ERP Enterprise Resource Planning. Enterprise resource planning systems
1. Planning of the problem that the grade work will deal with
The company planning system, better known as ERP for its acronym in English “Entreprise Resource Planning - ERP”. It is a structured system that seeks to satisfy the demand for business management solutions, based on the concept of a complete solution that allows companies to unify the different areas of its productivity.
Currently, the implementation of a management system, which serves as a support for efficient administration, has acquired a significant boom in the business market, since companies seek to maximize their benefits, minimizing their costs and their usefulness. systems (ERP), provide the necessary support to achieve the desired objectives.
ERP systems provide practical and comprehensive solutions to real problems and completely revolutionize the way of doing business in the company. True, yes, but it is also the fact that a system of this type, or any other similar, can not really be everything perfect what is said. And in case it was, the system alone is useless and if it falls into underutilization either due to ignorance, negligence or simply due to misuse, the entire project falls apart. The question is then, if I want to implement such a system, what must I do to do it successfully? Why do ERP implementations fail?
According to cases that occurred in the late 1990s, an ERP system implementation project could collapse, regardless of the size of the company or the approach of the system. It already happened to Hershey's, the famous North American chocolate and food manufacturer in 1999. The case is quite tragic: due to a bad implementation, operational problems arose, there were tremendous delays in supplying merchandise both at Christmas and Halloween, two key times for the sale of their products. The result: the company's shares closed the year 27% below the peak price recorded in previous years. Undoubtedly some, because it is a company of great proportions and world fame, has been the most notorious failure (also due to the fact that in millions of dollars, the loss was scandalous). However,Other entrepreneurs and groups have suffered major setbacks from poor implementation. If it happens to Hershey's and Whirlpool, who are giants in their industries, how do you avoid falling? Where's the fault?
Some specialists claim that the fundamental error is in training. Supposedly the error here is one of concept. We can quote the phrase expressed by says Jhon Conklin 1, who says that training evokes images of "dogs jumping hoops" (hinting that training is only getting someone to do something without further explanation or background). For him, in reality, it is about two concepts and not one: education and training. According to their concepts, in order to achieve adequate management of any new situation, subjects must be provided with the what, the why and the how. Education is the why, the who and the where. Training is the how. The variables taught in the educational process have much greater weight. If the focus is solely on the how, you will fall into error.This is where the concept of training has been failing. The first mistake is to pretend that where as a technology system is being implemented, the training should revolve around teaching employees where to fill in the fields, what to do on the screens and in general terms, how the technology tool works. Too much emphasis on the technological system and practically nothing on the variables to promote its complete understanding and its full conviction that the system is new, is different, is better and that given its characteristics, good human performance when using it or Your mistakes will have a profound and sometimes severe impact on the entire organization. An ERP system is fundamentally integrative, it is entirely based on the interrelation of the variables and their full interdependence.
Conceptual definition of the problem with citations and bibliographic references.
ERP with its Spanish meaning of Business Resource Planning or Enterprise Resource Planning in English, is a way of using information through the organization in a more proactive way in all the business units that make up a company such as: Production, purchasing, inventory and supply chain, sourcing, finance, human resources, logistics and distribution, sales, customer service and supplier relations. We are in an era of exchange with other countries, called globalization; where companies interact with customers and suppliers from all over the world. This type of ERP solutions will allow them to stay ahead and innovate to be successful in the markets in which they are developed. And being able to be at the level of companies anywhere in the world.ERPs have led companies to be agents of change, to gain leadership in their markets. However, it is not so easy for companies in our country to implement these solutions in their business units and some of the reasons are:
- They are used to working in a traditional system in which most of the tasks are carried out even manually; and they think technology is just having a computer.
- The companies think that the technology will raise their costs, when the relationship is the other way around, the implementation of the technology will bring with it the reduction of costs, the increase in quality, and the efficiency and effectiveness of their products or services.
- ERP solutions have high prices, but the solutions they provide will make the company reduce costs and increase quality and customer service.
Despite the existence of these reasons, there are many medium and large companies at national and international level that have implemented ERP solutions, among which are:
| INTERNATIONAL | NATIONAL |
| MEXLUB | Price Stabilization Institute |
| SABRITAS | Secretary of State for Education |
| CIGATAM | Secretary of State for Agriculture |
| HULES | FERQUIDO |
Among the main providers of the ERP market are: SAP, Baan, Peoplesoft, JD Edwards, Oracle, Progress Software, QAD.
According to the experience of these companies, the advantages of ERP solutions are: lower costs, speed combined with flexibility, improved decision making and execution, as well as security on platforms that use the development of successful forecasts that will give a good direction to the company.
Decomposition of the Conceptual Elements that Define the Problem. (Relevant Aspects that Constitute It)
Control activities:
Identifies the main policies and procedures that help to ensure that the management guidelines of the institutions are carried out for the main applications.
ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning):
They are systems that integrate all the functional aspects of the company: commercial management, financial management, input / output management, production management, warehouse control, etc. In this way, the saving of time and the minimization of errors is maximum, since there are no different applications between which to transfer data, a process that in many cases is impossible.
Technological environment:
It refers to having the most sophisticated technology provided by the main suppliers worldwide. In other words, the best technology is extracted and applied to the business reality.
Innovation environment:
Refers to analysis of the environment and how it is used to provide opportunities for technology transfer.
Internal control:
It is defined as a process, carried out by all the personnel of an entity, designed in order to provide a reasonable degree of security.
Control environment:
Sets the tone of the institution by influencing the control consciousness of its staff
Risks evaluation:
Identifies the management process for establishing institutional objectives and the risks associated with achieving those objectives, and determines if the risks are adequately managed.
Business:
Two or more people working together in a structured way to achieve a specific goal or set of goals.
Effectiveness:
Method for comparing facts according to general purposes. Observe the decision-making behavior.
Effectiveness:
Weighting the degree of fulfillment of the specific objectives formulated at some previous opportunity. It has to do with the quality of the product obtained.
Efficiency:
Valuation of results based on the expense used to obtain the desired benefit. It refers to the cost, its size and the capacity to guarantee the sustainability of the venture.
Information and communication:
It establishes how the organization identifies, captures and exchanges information in a way and in a period of time that allows people to carry out their responsibilities.
Systems:
It is an organized whole with logic, in which the global operation is greater than the sum of its parts.
Strategic information systems:
They are the use of information technology to support or shape the organization's competitive strategy, its plan to increase or maintain competitive advantage or to reduce the advantage of its rivals.
Supervision:
Identifies the process used by the organization to determine or measure the quality of performance of the internal control structure over time.
Delimitation in time and space with explanation of reasons that justify it
For the development of this topic, we will take as reference the public and private companies of the Dominican Republic, which are located in the city of Santo Domingo. We do this considering the importance of the implementation of management systems in companies and their impact on the efficiency and effectiveness of the activities they carry out.
For this study we will use the most outstanding companies in the country during 2002.
Questions that applicants ask about the problem to be developed.
To identify the general objectives of undergraduate work, we have raised different questions that will lead us to identify the general objectives of undergraduate work.
Great questions related to the concept that will determine the general objectives of the degree work.
- How do the implementation of management systems affect the internal policies of companies? How can companies be motivated to purchase an ERP system? What role does technology play in the development of the company?
Operational sub-questions related to the elements of the concept that will determine the specific secondary or operational objectives of the degree work.
- What are the management system models most used today? Does the country have expert professionals for the implementation and development of ERP systems? How satisfied are companies that have acquired ERP systems, which are currently applied in companies?
2. Justification of the degree work
Importance of the topic within the real environment in which the study will be carried out.
Traditionally, national companies based in the city of Santo Domingo with a presence in different countries had to face the permanent problem of serious information inconsistency among their affiliates and the difficulty of consolidation, both of their operations and of their accounts for the group of companies and countries. The only workaround was to use different software in each country and to develop other custom-made consolidation software that required tremendous upgrade efforts and was never effective, having to integrate data from different programs without intrinsic similarity. It was therefore almost impossible to obtain the desired homogenization.
This situation underwent a change a few years ago when the German company SAP offered a business software system in the form of unfinished parts, which could be grouped in different ways by means of connection tables and which, although with a high degree of adjustment effort, could be combined and form a valid system to adapt to the needs of a certain country, (adjusting to the laws, operating customs and language of that country), and by combining the parts with another finish and other connection tables, it was possible to get a system also valid for another country. This was precisely what large multinational corporations were needing to banish the heterogeneity of the systems installed in the different countries and to have a system that would allow each affiliate in each country to have it,a software that, although different from that of the other affiliates, remains integrated into a single system in terms of information and the traffic of goods and services within the logistics of the multinational company. It seemed that this was going to be the solution. But the problem of the implantation and start-up of these systems that required expert personnel in the use of adaptation procedures to the needs of the company and the constraints of each country of operation remained unresolved.But the problem of the implantation and start-up of these systems that required expert personnel in the use of adaptation procedures to the needs of the company and the constraints of each country of action remained unresolved.But the problem of the implantation and start-up of these systems that required expert personnel in the use of adaptation procedures to the needs of the company and the constraints of each country of action remained unresolved.
ERP, far from being an interesting concept, is a basic requirement for every company, today. Increasingly, the market is getting bigger, borders are being removed, trade barriers are disappearing, and companies are being forced to increase their portfolio of services and products, or specialize in one of them.
Companies need technological support to be able to efficiently manage their databases; in other words, having information systems capable of accurately identifying the current and future situation of their businesses. This is accomplished through ERPs.
Quantitative numerical data with its sources of information that justify the study of the subject and its elements.
Since all companies are committed to producing more and better in a competitive and globalized world, the top management of organizations must resort to all available means to achieve their objectives. These means refer to: strategic planning, capital increase, state-of-the-art technology, appropriate logistics, personnel policies, adequate use of resources, etc.
Current and future business trends force companies to become increasingly competitive. To be competitive it is necessary for a company to have optimized and integrated its internal information flows and external business relationships, and thus achieve basic objectives such as improvements in productivity, quality, customer service and cost reduction.
It is for this reason that it seeks to have a system that covers all the needs of the business, from the control of financial operations and generation of reports, management of relationships and sales with customers, long-term planning of the requirements in the capacity of production, and short-term scheduling of production, supply chain management, to inventory management and cost control. Obviously, the strategies for directing and developing management systems are the most important factor that will help to achieve business objectives and staff development. Within this field, there are complex processes that intervene, such as training, remuneration, working conditions, human relations and motivation.In this context, the implementation of an ERP management system, which constitutes a new approach to administrative management, constitutes an important means of underpinning the personal development of workers and, therefore, improving productivity in service companies.
It is very common to hear in organizations: "we must find solutions to motivate our staff to work harder and better produce a high level of effectiveness and efficiency in their operations." All managers face a huge challenge: innovation and redesign of the existing processes in the company, the way changes are handled are points of great importance for the development of the institution, as well as the motivation of workers to produce the desired results, with quality and innovation, as well as satisfaction and commitment. But what to do to achieve it? Definitively, it is not the same to manage a traditional business as one on an electronic platform, since the latter are influenced by aspects of training, available technology, information and, above all, a lot of creativity.Competing with companies in the region is not the same as competing with companies from all over the world.
Now that many companies want to join the development of e-business, this new disruptive Internet-based technology that is here to stay, begins to appear a deep need to carry out a good organization of information and processes within them. This is presented as a challenge, since many of them do not have a systems department that provides support to solve their particular needs. But the challenge is not only for the latter, but also for key company departments such as the General Manager (CEO) and the Human Resources Manager. The first one needs to be updated in terms of strategies and solutions, be very aware of the vision and mission of the company and have effective communication towards the different strategic points of the company.The second must be aware of the new needs of the company, within the e-business environment; also be aware of the capabilities of the people you have already hired, in order to complement the staff with engineers, technicians, etc., capable of proposing, implementing, developing and maintaining a good image and notable growth within the new ambient.
One of the "tangible" solutions these days is the incorporation of ERP (Enterprise Resource planning) systems, which are presented as one of the best support implementations, for the incorporation of companies into e-business; because with them you can organize all kinds of information: inventory, purchases, sales, shipping, process entry and exit, etc.; Furthermore, it is possible to concentrate the information from all the branches around the world and at the same time, due to its organization, have it available for all types of reports: informative, comparative, graphic, etc. The ERP allows not only to be more efficient in the elaboration of products and services, but also to have the necessary information to follow up on a client who is already captive,offering a whole range of possibilities to get involved with it (CRM).
In order to use a good ERP, it is not necessary that the company is a Transnational, but rather that it wants to enter into a documentation, organization and training process such that it allows it to learn more and take advantage of the opportunities that the market may present. And within these opportunities, lately the fact of linking with other companies is presented, in win-win relationships in which information is shared through the ERP. These relationships, also called alliances or clusters are very common today and come to have specialized services in communications and information management, which would be very difficult for a company to have separately.
But not in all businesses, nor in all environments can alliances be made, and not for that reason a company is going to be left without good training, help and maintenance of a good ERP. It also occurs more frequently in our days, the creation of companies that are dedicated to carrying out information management consultancy, in such a way that the only thing needed is to know the company's processes well and the consulting team is in charge to adapt a system to measure.
Another determining factor in establishing an ERP is the training that all staff must have, to change their "culture" in how to handle paperwork and data and to be aware that the information being shared in real time, it is going to be used in the decision making of the company and above all, it is necessary to be very careful not to "transmit" erroneous information. For this reason, the establishment of an ERP system must go hand in hand with the needs of each of the departments and be personalized as much as possible. For a company that is barely subsisting or newly installed, it is difficult to think of an ERP system, but there are systems that are modular and allow their different departments to be incorporated little by little.You can also buy hardware and telecommunications equipment that is scalable so that the growth of the systems is gradual. Whatever the case of the establishment of an ERP, a customized system must be built in parallel to its implementation that allows measuring the performance and benefits that are beginning to be generated with its presence.
ERP systems are presented as adaptive technology and have so far proved to be a good solution to the great demand for information management and use of technologies. These allow the integration of suppliers, allies, inventory, production, purchasing, etc. departments. Although it is very true that technology and trained personnel are required, it is also true that investment in them is of utmost importance, since it helps the documentation and standardization of processes and, at the same time, allows you to get the most out of the established technology.. Another quality is that, if you carefully select a good ERP system, regardless of the investment, it can be chosen so that it is flexible in its future possibilities and also scalable.
Nowadays there are Software options that offer such simple “plug and play” (PnP) options. In addition, not only do ERP applications have to be simple to use, but they can also integrate the value chain with the supply chain and combine it with the CRM (Costumer relationship management) and SCM (Supply Chain management) system.
The integration of the systems is becoming easier, although it requires sufficient processing, storage and communication capacity over the network, in addition to complying with the communication standards between applications. For this reason, there are already many companies that are beginning to look for the option of specialized information integration and management services. Therefore, one of the main requirements for establishing an electronic resource management and planning system is wanting to manage it that way, since there will not be enough obstacles to stop the analysis and organization of the information; and this will lead to being able to have detailed knowledge of each part of the processes in which the company is involved with as much specificity as required. You can also control access to it,taking into account the users and access codes and it is possible to have a "special" report even when it is the hour for the secretarial staff to rest.
To maintain such a degree of commitment and effort, companies must learn to adequately value the cooperation of their members, establishing mechanisms that allow for a sufficiently motivated workforce for efficient and effective performance that leads to the achievement of objectives and goals of the organization and at the same time it manages to satisfy the expectations and aspirations of its members. Such premises automatically lead to inevitably approach the issue of motivation as one of the important elements to generate, maintain, modify or change attitudes and behaviors in the desired direction.
Systems for the integrated management of companies, known commercially as ERP systems, are necessary to have all the company data, which can be transformed into information (information is the data integrated by the observer). According to the observer, they will make sense, that is, it will be information or not. For example, a lot of equipment repair data will have no meaning (information) for someone in marketing, but will be useful data (information) for someone in maintenance. The same happens with accounting, commercial data, etc.
The proper ordering of the information allows us to put together an organization dashboard. This control through indicators (Key Performance Indicators) alerts us to the evolution of business; in short, money is won or lost and where to act. ERP systems were important a few years ago (they were called MRP-Manufacturing Resource Planning systems), they are important today and they will always be important! They are the systems that allow having a large database (information) to be shared by the entire organization. At the same time, this information integrates the organization.
Today you hear about CRM (Customer Relationship Management), SCM (Supply Chain Management), e-commerce, internet,… and many acronyms (3 letters) known as JIT, TQM, APS (Advanced Palnning & Scheduling), etc.
Let's remember that: systems can integrate information, but only People “integrate” (shape, communication and energy) an Organization.
The success of an ERP or SCM implementation lies mostly in the people who use it, and little in the application software. Companies do not buy acronyms, they buy tools to improve their processes, which are the object of their business (core business) and for this they must adopt the methodologies, techniques and procedures that best meet their needs, to respond in a timely manner to the Customers. After this necessary introduction, to highlight the importance of the so-called ERP and SCM systems, let's see some steps that help in the selection of the tool to develop the organization's strategy.
The ERP, manage to unite different strategies that meet the needs demanded by local companies, among which we can mention we have the following:
• We need to measure:
• The Performance of Human Resources Management
• The Value that Human Resources Management adds to the company.
• Multiple metrics are required.
• It is required to know these metrics at different levels:
• Corporate
• Regional
• Functional
• By Level, cost per contract
• Contracting time
• Rotation
• Causes of Rotation
• Rotation Cost
• Availability level
• Level of Commitment to Work
• Level of competition
• Performance level
• Level of Satisfaction
• Recruitment effectiveness.
• Cost of Benefits
• Causes of Absenteeism
• Cost of Training
• Training time
• Training effectiveness
Those who do not have an ERP system and I am thinking of a future must be doing it; Those who have it will experience leadership; and those who do not, will end up leaving the market.
OBJECTIVES OF GRADE WORK
3. Objectives of the degree work
Generals
The general objectives set out for carrying out the degree work are as follows:
- Analyze the incidences of the implantations of management systems in the internal policies of the companies. Motivate companies to acquire an ERP system Contribute to the role that technology plays in the development of the company.
Specific secondary or operational objectives
- Know the most used administrative management systems today Verify the existence of professional experts in the development of ERP systems implementation. Obtain the degree of satisfaction of companies that have ERP systems.
4. Operational methodology for work development
To develop this work, the application of a methodological design is considered, based on the different characteristics of the study to be carried out.
The study to be carried out will be of a descriptive type, seeking to specify the most important properties of the element under study, to describe what you want to investigate. For this, the variables with which the elements under study have to do will be measured independently. The methodology to be used in our study is systemic, since it seeks to model the object by determining its components, as well as the relationships between them. These relationships determine the structure of the object on the one hand and its dynamics on the other.
Regarding the investigation procedure, the selected universe will be all the types of automated management control systems existing in the city of Santo Domingo, comparing these with the ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system, of relatively new technology, already used by different companies in the Dominican Republic.
The observation procedures are, literature review which consists of analyzing technical information and procedures proposed by different authors, organizations and companies supplying the item. Secondly, an observation by means of an interview type survey carried out basically on companies dedicated to the sale and installation of the systems that are part of our variables, and, finally, a possible direct and simple observation of the systems currently used in companies.
To carry out the observation by interview type survey, the steps to follow will be the following:
-Confection of the survey to carry out the interview.
- Make an appointment.
- Apply the survey.
- Process the information.
This interview will be of the poll type, 5. Techniques to use in the methodological development of the work.
Scientific research is carried out following a method, which is a planned procedure that allows us to approach the investigated reality to know it and verify the veracity of our knowledge.
Now, for the method to be applied, the help of various techniques is required, both to gather information and to check the knowledge acquired in the technical application. In the development of our work, we will use different types of techniques to complement the method that we will also apply to undergraduate work.
Technique is an operational, manual or intellectual resource that allows us to carry out a certain activity with the help of instruments, tools or procedures that are systematically used and facilitate human activity in any area of work.
In our degree work, we will apply two commonly used techniques, such as:
Documentary Technique: In our investigation we will require information, already obtained, verified and exposed to know about everything related to management control systems.
We will have to help ourselves with all possible means: books, magazines, newspapers, manuals and photographs that can help us to properly manage and carry out this degree project.
Observation: it is an indispensable requirement for the development of our work, since we have to capture the effect of the implementation of ERP systems in order to assess its impact.
Questionnaire: through this we will formulate a series of questions that allow us to gather as much information as possible.
Interview: we will use the interviews to apply the questionnaire to those people (stakeholders) who provide us with information about the integrated information systems.
Survey: by means of this resource, questions will be asked to the respondents who cross to obtain satisfactory results.
6. Documentation source
For the present Project
Primary
- Rodríguez, Juan Emilio: Chairs UNAPEC Degree Seminar. Grullón, Germania: Chairs Design of Accounting Systems UNAPEC. Martínez, Jorge: Workshop The New Approach to Internal Control
high schools
- Besley, Scott: Fundamentals of Financial Management Twelfth Edition (2002). Fernández Estrada, María Eugenia: La Revolución de los ERP, Guadalajara, Jalisco, México February (2003) Grant, Norris E-Bussines and ERP, Transforming the enterprise. (2000). Grave Cristerna, Héctor Daniel: Why do ERP Implementations Fail? González Camilo, Baltasar: Undergraduate Work Regulations. González Camilo, Baltasar: Official Degree Work Guide.
For Undergraduate Work (Initial Bibliography)
Primary
- Rodríguez, Juan Emilio: Chairs UNAPEC Degree Seminar. Grullón, Germania: Chairs Design of Accounting Systems UNAPEC. Martínez, Jorge: Workshop The New Approach to Internal Control. Medina Giopp, Alejandro: Consultation on Management Indicators Susel, Alejandro: Interview on Integrated Management Control Systems.
high schools
- CAMACHO, Salvador. (1997). Planning of Business Resources. HERNANDEZ, José Antonio. (1999). SAP R / 3. Ed. Mc Graw Hill, Santafé de Bogotá (Colombia), April 1998 PUERTO, Luis Alfredo. (2000). Impact of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solutions, June 2000 Kewill systems; http://www.kewill.com/; USA 2003. Computer World Magazine, Number 259, Year 2002. www.sap.cl, Provider of ERP systems in Chile. www.mekano.cl, JD Edwards Systems Distributor in Chile.
