ERP Planning , Design and Implementation

Systems Development
o Problem Definition o Feasibility Study o Systems analysis o Systems design o Detailed design o Implementation o maintenance

ERP implementation methodology

1. Identification of the needs for implementing an ERP package Evaluating the as-is situation Deciding upon the desired would-be situation Reengineering of the business processes to achieve the desired results Evaluation of various ERP packages and finalizing Installing the requisite hardware and networks Finalizing the implementation consultants Implementation of the ERP package

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1. Identification of the needs

o Why should company implement ERP package? o Will it significantly improve profitability? o Will it lead to reduced delivery times for products? o Will it enhance customers satisfaction level in terms of cost, delivery time, service and quality? o Will it help reduce the cost of products? o Will it enable to achieve same business volume with reduced resources?

2. Evaluating the as-is situation

o What existing processes the organization is following to transact its business o All business processes are mapped having details like:
Total time the business process takes to complete The total number of decision points involved Total number of departments/geographical locations involved Flow of information Number of reporting points

3. Desired would-be situation

o What the business process should finally look alike?
Benchmarking Ensure targets set are comparable to the best in industry.

4. Reengineering
o The business process cycle time is reduced significantly o Number of decision points are reduced to bear minimum o Flow of information is streamlined

5. Evaluation of various ERP packages

o Global presence o Local presence o Investment in R&D target market o Price o Modularity o Obsolescence o Ease of implementation o Cost of implementation o Post implementation support

6. Requisite H/W and networks

o Installation needs to be well planned to avoid blocking of capital

7. Implementation consultants
o Skill set available with the consultant o Installation base o Industry-specific experience o Finances involved in hiring

8. Implementation of ERP Package

o Formation of implementation team

Knowledgeable users from all functions along with IT personnel and personnel from the implementation consultant Project Manager, Project leaders, Module leaders, Steering committee
Monitor the progress Schedule is maintained Resolve any problem that comes up Allocation of resources

Implementation of ERP Package

o Preparation of implementation plan (Usage of various project management techniques)
Training of the project team Mapping of business processes onto the software Function-wise implementation Customization Test runs Parallel run

Implementation of ERP Package

o Mapping of business processes onto the package
Map the business processes on standard functionality available in the software

Implementation of ERP Package

o Gap Analysis
All uncovered requirements are compiled in to Gap Analysis Report Gaps which can be taken care of with little programming effort Gaps which involve an extensive programming effort and hence require extra resources Gaps which cannot be taken care of in the system

Implementation of ERP Package

o Customization
After the process mapping and gap analysis is done, actual customization starts by respective functional teams.

Implementation of ERP Package

o Development of user-specific reports and transactions
Any user requirements not covered by standard system are created

Implementation of ERP Package

o Uploading of data from existing systems
Programmed transfer of data from existing system to the new system takes place

o Test Runs
Sample transactions are tried to ensure error-free state of the system.

o User Training
Users belonging to different functionality

Implementation of ERP Package

o Parallel run
Business transactions are carried both through the existing and new systems to find lacunae in the system

o Concurrence from user on satisfactory working of the system

Final approval from users

o Migration to the new system

Time to go live

Implementation of ERP Package

o User Documentation
Details on how to carry out various transactions

o Post-implementation support
Queries from users, minor changes in report formats, layouts etc.

o System monitoring and fine tuning

Monitor the system closely against performance aspects

Guidelines for ERP implementation

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Understand your corporate needs and culture Complete business process changes Communicate across the organization Provide strong leadership Ensure an efficient and capable project manager Choose a balanced team Select Good implementation methodology Train everyone Commit to adapt and change