Why ERP

WHY ERP
Question 1: What does SAP stand for?
Student 1:
SAP is the short form for “System Application & Products”

Student 2:
SAP stands for Systems, Applications, and Products in Data Processing.
Question 2: Why was the desk lost? How could SAP R/3 have helped with this situation?
Student 1:
Tracking the desk became impossible because the desk was not entered into the system by the sales clerk. Information about the desk was left on the table of employees while people searched for it. With SAP R/3, the information could have been integrated and therefore it would have been in the system.
Student 2:
“The desk had not been lost. It had been shipped and the shipment never got entered into the sales system. The paperwork was sitting at somebody’s desk in sales under a pile of unrelated papers.”The sales guys did not know about it.
The desk wasn’t really lost, only the paper work was lost. So, the part of the organization knew the details on the status of the desk, that it was shipped. However, the information on the status has not been transferred to another part of the organization.
SAP R/3 would have helped in this situation. In SAP R/3 only one person enters the update information into the system and it is immediately distributed to all the other parts of the company. And the information would not be sitting at somebody’s desk.
Question 3: What is McDougle’s objective for the implementation of SAP R/3 in his furniture factory in North Carolina?
Student 1:
The primary objective was to integrate the North Carolina office with the office in Ohio. McDougle was acquiring the Ohio office and wanted the use SAP R/3 to integrate systems to facilitate their operations. The human resources and accounting process would be easier to handle. Therefore the managing process of the two companies would be much easier.
Student 2:
He wants to make sure that the systems are compatible in the two facilities. And he believes that this would make it so much easier for accounting to consolidate the reports; also that they might get some synergies out of the system and operations.
Question 4: Contrast the two plants N. Carolina and Ohio. In what ways are they the same and in what ways are they different?
Student 1:
The two companies are similar in terms of what they produce; furniture. They are therefore in the similar industry. Ohio had a much more standardized operation than N. Carolina’s operations. This is in part because the Ohio office could train their employees easier because they were using ERP system.
The systems both companies were using were very different. Ohio office used ERP system which proved to be effective. N. Carolina used MRP and that proved to not be too effective. N. Carolina’s had several problems. They had issues with the software effectiveness.
Student 2:
Plants in N. Carolina and Ohio are both in furniture industry. However the operations in two plants are different. Here are some differences:
• Volume: the plant in Ohio makes more stuff (furniture) in a day than the plant in N. Carolina makes in a year.
• Customers: the plant in Ohio has a limited number of customers, such as Staples, Office Depot, Kmart, Wal-Mart; at the plant in N. Carolina, they don’t even know who will be their next customer, so, they have unlimited list of customers.
• Design: designs at the plant in Ohio are fixed and are not flexible; however, at the plant in N. Carolina, customers make their own designs.
• The plant in Ohio operates on a just-in-time basis.
• Packaging: in Ohio they wrap everything in cardboard, strap and box it; however in N. Carolina, they just wrap stuff in moving blankets.
• Systems: the plant in Ohio uses SAP R/3; and the plant is N. Carolina is implementing it; so, their accounting systems are different as well.

Question 5: Why was the implementation of SAP R/3 successful in Ohio?
Student 1:
The implementation of SAP R/3 was successful in Ohio for the following reasons:
a) More people (managers and employees) were involved in the development of the system
b) Key questions were answered by the leadership of the company during the developmental stages
c) The training stage was done effectively
d) The standardized operations made the environment much suitable.
Student 2:
The implementation of SAP R/3 was successful in Ohio because they had a lot of help from their customers. Customers were the ones that insisted to implement SAP R/3. Because it was going to help to support customers’ Electronic Data Interchange systems. Their customers did supply some consulting help. Also some of the key personal at the plant had some experience with R/3. And some of their suppliers had R/3 installed and helped with the implementation. So, the plant in Ohio had help from both sides.
Question 6: What is ASAP (accelerated SAP)?
Student 1:
ASAP or Accelerated SAP is the approach of implementing the R/3 software. Information about the company’s operations is gathered to assess the company’s needs to help develop the system to the benefit of the company. ASAP also helps in the implementation of R/3 by taking the company through sequential approach to the implementation of the system.
Student 2:
ASAP – Accelerated SAP – “a standard approach to implementing R/3. It carries your company through a sequence of steps built around several pre-structured activities that SAP has developed based on their experience in thousands of firms. They sequence these activities along what they call the ‘Roadmap’, in five major phases. Each phase is completed in turn on the road to R/3 implementation. SAP calls these five major phases: Project Preparation, Business Blueprint, Realization, Final Preparation, and Go Live and Support.”
Question 7: What would you have done differently if you had been Billy in this situation?
Student 1:
Billy did something right that I would have done if I was in his shoes. However, I would have done the following differently:
– I would have recommended getting more people involved so that the system can be developed appropriately. That is employees, customers, suppliers, and management should have all been brought in on this one.
– I would have recommended that the software would have helped the company solve existing problems such as tracking products, reducing cost, and improving operations.
– I would have studied the system more carefully to gain the system and convince management about the system.

Student 2:
Billy did a great job looking for the right information, digging much deeper into the system, not just stopping on Information system, but going beyond that and asking others about their experience. He was really close to the answer, to the solution, but he was not persuasive enough to show the problems that he found to Mr. McDougle. He tried his best in doing so, however he gave up at some point. May be he should have been more pushy and persuasive or he could have explain all the problems from another perspective that would be more understandable to Mr. McDougle. Also he could have been less skeptical and tried to look at the implementation from another perspective by himself or find better ways to implement the system. Those are my suggestions.

 
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