Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) streamlines the business processes of a manufacturing and distribution enterprise. The software cleanly integrates different areas within an organization to improve the delivery of critical information to users and improves data consistency to help manufacturers respond quickly to their customer demands. Further, the information is accurate and updated in real time by the users and accessible when critical decisions need to be made.

MRP tends to be used as a generic term to describe manufacturing systems with much broader capabilities, typically including financial, purchasing, sales, distribution, inventory and production modules in addition to the traditional MRP planning modules. As manufacturing has become globalized and computer technology has developed to enable cost effective desktop access to information, most MRP vendors have further extended their products (e.g. adding human resource modules etc.) and rebranded them as ERP solutions to emphasise their objective of addressing the total needs of large enterprises.

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) can sometimes be thought of as an advanced MRP II system with capabilities in three core areas: Customer Service, Manufacturing and Finance.

Customer Service

• Sales Order Processing - Manages all aspects of contact with customers. Support high-volume order processing or complex configurable orders.

• Product Configurator - Capabilities for configure-to-order manufacturers. Set up in a rules-based environment, the software makes it possible to handle multiple configurations through a selection of options through the interface. This module may be used separately or called to the screen while entering sales orders, work orders, jobs or estimating the cost of a product.

• EDI - Enables electronic transmission of routine business documents between computer systems and business partners. Documents such as purchase orders, invoices, credit notices, and shipping notices can be sent without generation of any paperwork.

Manufacturing

• Costing - Designed to match a variety of costing approaches including activity-based costing. Unlimited cost "sets" can be created, each containing an unlimited number of cost elements. Overhead absorption is supported, as well as traditional functions such as variance and historical cost reporting.

• Purchasing - Designed to help organizations dynamically respond to changing markets and maintain a constant flow of inventory to enhance cash flow and shorten delivery times.

• Master Production Scheduling (MPS) - Provides the master schedule for production.

• Engineering - Provides the ability to integrate at the engineering level to ensure accurate updated information to any changes within a product.

• Manufacturing Resource Planning (MRP) - Creates the production schedule based on inventory and other critical resources necessary for generation.

• Capacity Resource Planning - Enables forecasting of production capacity with the ability to look at best/worse case scenarios before MRP generation.

• Rough Cut Resource Planning (RCRP) - Simulates forecasting of critical resources (i.e., material, labor) based on current information in a multitude of scenarios to find best fit for production.

• Shop Floor - Provides complete control over the production process. Monitors a work order from inception to fulfillment of the order, and tracks all production costs. Supports processes such as backflushing and backflushing by operation.

• Repetitive - Enables a repetitive shop with the ability to generate daily schedules and calculate available-to-promise values against a schedule. It also enables companies to run discrete and repetitive operations simultaneously.

• Lot Control - Provides industries that demand comprehensive tracking capabilities a way to handle every detail in a manner that simplifies and automates the entire process. From supplier lot numbers on purchased parts to finished goods serial numbers, complete on-line reporting will illustrate an entire "cradle-to-grave" lifecycle.

Financial

• Accounts Receivable - Delivers the latest tools to control and expedite the receipt of monies from the entry of sales order to posting payments received. Managing cash flow, generation of invoices, cash receipts, customer statements and adjustments are all easily managed.

• Accounts Payable - Provides full functionality and integration to other areas such as customer service, purchasing and other manufacturing functions. All payable transactions are automatically posted to the General Ledger, maintaining a full audit of activity.

• Financial Consolidation - Individual business units may view their financial information, or parent companies can roll up all business subsidiaries and view the consolidated information.

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