Introduction to ERP
ERP is the abbreviation of enterprise resource planning. In 1990s, according to the development of computer information, IT technology and the demand of supply chain management, an American IT company predicted the development trend and upcoming changes of enterprise management information system in the information age, and put forward this concept. enterprise resource planning
ERP is an enterprise management software that integrates material resource management (logistics), human resource management (people flow), financial resource management (capital flow) and information resource management (information flow). A concept developed by Gartner Group describes the next generation manufacturing business system and manufacturing resource planning (MRP II) software. It will include a client/service architecture, using a graphical user interface, and through the use of open systems. In addition to the existing standard functions, it also includes other functions, such as quality, process operation management and adjustment report. In particular, the basic technology adopted by ERP will make users independent in both software and hardware, making it easier to upgrade. The key of ERP is that all users can tailor their own applications, so it is naturally easy to use.
However, ERP itself is not management and cannot replace management. ERP itself cannot solve the management problems of enterprises. Enterprise management problems can only be solved by managers themselves. ERP can be a tool for managers to solve enterprise management problems. Because many enterprises mistakenly regard ERP as management itself, they failed to seriously analyze the management problems of enterprises and find solutions before ERP implementation, and relied too much on ERP to solve the problems.
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, capital flow and information flow of enterprises for management, so as to maximize the use of existing resources of enterprises and maximize the economic benefits of enterprises. The core management idea of ERP is to realize the effective management of the whole supply chain, which is mainly reflected in the following three aspects:
1, which embodies the idea of managing the whole supply chain resources.
In the era of knowledge economy, it is impossible to effectively participate in market competition only by relying on the resources of its own enterprises. All parties involved in the operation process, such as suppliers, manufacturers, distribution networks and customers, must be brought into a close supply chain, so as to effectively arrange production and supply and marketing activities of enterprises, meet the needs of enterprises to use all market resources of the whole society to carry out production and operation quickly and efficiently, and further improve efficiency and gain market competitive advantages. In other words, modern enterprise competition is not the competition between individual enterprises, but the competition between one enterprise supply chain and another. ERP system realizes the management of the whole enterprise supply chain and meets the needs of market competition in the era of knowledge economy.
2. Reflect the ideas of lean production, synchronous engineering and agile manufacturing.
ERP system supports the management of mixed production mode, and its management ideas are manifested in two aspects: one is the idea of "lean production", which is the business strategy system put forward by MIT. That is, when an enterprise organizes production by mass production, it brings customers, sales agents, suppliers and cooperative units into the production system. The relationship between enterprises and sales agents, customers and suppliers is no longer a simple business relationship, but a cooperative partnership with * * * interests. This kind of partnership constitutes the supply chain of enterprises, which is the core idea of lean production. The second is the idea of "agile manufacturing". When the market changes and enterprises meet specific market and product requirements, the basic partners of enterprises may not be able to meet the requirements of new product development and production. At this time, the enterprise will organize a short-term or one-off supply chain composed of specific suppliers and sales channels to form a "virtual factory", regard suppliers and cooperative units as components of the enterprise, and adopt "synchronous engineering" to organize production, so as to bring new products to the market in the shortest time and keep products at all times.
3. Reflect the idea of planning in advance and controlling in the process.
The planning system in ERP system mainly includes master production plan, material demand plan, capacity plan, purchase plan, sales execution plan, profit plan, financial budget and human resource plan, and these planning functions and value control functions have been completely integrated into the whole supply chain system. On the other hand, the ERP system defines the accounting subjects and accounting methods related to the transaction, so as to automatically generate accounting entries when the transaction occurs, and ensure the synchronous record and data consistency of capital flow and logistics. Therefore, according to the present situation of financial funds, we can trace the ins and outs of funds, further trace related business activities, change the situation that funds information lags behind material information, and facilitate the control and real-time decision-making in the process.
In addition, the functions of planning, transaction processing, control and decision-making are all realized in the business process of the whole supply chain. It is required to give full play to everyone's work potential and sense of responsibility in the business process of each process, and emphasize the spirit of cooperation between processes, so as to give full play to everyone's subjective initiative and potential in an organic organization. Realize the transformation of enterprise management from "towering" organizational structure to "flat" organizational structure, and improve the response speed of enterprises to dynamic changes in the market. In a word, with the rapid development and application of IT technology, ERP system can transform many advanced management ideas into practical computer software systems.
Usually, when considering the factors of failure, people usually focus on the analysis of many factors in the implementation process, and often ignore the potential risks of ERP system before and after the project starts. For ERP projects, risks exist in the whole process of the project, including project planning, project preparation, implementation process and system operation.
To sum up, the risks of ERP projects mainly include the following aspects:
1. Lack of planning or unreasonable planning;
2. Inadequate project preparation, manifested in the wrong choice of hardware and ERP software;
3. The implementation process is not strictly controlled, and the stage results are not up to standard;
4. The design process lacks effective control links;
5. Failure to evaluate the implementation effect or unreasonable evaluation;
6. The system security design is not perfect, and there is a hidden danger that the system is illegally invaded; seven
Improper or incomplete disaster prevention measures can easily lead to system collapse.
Details are as follows:
(1). Strategic plan
Does the enterprise have a five-year IT system plan? With the informationization of society, IT system is not only a tool for enterprises, but also a technical means. As an important part of IT system, ERP serves the long-term planning of enterprises and is the means and guarantee of long-term planning. The goal of ERP originates from IT system planning, which is the basic standard to evaluate the success or failure of ERP system. The implementation scope and content of ERP system should be determined according to IT system planning.
(2) Determination of hardware and network scheme, selection of ERP system and evaluation of consulting partners are the three main tasks at this stage, which are also the three major elements of ERP system implementation. Hardware and network schemes directly affect the performance, reliability and stability of the system. The function of ERP system determines the satisfaction degree of enterprise demand; The working ability and experience of consulting partners determine the quality and effect of the implementation process.
(3) Project implementation control In the implementation of ERP system, project management technology is usually used to control and manage the implementation process. Effective implementation control is manifested in scientific implementation plan, clear stage results and strict results audit. Moreover, effective control is also manifested in active coordination and unobstructed information transmission channels. Organizations implementing ERP include: steering committee, project manager, external consultant, IT department, implementation team of functional departments and end users of functional departments. The coordination and communication between departments determine the quality and efficiency of the implementation process. At present, this kind of risk is particularly obvious and serious in the absence of suitable project managers in enterprises.
(4) Business process reengineering of business process control enterprises is completed in the design stage of project implementation. The control and supervision links in the process ensure that all businesses are under effective control after ERP is officially put into operation, so as to avoid human losses of enterprises. When designing the control link, we should give consideration to both control and efficiency. Too many control links and redundant business processes will inevitably reduce work efficiency. The lack of control links will lead to the risk of business out of control.
(5). Project implementation effect
Enterprise Resources Planning
Although project evaluation is the last link in the process of ERP implementation. But this does not mean that project evaluation is unimportant. On the contrary, the result of project evaluation is a direct reflection of the effect of ERP implementation. Correctly evaluating the implementation results is inseparable from clear implementation objectives, objective evaluation criteria and scientific evaluation methods. At present, people generally ignore project evaluation.
Ignoring the project evaluation will bring the hidden danger that the implementation team does not care about the implementation results. This is the great risk of ERP project.
(6) System security management system security includes: operating system authorization, network equipment authority, application system function authority, data access authority, virus prevention, illegal intrusion supervision, data change tracking, data security backup archiving, computer room security management regulations, system administrator supervision and so on. At present, few people in enterprises are proficient in computer technology, and few computers are networked. Therefore, in the implementation of ERP system, there is a widespread phenomenon of not paying attention to system security. For example, users do not pay attention to password confidentiality, and super users authorize multiple people. The direct consequence of the lack of safety awareness is that there are loopholes and defects in the safety design of the system. In recent years, newspapers have constantly disclosed the news that the computer system of banks or enterprises has been illegally invaded, which has sounded the alarm for enterprises.
(7) Accidents or disasters, floods, fires, earthquakes and other irresistible natural disasters will bring a devastating blow to the ERP system. After the ERP system is officially launched by enterprises, this kind of destruction will directly cause the interruption of business transactions and bring immeasurable losses to enterprises. Preventive strategies and countermeasures are the best way to reduce this risk. Such as establishing a remote backup and recovery mechanism; Steps and measures to resume manual business processing when the computer system can't work normally.