Human Factors Concerns in Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Solutions

Abstract

Manufacturing and service industries throughout the world are continuously finding methods to remain lean and profitable. This process had accelerated the globalization of manufacturing facilities. The motto “determine the most effective way of producing” has driven these efforts. The results are a change from a “production and operations management” philosophy, to a “supply chain management” philosophy. ERP systems are system software that integrates all the functions in an organization. The integration is provided across all functional frontiers of the organization. For example, different links in the supply chain may exist at different parts of the world, leading to differences in a wide range of attributes, e.g., culture, work hours, different governmental regulations, and different customer requirements for the same product. These differences necessitate the need for integration and ERP systems are prescribed to fill the need. ERP systems, as they are common to a wide range of industries, are sufficiently generic and understandably complex. Popular brand systems are “People Soft”, “Oracle”, “Bean” and “SAP”. While they promise considerable benefits to organizations that implement them, the process of implementation, in itself, is very complex, often lasting two to three years and costing more than 1$00 million. The human factors' concerns are many, and unfortunately may be, the main cause of the problems that have plagued the ERP systems.