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Unit 11: Enterprise Resource Planning – II

The project - e-vistaa - is expected to be completed in about a year’s time, with the basic Notes
ERP modules rolling out in about nine months from now.
This IT initiative, according to Dr. D. Jayavarthanavelu, Chairman, LMW, would be on a
three-tier architecture with the central database and application server. Development and
testing works are to be carried out in a separate server.

While the central hub is being located at LMW Unit I at Perianaickenpalayam near here,
other production units are to be linked to the main hub through WAN (Wide Area
Network).
For initiating the e-transformation exercise, LMW has chosen Oracle 11i footprint, which
is an end-to-end business suite. The global software service provider, TCS, has tied-up
with LMW as its ERP implementation partner.

Source: http://www.thehindubusinessline.in/2002/05/28/stories/2002052800690700.htm
Self Assessment

Fill in the blanks:
1. The process of ........................................ is actually referred to as life cycle.
2. The ........................................ of the project is required in order to ascertain the effectiveness
of the product.
3. In ........................................ phase, the details of the implementation are worked out.
4. ........................................ is a stage in which the company identifies the gaps that needs to be
traversed to make the company’s practice in sync with ERP environment.
5. ........................................ phase is marked by attempts to break the system.

11.2 ERP Best Practices

Enterprise Resource Planning systems are based on so-called best practices. One of the definitions
of ERP is “the amalgamation of world-class (best) practices together”.
It is said that, if ERP is implemented successfully, the company automatically becomes world
class in terms of its practices. This statement is true for most of the ERP products.
Right from the industrial revolution and even further, we can see the efforts put in to improve
existing practices. Typically, the classical industrial engineering principle says: there is always
a better method available than the existing. Here the ‘better’ ultimately means improved
efficiency, effectiveness and economics. This principle clearly supports the view that nothing is
the best forever.
In this context, let us see what the best practice in ERP environment is. ERP assumes the
fundamental set-ups as “Pillars of ERP”. The best practice in ERP then can be defined as the
utilisation of these set-ups to the maximum possible to produce the desired performance in
terms of customer focus, zero waste of all the resources, and value creation. Tangibly, it leads to
increase in quality and service, and reduction of cost and response time.
ERP enjoys having a strong skeleton based on these best practices. All the workflows in ERP are
so thoughtfully maintained that it ensures that the user automatically follows the best practice.
It won’t allow the user to bypass or modify the pre-determined course of actions that may create
non-value added activity.

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