1. Integrated functions beyond MRP scope
Including quality management; Laboratory management; Process operation management; Formula management; Product data management; Maintenance management; Control reporting and warehouse management.
2. Support mixed manufacturing environment
Including a manufacturing environment capable of supporting discreteness and process; The ability to combine business processes with international applications according to an object-oriented business model.
3. Support dynamic monitoring capability and improve business performance.
Including the adoption of control and engineering methods throughout the enterprise; Analog function; Decision support and graphic ability for production and analysis.
4. Support an open client/server computing environment.
Comprise a client/server architecture; Graphical user interface (GUI); Computer aided design engineering (CASE), object-oriented technology; Query relational database with SQL; Internal integration of engineering systems, business systems, data acquisition and external integration (EDI).
ERP is beyond MRP II. ERP is essentially based on MRP II, but it has surpassed the traditional MRP II in function and technology. This is a customer-driven, time-based enterprise resource planning for the whole supply chain management.
First, the management concept of ERP system
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 LP(Lean Proction)", which is a 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 "agility". 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.
Second, the relationship between the application of ERP and enterprises
ERP is an advanced and effective management concept and method, which borrows a new management mode to transform the old management mode of the original enterprise. In the practical popularization and application of ERP software, its application depth and breadth are not in place, and the effect of most enterprises is not significant, which has not aroused the shock of enterprise decision makers and people's extensive concern.
1. Implementing ERP is an all-round change in enterprise management.
Enterprise leaders should be educated first, followed by the implementers and executors of modern management theory, standardize enterprise management and its related links, make it become the conscious action of leaders, management and employees, and make modern management consciousness take root in enterprises and become a part of enterprise culture. It seems that there is no room for negotiation for foreign enterprises to implement ERP, and they are fully accepted and self-conscious. In fact, it is a matter of course to run a business, but we still have to wait for our concept to be upgraded and updated. Sometimes we have to avoid sharp edges, accommodate stale ideas and shirk each other. If we do not resolutely bid farewell to these bad habits, this all-round change will be repeated or even aborted.
2. The enterprise management team should master the knowledge of * * *.
Look inward, practice internal strength and do the basic work of management. No matter how good the application software and software suppliers can provide, they can only rely on their own efforts. The implementation of ERP is called "first-hand project", which shows the special role of enterprise decision makers in the implementation of ERP. ERP is a management system that affects the overall situation. Without the participation and authorization of the top leaders, it is difficult to mobilize the overall situation.
3.ERP investment is a systematic project.
Compared with the input and output of other fixed assets equipment, the input and output of ERP are not so intuitive, simple and clear, and it is impossible for the input to be rewarded immediately and see benefits. The input of ERP is a systematic project, and it is impossible to get immediate results. Mainly to carry out management ideas, which is a red line in enterprise management. It works for a long time, creates benefits, and needs to seek benefits from management in the process of deepening.
In addition, the implementation of ERP should be tailored to local conditions and vary from enterprise to enterprise. First of all, we should set up corresponding systems according to the specific needs of enterprises, instead of installing minicomputers or WindowsNT in general regardless of the size of enterprises. This long-term operation will do great harm to enterprises. Secondly, this kind of investment is not once and for all. With the rapid development of technology and the deepening of work, enterprises will feel the shortage of resources more and more. Therefore, there should be corresponding investment every year to ensure the healthy operation of the system.
4.4 implementation. ERP needs compound talents.
They should know both computer technology and management. At present, the cultivation of compound talents in colleges and universities is far from meeting the needs of enterprises. The cultivation of compound talents needs a process and a certain time, but enterprise leaders often regard these talents as general managers, not as hard-won wealth of enterprises. They are an important team. This is related to long-term neglect of management. The position of these compound talents in enterprises is far inferior to that of market developers and product developers, but they play an "auxiliary" role, not the object of policy inclination. This factor is an important reason for brain drain. In addition, when enterprises engage in ERP, these compound talents play a leading role. Once management enters the routine, they seem to become redundant, which has become an inevitable law. In the talent market, compound talents are the most active, and those entrepreneurs with vision will make great efforts to tap talents, which is not conducive to the stability of the executive team.
In a word, qualified enterprises should seize the opportunity to implement ERP management system, not just engage in pure theoretical research, re-study and long-term investigation. First sort out the basic data of internal management, choose or develop ERP software suitable for your own enterprise, and then go when the conditions are ripe.
Third, the risk of ERP and its prevention
No matter how superior the conditions of enterprises are and how well prepared they are, the risks of implementation still exist. In the implementation cycle of ERP system, various influencing factors may change at any time. How to effectively manage and control risks is one of the important links to ensure the success of ERP system implementation.
Risk of ERP project
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;
7. Inappropriate or incomplete disaster prevention measures can easily lead to system collapse.
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. Project preparation
The determination of hardware and network scheme, the selection of ERP system and the evaluation of consulting partners are the three main tasks at this stage, and they 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 control
Business process reengineering 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
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, there is a widespread problem of neglecting 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 permission, application system function permission, data access permission, virus prevention, illegal intrusion supervision, data change tracking, data security backup and 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. Accident or disaster
Irresistible natural disasters such as floods, fires and earthquakes will bring devastating blows to ERP systems. 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.
Fourthly, the sign of successful ERP application.
In principle, the success of ERP application can be measured from the following aspects:
1. System operation integration:
This is the most basic performance of ERP application success in technical solutions. ERP system is a software system for integrated management of enterprise logistics, capital flow and information flow, and its core management idea is to realize the management of "supply chain". The application of software will span many departments and even many enterprises. To achieve the expected application goal, the most basic requirement is that the system can run, realize integrated application, and establish a perfect data system and information sharing mechanism for enterprise decision-making.
Generally speaking, if ERP system is only used in the financial department, it can only standardize financial management and improve the management of accounts receivable and funds; Only in the sales department can it strengthen and improve marketing management; Only used in the inventory management department, it can only help to master inventory information; Only in the production department, it can only assist in making production plans and material demand plans. Only when integration works can we achieve:
Reduce inventory, improve capital utilization rate and control business risks;
Control the production cost of products and shorten the production cycle;
Improve product quality and qualified rate;
Reduce financial bad debts, bad debts, etc.
Whether these goals can really be achieved depends on the implementation effect of business process reengineering.
2. Rationalization of business processes:
This is the embodiment of the successful application of ERP in improving management efficiency. The premise of successful ERP application is that enterprises implement business process reengineering. Therefore, the success of ERP application means that the business processes of enterprises tend to be rationalized, and the following ultimate goals of ERP application have been achieved:
The competitiveness of enterprises has been greatly improved;
The response speed of enterprises to the market has been greatly accelerated;
Customer satisfaction has been significantly improved.
3. Dynamic performance monitoring:
The application of ERP will provide rich management information for enterprises. How to make good use of this information and really play a role in the process of enterprise management and decision-making is another sign to measure the success of ERP application. After the ERP system is fully put into practical operation, enterprises should design a report system according to management needs to dynamically monitor the changes of management performance, so as to timely feedback and correct the problems existing in management. This work is generally designed by enterprises after implementing ERP system. If the enterprise does not use the information resources provided by ERP system to establish its own performance monitoring system, it means that the application of ERP system is not completely successful.
4. Continuous management improvement:
With the application of ERP system and the rationalization of business processes, the management level of enterprises will be significantly improved. In order to measure the improvement of enterprise management level, we can comprehensively evaluate the enterprise management level according to the enterprise management evaluation index system provided by management consulting companies. The evaluation process is not an end in itself, but the real purpose is to establish a mechanism for enterprises to constantly evaluate themselves and improve their management. This is also a sign that the successful application of ERP is often ignored by people.
When Gartner Group defined ERP as a software system in the early 1990s, no one expected that it would cause such a great response in enterprises all over the world. In today's China, this gradually subsided vibration has experienced one climax after another in recent two years. However, comparing the development of ERP with today's economic development, we have to face up to two problems:
The original definition of 1 Gartner's group is too narrow, which is far from the ERP that is actually used in real business life.
2. Some non-mainstream ideas are constantly distorting the true meaning of ERP for their own benefit.
These two problems constantly distort the thinking of ERP. For the latecomers, the true face of ERP has been hidden. So what is ERP?
Let me first review how Gartner Group defined ERP through a series of functional standards. Defined as follows:
1, which is beyond the scope and integration function of MRP-II;
2. Support mixed manufacturing environment;
3. Support dynamic monitoring ability to improve business performance;
4. Support an open client/server computing environment.
According to its definition, ERP is an application software system, which extends the management scope on the basis of MRPII software system. Its basic idea is to regard the business process of an enterprise as a closely connected supply chain and divide the enterprise into several supporting subsystems, such as finance, marketing, manufacturing, service maintenance and engineering technology. It can effectively manage all aspects of the enterprise, such as order, procurement, inventory, planning, manufacturing, quality control, transportation, distribution, service control, business risk and investment, decision support, laboratory/formula, human resources and so on. To provide more functions and tools for enterprises from the scope and depth of management.
From this application scope, it gives people the impression that firstly ERP is for manufacturing enterprises, and secondly it is just a software. However, after Gartner Group defined the term ERP, SAP creatively combined two unrelated concepts, ERP and BPR, thus creating a worldwide IT management miracle. At this point, the idea of Gartner Group was completely updated in practical application, and an ERP endowed with new content and significance was born:
1) ERP is not only a software system, but a comprehensive management application system integrating organizational model, business process, enterprise norms, information technology and implementation methods;
2) ERP makes the management core of an enterprise change from "manufacturing and selling the right products at the right time" to "obtaining the maximum profit of the enterprise at the best time and place", and the application scope of this management method and means has also expanded from manufacturing enterprises to enterprises in different industries;
3) ERP has developed from satisfying dynamic monitoring to introducing business intelligence, which makes the simple thing handling system in the past become a real intelligent management control system;
4) From the structure of software system, the current ERP must be able to adapt to the application of the Internet, support cross-platform and multi-organization applications, and have a wide range of data and business logic interfaces with e-commerce applications.
Then let's define ERP in this way: the so-called ERP is to use information technology to realize resource sharing and cooperation within enterprises, overcome bureaucratic constraints within enterprises, and make business processes seamlessly and smoothly connected, thus improving management efficiency and business accuracy and improving profitability.
From the function of ERP, a mature ERP system must have the following functions:
1. has a reference business model, can customize the work according to the actual needs of customers based on this model, and has a series of modeling means and methods;
2. To realize the application of multi-accounting organizations, multi-factories and multi-locations, it is necessary to realize centralized and distributed application modes;
3. Must have at least five basic subsystems of finance, procurement, sales, production and human resources and an information analysis platform, be able to have or support specialized quality management, equipment management, industry-specific management and business intelligence systems, and have interfaces with other related applications, such as specialized CRM, SCM, CAD and industrial control systems, all of which can achieve seamless and logical integration;
4. Realize the complete flow of logistics, information flow and capital flow: that is, logistics should realize the positive flow from procurement to manufacturing to sales and the reverse information traceability; The information flow should realize the automatic generation of sales forecast, purchase plan and production plan and their related changes; It can realize online synchronous accounting of capital flow and logistics and online synchronous planning of information flow, and realize ABC (operating cost) control.
5. Realize the process control of logistics, information flow and capital flow: For example, in the logistics process, you must have invoices, orders and receiving and sending documents.
Three-single matching control; In the process of ordering, we should have multiple controls such as inventory, work in process, credit and financial budget. Must have multi-level workflow control, etc.
6. There should be a customized development platform or tool, which should at least support customers to collect and sort out output information at will.
7. Financial management should at least have the functions of accounting and management accounting, as well as the ability of fund management and asset management, and basically realize that accounting information comes directly from the business itself, not from the financial system itself, that is to say, more than 90% of accounting vouchers in the financial system are automatically generated.
8. In production management, at least the most basic discrete and process business models are supported, that is, planning according to BOM and capacity and execution according to work order, planning according to process and formula and producing periodically according to production schedule. These two models can be mixed, of course, MRP and JIT should also be mixed.
9. In the process of purchasing and selling, it is necessary to support multi-type and multi-location inventory management and warehouse management, among which inventory management and warehouse management are two different aspects; Multi-dimensional control of the ordering process should be supported, that is, inventory inspection, quality requirements, credit status, etc.
10. In human resource management, the core should be target management and performance appraisal, not simple personnel management.
The above ten points should constitute a basic ERP system. Of course, for a perfect solution, only the above functions are not enough, and a complete implementation method should be provided.
The particularity of ERP project determines that it must rely on the consultation and service of professional consultants. But enterprises must remember that the owner of the project is the enterprise itself, and the consultant only gives you advice at some point. He can't guarantee your success, and he won't serve you all his life, so how to learn the knowledge of consultants in the shortest time is very important.
The implementation of ERP will more or less involve the change of enterprise management process, so BRP is often combined with its implementation, and only this combination can make the enterprise's ERP system play its greatest role. Successful ERP implementation support must include extensive knowledge base and consultants with practical experience.
The implementation process of ERP basically goes through five stages and six steps, five stages:
1. Infrastructure construction
Step 2 introduce ideas
3. Business restructuring
4. System application
5. Continuous improvement
Six steps:
1. Scheme planning
2. Design institutions
3. Comprehensive training
4. Prototype definition
5. Data preparation
6. Line switching
These five stages and six steps are intertwined and constantly circulated to ensure the success of ERP projects.
For today's business managers, any investment must generate returns, otherwise it is a loss and profit. So, what kind of return can the investment in informatization bring to enterprises? This is the most concerned issue for all business decision makers when making decisions. I think this is also the right and wrong source of ERP implementation around enterprises in recent years. The investment in informatization, especially in ERP projects, is a special investment.
First of all, this kind of investment is not a one-off investment process. Once an enterprise chooses informatization, it may have a one-time cost of purchasing software and hardware, but the corresponding maintenance and service is indeed a perennial investment, especially the demand for improving the basic quality of the whole enterprise brought by informatization, which requires a long-term training investment process. Therefore, we generally use the term total cost of ownership (TCO) to evaluate information investment. TCO includes resource cost and training cost.
Secondly, management informatization is a comprehensive project, involving all aspects of an enterprise, and it is difficult to have an absolute indicator to explain the returns it produces, so it gives people the impression that informatization has only input but no output, so that managers can't clearly define their own priorities, either blindly investing or unwilling to invest.
Thirdly, information construction needs a long period, during which enterprise management will go through a painful transformation process. Because the operation of an enterprise is a continuous process, the old management model cannot be broken overnight, and the new management model cannot be established overnight. The running-in and gradual replacement of both parties will greatly increase the management workload of people in a certain period of time, during which many unexpected costs will be generated continuously.
Because of the particularity of this kind of investment, many managers are not fully prepared at the beginning of investment, so projects are often delayed or even abandoned halfway. In this way, there will be more investment to make up for the failure they think, and a lot of money will be generated, but a system of eating money will be produced. So how to avoid these bad results? In fact, it is very simple, that is, when we decide to invest, we clearly know what kind of information return we need to produce, that is, we should establish a project evaluation system and use clear and quantitative benchmarks to judge what kind of planning we should make, what kind of investment we should make and what kind of results we should get.
For suppliers, it is more important to provide it now.