ERP System Integration Under Collaborative Business Enviroment

The twenty first century business enviroment require company to collaborate with other supply chain partners, in order to gain competitive advantage. To achieve that, better connectivity is very necessary. one of the enabler to collaboration is Information technology fawcett et al (2007).

The ERP system become popular in 1990. As an enterprise integartion solution, the ERP system able to integrate the so called desperate "legacy systems". However, the era of globalization, collaboration, and merger that characterized the late 1990s make ERP systems to become less important in terms of external integration of the enterprise, that is integration beyond the boundary of the organization. According to "Gartner vice president, bruce bond, traditional, inwardly connective enterprise resource planning (ERP) is dead, destroyed, by demand for greater collaboration among supply chain partners" Fawcett et al (2007). They are non- flexible systems, they are not designed to collaborate with other applications, they are monolithic tools that are not compatible with other applications Grabot et al (2008). Modification of the internal working of ERP system is difficult once the technology installed. They do not support distributed data management Harmon (2003).

However, there are emerging technologies that supported integration of ERP system with other applications. for example, web technology with supporting technologies such as XML, SOAP, WSDL, UDDI, and DOT (Distributed, Object technologies such as COBRA, DCOM, JAVA BEAN.

Despite the view that ERP system cannot be integrated with other applications because of the monolithic, non-flexibility nature of the system by(fawcett et al 2007, Grabot et al 2008, Themistocleous et al 2002, harmon 2003). recent report indicated Volvo sucessfully and smoothly integrated SAP ERP system with Apriso Flexnet under two tier solution (Scott Park, Global CIO and VP processes and systems integration, Volvo construction equipment). Therefore, the view that ERP system cannot be integrated with other applications is not 100% perfect base on Volvo experience .In addition the integration also enable volvo to fix processes after implementation, because the technology is build around SOA computing enviroment which is highly flexible.

Conclusively, organization that want to collaborate, and integrate their systems with supply chain partners will find it easy because of emerging technologies that make it possible to integrate two or more different systems.

Reference

1) Fawcett, E. S., Ellaram, M.L., and Ogden, J. A. (2007) " Supply Chain management from Vision to Implementation, New Jersey, Pearson Education Inc.

2) Grabot, B. and Meyere, A. (2008) ERP system and Organization change: A Socio-Technical Insight:Isa belle Bazet.

3) Harmon, P. (2003) Business Process Change: A Manager's Guide to Improving, Redesigning' and Automating Processes: Morgan Kaufman Publishing.

4) Parker, K. (2010) Control Engineering: Mobile Inspiring Engineering Interaction ( To Reach Desired " IT end-state, " Volvo CE focuses on Multi-Plant Performance: CFE media 2010.

Ibrahim ABBA ALI

I.A.Ali @warwick.ac.uk

Ibrahim Ali : 12 Jun 2012 16:10 |  Comments (0) |  Report a problem