Enterprise Resource Planning software, most often labeled by the initials ERP, is exactly what it says it is –a tool to help businesses better plan the resources and operations that are at the heart of the company.  It functions for a wide range of operations that supports multi-use modules of application software. ERP Software helps companies manage product parts for purchasing, maintain inventories, improve customer service, track orders, and interact with suppliers, and while all of this was being done before –the difference that ERP Software brought to the table is the ability to integrate every operation within the business. This assimilation of processes, procedures, and department data created more streamlined, efficient, and effective enterprises. Data sharing combined with visibility across departments had the effect of eliminating a tremendous amount of painstaking, time-consuming redundancy, which had previously bogged business progress. Prior to the use of ERP software, different departments used separate applications. This meant it could take days to track down information from one department and get it to another. At the same time, lack of visibility meant the same data was being entered into the business system at more than one location. Needless to say, all of these delays equaled loss of profits.

ERP Software

The history of ERP software really began in the 1940s, although the actual idiom "software" did not gain popularity until the 60s. In the beginning, the software was limited. It applied only to manufacturing firms and dealt only with controlling levels of inventory. Later, more specific software was developed so businesses could organize and manage many more basic functions. As these software solutions became commonplace, a need grew for more robust applications capable of addressing other, more complex, areas of business. Slowly, over the next two decades, the evolution of knowledge and technology eventually led to what is now known as Manufacturing ERP Software.

Manufacturing ERP Software

ERP Software is today available for almost any industry niche imaginable. For example, special ERP software exists that has been especially developed for accounting firms, oil and gas, non-profits, apparel, food and beverage, medical clinics, law firms, etc. Nevertheless, it stands to reason that since the raison d’être of ERP was the manufacturing industry, Manufacturing ERP Software makes a particularly strong representation in the marketplace. As a result, ERP software typically comes with features that enable it to work with different manufacturing methodologies like discrete, flow, and process manufacturing.

A narrow definition of manufacturing states that manufacturing is a shop floor operations that converts raw materials into finished products In a manufacturing company, therefore, an ERP software system is designed to coordinate the activities that have to occur in order for a manufacturer to receive an order, manufacture a product, and then deliver the finished product to the customer.

Written by :

kristine H