Deployment of ERP for Supply Chain Excellence in a Manufacturing Organisation

摘要

Supply Chain excellence and increased organisational integration has seen many SMEs adopting Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) in order to achieve their strategic business aims. Within the current competitive market SMEs are finding the need for manufacturing systems that offer both increased functionality and integration across all areas of the Supply Chain. ERP is not only seen as an information system but also regarded as a business improvement methodology, therefore ERP offers increased integration in terms of improved communication across all departments with real time information, which potentially can lead to enhanced Supply Chain excellence. ERP offers enterprise-wide integration, which can be linked to effective Supply Chain Management (SCM) in terms of improved internal operations and increased responsiveness to both consumers and suppliers. The purpose of this paper is to identify the barriers, motives for and the advantages provided from implementing Enterprise Resource Planning within a manufacturing SME, in order to provide both increased excellence internally and globally. The use of a unique and dedicated ERP project team within the organisation as a key advantage within the ERP implementation will also be looked at, including the relation of the ERP implementation towards global integration, and the improvements gained for information flow, which was analysed using SCM tools. The paper will also focus on the utilisation of a Collaborative Innovation Partnership (CIP), which is a scheme funded by One NorthEast, who are Regional Development Agency (RDA) and a primary sponsor for the North East region in the finding of knowledge transfer projects, that have the aim of aiding companies who are looking to develop innovative products, services or processes. The project in this case study involved the deployment of a 6 month project involving three main parties, which included a post graduate, a SME and a University. The project in this case had the aim of aiding both the ERP implementation and the improvement of Supply Chain operations within a manufacturing organisation by using knowledge from both the post graduate and University expertise.