We manage commercial operations through a computer system: any kind of software designed to help a company improve its productivity.
This term covers a wide range of software applications, from accounting, inventory, POS and office productivity programs (management software) to Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems.
ERP systems are characterized by being made up of different modules. These parts usually serve different purposes — for example: production, sales, purchasing, logistics, accounting (of various kinds), project management, GIS (geographic information system), inventory and warehouse control, orders, payroll, and so on.
The main purpose of an ERP is to support the business’s customers, deliver short response times to their problems, and manage information efficiently so that decisions can be made at the right moment while total operating costs go down.
What sets an ERP apart from any other business software is that it must be modular and configurable.
ERPs understand that a company is a set of departments interconnected by the information they share, which is generated through their processes.
One advantage of an ERP, both economic and technical, is that functionality is split into modules, which can be installed according to the customer’s requirements. For example: sales, materials, finance, warehouse control, human resources, and so on.
Modular
ERPs include different programs or modules that manage the company’s various departments, such as sales, marketing, warehousing or human resources. All these modules share information around a common database that underpins how the ERP works.
Configurable
ERPs can be configured through developments in the software’s code. The main features of an ERP are:
- The ERP components interact with one another, consolidating operations.
- A centralized database.
- In an ERP system, data is captured and must be consistent, complete and shared.
- Companies that implement one usually have to modify some of their processes to align them with those of the ERP system. This is known as process reengineering, though it isn’t always necessary.