority during implementation.

Data migration is one of the most important activities in determining the success of an ERP implementation. Since many decisions must be made before migration, a significant amount of planning must occur. Unfortunately, data migration is the last activity before the production phase of an ERP implementation, and therefore receives minimal attention due to time constraints.