E-Commerce and Resource Planning

Topic :- Changes in a company using before and after implementing ERP solutions. A Case Study

Submitted By - Faculty Name- Aniket Maithani Ms. Shruti Gupta

Deepak Yadav

Pranay Singh

6 CSE-4 X

Acknowledgement

We would like to express our special thanks of gratitude to our teacher Ms. Shruti Gupta as who gave us the golden opportunity to do this wonderful project on the topic ERP, Changes before and after implementing, in a company. A Case Study

Secondly, we would also like to thank our parents and friends who helped us a lot in finishing this project within the limited time.

Lastly to reiterate, we are making this project not only for marks but to also increase our knowledge .

- Aniket Maithani

- Deepak Yadav

- Pranay Singh

INDEX

S.no Title Page Number

1. Introduction 1.1 Modern Business Scenario 1.1.1 ERP & It's Evolution

2. Implementing ERP

3. Case Study 3.1.1 Background 3.1.2 Orthodox Method 3.1.3 Expansion 3.1.4 Issues and Tracking 3.1.5 Selection & Implementation

4. ERPAL 4.1 Introduction4.2 Installation 4.3 Management Modules

5. Changes

6. Conclusion

7. References

1. Introduction

With the advent of modern technology, our need on information has greatly increase. To say the least there is data flowing all around us, on an average company employee generate more than 100 MB of data per day. But this data has no meaning unless and until it is converted into some meaningful form. During our research for writing this report, we came across a very important graphics we would like to present in our report.

Figure 1. [image source barbie-ca.blogspot.com]

From the following graphic, we get a clear idea that data as such in general has no meaning, so we need to process it in order to make some information out of it. And from information, we gain knowledge, and with knowledge comes wisdom.

In the modern world the business environment too is changing rapidly with the advent of new technologies. TDD [Test Driven Development] and DDT [ Data Driven Technology] are currently one of the hotspots of modern industry setup. Companies today face the challenge of increasing competition, expanding markets, and rising customer expectations. This increases the pressure on companies to lower total costs in the entire supply chain, shorten throughput times, drastically reduce inventories, expand product choice, provide more reliable delivery dates and better customer service, improve quality, and efficiently coordinate global demand, supply, and production. As the business world moves ever closer to a completely collaborative model and competitors upgrade their capabilities, to remain competitive, organizations must improve their own business practices and procedures. Companies must also increasingly share with their suppliers, distributors, and customers the critical internal information they once aggressively protected. Because transparency is always better for any business model to sustain for a longer period of time. But in general, there shouldn't be too much of transparency such that it cause the root element of any company their USP [Unique Selling Prospect] to get distributed among their competitor too.

In exact terms, “Enterprise resource planning (ERP) is business management software—usually a suite of integrated application that a company can use to store and manage data from every stage of business”

1.1 Modern Business Scenario

To accomplish these objectives, companies are increasingly turning to enterprise resource planning (ERP)systems. ERP provides two major benefits that do not exist in non-integrated departmental systems:

➢ A unified enterprise view of the business that encompasses all functions and departments; ➢ An enterprise database where all business transactions are entered, recorded, processed,

monitored, and reported.

This unified view increases the requirement for, and the extent of, inter-departmentalcooperation and coordination. But it enables companies to achieve their objectives of increasedcommunication and responsivenes to the core.

1.1.1 ERP & It's Evolution

The evolution of ERP systems are closely followed by the advancement in the field of computers and latest technology. Here is a brief timeline of how actually ERP softwares reached their current state.

➢ 1960s most organizations designed, developed and implemented centralized computing systems, mostly automating their inventory control systems using inventory control packages.

➢ Material requirements planning (MRP) systems were developed in the 1970s whichinvolved mainly planning the product or parts requirements according to the master production schedule.

➢ Following this route new software systems called manufacturing resources planning (MRP II) were introduced in the 1980s with an emphasis on optimizing manufacturing processes by synchronizing the materials with production requirements.

➢ ERP systems first appeared in the late 1980s and the beginning of the 1990s with the power of enterprise-wide inter-functional coordination and integration.

➢ During the 1990s ERP vendors added more modules and functions as add-ons to the core modules giving birth to the extended ERPs.

Figure 2: - [IMG Source- https://faculty.biu.ac.il/~shnaidh/zooloo/nihul/evolution.pdf]

2. Implementing ERP

Choosing an ERP solution that meets specific business requirements will enable a companyto have a smoother implementation. If the sottware package is written for a particular industry, they won’t have to custom design a solution. Customized solutions are time consuming to implement and add unnecessary cost. One of the top reasons ERP implementations fail is because the software doesn’t meet basic industry specific business requirements. However; purchasing an ERP application is only half the battle. A well designed implementation plan is the key to success in today's world.

The basic steps involved in implementing an ERP soultion includes,

1.STRATEGIC PLANNING

•Assign a project team. •Examine current business processes and information flow.

•Set objectives. •Develop a project plan

2.PROCEDURE REVIEW•Review software capabilities.

•Identify manual processes. •Develop standard operating procedures

. 3.DATA COLLECTION & CLEAN-UP

•Convert data. •Collect new data.

•Review all data input. •Clean-up data.

4.TRAINING AND TESTING•Pre-test the database.

•Verify testing. •Train the Trainer.

•Perform final testing

5.GO LIVE AND EVALUATION•Develop a final Go-Live Checklist.

•Evaluate the solution.

Figure 3 [Img Src: www.datixinc.com]

3. Case Study

I [Aniket Maithani] work at a online startup called Digiteria.net, which I happen to join in 2014 only. Since I am new to this industry, I have very basic knowledge about basic business environement variables and ERP being one of them. The following case study is a real example of implementation of ERP solution in our very own startup.

3.1.1 Background

DIGITERIA.NET was orignally founded by Ashutosh Kumar Singh, who is currently pursuing his B.TECH from GNIT, Greater Noida. The basic function of DIGITERIA includes

• Providing web related solutions to the client• Playing with Open Data• Android App Solutions• IOS App solutions• Generic Softwares• Cloud Service Implementation

Since this is a startup we, as a team never felt need to actually implement an ERP solution. Because the general notion is we aren't big enough. This quote was okay for us till the time we crashed into a ultimate troublesome scenario.

3.1.2 Orthodox Method

The orthodox method of taking a client order includes, phone calls or mail. Generally we get the order in the following fashion. Suppose, a client wants us to design a particular website for us which includes number of component as in :

• Basic Website• Payment Gateway Integration• Roles/Permission for Different Admins• CDN [ Content Distribution Network Requirement]

The general way to go about this is MAILS! Loads and loads of E-MAILS!!

• Client contact us for the project. • First Meet with the client • Details are discussed• A brief report is drafted and is sent to the client for review. The basic report contains the

modules/services he/she wants in his/her website/application. • The report is now drafted in detail, includes the kind of software/technology/framework to

be used. • Then the report/SRS is forwarded to the developer in our Digiteria intranet. • If the client wants us to make a particular IT solution for more than one platform say, WEB

+ ANDROID + iOS the report is passed onto the all the three developers.

The following process may looks tedious but is clean if the user requiremnt, is analysed at the very first instance and no changes is to be done, once the SRS reaches the developer.

3.1.3 Expansion

The best thing about working in a startup is that you start working from day one, and there is no need to actually go through the process involved. It's more like a build and fix model, where the main focus is on building the prototype and then giving it to the client. Testing in this case is minimal, but as soon as we encounter some error, the bug is removed with immediate effect. Now as per the above mentioned process, we were happy with the kind of process we adopted for synchronization of our work. But then again, upgrade and change is necessary in any industry! So we started getting orders which were quite complex in nature and demanded extreme customization of some of the OPEN CMS's available.

3.1.4 Issues and Tracking

So this happened with us when a client gave us a order, well to put forward the gist of the order, he wanted us to create a e-commerce based website specifically on DRUPAL. Drupal, is an open CMS and is extensible and customizable. After finalising the SRS, it was forwarded to me [as I look after the background customization] and a front-end developer. The time duration for the project given to us was 3 weeks but we told ourself that we will be completing this project within 2 weeks, so that for error testing and correction we would have ample amount of time left. But just before the completion the client told us that he wanted us to add some more feature onto the website, whose detailed list he gave it to us. Now again, we added some functionality and made the system as per his wish. During this whole time, we exchanged several e-mails, and whole of our mailbox was filled up with the current thread realted to this particular project only. And lastly, when our project was ready and we were about to deliver it to the client, just three days before delivery date, he told us to remove certain features he told us earlier to add. Now this caused a big havoc, that though as a startup order like these are essential for us, not only in terms of monetary gain but also in terms of making a repo in the market. Obviously, we did the last minute adjustment to his website and delivered the product at the very day promised, but during this whole time, we were quite frustrated because of non centralised process. Had it been centralised we would have been at ease in meeting the customer requirement, this was the time when we thought of adopting a simple ERP solution that could help to make the whole process of client interaction, delivery to management much easier and managable.

3.1.5 Selection of ERP & it's Implementation

As stated earlier in the following report it is important to select an ERP system, which suits your need. Well, ERP systems as we know costs a lot and for a startup like ours, it is in our best interest to look for a ERP solution which is FREE & OPEN SOURCE. Now with the FREE we mean, FREE AS IN FREEDOM [ we can customize/modify the source] plus FREE AS IN FREE BEER [no buying charge, source is available for free]. Open source because every Open Source project is managed by community so we don't need to look upto the software vendor to release the bug fixes and all. We can do this with either on our own, or the community does that for us. After browsing through different Open Source ERP soultions, we came across ERPAL.

4. ERPAL

4.1 Introduction

Figure 4 [ Img Src – www.drupal.org]

ERPAL is a complete web based project management Drupal distribution for small and medium sized service providers such as agencies and software producers. ERPAL maps processes in those enterprises professionally, clearly and integrated - from the first inquiry up to the final invoice. ERPAL is built on Drupal and thus can be extended flexibly for any needs. ERPAL was initally started as a hobby project but later grew into a full fledged web-based ERP solution.

The basic modules/functionalities that ERPAL contains are as follows :- • CRM (contact and activity management)

• Project management (timetracking, payments, agil and fixed price, expenses, gantt charts, requirement management) with Freelancer support

• Document management and document creation • Contract management with reccuring invoices • Employee management (over hours, holidays, costs) • Invoice creation and PDF export • Calendars

4.2 Installation

Now after thorough analysis of the system, we moved on to the installation phase of ERPAL system. In the first place we tested the installation on a standalone system, which was connected to the intranet.

Step 1: We cloned the tested copy of the ERPAL version, from the GITHUB and put in the /var/www directory.

Step 2: Using our internet browser we opened the directory, with the address localhost/erpal

An installation screen greets us, with the introductory message.

Figure 5

Step 3: We select all the variables and database where our primary setup details will be installed.

Figure 6

Step 4 : After verifying the database requirement, we configured the application, such as admin userid, password. It also asks for admin's email-id etc.

Figure 7

With a bit of more customization and templating, we get the basic structure of our web based ERP module up in no time.

4.3 ERPAL Management Modules

ERPAL in general contains modules that are used most of the time by any startup and even multi million enterprise in general. Some of the ERPAL modules that are available by default are,

• ERPAL CRM

With this one can access all the contacts, files and appointments from the ERPAL Sales App by mobile. If telephone system supports this (like Asterisk does) one can link it directly to your CRM. That way you can see in your CRM or on your softphone which customer is calling.

• ERPAL PROJECT MANAGEMENT

ERPAL Project provides a full project management tool for small and medium-sized projects. Collaboration and project groups, PDF export, gantt charts, reports, resources management, time recording; all those tools make your projects fly. Of course "basics" such as ticketing systems and time tracking are also included.

• ERPAL EMPLOYEE TRACKER

Tracks the employee information on the go.

Figure 8

• ERPAL INVOICE

Agile projects, projects on fixed price or budget contracts; no employee wants to take care of how to enter the times and project approvals for the invoice. ERPAL does that automatically. Just summarize the "billable units" as invoices, print and export them and track the payment receipt.

5. Changes

The ERPAL though looks very basic web based ERP application but it's application is remarkably extensive and scalable.

The basic advantages that we found out after using the ERPAL are as follows

1. Complete visibility into all the important processes across various departments of an organization, like the frontend developer can see what the backend guy is upto and so on. Such that the synchronization is much more effective and advance.

2. Automatic and coherent work-flow

3. A unified and single reporting system to analyze the statistics/ numbers/ status etc in real-time, across all the functions / departments.

4. Business Intelligence functionalities as well.

5. Advanced e-commerce integration, tracking invoice, pay per hour etc.

6. Modular software system, its possible to implement either a few modules (or) many modules based on the requirements.

7. Faster collaboration

8. Real Time Analysis of the requirement

9. Order tracking, inventory tracking, revenue tracking, sales forecasting and related activities are much more simpler now.

These are only few changes that we see as an immediate effect, but since the system is extensible there are more pros to this system. Also being a centralised system, the information is easily shared and changes can be revert back in case of any documents/system is found corrupted.

6. Conclusion

ERP systems provide a mechanism for implementing systems where a high degree of integration between applications is required The Business Case or Value Proposition for implementation must be outlined To successfully implement a proper mix of people, processes and technology should be maintained.

Therefore it is important to work on the critical functioning of one's organisation and also to look into the prospect that ERP system, that one is adopting should not be so such that it doesn't meet the need.

Hence, ERP is required for most organisation, provided their requirement and chain management is studied throughly to let them know their own best ERP based solution.

7. References

1. http://www.student.oulu.fi/~jolahti/accinfo/9%20ERP%20Implementation %20procedures.pdf

2. https://faculty.biu.ac.il/~shnaidh/zooloo/nihul/evolution.pdf

3. https://drupal.org/project/erpal

4. http://www.datacorinc.com/articles/news/erp.pdf

5. Wikipedia

Image Source is already mentioned with each image.

Original images doesn't have any image source associated to it.