ERP systems can be WONDERFUL!
During the period 1990-1993, my business partners and I created our own ERP system from scratch (with lots of independent consultants and code writers.) It was wonderful (for the time - 1990) and would do many, many things because we consciously planned it to eliminate any duplicate data entry.
Our ERP handled order entry (incoming and outgoing orders), quality data, electronic copies of engineering drawings, creation of travelers (including production notes, inspection sheets, product drawings, etc.), shipping documents (print labels, quality documents, instructions, certificates of origin, etc.), billing, accounts receivable, accounts payable, payroll, plus equipment maintenance and instrument calibration schedules.
We did realize a net savings from using the system, but the up-front cost was humongous and it took nearly 4 years for the savings to cover the up-front cost. We made even greater savings when we added bar coding to the mix. By requiring our suppliers to use bar coded shipping labels, we were able to scan incoming labels and wire transfer payment almost immediately, making us a very valued customer. (Since we did thorough SQA, we rarely had to do incoming inspection.) Our suppliers gave us discounts which more than paid for the cost of money from our bankers and thus we didn't force our suppliers to extend us credit.
The blessing of modern ERP systems (SAP is the world leader in # of installations) is that an organization can get exactly what it needs by combining off-the-shelf modules with customized modules. The big companies have good, but expensive support for their systems. The downside is that many organizations fail to include cross-functional input in planning the ERP and the rollout subsequently has glitches which are more expensive to correct than if the system had been put together with better planning.
If I had it to do over, I would buy and use a customized off-the-shelf system rather than creating my own from scratch. The combined input of successes and failures from many different installations gives the ERP supplier a depth of understanding to the process of creating and installing an ERP system which few organizations could hope to match.
What a wonderful world this would be if all employment interviews were conducted by intelligent unbiased folk!
