ERP was first put forward by Gartner Group Consulting. As the most advanced enterprise management mode in the world today, it not only embodies the most advanced enterprise management theory in the world today, but also provides the best solution for enterprise information integration. It unifies the logistics, people flow, capital flow and information flow of an enterprise for management, so as to make maximum use of the existing resources of the enterprise and maximize the economic benefits of the enterprise.
It is a new generation integrated management information system developed from MRP (Material Resource Planning). It expands the function of MRP, and its core idea is supply chain management. It jumps out of the traditional enterprise boundary and optimizes the enterprise resources from the scope of supply chain. It is a new generation information system based on the era of network economy. It plays an obvious role in improving business processes and enhancing the core competitiveness of enterprises. ERP began to appear in the early 1980s. Since 1990s, internationally renowned ERP products such as SAP and Oracle have entered China and expanded rapidly. Then, some early ERP products appeared in China, such as Boko ERP, Lima ERP, Hejia ERP and Case ERP.
ERP is a huge management information system. To clarify the principle of ERP, we must first follow the four main stages of ERP development and start with the basic principles of MRP in the 1960s.
ERP development stage diagram
1940s: Before the appearance of computer system, in order to solve the problem of inventory control, people put forward the order point method. Time-division MRP in 1960s: With the development of computer system, it is possible to calculate a large amount of data in a short time. In order to solve the defects of order point method, people put forward MRP theory as a kind of inventory order planning-MRP (material demand planning), that is, material demand planning stage, or basic MRP stage. Closed-loop MRP in 1970s: With the deepening of people's understanding and the further popularization of computer systems, the theoretical category of MRP has also been developed. In order to solve the management of purchasing, inventory, production and sales, the theories of production capacity demand planning, workshop operation planning and purchasing operation planning have developed into a production planning and control system-closed loop MRP. In these two stages, Toyota production mode (Kanban management), TQC (Total Quality Management), JIT (Just in Time Production) and CNC machine tools appeared. MRPⅱ in 1980s: With the development of computer network technology, the internal information of enterprises has been fully enjoyed, and the subsystems of MRP have been unified, forming a subsystem integrating procurement, inventory, production, sales, finance and engineering technology, and developing MRPⅱ theory as an enterprise management information system-MRP ⅱ stage. The representative technology at this stage is CIMS (Computer Integrated Manufacturing System). In the 1990s, with the further intensification of market competition and the further expansion of the competition space and scope of enterprises, the idea of MRPⅱⅱ II II, which was mainly oriented to the overall planning management of internal resources of enterprises in the 1980s, gradually developed into the management idea of how to effectively utilize and manage the overall resources in the 1990s, and ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) came into being. ERP was first put forward in the early 1990s. The explanation at that time was based on the development of computer technology and supply chain management, inferring the development trend and changes of management information systems in various manufacturing industries in the information age.
Application and Development of ERP in China
The introduction of ERP is a concern of many enterprises. Since 198 1, the application and popularization of MRPII/ERP in China has experienced nearly 20 years. According to incomplete statistics, about 700 enterprises in China have purchased or used this advanced management software. However, the effect of its application is very uneven, and there is a big gap between enterprises. Therefore, it is necessary for us to review and think about the whole process.
Looking back on the application and development of MRP-II/ERP in China, it can be roughly divided into three stages:
The first stage: start-up period.
This stage almost ran through the whole 1980s, and its main feature was based on the introduction, implementation and partial application of MRP-II, and its application scope was limited to the traditional machinery manufacturing industry (mostly machine tool manufacturing, automobile manufacturing and other industries). Due to various obstacles, the application effect is limited, which is called the "three three theories" stage.
In 1980s, China has just entered the transition stage of market economy, and the awareness of enterprises participating in market competition is not yet available or strong. There are many problems in enterprise production management: the per capita labor productivity of machinery manufacturing industry is only about one tenth of that of advanced industrial countries; Long product delivery cycle; Inventory reserve funds occupy more, equipment utilization rate is low and so on. In order to improve this backward situation, some enterprises in China's machinery industry system, such as Shenyang No.1 Machine Tool Factory, Shenyang Blower Factory, Beijing No.1 Machine Tool Factory, No.1 Automobile Factory and Guangzhou Peugeot Automobile Company, have introduced MRP-II software from abroad. As pioneers of MRP-II application in China, they have gone through a bumpy and tortuous road.
First of all, there are technical problems in the management software itself. At that time, most of the imported foreign software ran on large and medium-sized computers, and most of them were relatively closed special systems, with poor openness and universality, huge equipment, complicated operation and difficult to improve system performance. Moreover, the localization of foreign software has not been completed yet, with high cost and lack of corresponding technical support and services; Secondly, there is a lack of experience in the application and implementation of MRP-II. Third, there are obstacles in ideological understanding. At that time, the leaders of most enterprises did not pay enough attention to this project, but only regarded it as a simple computer technology. Nevertheless, some enterprises have gained some benefits, such as Beijing No.1 Machine Tool Factory, Shenyang Machine Tool Factory and Shenyang Blower Factory. There are still some enterprises whose applications are not ideal. For example, in the late 1980s, Guangzhou Peugeot Automobile Company spent more than 20 million francs to introduce MRP-II system from France and install it on two DPS7000 mainframes of Bull Company. The goal is to realize the unified management of the company's orders, inventory, production, sales, personnel and finance, and improve the company's operational efficiency, but the result is that its application part still fails to reach one tenth of the functions of the software system. So generally speaking, the benefits obtained by enterprises are far from the huge investment and the original grand plan.
So some people think that "foreign MRP-II software is not suitable for China's national conditions and factory conditions"; After analyzing and summarizing the application of this paragraph, some experts and scholars put forward the statement of "two thirds", that is, "one third of foreign MRP-II software can be used, one third can be used after modification, and one third cannot be used." This is the stage of the "three-thirds system" theory.
The second stage: growth period.
This stage is roughly from 1990 to 1996. Its main feature is that the application and promotion of MRP-II/ERP in China has achieved good results, which denies the previous concept in practice and is called the "three-three rest" stage.
At present, most of the dominant players are foreign software. With the deepening of reform and opening up, China's economic system has changed from a planned economy to a market economy, and the product market situation has changed significantly. This poses a severe challenge to the traditional management model. Although the management software at this stage is still mainly located in the popularization and application of MRP-II software, the fields involved have broken through the mechanical industry and expanded to aerospace, electronic home appliances, pharmaceuticals, chemical industry and other industries. Typical enterprises include Chengdu Aircraft Manufacturing Industrial Company, Guangdong Kelon Rong Sheng Refrigerator Factory, Shaanxi Jingwei Textile Machinery Factory, Shanghai Machine Tool Factory, FAW Audi Co., Ltd., etc. In addition, after the national "863”CIMS (Computer Integrated Manufacturing System) key project started, the old users of MRP-II such as Beijing No.1 Machine Tool Factory, Shenyang Machine Tool Factory and Shenyang Blower Factory have successively obtained gratifying benefits. For example, the management information system of Beijing No.1 Machine Tool Plant, which takes production management as the core, connects with various functional departments such as material supply, production, planning and finance, can quickly adjust plans and balance production capacity according to market changes, and the efficiency has been improved by more than 30 times. Therefore, it was awarded the "Industry Leading Award" by the American Institute of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) in June199565438+1October. The MRP-II project of Guangdong Kelon Rong Sheng Refrigerator Factory was recognized by the experts of American APICS (American Production and Inventory Management Association, founded in 1957) as reaching the A-level application level, and so on. In a word, it is undeniable that most MRP-II users have gained more or less benefits after applying the system.
The main reasons for this achievement are: first, the development of computer technology. For example, the introduction and popularization of client/server architecture and computer network technology, the expansion of software system on UNIX minicomputer/workstation and microcomputer platform, and the universality and openness of software development trend all make the application of MRP-II develop to a deeper and wider scope; Second, because China enterprises have entered the stage of system transformation and innovation, they actively innovate enterprise management systems and methods and adopt new management means to enhance their comprehensive strength; Thirdly, some foreign software companies have completed the localization work, and their products have also made many improvements in terms of openness and versatility. At the same time, China's financial system and market mechanism are gradually moving closer to internationalization. Moreover, some domestic companies have developed and modified foreign software for the second time to form a domestic version, which gives China enterprises a wider choice; Fourthly, after a period of study and exploration, people began to change their ideas and accumulated some experience in practice. To this end, people of insight in the industry shouted "three three customs", and then affirmed the promotion and application of MRP-II in China at this stage.
However, it cannot be ignored that although great achievements have been made, there are still many shortcomings, including: (1) lack of overall planning in the selection and application of MRP-II; (2) The scope of application is not wide enough, and it is basically limited to manufacturing; (3) The scope and functions of management are limited to the enterprise, and all links in the supply chain are not included in the management scope of the enterprise; (4) When some enterprises started the project, they did not make a detailed and comprehensive investigation on the software function and the after-sales technical support of suppliers, which caused unnecessary waste.
The third stage: maturity.
This period is from 1997 to the beginning of the next century. Its main feature is the introduction of ERP and its leading role. The application scope has also expanded from manufacturing to secondary and tertiary industries; And because of continuous practice and exploration, the application effect has also been significantly improved, thus entering the "mature stage" of ERP application.
The full development of the tertiary industry is a remarkable symbol of modern economic development. The financial industry has become the core of the modern economy, and the information industry has increasingly become the dominant of the modern economy, which objectively requires a new management software to adapt to it. Therefore, ERP has become the protagonist at this stage, and has extended its tentacles to various industries, especially the financial industry, communication industry, high-tech industry and retail industry in the tertiary industry. Thereby greatly expanding the application scope of ERP. For example, SAP, a well-known ERP software supplier in Germany, has launched solutions for many industries, including financial industry, high-tech industry, post and telecommunications industry and energy industry (electricity, oil and gas, coal industry, etc.). ), public utilities, commerce and retail, foreign trade, news publishing, consulting services, and even health care, hotels.
In addition, with the development of market economy, the original management methods of China enterprises have long been unable to meet the requirements of fierce competition. Enterprises are facing an increasingly fierce competitive environment, but ERP is gradually favored by enterprises because of its more functions. It can provide enterprises with the functions that MRP-II does not have, such as investment management, risk analysis, information integration of multinational and trans-regional groups, profit analysis, sales analysis, market forecast, decision-making information analysis, promotion and distribution, after-sales service and maintenance, total quality management, transportation management, human resource management, project management and the realization of e-commerce through the Internet. Enterprises can use these tools to expand the scope of business management, keep up with the changing market dynamics and attend international conferences.
However, under the new situation, new problems have emerged, which are mainly manifested in the following: (1) When enterprises implement ERP projects, there is a phenomenon of "wearing new shoes and taking the old road". Most enterprises fail to effectively combine the optimization and reorganization of business processes with the implementation of ERP, resulting in the situation that only the original manual operation is replaced by computers, and it is difficult to give full play to the functions of ERP. (2) The domestic ERP market is immature, and it is difficult to standardize the behavior of manufacturers. For example, in order to achieve their own sales goals, individual companies reach a contract irresponsibly, regardless of whether their products are suitable for the seller's reality, which leads to the failure of subsequent implementation and poor results.
But in any case, the macro-environment of China is improving day by day, and the rise and fall of enterprises in the future will depend more on their own competitiveness. In this situation, we believe that in the "mature stage", more and more enterprises in China will recognize ERP and use it, so as to achieve two rounds of progress in technology and management, and the management level and economic benefits of enterprises will be greatly improved.