ERP AN INTRODUCTION

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems are commercial software systems that can be defined as customizable, standard application software which integrates business solutions for the core processes (e.g. product planning and control, warehouse management) and the main administration function (e.g. accounting, human resource management) of an enterprise[1]. Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems integrate internal and. external management information across an entire organization, embracing finance/accounting, manufacturing, sales and service, customer, etc. ERP systems automate this activity with an integrated software application. Their purpose is to facilitate the flow of information between all business functions inside the boundaries of the organization and manage the connections to outside stakeholders[1]. ERP systems can run on a variety of computer

hardware and network configurations, typically employing a database as a repository for information. ERP is a method of effective planning of all the resources in an organization. Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) covers the techniques and concepts employed for the integrated management of businesses as a whole, from the viewpoint of the effective use of management resources, to improve the efficiency of an enterprise. ERP packages are integrated (covering all business functions) software packages that support the ERP concepts. ERP software is designed to model and automate many of the basic processes of a company, from finance to the shop floor, with goal of integration information across the company and eliminating complex, expensive links between computer systems that were never meant to talk to each other[2]. Best practices are incorporated into most ERP systems. This means that the software reflects the vendor's interpretation of the most effective way to perform each business process. Systems vary in the convenience with which the customer can modify these practices. Companies that implemented industry best practices reduced timeconsuming project tasks such as configuration, documentation, testing and training. In addition, best practices reduced risk by 71% when compared to other software implementations [7].

HISTORY OF ERP
Enterprise Resources Planning (ERP) is an outgrowth of Material Requirements Planning (MRP) initiated in the 1970's as a new computer-based approach to planning and scheduling of material requirements and inventory, featuring the time-phased order point. MRP evolved to MRP II (Material Resources Planning) the "closed loop" process, to Business Requirements Planning (BRP) and eventually to ERP. As MRPII came into vogue in the late 1970's and early 1980's, software companies began to develop software packages around MRPII concepts. ORIGIN OF ERP The idea of the integrated data base as the engine for fully integrated software was probably one of the greatest outgrowths of Ollie Wight's MRP. Eventually, the acronym ERP was conceived to represent what had already been developed by software companies. In 1990 Gartner requirements Group first employed the acronym ERP as an extension planning of material

planning (MRP),

later manufacturing

resource

and computer-

integrated manufacturing[3]. Without supplanting these terms, ERP came to represent a larger whole, reflecting the evolution of application integration beyond manufacturing. Not all ERP packages were developed from a manufacturing core. Vendors variously began with accounting, maintenance and human resources. By the mid1990s ERP systems addressed all core functions of an enterprise. Beyond corporations, governments and nonprofit organizations also began to employ ERP systems[4]. The early software packages were developed by way of a transactional approach, and were highly unfriendly to a user. With the advent of the personal computers, the development of Microsoft's Windows NT, and the mid-range IBM AS/400 computer, client-server systems began to emerge. Windows, used as the base operating system, allowed software packages to become more and more user-friendly[5] MATERIAL REQUIREMENT PLANNING (MRP) When the manufacturing activities were gradually growing complex, the Shop floor people realized that just knowing Bill of material does not help the total planning, because of the fact that Bill of Materials tells only the information about material requirements. Equally important factor is the information on Process of manufacturing such as manufacturing

activities to be performed, the time taken for each activity, sequence in which they need to be performed etc. In 1970s the concept arrived to a complete shape and was known as Material requirement planning. This Planning is popularly known as MRP. A refined MRP briefly takes the demand, important item related information (such as Ordering rules, safety stock Inventory information), Bill of Material, routing and existing Shop floor schedule as inputs. MATERIAL RESOURCE PLANNING II (MRP II) The concept of MRP seemed to be complete and perfect, but some more inputs were identified as essential for reasonably realistic planning. The original MRP as defined was looking at the Material requirements and Process requirements as the major deliverables from the planning process. However this information is not sufficient to go ahead with production. For example, what if you do not having sufficient finance to perform the production to meet the demand, even if you have material and machines to make the item? Similarly how will you tackle the sudden break down of a critical machine while executing the manufacturing process? In fact the planning needs the output information from the shop floor execution as the input to replan according to the current shop floor condition. Based on such realizations, MRP was continuously refined. After a decade MRP reached such as stage that it was entirely different from what was originally defined as MRP. So a new name MRP II was coined. MRP II is defined as Manufacturing resource Planning.

ENTERPRISE RESOURCE PLANNING (ERP) In the early 1990s, increased complexity of businesses and the need to integrate all the functions within an enterprise to sustain in the dynamic environment lead to development of what is called Enterprise Resource planning (popularly known as ERP). ERP was extension of MRP II to cover the range of activities within any enterprise.

EXTENDED ERP (ERP II) ERP could attend the most wanted needs of Business in 1990s such as reliable delivery commitments, high quality, low and controlled inventory and reasonably low prices etc. But the competitive advantage too vanished. Many performance capabilities that previously provided distinct competitive advantage became normal expectations. Capabilities such as reliable delivery commitments, high quality, and low prices became the minimum to participate, not the Order winners previously experienced. The competition within
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manufacturing industry has created many new concepts, business models, and techniques that have influenced the evolution of Extended ERP.

Major factors that contributed the evolution of Extended ERP is the Requirement to focus on the core strength and grow family of partners that work together to deliver the end product and share directly or indirectly the revenue and competitive advantage. This is because it was practically impossible to maintain strength in all areas that are needed to satisfy the expectations of customer. Extended ERP is a subsequent outcome of progressive refinement of planning systems through MRP, MRPII, and ERP. In addition, it reflects the influences of relatively modern philosophies such as JIT/ Lean manufacturing as well as taking advantage of the latest technologies. EXPANSION ERP systems experienced rapid growth in the 1990s because the year 2000 problem and introduction of the Euro disrupted legacy systems. Many companies took this opportunity to replace such systems with ERP. This rapid growth in sales was followed by a slump in 1999 after these issues had been addressed.
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ERP systems initially focused on automating back office functions that did not directly affect customers and the general public. Front office functions such as customer relationship management (CRM) dealt directly with customers, or ebusiness systems such as e commerce, egovernment, etelecom, and efinance, or supplier relationship management (SRM) became integrated later, when the Internet simplified communicating with external parties[6]. Today, ERP systems have proliferated extensively, and have reached a stage where development has become industry specific. Thus it is plausible to search for an ERP package developed for one's specific industry idiosyncrasies.

WHY IS ENTERPRISE RESOURCE PLANNING IMPORTANT?

Some of the major features of ERP and what ERP can do for the business system are as below[8]:

ERP facilitates company-wide Integrated Information System covering all functional areas like Manufacturing, Selling and distribution, Payables, Receivables, Inventory, Accounts, Human resources, Purchases etc.

ERP performs core corporate activities and increases customer service and thereby
augmenting the Corporate Image.

ERP bridges the information gap across the organization.

ERP provides for complete integration of Systems not only across the departments in
a company but also across the companies under the same management.

ERP is the only solution for better Project Management. ERP allows automatic introduction of latest technologies like Electronic Fund
Transfer (EFT), Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), Internet, Intranet, Video conferencing, E-Commerce etc.

ERP eliminates the most of the business problems like Material shortages,
Productivity enhancements, Customer service, Cash Management, Inventory problems, Quality problems, Prompt delivery etc.

 ERP not only addresses the current requirements of the company but also provides the
opportunity of continually improving and refining business processes.

ERP provides business intelligence tools like Decision Support Systems (DSS),
Executive Information System (EIS), Reporting, Data Mining and Early Warning Systems (Robots) for enabling people to make better decisions and thus improve their business processes. ERP systems centralize business data, bringing the following benefits:

They bring legitimacy and transparency in each bit of statistical data. They enable standard product naming/coding. They provide a comprehensive enterprise view (no "islands of information"). They make realtime information available to management anywhere, any time to make proper decisions.

They protect sensitive data by consolidating multiple security systems into a single structure.

CONCEPTUAL COMPONENTS OF ERP

It is important to understand the high concept or ERP model. The model consists of 4 components which are implemented through methodology[9].

[9]

1. Software: Its the component that is most visible part and seen as
the ERP Product which is not true. It consists of several modules such as Finance, Human resource, Supply chain management, supplier relationship management, customer relationship, and business intelligent.

[9]

2. Process flow: It illustrates the way how information flows among the different modules within an ERP system. By creating this model makes it easier to understand how ERP work. 3. Customer mindset: By implementing ERP system, the old ways for working which user understand and comfortable with have to be changed and may lead to users resistance. Employee-raised facts, beliefs, and values are good indicators of what may cause their resistance to change. For example, some users may say that they have spent many years doing an excellence job without help from ERP system. This is the value and belief that users have toward new ERP system. In order to lead ERP implementation to succeed, the company needs to eliminate this kind of negative value or belief that users have toward new system. 4. Change management: Operational and environmental changes need to be effectively managed and kept up at all time and at all working levels.

4.1 User attitude resistance If the company needs to successfully implement a new system, users need to understand the new system and give commitment towards it. By doing this the company will have a better management and better implementation. 4.2 Business process change When a new system comes, the business processes change thus a company should plan ahead for these kinds of changes.

ERP SELECTION METHODOLOGY

For a proper system selection methodology it is important to apply key principles to the process. Some of which are listed below: Structured approach The first step in selection of a new system is to adopt a structured approach to the process. The set of practices should be presented to all the stakeholders within the enterprise before the system selection process begins. Everyone needs to understand the method of gathering requirements; invitation to tender; how potential vendors will be selected; the format of demonstrations and the process for selecting the vendor. Thus, each stakeholder is aware that the decision will be made on an objective and collective basis and this will always lead to a high level of co-operation within the process. Focused demonstrations Demonstrations by potential vendors must be relevant to the business. However, it is important to understand that there is considerable amount of preparation required by vendors to perform demonstrations that are specific to a business. Therefore it is imperative that vendors are treated equally in requests for demonstrations and it is incumbent on the company and the objective consultant assisting the company in the selection process] to identify sufficient demonstrations that will allow a proper decision to be made but will also ensure that vendors do not opt out of the selection process due to the extent of preparation required. Objective decision process "Choosing which ERP to use is a complex decision that has significant economic consequences, thus it requires a multi-criterion approach." [4]. There are two key points to

note when the major decision makers are agreeing on selection criteria that will be used in evaluating potential vendors. Firstly, the criteria and the scoring system must be agreed in advance prior to viewing any potential systems. The criteria must be wide-ranging and decided upon by as many objective people as possible within and external to the enterprise. In no circumstance should people with affiliations to one or more systems be allowed to advise in this regard. Full involvement by all personnel The decision on the system must be made by all stakeholders within the enterprise. "It requires top management leadership and participation it involves virtually every department within the company"[10] Representatives of all users should:

Be involved in the project initiation phase where the decision making process is agreed;

Assist in the gathering of requirements; Attend the Vendor Demonstrations; Have a significant participation in the short-listing and final selection of a vendor.

ERP LIFE CYLE

It is the set of activities through which ERP is implemented in an organization. IMPLEMENTATION The implementation stage of the ERP life cycle involves a number of activities that must be managed effectively in order for the project to be a success. Each of these tasks calls for specific knowledge and skills needed by internal and external resources. Installation - The first step in installation is creating the computing environment that will host the ERP system. Operating system updates, increased networking capacity, or backup systems may be required. The amount of new equipment might also require the company to expand the space in its data center to house it all. Computing upgrades also extend beyond the servers that support the system. The presentation tier of an ERP system usually runs on a PC, either as a client running directly on the computer or as a client served through a web browser. Clients may require upgrades to the web browser or require the PC be upgraded or

replaced. The ERP software cannot be installed until there is an instance to run it. An instance is an installation of ERP software and related components [11]. Configuration - Configuration is a major implementation task in which business and functional settings in the ERP system are changed to make the out of the box software support the customers business needs. Configuration does not make any changes to the core software code, but instead updates tables with settings and entries specific to the customers business. Called configuration tables, these tables enable a company to tailor a particular aspect of the system to the way it chooses to do business. For example, configuration may allow the company to specify:

Whether accounting for inventory should be based on LIFO or FIFO Whether the company wants to recognize revenue by geographical unit, product line, or distribution channel (or by all three). How many legal entities are reflected in the system. What will the default currency be [4].

Customization - Customization requires programming, which must be performed by a programmer/developer, whether in-house (if expertise exists within the company), or external by a consultant. Customization is generally done in order to fill gaps found in requirements analysis or to extend functionality. In either case, organizations get exactly what they require. There are two main types of customization: Enhancement: If a customer (meaning a user) wanted to add a field, change the look of a screen, or add an extra step to a process, then an enhancement would be developed. Analysts develop a functional specification and a technical specification, and then the developers code the enhancement. Modification: This is typically a rare and very special type of change. When a customer decides to make a modification to the core code, it is because the software does not have the capability to address the requirement and the software has to be changed in the way it works. A modification needs to be registered with the software vendor, and is not supported by future upgrades [11]. Testing - Once the system has been installed, configured and perhaps customized, it must be tested prior to deployment. Testing confirms that the software behaves as expected and customer expectations are met. If testing is done well, the software can be operated with
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limited business interruption or detrimental impact to customer satisfaction. During testing the project team fine-tunes the configuration of the software and refines the models for new business processes. They confirm the software can meet the previously specified requirements, identifying gaps not found during the package selection phase. Specific types of testing include: Unit testing - Testing small increments of functionality as discrete steps in a business process or testing a single development object to the requirements in a functional specification. Integration testing- Testing end-to-end business processes including any customizations, enhancements, or interfaces to external systems. Customer acceptance testing - Usually a final round of integration testing in which key users develop realistic business scenarios that represent how the system will need to work after go-live. The users are tasked with testing the system to their approval or acceptance. This milestone is critical to proceeding with go-live cut-over activities. Security testing- Testing all of the user roles and authorizations that are being set up in the system. These tests include both positive and negative tests to demonstrate that allowed functionality can be accessed or that unauthorized access is appropriately denied. Performance load testing - Business transaction volumes and concurrent user activities are tested with expected peak load (and then some) to confirm that response times are acceptable. These stress tests must pass predetermined acceptance criteria or performance thresholds [11]. Interfacing with other systems - Often, an ERP system becomes the "center of the universe" for an organization, but because of time and cost constraints, gaps in functionality, and political issues, there are usually interfaces to other systems that must be developed and maintained. The ERP system may exchange data with other client server systems as well as legacy systems. These interfaces must have the ability to handle complex data sources and legacy data types and may involve connections to mainframes and systems using a variety of technologies such as Linux or Windows. Training - According to research, training is the most overlooked and under-budgeted ERP cost component. Training expenses are high because employees almost invariably have to
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learn a new set of processes, not just a new software interface. According to research, training is the most overlooked and under-budgeted ERP cost component. Training expenses are high because employees almost invariably have to learn a new set of processes, not just a new software interface. There are various ways to train employees such as on-site or off-site instructor-led training classes, or computer-based training. MAINTENANCE Most ERP systems do not reveal their value until after organizations have had them running for some time. Maintenance activities also begin shortly after go live. Annual maintenance expenses for ERP systems cost approximately 20% of initial ERP implementation costs and upgrade costs as much as 25-33% of the initial implementation [11]. Typical ERP maintenance activities include: Preventive maintenance - These are regularly scheduled tasks that must be performed to keep the system functioning properly. Emergency maintenance - These are tasks that must be performed immediately. For example, if a software bug is discovered that has potentially damaging effects to the business, then that bug needs to be fixed as soon as possible, even if it may affect regularly scheduled operations. Software updates - ERP vendors constantly fix bugs, implement new best practices and incorporate the feedback of customers in their software. Maintenance activities should be tested in a non-production instance of the ERP system to minimize the chance of a problem to the live system. According to research, up to 70% of companies total ERP costs relate to service and maintenance, yet most companies fail to see the value in these services [9]. Upgrade - Companies choose to upgrade their ERP systems for the following reasons: Competitive advantage - New features and capabilities give the company an edge over its competitors. Globalization - Features and updates designed to increase the flow of information to customers and business partners can increase the ability to operate globally.

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Integration - Enhancing the flow of information between the ERP system and other systems within the company increases operational efficiency and improves communication.

Best practices - Incorporating new best practices allows the firm to operate more efficiently.

Cost reduction - Lowering administrative overhead and improving the support offered by the ERP vendor results in lower operating costs.

[12]

Reasons why companies do not upgrade systems

WHY ERP IMPLEMENTATION FAILS

There are twelve major reasons why companies get bogged down or fail in implementing ERP. 1. Lack of top management commitment - The oversight of an ERP implementation to lower management levels often results in (1) being "out of touch" with critical events, or (2) the lack of understanding of the size, scope, and technical aspects of the project. 2. Inadequate requirements definitions - Surveys have shown that inadequate definition of functional requirements accounts for nearly 60% of ERP implementation failures. This is simply a matter of not comprehensively and systematically developing a quality set of functional requirements definitions [5]. 3. Poor ERP package selection.

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4. Inadequate resources - Companies will attempt to "save money" by doing everything on an overtime basis, whether or not there are adequate skills within the company, extending individual workloads to 150%. This approach can be a "kiss of death" for the program. 5. Resistance to change. 6. Miscalculation of time and effort - Another cause of ERP implementation failure is the miscalculation of effort and time it will take to accomplish the project. Companies who treat an ERP selection, evaluation and implementation comparable to buying a washing machine are doomed to failure. 7. Misfit of application software with business processes - This failure to examine underlying business process flaws, and integrate the applications with the business processes, causes loss of productivity and time, and ultimate benefits. 8. Unrealistic expectations and benefits and ROI When the total costs of the project have been understated. Often left out of the total costs are costs of planning, consulting fees, training, testing, data conversions, documentation, replacement staffing, and the learning curve performance drop. When this happens, a company doesn't stand a chance of achieving the ROI it anticipated. 9. Inadequate training and education - ERP-related training is crucial as most employees must learn new software interfaces and business processes which affect the operation of the entire enterprise. 10. Poor project design and management - Major mistake is to short-cut critical events in the project plan, such as time for documentation, redefining and integrating processes, or testing before "going live." 11. Poor communication - Poor communications prevent different parts of the organization from assessing how they will be impacted by changes in processes, policies, and procedures. Communications are a vital part of managing change in a corporate environment. 12. Ill advised cost cutting - In an effort to avoid temporary conversion costs, some companies take a very risky route and go live at multi-plant sites simultaneously; subjecting all plants or some plants to a total shutdown should there be a false start up.

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PRAGMATIC APPROACH FOR BETTER ERP UNDERSTANDING

The first corollary of ERP implementation is: ERP systems are part of a company infrastructure, and therefore are strategic to the company's survival and success.

The second corollary of ERP is: ERP and information systems are there to support business functions and increase productivity, not to do the reverse.

The third corollary of ERP or implementation is: Learn from the successes and failures of others and don't attempt to reinvent the wheel of ERP implementation practice[5]. Some time-proven approaches that can enhance the success of the ERP implementation are: 1. High employee involvement - Use a knowledgeable team to review and select packages. Get as many employees as practicable involved in the implementation phase. This will foster ownership and buy-in. 2. A comprehensive and systematic approach - Use a comprehensive and systematic master plan that addresses all parts of an ERP systems implementation: development of IT strategy, requirements definition, review/selection of software, hardware, communications, unit testing, systems testing, conversion, resources,

education/training, resistance to change, etc. 3. Adequate resources - Provide adequate technical and administrative resources to allow employees breathing room. Perform cost/benefit analyses so that you know how much the entire implementation is going to cost and identify the results that will be achieved. 4. Extensive education and training at all levels.

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USE OF ERP IN APPAREL SECTOR

Before the implementation of ERP all departments in the organization would function separately leading to a situation somewhat similar to the one shown below.

[2]

Pre ERP scenario Benefits of ERP in apparel sector include: Supplier benefit Management benefit Cost savings, improvement in savings. Good customer relationships. Employee benefit Satisfaction in working and achieving goals with good team work. Customer benefit

Information in time about material to be provided.

Good services. Good quality at cheaper price.

[2]

A post ERP scenario A post ERP scenario clubs all the departments into a single unit and all information of every department is updated and extracted from a single database.
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Reduction in cycle time: As of now, allocation of material to specific customer order is not possible with the current system. Such allocations are useful for making deliveries as planned, as there is no possibility of the material, which is required by one order, getting consumed for different order. In such cases earlier order would get delayed if material were not available in the stock while production time is spent on other order, which could have waited without causing any problem. Cost savings: Company losses 2% of its sales value in discounts, which are the result of surplus production, implementing quality management system can help to bring down excess production, as management will be assured of the quality right from the raw material itself. Supplier developer module would be useful in proper selection of suppliers, which can focus on quality, cost and delivery aspects of supplier. Reduction in machinery downtime: 5 % machinery downtime is attributed to non-availability of raw material in the stores. This is due to absence of proper planning system and due to communication delays at every place because of information recompiling. Prompt communication coupled with effective supplier selection module and planning system would be useful in bringing down the machinery downtime. Improvement in sales: 75 % customers place repeat orders. Three factors-price, order and delivery affect orders. Integrated system will definitely be useful on this account. Price is one of the causes of losing customers; there is ample scope for cost reduction and therefore company can offer lower prices and incentives to attract customers through integrated information management solution. Customer satisfaction: Current system is ineffective in tracking problems related to customers. The response regarding effectiveness falls in unsatisfactory category. Capacity planning for received order also falls in average category. Efficient capacity management system can bring down the delivery time for execution of the order and improve customer satisfaction. This management scheme can be very useful in maintaining better customer relations with prompt response and by knowing their past history. Well formulated procedures for customer dialog will be useful
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in having better customer relations. It takes approximately 3 days to answer any of customers queries. This period can be brought down to a day, which will have very good impact on customers perception of the organization.

ERP SOFTWARE BUSINESS WORKS

Sage BusinessWorks50 Accounting is accounting software. It goes beyond off-the-shelf bookkeeping accounting packages by offering a wide range of features such as project management, inventory control, contact management, and more! Make the most informed business decisions possible using the award-winning Sage BusinessWorks50 solution, which simplifies and streamlines key business functions and daily business activities, giving you an instant link to critical, up-to-the-minute accounting information [13].

[13]

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[13]

Business Works General Ledger - Maintain current financial information, as well as transaction history and budget information for up to nine fiscal years, using the Sage BusinessWorks General Ledger module, which combines flexibility with ease of use. Business Works Cash Management - The Cash Management module for Sage BusinessWorks Accounting provides superior management capabilities for your companys cash transaction processing and reconciliation needs. This module fully integrates with the Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, Payroll, and General Ledger modules to offer a comprehensive accounting software solution. Business Works Accounts Payable - The Accounts Payable module for Sage BusinessWorks Accounting efficiently manages your companys expenditures, saving you time and money. This advanced module stores, sorts, and organizes vendor information and transactions. The Accounts Payable module then uses the information to produce a wide
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range of reports, including graphical reports. Business Works Accounts Receivable - The Sage BusinessWorks Accounts Receivable module provides an efficient and reliable means of managing your entire receivables process. From credit management to sales analysis, this powerful module provides your organization with extensive information and reporting features to make quicker business decisions. Business Works Inventory Control - The Inventory Control system offers comprehensive reporting capabilities to keep you on top of inventory status. It can help you bring about the creation of new or improved purchasing policies, sales policies, pricing methods, and even enhanced customer service. Business Works Payroll - Preparing payroll by hand can be a tiresome and time-consuming task. By acquiring the power of the Sage BusinessWorks Payroll module, your in-house payroll tasks can be completed quickly and accurately. Business Works Job Costing - The tracking feature of the Job Cost module gives you pinpoint details regarding every job and project so that you can make informed decisions and more effectively manage internal and external projects. Youll also be able to compare actual costs with estimated costs throughout all the stages of your projects. This ensures that expenses fall within your budget and you generate profit from every job.

Business Works Custom Office - When integrated with Microsoft Office, the Sage BusinessWorks Custom Office module can significantly increase the companys productivity. The module offers mail merge, attachment management, and custom worksheet capabilities that put Sage BusinessWorks information to work for. This allows the employees to do their jobs more efficiently, which can lead to increased revenue.

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SAGE BUSINESS WORKS INVENTORY CONTROL MODULE The Inventory Control module for the Sage Business Works Accounting system provides this level of control by offering high-end features normally reserved for large companies, including light manufacturing capabilities, serial number tracking, and multi-warehouse support. Inventory Control even features an image library that allows you to assign a picture to each part. Improved customer service leads to increased profitability. And, when integrated with the Accounts Receivable and Order Entry modules, Inventory Control can significantly boost your customer service levels while operating as the cornerstone of an effective manufacturing or distribution solution. For more complex project management, Inventory Control can be coupled with the Job Cost module to help track all inventory-related expenses for a project. Inventory tracking is enhanced even more when integrated with the Custom Office module, which creates detailed spreadsheets to provide further analysis of inventory performance. The Inventory Control system offers comprehensive reporting capabilities to keep you on top of inventory status. It can help you bring about the creation of new or improved purchasing policies, sales policies, pricing methods, and even enhanced customer service. By leveraging Sage BusinessWorks, you have the tools to create an inventory system with the depth to meet your companys needs for years to come.

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General features of the module : Tracks backorders and sales promotions when used in conjunction with the Order Entry module. Provides complete physical inventory capabilities and makes inventory tracking easy with worksheets and variance reports. Provides instant inquiry of part information, including receipts, issues, returns, and adjustments. Allows you to post charges to the Job Cost module for more complete tracking of materials used on a project. Tracks minimum, maximum, and order point stocking levels by part to help keep stock quantities at optimum levels.

Maintenance features of the module: Tracks quantities and history for up to 99 user-defined warehouses and provides a transfer option that allows parts to be moved among warehouses easily. Tracks serial numbers for parts and indicates when parts are received, reserved, or issued. Stores and displays images of your parts, allowing you to see a part and verify its description when talking to a vendor or customer. Leverages four costing methods: Standard, Average, FIFO, and LIFO. Easily copies an existing part to a new part, making the setup of like items faster and easier, with the following fields: Part Description (all lines) Product Line Unit of Measure Ship Weight Primary Warehouse Bin Location Comments Inventory Item Taxable Discount
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 Back Orders OK Fractional Quantity Fractional Cost/Price UPS Shippable Track Serial Numbers Category Information Sales Promotion (Promo) Pricing Method Pricing Matrix Vendors Components Warehouses Maintains complete information for each part, including on-hand, backorder, and onorder quantity, vendor, substitute items, components, and up to 60-month transaction history. Provides model parts for easy addition of new parts to inventory. Supports fractional costs, prices, and quantities for stock and non-stock items. Provides four pricing methods (absolute, margin, markup, and base) for each part and allows price differences by customer type as well as quantity price breaks. Supports up to 25 price levels (which can be activated on a part-by-part basis) and five quantity breaks to facilitate flexible pricing schemes. Processing features of the module: Builds components and labor into finished items with the subassembly option, which automatically adds built parts to inventory and removes components from stock. Unbuilds or unpacks assembled parts into components or individual items. Allows entry of receipts, issues, returns, and adjustments. Allows inventory cost adjustment after receipt of parts.

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Reporting capabilities of the module: Provides the information you need to maintain adequate stock levels using the Order Recommendation report. Sorts reports by part number, part description, vendor, product line, or bin location. Provides numerous inventory reports to analyze inventory performance. Reports the following: ABC Analysis Report Adjustments Transaction Register Bin Ticket Business Graphics Component Use List Cost List Flash Report Inventory Low Stock Report Inventory Overstock Report Inventory Performance Report Issues Transaction Register Location List Margin Analysis Report Master Parts List On Hand Detail Report Physical Inventory Variance Report Physical Inventory Worksheet Pick List Price List Product Line List Receipts Transaction Register Returns Transaction Register
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 Sales Promotions List Serialized Inventory Reports Stock Status report Subassembly Detail Report Subassembly List Substitute Parts List Transaction Summary Report Transaction Detail Report Vendor Supply List Warehouse Stock Report

CONCLUSION
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) can provide a lot of benefits to organization such as lower cost, increase level of data consistency, enable different departments such as Marketing, Distribution, and Manufacturing etc. to share information together, increasing ability to do e-business. Even though, ERP can provide many benefits, it also can lead to tragedy in implementation because of complexity to implement, time consuming, requiring a lot resource such as money, human resource, hardware, and software. Not only resource that is needed, but the commitment from top management and users also. All of these requirements can lead to project failure easily as we can see that 51% of project fail rate. Consequently, Project Management is very important in ERP implementation. In order to manage project efficiency and reduce the risk for project failure, a company needs to know

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the high level concept, components of ERP, and the project life cycle. However, by knowing the high level concepts, components of ERP and project life cycle is not enough. As describe earlier, ERP implementation is such a complexity project. Thus, we need to have some guideline and avoid the common mistakes that help project manager to prevent an unexpected outcome and well prepare for the unexpected events.

REFERENCES

1. Mei-Yeh Fang and Dr.Fengyi Lin, Measuring the Performance of ERP System from the Balanced Scorecard Perspectives The journal of American Academy of Business, Cambridge, Vol. 10 No 1, Sep 2006, pp.256-263. 2. http://www.fibre2fashion.com/industry-article/5/447/erp-in-apparel-industry2.asp 3. L. Wylie, "A Vision of Next Generation MRP II", Scenario S-300-339, Gartner Group, April 12, 1990 4. Sheilds, Mureell G., EBusiness and ERP: Rapid Implementation and Project Planning. (2001) John Wiley and Sons, Inc. 5. http://rockfordconsulting.com/the-12-cardinal-sins-of-erp-implementation.htm

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6. Monk,

Ellen;

Wagner,

Bret

(2006). Concepts

in

Enterprise

Resource

Planning (Second ed.). Boston: Thomson Course Technology. ISBN 0-619-21663-8 7. Monk, Ellen and Wagner, Brett."Concepts in Enterprise Resource Planning" 3rd.ed.Course Technology Cengage Learning.Boston, Massachusetts.2009 8. http://www.erp.com/section-layout/337-erp-software/130-erp-features-andcomponents-.html 9. http://www.umsl.edu/~sauterv/analysis/f06Papers/Wonglikphai/ 10. Thomas F. Wallace and Michael H. Kremzar, ERP: Making it Happen. 11. http://modernerp.com/uploads/Sample_Chapter_-_Ch._6 Implementation and Post Go Live and Maintenance 12. Kimberling, E. (2009). Four Reasons Why ERP Projects Take Longer than Expected. Retrieved November 19, 2009 from http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/erp-roi/four-reasonswhy-erp-projects-take-longer-than-expected-31967 13. http://accounting-erp-software.shelko.com/sage-businessworks/ ERP Life Cycle:

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