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CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER 1.1: ABOUT THE STUDY

There is a general trend of most big league ERP vendor focusing on SMEs are their new

clientele. The SME segment is large and offers substantial potential to the ERP vendor.

However, this segment is also extremely price-sensitive and is generally intolerant of high

gestations on realizations from investment. SMEs now seriously considering ERP as panacea for

all their present day ills and as an imperative to retain their competitive edge. Some of the factors

that have catalyzed this process are globalization, competition, need for faster response to the

market place and the pressure to contain costs and improve efficiencies. SMEs are looking to

mature in terms of processes and move to global market channels. However, the third trend is

highly worrisome in the market today. Most ERP implementations are failing. Most SMEs are

unhappy with ERP solution they have adopted in their organization. The bottom line of the

Vendors is coming down as the margin per SME is much smaller and the effort in most cases is

the same. In addition, there are limited guidelines for the three stake holders involved in an

implementation of an ERP system. This is the reason why this topic is chosen as a subject for

research. The objective of this research work is to study the effectiveness of ERP implementation

from two perspectives, from the vendor perspective and from customer perspective. Through the

analysis and interpretation a set of guidelines is formulated for the stake holders in an ERP

implementation which will overcome the difficulties from manual system and make the business

process more effective than before. The guidelines will be based on customer perspective and

vendor perspective on how to have a favorable business conditions which will lead to a WIN-

WIN situation.

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CHAPTER 1.2: INDUSTRY STUDY:

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) is an integrated computer-based system used to manage

internal and external resources including tangible assets, financial resources, materials, and

human resources. It is a software architecture whose purpose is to facilitate the flow of

information between all business functions inside the boundaries of the organization and manage

the connections to outside stakeholders. Built on a centralized database and normally utilizing a

common computing platform, ERP systems consolidate all business operations into a uniform

and enterprise wide system environment.

An ERP system can either reside on a centralized server or be distributed across modular

hardware and software units that provide "services" and communicate on a local area network.

The distributed design allows a business to assemble modules from different vendors without the

need for the placement of multiple copies of complex, expensive computer systems in areas

which will not use their full capacity.

Origin of the term

The initialism ERP was first employed by research and analysis firm Gartner Group in 1990 as

an extension of MRP (Material Requirements Planning; later manufacturing resource planning)

and CIM (Computer Integrated Manufacturing), and while not supplanting these terms, it has

come to represent a larger whole. It came into use as makers of MRP software started to develop

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software applications beyond the manufacturing arena. ERP systems now attempt to cover all

core functions of an enterprise, regardless of the organization's business or charter. These

systems can now be found in non-manufacturing businesses, non-profit organizations and

governments.

To be considered an ERP system, a software package should have the following traits: It should

be integrated and operate in real-time with no periodic batch updates. All applications should

access one database to prevent redundant data and multiple data definitions. All modules should

have the same look and feel. Users should be able to access any information in the system

without needed integration work on the part of the IS department.

ERP Components

Transactional Backbone

Financials

Distribution

Human Resources

Product lifecycle management

Advanced Applications

Customer Relationship Management  (CRM)

Supply chain management

Purchasing

Manufacturing

Distribution

Warehouse Management System

Management Portal/Dashboard

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Decision Support System

These modules can exist in a complete system or utilized in an ad-hoc fashion.

HISTORY OF ERP:

Here is a brief time line of the history of ERP:

1960s Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) is born in the early 1960s from a joint effort between

J.I. Case, the manufacturer of tractors and other construction machinery, and partner IBM.

Material Requirements Planning or MRP is the initial effort. This application software serves as

the method for planning and scheduling materials for complex manufactured products.

1970s Initial MRP solutions are big, clumsy and expensive. They require a large technical staff

to support the mainframe computers on which they run.

1972 Five engineers in Mannheim, Germany begin the company, SAP (System analyse und

Programment wicklung). The purpose in creating SAP is to produce and market standard

software for integrated business solutions.1975 Richard Lawson, Bill Lawson, and business

partner, John Cerullo begin Lawson Software. The founders see the need for pre-packaged

enterprise technology solutions as an alternative to customized business software

applications.1976 In the manufacturing industry, MRP (Material Requirements Planning)

becomes the fundamental concept used in production management and control.

1977 Jack Thompson, Dan Gregory, and Ed McVaney form JD Edwards. Each founder takes

part of their name to create the company moniker. Larry Ellison begins Oracle Corporation.

1978 Jan Baan begins The Baan Corporation to provide financial and administrative consulting

services.

1979 Oracle offers the first commercial SQL relational database management system.

1980 JD Edwards begins focusing on the IBM System/38 in the early 1980s. MRP

(Manufacturing Resources Planning) evolves into MRP-II as a more accessible extension to shop

floor and distribution management activities.

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1981 Baan begins to use Unix as their main operating system.

1982 Baan delivers its first software product. JD Edwards focuses on the IBM System/38.

1983 Oracle offers both a VAX mode database as well as a database written entirely in C (for

portability).

1984 Baan shifts the focus of their development to manufacturing.

1985 JD Edwards is recognized as an industry-leading supplier of applications software for the

highly successful IBM AS/400 computer, a direct descendant of the System/38.

1987 PeopleSoft is founded by Dave Duffield and Ken Morris in 1987.

1988 PeopleSoft’s Human Resource Management System (HRMS) is developed.

1990 Baan software is rolled out to 35 countries through indirect sales channels. The term ERP

(Enterprise Resource Planning) is coined in the early 1990’s when MRP-II is extended to cover

areas like Engineering, Finance, Human Resources, and Project Management.

1991 PeopleSoft sets up offices in Canada. This leads the way to their presence in Europe, Asia,

Africa, Central and South America, and the Pacific Rim.

1995 Baan grows to more than 1,800 customers worldwide and over 1,000 employees.

1999 JD Edwards has more than 4,700 customers with sites in over 100 countries. Oracle has

41,000 customers worldwide (16,000 U.S.). PeopleSoft software is used by more than 50 percent

of the human resources market. SAP is the world’s largest inter-enterprise software company and

the world’s fourth largest independent software supplier overall. SAP employs over 20,500

people in more than 50 countries. To date, more than 2,800 of Baan’s enterprise systems have

been implemented at approximately 4,800 sites around the world.

2001 – 9/11 occurs creating a drop in demand for new ERP systems

2002 Most ERP systems are enhancing their products to become “Internet Enabled” so that

customers worldwide can have direct access to the supplier’s ERP system.

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2004 – Services Oriented Architecture (SOA) becomes a standard that ERP vendors work

towards. This software architecture allows different systems to communicate between one

another.

RECENT TRENDS IN ERP:

Need based applications

Organizations had to implement ERP through their systems irrespective of the fact whether they

help in all the functions or in one particular function. This was proving to be a big hurdle to the

firms. In addition this remained as the main disadvantage or setback of ERP. They had to

purchase the whole applications even if it meant that most of them would be idle.

The latest ERP software programs have overcome this menace. They offer need based

applications. The firms need not be worried even if these Software Programs were not available.

They were given the liberty to purchase and install Software Programs pertaining to that

particular function. This advantage has helped to increase the scope of ERP not only among large

firms but also small and medium business as well.

Expenditures

ERP was a very costly affair. Thanks to the intrusion of internet and open source applications.

This has helped S.M.E.'S to enter the market of prospective buyers. This has not only widened

the horizon of S.M.E.'s but also increased the usage among large firms.These large firms were

not able to invest huge money in spite of adequate funds. Now that the spending on ERP gets

reduced there are no hesitations to show the green signal for fear of heavy monetary outlay. It is

encouraging to notice the improving IT ERP trends.

Reduction in implementation time

ERP was discouraged by companies because they took such a long time to get installed and set

the whole process into action. Since this resource was spent excessively there were chances for

reduction in potential business and losing man-hours. The current day ERP applications are less

complex to install and train. This has reduced the amount of time spent on ERP. Companies are

thereby assured of spending lesser time for ERP.

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ADVANTAGES OF ERP:

1. Lead time reduction

2. Reduction in cycle time

3. Punctuality in shipment

4. Improved supplier performance

5. Improved resource utility

6. Flexibility and reduction in quality cost

LIST OF ERP VENDORS:

Sl.No Vendor   Revenue

(million $)  

Market share

(%)  

1 SAP 1949 30.33

2 Oracle Applications 1374 21.38

3 The Sage Group 1121 17.44

4 Microsoft Dynamics 916 14.25

5 SSA Global Technologies [2] 464 7.22

Vendors of popular ERP software include (sorted roughly according to worldwide ERP related revenue):

Vendor   Revenue

(Native currency)  

Revenue

(million $) 

Year  

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SAP 9.4 billion EUR 12401.4 2006

Oracle Applications 14.38 billion USD 14380.0 2006

Infor Global Solutions 2.1 billion USD 2100.0 2006

The Sage Group 935.6 million GBP 1832.0 2006

Microsoft 44.2 billion USD 44200.0 2006

Unit 4 Agresso 352.6 million EUR 465.2 2005

CDC Software 409.1 million USD 409.1 2008

Lawson Software 390.776 million USD 390.8 2006

Epicor 384.1 million USD 384.1 2006

Visma 1,907 million NOK 305.5 2005

Industrial and Financial Systems (IFS) 288 million USD 288.0 2005

Comarch 730 million PLN 253.2 2009

QAD 225 million USD 225.0 2006

Consona Corporation 130 million USD 130 2007

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COA Solutions Ltd 50.5 million GBP 98.47 2007

NetSuite 67.2 million USD 67.2 2006

ABAS Software 45 million EUR 62.6 2006

Ramco Systems 2,648 million INR 60.1 2006

SIV.AG 14.2 million EUR 18.7 unknown

Technology One 108.8 million AUD 101 2008

Pronto Software 51.1 million AUD 54.9 2008

Plex Systems 22 million USD 22 2006

Syspro N/A (Private) USD N/A

(Private)

2006

GROWTH IN ERP SECTOR:

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ERP USAGE IN WORLD LEVEL:

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Six predictions for the ERP industry in 2010:

Based on current economic conditions, continuing industry trajectories, and newly emerging

trends, Panorama has compiled its six top predictions for 2010: 

1. Continuing growth of the SME segment: Because of both the soft economy and the

continuing growth of small- to mid-size businesses, ERP will continue its widespread adoption

of ERP. Due to ERP's ability to automate business processes and allow small businesses to do

more with less, it will continue to become more widespread in this segment. However, expect

SMBs to proceed with caution and in a cost-effective manner. 

2. Rationalized costs: The days of implementing ERP at any cost may be over, at least

temporarily, hopefully for good. Because capital and IT budgets are under pressure, CIOs can no

longer afford to implement ERP without reigning in total cost of ownership.

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3. More benefits realization, less new implementations: A pattern we are seeing with our

client base is more of an interest in stabilizing and optimizing current ERP software

systems rather than engaging in a replacement of the systems. Because companies are becoming

more cautious in their capital spending and in some cases simply don't have the funds to invest in

an entirely new system, many CIOs are looking for ways to leverage their current ERP systems

to generate more measurable business benefits that they can take to their executive team.

4. Continued adoption of software as a service (SaaS): Numbers 1 and 2 above are driving

more companies to look at SaaS offerings such as Net Suite and Sales force. Generally speaking,

SaaS offerings require less up front investment than traditional ERP implementations.

5. Emergence of open source: Budgetary pressures will also tempt companies to give open

source ERP a closer look. Open source allows companies to own and customize the software's

source code, providing a great deal of flexibility at a lower initial cost. However, as with SaaS,

there are tradeoffs: such flexibility can introduce costly complexities and ongoing software

maintenance is generally less robust than with an off-the-shelf ERP solution.

6. Higher adoption in specific industry verticals: Evolving government priorities and a new

US administration in January will likely increase ERP adoption in certain industry verticals. The

US federal government is expected to grow significantly in the foreseeable future, which wills

likely increase ERP spending in the government sector.

LIFE CYCLE OF AN ERP PROJECT:

The normal lifecycle of an ERP Implementation Project shall consist of the following

milestones:

1. Business Process Study: Regular interactions with the client grow in order to understand the

various business processes and the way they are presently carried out.

Setting the objectives of ERP implementation; setting the expectation of the client

2. Pre-Implementation Training: A pre-implementation training, detailing the concepts and

features, shall be given to all the end-users at the client site. This shall improve the lead time in

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collecting the inputs for the preparation of specifications. I don't think this activity will take place

in normal ERP implementation life cycle stages.

3. Requirement Analysis: The requirements of the client are collected, using the SRS (Software

Requirements Specification) form, to further the process study.

4. GAP Analysis: In relation to Information Technology, this analysis points out the differences

or gaps that exist between the standard capabilities of the desired system & the expectations of

the client. The deliverable is a GAP Report. In order to get maximum benefit out of the ERP

processes must be re-engineered and then mapped with the redesigned processes

5. BMR (Business Mapping Report): This follow-up of the GAP Analysis should address the

identified solution(s) for the gap areas.

5a. Master Data preparation and management: This is perhaps most illtreated activitiy which

ultimately leads to delays if not addressed at early stages of the project planning. A team must

look after these before and after the project to ensure accuracy in master data as this may lead to

erroneous results causing panics after Go Live.

6. Project Plan: This milestone shall set the actual plan for execution and roll out for the roles

and task allocations.

7. Installation of Software: The Vanilla installation of the complete software should now be

carried out to ascertain the infrastructure preparedness at the client site.

8. Customization of Forms & Reports: The Client's requirement as to the customization of

forms (user interfaces) and reports (existing as well as new requirements) are addressed here.

9. Migration of Historical Data: Beyond the opening balance incorporation, if the client desires

to bring the historical data, this step will be required to plan the conversion and clean up -

prepare the data for the new environment.

10. Design of Routines & Workarounds: Though this is not a milestone, the additional routine

and workaround requirements (as identified in the GAP & BMR) shall be addressed through this

step.

11. Setup & Configuration: The new environment shall be setup based on the SRS and the

software shall be configured (on different deployment methods) fully.

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12. Testing Environment: A testing environment (a simulation of the live environment) shall be

created in the new software to enable the end-users to acquaint and equip themselves for

beginning in the live environment.

13. End-User Training: The next milestone shall be giving training to the end-users on the

setup, configuration, transaction processing and report generation. This shall be the post-

implementation training phase.

14. System Walk-Through: This milestone requires entry of sample transactions by the end-

users in the testing environment.

15. Go Live: This is the Sign-Off phase where the project gets implemented. Checklist:

16. Post Implementation Support: An immediate support commitment, subsequent to the

implementation, and the detailed modes of support, etc., are given to the client.

PEST ANALYSIS OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY:

Political:

• Political stability: Indian political structure is considered Stable enough expect the fact that

there is a fear of hung Parliament (no clear majority).

• U.S. government has declared that U.S companies that political outsource IT work to other

locations other than

• U.S. will not get tax benefit.

• Government owned companies and PSUs have decided to give more IT projects to Indian IT

companies.

• Terrorist attack or war.

Economical:

• Global IT spending (demand).

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• Domestic IT Spending (Demand): Domestic Market grow by 20% & reach approx USD 20

billion in 2008-09 Nasscom .

• Currency Fluctuation

• Real Estate Prices: Decline in real estate prices has resulted reducing the rental expenditure

• Attrition: Due to recession, the layoffs and job-cuts have resulted in low attrition rate

• Economic attractiveness: Due to cost advantage and other factors

Social:

• Language Spoken: English is widely spoken language in India. English medium is the most

accepted medium of education.

• Education: Large number of technical institutes and universities over the countries provide IT

education.

• Working age population.

Technological:

• Telephony

o India has the world lowest call rates

o Expected to have total subscribers base of about 500 million by 2010.

o India has the second largest telephone network after china.

o Enterprise telephone services, 3G, Wi-max, VPN, poised to grow.

• Internet Backbone: Due to IT revolution in 90’s India is well connected with undersea optical

cables.

New IT Technologies: Technologies like SOA, web 2.0, High definition content, grid

computing, and innovation in low cost technologies is presenting new challenges & opportunities

for Indian IT industry.

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CHAPTER 1.3: COMPANY STUDY

INTRODUCTION ABOUT THE COMPANY:

Right Fields is a Gold Certified Partner of Microsoft that provide value adding software solutions

and services. They are based out of Chennai and have been operational since 2007. Their mission

is to enable customer businesses secure effective ROI on their IT investments through our

Solutions and Services.  

CORE VALUES OF RIGHT FIELDS:

Right fields is following 5ps concept which they consider as the power of five and these

constitute to the core values of right fields, they are as follows:

1. Pride

2. Passion

3. Promise

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4. Performance

5. Profitability.

1. PASSION: In Rightfields, they are passionate about what we do. Passion influences

the vigor and rigor with which they work and how far they are willing to go for the

customer. They determine the quality and character of our interactions with all the

stakeholders – colleagues, customers, vendors and partners.

“We control the controllable and let our passion manage the uncontrollable”

2. PROMISE: Their focused vision gives us the clarity on our promise. “A Promise from

Rightfields shall be kept, no matter.” Promise conveys clarity in commitment that

translates in to results for the customer to benefit. A fulfilled promise brings the

customer back again and we in Rightfields “promise only what we can deliver and

deliver whatever we promise”

3. PROFITABILTY: Everyone in Rightfields believes that profitability is essential. It

drives the company’s growth and is directly linked to sharing and job security. Equally

important, employees of Rightfields know that profitability is the key to shareholder

returns which would create and sustain credibility in the industry. “No customer will

grudge his vendor’s profitability if it is backed by performance”.

4. PERFORMANCE: Every act in Rightfields will resonate with performance –

activities aimed at meeting promises and creating customer satisfaction. Promise and

profitability will be myths if not backed by performance. Everyone on Rightfields will

strive for performance as it is the last act in life – it always turns out to be the start of

several happy consequences.

5. PRIDE: Pride is the essence of whatever we do in life. Any act on which one can feel

proud is an act of excellence. In Rightfields, we feel proud of our abilities and engage

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only in those activities where we can derive pride. “We may not be the best but we will

be proud of what we are”.

Right Fields team strengths:

The team @ Rightfields is a team of seasoned professionals that have excellent qualifications

and varied industry & IT experience. Success experience of this team includes 

Business Track : Putting a pure-play domestic IT organization on the international map. Created

a solutions portfolio that delivered value to the SME segment & created a sustainable revenue-

model 

Customer Relationships : Established a network of alliance partners which enabled the team to

service more customers in newer geographies. In the process we had been instrumental in

winning and retaining a large customer base in Microsoft Dynamics AX in the last 3 years in

India, Middle East, Australia through excellent relationships with its customers.  

Project Delivery : Instrumental in executing over 30 implementations on Microsoft Dynamics

successfully with project implementations ranging from Rapid Implementations to handling

Complex and large projects (100+ concurrent users). 

Resource Building : Built and retained a world class team of in Dynamics AX. 90% of them had

become Dynamics AX certified. Established Academy of Excellence – for creating a talent bank.

EVENTS AND NEWS:

21 Oct 2009: They are glad to inform that their prestigious client, Megatech Controls, the

Process control solutions company, has gone live in their Chennai and Dubai locations

simultaneously, thanks to the wonderful support from the top management and the user group,

who did not let go of their enthusiasm and hard work, throughout the implementation duration.

01 Oct 2009: Right Fields is proud to announce the formation of a joint venture in the Sultanate

of Oman, to offer consulting and implementation services in Microsoft Dynamics suite of ERP

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and CRM solutions. 

    Global Innovations (Right Fields Arabia), is fully geared with its team of seasoned

professionals, to provide consulting and support to clients in the Gulf region.

02 Aug 2009: Service & Trade, the leading designer manufacturing and interior consulting

company has gone live with Ax 2009. The extremely committed team of users, capably led by

the Project Coordinator, Mr. Prem Chand and fully guided by the top management, spent late

hours to complete the tasks and achieved the target Go Live date.

01 Apr 2009: Private sector telecom service provider in Oman has placed confidence on Right

Fields for implementation of Microsoft Dynamics.

03 Oct 2008: Right Fields is a reseller of Galeforce for providing Microsoft CRM to Financial

Services industry.

01 Oct 2008: Right Fields is now a Gold Certified Partner of Microsoft with competency in

Microsoft Dynamics and Business Intelligence solutions.

PRODUCTS OF RIGHT FIELDS:

The Microsoft dynamics ERP products dealt by Right Fields are as follows:

1. Microsoft Dynamics Axapta

2. Microsoft Dynamics CRM

3. Microsoft Dynamics BI

4. Microsoft Dynamics NAV

5. Microsoft Dynamics Qlik View

MICROSOFT DYNAMICS AXAPTA:

Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 is a comprehensive business management solution, also called

ERP-solution, for midsize and larger organizations that works like and with familiar Microsoft

software. Microsoft Dynamics AX is built to make it easy to do business across locations and

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countries, by consolidating and standardizing processes, helping to improve productivity,

providing visibility across your organization, and helping to simplify compliance. With

Microsoft Dynamics AX, you can be confident your business management solution is—and will

continue to be—relevant to the needs of your people and the demands of your industry and

business.

MICROSOFT DYNAMICS NAV:

Since 1984, Microsoft Dynamics NAV has established itself as a choice for mid-sized

organizations looking for a complete enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution that is fast to

implement, easy to configure, and simple to use. Today, simplicity continues to beat at the heart

of Microsoft Dynamics NAV. And its state-of-the-art functionality covers everything you need

to run and grow a successful business. More than one million users have used Microsoft

Dynamics NAV to simplify and streamline their highly specialized business processes—and

today it is available in more than 42 country versions.

Microsoft Dynamics NAV provides companies and their people with industry specific

functionality that’s relevant to the local needs of their regions of operation, even for the most

highly specialized industries and organizations. Microsoft Dynamics NAV is easy to use and

offers rapid adaptability and simplified customization enabling companies to easily add

functionality, custom applications and online business capabilities. With Microsoft Dynamics

NAV, employees can become more effective and the company more competitive.

MICROSOFT DYNAMICS CRM:

When it comes to customer relationship management (CRM), communication is key. The ideal

CRM solution should streamline the way your people communicate with clients and collaborate

with each other. The more comfortable they are with the tools, the more effective they will be at

their jobs. And what’s more comfortable than a look and feel you already know? And with

Microsoft Dynamics CRM's powerful capabilities, like workflow automation and analytics, the

company can let their sales, marketing, and service staff easily share information and route tasks

to provide a seamless customer experience. Empower every employee to boost sales,

satisfaction, and service with automated CRM software solutions that their people can actually

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use. Microsoft Dynamics CRM works like and with familiar Microsoft products which means

less of a learning curve for the company’s people, so they can get up and running quickly and

focus on what’s most important- customers.

MICROSOFT DYNAMICS BI:

Business analytics are not just for Fortune 500 companies anymore. In today’s fiercely

competitive economy, small and midsize companies are turning to business intelligence solutions

to spot trends, so they can act quickly and capitalize on opportunities.

Microsoft Dynamics offers effective business intelligence and reporting solutions that a company

can put to work immediately. They can let the company look deeper into key performance

factors to help pinpoint your most profitable customers, most efficient vendors, and potential

issues within their organization that require swift action. Companies won’t need to wait for

month end to request reports or overburden their IT staff. Because the tools are based on the

familiar Microsoft Office environment, so that the people can develop reports when they need

them, using real-time information, and deliver them quickly across your organization.

MICROSOFT DYNAMICS QLIK VIEW:

QlikView Business Intelligence provides fast, powerful and visual in-memory business analysis.

It empowers users and radically improves decision making. QlikView can be deployed in just

days, removing the normal limitations, costs and complexity of traditional BI tools. Clients can

download QlikView now and begin showing their colleagues things they didn't know in minutes

from any data source. With QlikView, you can take the spin out of business and create trust and

transparency across your organisation. A single company view speeds up knowledge sharing;

helps manage costs and identify inefficiencies which the company may not have known about.

QlikView is disruptively easy. Compared to complex traditional BI tools which require risky,

detailed and lengthy services engagements to deploy, QlikView enables faster, simpler and more

flexible access to your data and then empowers users to ask the questions they need answers to.

QlikView's innovative approach results in significant benefits for our customers:

Fast Implementation: Customers are live in less than 30 days, and most in a week.

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Easy to Use: End users require no training and enjoy "qliking" through the

application.

Powerful: Near instant response time on data volumes as high as a billion records

across thousands of users.

Flexible: Allows unlimited dimensions and measures and can be modified in

seconds.

Integrated: Dashboards, analysis and reporting in a single solution and on a single

architecture.

Low Cost: Less costly, shorter implementations result in fast return on investment

Risk-Free: Fully-functional free trial download, and a seeing-is-believing

experience.

RIGHT FILEDS SOLUTIONS FOR INDUSTRIES:

Right Fields provides Microsoft Dynamics ERP products for various industries. They are

as follows:

1. Discrete Manufacturing

2. Process Manufacturing

3. Service Management

4. Professional Services

5. Financial Services

6. Real estate and Construction.

DISCRETE MANUFACTURING:

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Discrete manufacturing is making items that usually involve fabrication and/or

assembly of components into a finished good, including such industries as electronics, furniture,

automotive suppliers, industrial products, medical devices, metal fabrication, and plastics. 

The greatest revenue and profit improvement opportunities for discrete manufacturers today are

being driven either by performance improvement initiatives, such as Six Sigma or Lean

Manufacturing, or focusing on supply chain improvements. Many companies are seeking to

leverage all of these concepts at the same time to improve their competitiveness. Information

technology can be a powerful, often essential enabler for these types of transformation projects.

For example, Internet-based technologies such as a supplier extranet can dramatically cut down

on lead times by improving vendor visibility into your supply chain. 

Microsoft Dynamics AX for Production helps you plan your resources to get the greatest

efficiency out of your production process. You can track production progress and easily make

changes to increase efficiency and reduce costs. Real-time updating of resource data helps to

manage capacity and optimize your resource use, to drive down production costs and get more

accurate delivery dates. Apart from this, the in-depth functionalities in financial management,

supply chain management and human resources management & CRM help a discrete

manufacturing enterprise build a competitive edge.

PROCESS MANUFACTURING:

Right Fields provides an end-to-end automation solution for process industries in Microsoft

Dynamics AX through Fullscope’s process industry add-on solution on Microsoft Dynamics

AX. 

Process Industries for Microsoft Dynamics AX supports a range of manufacturing processes,

including make to order, make to stock, and mixed mode, or a hybrid environment incorporating

both process and discrete operations. Your company can build a flexible solution that fits your

needs by integrating production processes and implementing best practices that standardize

operations and increase efficiency. For example, this solution provides an easy to-use, easy-to-

understand way to create and manage recipes and formulas. With a single screen, users can

review and maintain important information about the formula, as well as the individual

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ingredients. With this solution, you could improve operational efficiency by integrating sales,

production, inventory, quality control, distribution, and customer service capabilities throughout

the entire process manufacturing life cycle. It can also better manage all the variables required to

engineer and build products to custom specifications, optimize capacity, comply with regulatory

demands, and drive continuous process improvement. 

SERVICE MANAGEMENT:

The Service Management* for Microsoft Dynamics™ AX supports your service organization

featuring: complaints and warranty, repairs and periodic maintenance. At the same time you have

direct access to all the data you need about the objects, resources, agreements and logistics.

Service Management is fully integrated with the Microsoft Dynamics™ AX modules CRM,

Trade, logistics, projects and resources modules. Some of the benefits are as follows:

Helps the cients in tracking and tracing service requests.

Supports them with hierarchical object (e.g. site, system, component) maintenance.

Manage their contracts, including service levels, periodic invoicing and depreciation.

Provides clients with full financial forecasting and cost evaluation.

Offers them support with logistics, financials and work orders for the service crew.

Real time statistics on costs and revenues regarding a service contract/object.

Daily data entry will become easy via extensive setup features.

PROFESSIONAL SERVICES:

Increase your profitability and offer unmatched client service that sets you apart from the

competition by managing the financial, human, and intellectual capital aspects of project-based

organizations. The Professional Services for Microsoft Dynamics AX from CGA PSA Solutions,

can help your company better manage project teams, increase employee productivity, improve

service capabilities, and accelerate billings while controlling costs through tighter integration of

client.This solution specializes in providing professional service firms with ERP, CRM, and

collaboration solutions to meet their specific needs. CGS has developed and deployed PSA

solutions,

25

Architecture and Engineering

Advertising, Marketing, and Public Relation

Government Contractors

Media and Entertainment

Management and IT Consulting Services

FINANCIAL SERVICES:

Right Fields provides CRM solutions for Financial Services Industry through GaleForce CRM

solutions on Microsoft Dynamics CRM. Right Fields can provide you the CRM solutions for the

following industries:

Banking

GaleForce CRM for Banking is an out-of-the-box CRM solution designed specifically to meet

the needs of client-facing staff of commercial banks, retail banks and credit unions. 

Wealth Management

GaleForce CRM for Wealth Management is an out-of-the-box CRM solution designed

specifically to meet the needs of financial advisors, account and portfolio managers at wealth

management firms. 

Investment Banking

GaleForce CRM for Investment Banking is an out-of-the-box CRM solution designed

specifically to meet the needs of investment bankers and support staff. 

Capital Markets

GaleForce CRM for Capital Markets is an out-of-the-box CRM solution designed specifically to

meet the needs of securities broker dealers, bond and mutual fund brokers and dealers, and

research and investment professionals.

REAL ESTATE AND CONSTRUCTION:

Most Owners, Construction Management firms, and Contractors grapple with tight project

schedules, paper-based data collection processes and inadequate team coordination. 

The construction solution*, which Right Fields offers, caters to these problems by automating

26

these daily processes bringing order to chaos. The solution helps different stakeholders of

construction projects, manage and automate the critical processes of estimation, contract

management and field inspection using web, mobile and GPS technologies.

The Project Estimator module helps automate project planning, automate bids (Tenders),

archive historical project cost information, automate job costing processes and automates the

review and reporting phase.

The Contract Manager module helps an organization manage the entire contract phase of

large construction projects. It allows organizations to track and manage critical assets, change

orders, work progress, contractor payments and generate pay estimates.

The Mobile Inspector module helps capture field data in a digital manner using a variety

of mobile devices and ensures that daily information collected in the field is consistent, digitally

uploaded.

The GIS & Mapping Module helps users plot inspection data and asset locations on a

map or CAD drawing. 

PARTNERING WITH RIGHT FIELDS:

Right fields have developed a network of technology and customer support partners to ensure

that they reach out and provide some of the best of the breed solutions and services to their

customers.

Technology/solution partners:

    

27

Channel Partners: 

We have also developed a network of channel partners, with who we can reach out and provide

you localized services. Some of the channel partners of ours are located in (1) Qatar (2) Oman

(3) Sri Lanka (4) India.

CHAPTER 1.4: REVIEW OF LITERATURE:

1. Author name: Fredrick Moytor (2005): Implementing ERP in SMEs: Towards an

Ontology Supporting Managerial Decisions:

Fredrick Moytor explains how ERPs are helping SME in terms of knowing and making

its managerial decisions very simple and accurate to support the business. This article is

helpful in the way that after the implementation of ERP it will very well improve the

business process by making the company to have a clear view of their managerial

decisions. The purpose of this research project is to consolidate and formalize as

ontology, on the basis of an extensive literature review, the key processes and skills

required for successful implementation of ERP in an SME. Using the Prot?g? software

program, the research identified and formalized 395 terms, each of which has its own

definition. Exploitation of this ontology could take multiple and varied forms, including

creation of a learning system, an on-line cooperation platform, or a project management

process mapping tool contributing to successful use of ERP in SMEs.

28

2. Author name: Philip Morrison(2003) Key rationales for implementing ERP in

SMEs:

Philip Morrison explains that if a company is going to implement ERP in its workplace it

can enjoy all the benefits that is shown in the above paragraph.

This article is helpful for the project in the way that if the company which is going for

ERP will definitely enjoy the above benefits and ultimately it will improve the business

process.

• Technology – more powerful, integrated computer systems,

(i) Greater flexibility.

(ii) Lower IT cost.

• Business practices – better ways of accomplishing tasks.

(i) Better operational quality.

(ii) Greater productivity.

• Strategic – cost advantages gained through more efficient systems.

(i) Improve decision making.

(ii) Support business growth.

(iii) Build external linkages.

• Competitive – Keep up with competitors adopting ERP. Greater cost efficiencies.

(i) Better customer service.

3. Author Name: Ravi Shankar (2004): A Study of Open Source ERP Systems:

This article explains whether open source ERP softwares can satisfy the needs of large

organizations as well as Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs).The article is applicable

for the project in the way whether open source ERP can improve the performance of the

business and how far it can make the business grow.

The main objectives of this research work are to investigate whether Open Source ERP

systems can satisfy the needs of large organizations as well as Small to Medium

Enterprises (SMEs). The thesis tries also to answer the question of whether Open Source

ERP vendors offer adequate level of support to their clients. First, the background of the

research work and the motivations behind it are laid out. Then, the aforementioned

research hypotheses are presented. The concept of Open Source, its history and the

29

advantages of Open Source ERP systems are presented. In order to verify the research

hypotheses, a comprehensive review of the literature discussing the ERPs selection

criteria of large organizations and SMEs is carried out. This review resulted in a set of

dimensions that served to build the evaluation model.

4. Author: George Anderson (2000): Identifying usability issues with an ERP

implementation:

George Anderson explains whether SMEs finds any issue in terms of usage of ERP and

what are the difficulties faced by them while using ERP.

The article is applicable for the project in the way that most SMEs are finding it difficult

in using ERP and therefore necessary product knowledge must be incorporated in their

minds before the selling approach.

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems hold great promise for integrating business

processes and have proven their worth in a variety of organizations. Yet the gains that

they have enabled in terms of increased productivity and cost savings are often achieved

in the face of daunting usability problems. While one frequently hears anecdotes about

the difficulties involved in using ERP systems, there is little documentation of the types

of problems typically faced by users. The purpose of this study is to begin addressing this

gap by categorizing and describing the usability issues encountered by one division of a

Fortune 500 company in the first years of its large-scale ERP implementation. This study

also demonstrates the promise of using collaboration theory to evaluate usability

characteristics of existing systems and to design new systems. Given the impressive

results already achieved by some corporations with these systems, imagine how much

more would be possible if understanding how to use them weren’t such an overwhelming

task.

5. Author name: Sunil Saagal (2007):Factors affecting ERP system adoption:

The article explains what the factors that affects the adoption of are ERP systems.

The article is applicable in the way that if the factors mentioned in the article are avoided

by the companies which are ready to implement ERP can have a smooth functioning and

30

ultimately will have its business process at the edge. The analysis of the empirical data

shows that business complexity, as a composed factor, is a weak predictor of ERP

adoption, whereas just company size turns out to be a very good one. In other words,

companies seem to be disregarding ERP systems as an answer to their business

complexity. Unexpectedly, SMEs disregard financial constraints as the main cause for

ERP system non-adoption, suggesting structural and organizational reasons as major

ones. This pattern is partially different from what was observed in large organizations

where the first reason for not adopting an ERP system is organizational. Moreover, the

decision process regarding the adoption of ERP systems within SMEs is still more

affected by exogenous reasons or “opportunity of the moment” than business-related

factors, contrary to large companies that are more interested in managing process

integration and data redundancy/inconsistency through ERP implementation.

6. Author name: Choudri Menon(2008): Analyzing SMEs size as a moderator of

ERP impact in SMEs productivity.(Enterprise Resource Planning and Small and

Medium Enterprises):

Choudri Menon explains how ERP can impact the productivity of SME after its

implementation and how it reduces the cost of the company.

The article is applicable for the project in the way that ERP impacts the productivity of

the business after implementation of it. This will definitely have an improvement in the

business process.

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) vendors have emphasized a positive impact of their

ERP projects in enterprise performance and in costs reduction. Recently, some

researchers have started to analyze the impact on business performance of the

organizational changes that complement IT investments. However, there is a lack of

research studies on ERP impact in Small and Medium Enterprises (SME). Based on

Cobb-Douglas production function, this paper attempts to analyze the impact of ERP

implementations in SMEs' productivity. We have collected data from 168 Spanish SMEs

during the period 1997-2005, concerning the type of purchased ERP, implementation

31

period, number of employees and some financial indicators. We use a cross-sectional and

time-series model to compare and analyze the SMEs' productivity evolution, before and

after ERP implementations considering SMEs size as a critical variable to determine the

level of productivity reached. Our preliminary findings suggest that SMEs size moderates

ERP impact in their productivity. Therefore, researchers and practitioners should not

consider all SMEs in the same package and they should have different strategies and

approaches to obtain the best results in each ERP implementation.

7. Author name: Stephen birlbin (2008) : ERP integration-Enabling the effective

sharing of data across the enterprise:

Stephen birlbin explains how a ERP will be effective in sharing data about the company

across the enterprise.The article is applicable for the project in the way that companies

can share data across the enterprise in each and every department which gradually

increases the integration of all departments and enhances the business process.

The ERP   software  may already provide all the required business logic, but it may be

available only to someone manipulating a full-screen display via multikey commands. Some

clients may want you to implement business processes that are completely lacking in their

ERP systems, while others need to translate the overall business direction of the ERP

package into a series of "what to do next" directions. ERP has assisted companies in

integrating various functions, enhancing business performance. It's critical that companies'

ERP applications don't operate in a vacuum but communicate with all applications that feed

data into a particular business process. The success of ERP implementation is due to the

success of ERP integration. Initial PLM and ERP integrations occur in larger corporations

because they had the resources needed to support such endeavors. Redefining ERP through

integration allows clients to maximize the effectiveness of functional groups while enabling

data to be confidently shared across the entire enterprise.

32

8. Author name: Narayana moorthy.K.H (2005): A benefit realisation road-map

framework for ERP usage in small and medium-sized enterprises:

Narayana moorthy explains how a SME can realize the benefits of ERP after its

implementation. The article is applicable for the project in the way that how a SME can

realize the benefits of ERP after its implementation and this will further leads the

business process to reach its milestones.

The ERP benefits road-map suggests that a long-term vision is required in order to

obtain a successful realisation of the potential benefits that ERP could bring. Thus, this

analysis suggests that ERP benefits realisation dimensions are interconnected, and that

managers should perceive ERP benefits realisation as a continuum cycle along the ERP

post-implementation. Furthermore, new ERP updates and maintenance projects must take

into account the results of ERP benefits realisation auditing to review ERP configuration,

correct possible mistakes, and improve the efficiency of some expected ERP benefits. 

9. Author name: Reagon Taylor (2009):  Competitive advantage of highly effective

ERP system:

Reagon Taylor explains how a ERP can gain a competitive advantage for an

organization over its rivals. The article is applicable for the project in the way that if a

company is having ERP at its place, it will be an competitive advantage for the company

and always it will be a reason for its growth.

In many organizations it is the accounts and finance departments which are the biggest

supporters of the ERP implementation. This is because by using sales and operations

planning process, they will be able to tie financial implications to the forecasts and

determine where the organization should be headed financially for the period, year or

even longer. This information can be used to insure that you meet bank forecasts, growth

forecasts and increase the value of the organization. Finance and accounting people have

an important role to play in the ERP implementation projects. In addition to

33

implementing their own new processes, they have role to play on the ERP executive

committee, the project team and spin-off task forces.

They will need to devote some time to getting educated on ERP system. It is necessary

for them to understand the logical structure of ERP, the benefits to be achieved from

running the business with only one set of numbers and the competitive advantage that

highly effective ERP can provide.

10. Author name: Robert Mannyson (2008): Streamline your business processes

with ERP:

Robert Mannyson explains how a company can easily respond to the changes in the

market scenario and customer demands by streamlining the business process.

The article is applicable for the project in the way that how improvement can be made in

the business process even in the changing market scenario nad customer demands with

the help of ERP.

ERP manufacturing solution offers small and mid-sized manufacturing organizations a

means to reduce costs. It also helps respond to changing market scenario and customer

demands by streamlining the business   processes . ERP for Manufacturing provides

organizations with more flexible and extensible system that enables them to easily adapt,

change and add operational functionality to the system in order to meet customer

demands and easily adjust to changes in the marketplace.ERP streamlines operations and

processes thereby providing transparency to manufacturers on their production &

delivery schedules, order processes and warehousing management.ERP will automate the

manual processes practiced by the manufacturing companies. Automation will enable

them to increase efficiency and take advantage of new revenue opportunities.ERP helps

organizations to provide better service and be more responsive to the demands of

customers and business partners through multi dimensional tracking features and

advanced order-promising capabilities.

34

CHAPTER 2: MAIN THEME OF THE PROJECT

CHAPTER 2.1: NEED FOR THE STUDY

NEED FOR THE STUDY:

The need for the study is based on two important aspects. They are 1. In order to create prospects

for the company, 2. In order to find out the constraints in the manual system and the ways to

make it clear with the help of ERP packages. For this purpose a questionnaire is developed and

with the help of it the need for the study is carried out effectively to make the study more concise

and useful for the further study.

CHAPTER 2.2: SCOPE OF THE STUDY

SCOPE OF THE STUDY:

35

A study was carried out on the “EFFECTIVENESS OF BUSINESS PROCESS BEFORE AND

AFTER IMPLENTING ERP IN SMEs. A sample of 100 respondents was taken on the basis of

Simple Random Sampling. The study has been conducted in Chennai City to identity exactly the

factors that the company need to improve to have a competitive advantage in terms of

information handling through the market survey. Some of the important scopes for the study are

as follows:

The study is aimed to find out the SME’s attitude and perception towards ERP products.

The study will be helpful in identifying and creating prospects to the company

The study will help the company to gain business advantage of untapped SMEs.

The study will be helpful in identifying the difficulties faced by SMEs in data mining.

CHAPTER 2.3: OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY:

OBJECTIVES:

To identify problems faced by SMEs in terms of information handling without ERP.

To identify prospects and presenting to the company.

To study the effectiveness of business process pre and post ERP implementation.

CHAPTER 2.4: LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY:

LIMITATIONS:

In attempt to make the project more authentic and reliable, every possible aspect of the topic was

kept in mind. Nevertheless, despite of fact constraints were at play during the formulation of this

project. The main limitations are as follows:

The study is applicable for Chennai City only.

The study is limited to time and cost constraints.

The study relies heavily on the responses given by the respondents to the questionnaire.

In order to make the project successful all the considerations and assumptions are kept in

mind.

36

CHAPTER 2.5: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Research problems: The problem focused in this study is effectiveness of business process

before and after implementing ERP in SME’s. For this purpose various tools have been used in

this research study. The outcome aimed in this project is to know whether ERP can be a antidote

in order to avoid data mining problems.

Research methodology: Exploratory method

Areas covered for review: Ambattur real estate, SIDCO

Sampling Method: Simple Random Sampling

Sample size : 100

Primary data : Questionnaire

37

: Interview

SAMPLE:

While deciding about the sample of research, it is required from the researcher’s point to

pay attention to these under mentioned points:

a) Sample Units: A decision has to be taken concerning a sampling unit before selecting

a sample, sampling unit may be a geographical one such as state, district, village Etc.

so in this research sampling unit is Chennai area.

b) Source of data: Data required for the study was collected through primary sources i.e.

Market Survey. and the market area is: CHENNAI

c) Sampling size: This refers to the no. of items to be selected from the universe to

constitute a sample. This is a major problem before the researcher. The size of sample

should neither be excessively large not too small, it should be optimum. This size of

population must be kept in view for this also limits the sample size .Sample size in this

research is 100.

INSTRUMENTS USED:

Questionnaire was used through sample survey from the selected elements in SMEs. So

for this purpose I have used the most popular tool of primary data collection through direct

communication with respondents.

METHOD OF DATA COLLECTION:

Actually data is of two kinds which are following

a) Primary Data: Primary data are those, which are collected afresh and for the first time and

this happen to be original in character.

b) Secondary Data: Secondary data are those data which have already been collected by

someone else and which have already been used as per required.

There are basically two sources to collect secondary data

38

a) Internally: Provided by the company/organization

b) Externally: Various publication of central, state and local Government.

Books, magazines, newspapers

Internet

After only keeping in mind one can think about what type of data has to be collected during

research as our research is concerned I have to gather primary data for Customer preference.

QUESTIONNAIRE DESIGN:

As the questionnaire is self administrated one, the survey is kept simple and user friendly.

Words used in questionnaire are readily understandable to all respondent. I have made the

questionnaire in which questions are according to the research and these are convenience for the

respondent.

STRUCTURE OF QUESTIONNAIRE:

Types of Questions:

1. CLOSED ENDED QUESTIONS: Respondent’s answers are limited to a set of responses. Most scales are closed ended. Other types of closed ended questions include:

Yes/no questions: The respondent answers with a “yes” or “no”

Multiple choice questions: The respondent has a several option from which to choose.

2. OPEN ENDED QUESTIONS: No options or predefined categories are suggested. The

respondent supplies their own answer without being constrained by a fixed set of possible

responses.

LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

While surveying some of the problems that are encountered are as follows:

A survey should involve a larger sample size otherwise the findings of the survey cannot

be generalized.

39

But a larger sample size may increase the time and cost of collecting the primary data

with the help of Questionnaire.

In some of the companies it is not allowed to get the questionnaire filled.

Many of the respondents were not willing to fill the questionnaire.

Some people were not willing to respond and few of them who responded were in hurry

hence the active participation was lacking. Due to which I faced difficulties in collecting

information’s regarding our questionnaire.

Another problem which I face was that people were hesitating to give information about

their views freely.

STATISTICAL TOOLS USED:

The following are the statistical tools used in the project:

1. Percentage Analysis

2. Correlation

3. Chi Square Test

CHAPTER 2.6: DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION:

1.“WHICH ERP DO SME’S PREFER”

TABLE: NO:1: TABLE SHOWS THE NO.OF BRANDS AND THE PREFERENCE

BRAND PERCECENTAGE (%) FREQUENCYTALLY 34 34RAMCO 28 28SYSPRO 9 9FACT 26 26Others 3 3TOTAL 100 100 INFERENCE:

From the above table it is inferred that the results are the following:

34% of the respondents preferred TALLY, 28% of the respondents preferred RAMCO,26% of the respondents preferred FACT,9% of the respondents preferred

40

SYSPRO and 3% of the respondents preferred OTHERS. The graphical representation of the above table is given below CHART NO: 1

X- AXIS REPRESENT: VARIOUS BRANDS OF ERP

Y-AXIS REPRESENT: PERCENTAGE OF PREFERENCE

2. “ARE YOU SATISFIED WITH THE PRICE”

TABLE: NO: 2: TABLE SHOWS THE PRICE AND SATISFACTION LEVEL

OPTION PERCENTAGE FREQUENCYYES 64 64NO 19 19

NO COMMENTS 17 17TOTAL 100 100

INFERENCE:

From the above table it is inferred that the results are the following:

64% of the respondents are satisfied with the price range of ERP products, 19% of the respondents are satisfied with the price range of ERP products and 17% of the respondents

34

28

9

26

3

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

TALLY RAMCO SYSPRO FACT Others

TALLY RAMCO SYSPRO FACT Others

41

are satisfied with the price range of ERP products. The graphical representation of the above table is given below

CHART: NO: 2

PERCENTAGE(%)

64%19%

17%

Yes

No

NO COMMENT

3.“HOW DO YOU CONSIDER THE IMPORTANCE OF ENTERPRISE RESOURCE PLANNING ”

TABLE NO: 3: TABLE SHOWS THE ERP IMPORTANCE AND ITS PERCENTAGE

IMPORTANCE PERCENTAGE FREQUENCYRELIABILITY 68 68EASY TO USE 16 16ACCURACY 12 12OTHERS 08 08PRICE 04 04TOTAL 100 100

INFERENCE:

From the above table it is inferred that the results are the following:68% of the respondents consider RELIABILITY as an essential criteria importance,16% of the respondents consider EASY USE as an essential criteria importance,10% of the respondents consider ACCURACY as an essential criteria importance, 04% of the respondents consider PRICE as an essential

42

criteria importance and 02% of the respondents consider OTHER ELEMENTS as an essential criteria importance. The graphical representation of the above table is given below

CHART NO: 3

X- AXIS REPRESENT: CRITERIA IMPORTANCE

Y-AXIS REPRESENT: PERCENTAGE

4.“WHAT FACTORS INFLUENCE YOU TO GO FOR A PARTICULAR BRAND”

TABLE NO: 4: TABLE SHOWS THE INFLUENCING FACTORS AND ITS PERCENTAGE

INFLUENCING FACTORS

PERCENTAGE FREQUENCY

CUSTOMISATION 74 74USER FRIENDLY 13 13SERVICE SUPPORT 8 8CONSULTING ABILITY 5 5PRICE 0 0TOTAL 100 100

INFERENCE:

68

4

1610

20

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

RELIABILITY PRICE EASY USE ACCURACY OTHERS

R”bility Price Easy use Accuracy Others

43

From the above table it is inferred that the results are the following:

74% of the respondents are influenced by the term CUSTOMISATION to go for a

specific brand of ERP, 13% of the respondents are influenced by the term SERVICE

SUPPORT to go for a specific brand of ERP, 8% of the respondents are influenced by the

term CONSULTING ABILITY of the vendor to go for a specific brand of ERP, 5% of

the respondents are influenced by the term USER FRIENDLY to go for a specific brand

of ERP and None of the respondents are influenced by the term PRICE to go for a specific

brand of ERP. The graphical representation of the above table is given below

CHART NO: 4

X-AXIS REPRSENT: INFLUENCING FACTORS

Y-AXIS REPRESENT: PERCENTAGE

44

5. “DO YOU READY TO SWITCH FROM MANUAL SYSTEM TO COMPUTERISED SYSTEM”. TABLE: NO:5

OPTION PERCENTAGE FREQUENCYYES 44 44NO 56 56

TOTAL 100 100

74

513

80

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Customisation User friendly Service Consulting Price

Cus UF Service Cons Price

45

INFERENCE:

From the above table it is inferred that the results are the following:

56% of the respondents are not ready to switch from their existing manual system to computerized ERP system and 44% of the respondents are ready to switch from their existing manual system to computerized ERP system. The graphical representation of the above table is given below

CHART: NO: 5

6. WHETHER YOUR COMPANY WILL GO FOR OPEN SOURCE AND CUSTOMISED ERP PACKAGES?

TABLE NO: 6: TABLE SHOWS PREFERENCES FOR ERP PACKAGES AND ITS PERCENTAGE

OPTION PERCENTAGE FREQUENCYYES 77 77NO 23 23TOTAL 100 100

INFERENCE:

44%

56%

Yes

No

46

From the above table it is inferred that the results are the following:

77% of the respondents are willing to go for open source and customised ERP packages and 23% of the respondents are not willing to go for open source and customized ERP packages. The graphical representation of the above table is given below

CHART NO: 6

7. DO YOU FACE ANY DIFFICULTY IN THE EXISTING DATA MAINTENANCE?

TABLE:NO: 7: TABLE SHOWS THE DIFFICULTLY FACED IN EXISTING DATA MAINTENANCE AND ITS PERCENTAGE

OPTION PERCENTAGE FREQUENCYYES 31 31NO 69 69TOTAL 100 100

23%

77%

NO YES

47

INFERENCE:

From the above table it is inferred that the results are the following:69% of the respondents are not having any difficulty in data maintenance in the existing system and 31% of the respondents are admitting that they have some difficulty in data maintenance in the existing system. The graphical representation of the above table is given below

CHART:NO:7

8. WHETHER YOUR COMPANY IS WELL KNOWN ABOUT ERP PACKAGES?

TABLE NO:8 TABLE SHOWS THE AWARENESS OF ERP PACKAGES AND ITS PERCENTAGE

OPTION PERCENTAGE FREQUENCYYES 70 70NO 30 30

PERCENTAGE(%)

69%

31%

NO

YES

48

TOTAL 100 100

INFERENCE:

From the above table it is inferred that the results are the following:

70% of the respondents are aware of ERP packages and 30% of the respondents are not aware of ERP packages. The graphical representation of the above table is given below

CHART: NO:8

CORELLATION:

a) Relationship between Companies and their ERP status:

Inference: Relationship between companies and the ERP status are positively correlated since correlation value is 0.814

70%

30%

Yes No

49

Correlations

Companies ERP status

Companies Pearson Correlation

1 .814**

N 100 100

ERP status Pearson Correlation

.814 1

N 100 100

b) Relationship between ERP and Expectations from the point of view of companies

Inference: Relationship between ERP and Expectations from the point of view of companies are

positively correlated since correlation value is 0.915.

Correlations

CompaniesExpectations

from ERP

Companies Pearson Correlation

1 .915**

N 100 100

Expectations from ERP

Pearson Correlation

.915** 1

N 100 100

c) Relationship between Employee and the training required from the point of company:

Inference: Relationship between Employee and the training required from the point of company is positively correlated since the correlation value is 0.783

50

Correlations

Employees ERP training

Employees Pearson Correlation

1 .783

N 100 100

ERP training Pearson Correlation

.783 1

N 100 100

CHI SQUARE TEST:1. Chi square test for Firm and ERP Status

51

Case processing summary

Cases

Valid Missing Total

N Percent N Percent N Percent

companies *

ERP status100 100.0% 0 .0% 100 100.0%

Firms * ERP status Cross tabulation

ERP Status

Totalyes No

Firms Dies 13 0 13

Moulds 33 0 33

Engi 22 6 28

Spares 0 26 26

Total 68 32 100

Construction of Hypothesis:

H0: There is no association between Firms and ERP status.

H1: There is an association between Firms and ERP status.

Factors Chi-square Vale Degrees Of Freedom

Significance

Firms & ERP status 78.335 3 H1 is accepted.

Chi-Square Tests

Value df

Asymp. Sig. (2-

sided)

Pearson Chi-Square 78.335a 3 .000

Likelihood Ratio 96.277 3 .000

Linear-by-Linear Association 60.745 1 .000

N of Valid Cases 100

INFERENCE:

52

It is inferred from the above table that chi- square value is 78.335 which is greater than

table value so reject H0 . Therefore there is an association between the firm and ERP

status.

2. Chi square test for ERP and Importance.

Case Processing Summary

Cases

Valid Missing Total

N Percent N Percent N Percent

ERP*Importance 100 100.0% 0 .0% 100 100.0%

ERP * Importance Cross tabulation

Importance

TotalAccuracy Reliable Easy use Timely

ERP yes 31 28 9 0 68

no 0 0 5 27 32

Total 31 28 14 27 100

Construction of Hypothesis:

H0: There is no association between ERP and Importance.

H1: There is an association between ERP and Importance.

Factors Chi-square Vale Degrees Of Freedom

Significance

ERP and Importance

85.228 3 H1 is accepted.

Value df

Asymp. Sig. (2-

sided)

53

Pearson Chi-Square 85.228a 3 .000

Likelihood Ratio 107.125 3 .000

Linear-by-Linear Association 72.634 1 .000

N of Valid Cases 100

INFERENCE:

It is inferred from the above table that chi- square value is 85.228 which is greater than

table value so reject H0 . Therefore there is an association between ERP and

Importance.

3. Chi square test for Existing System and its Status:

Case Processing Summary

Cases

Valid Missing Total

N Percent N Percent N Percent

System*Status 100 100.0% 0 .0% 100 100.0%

Existing System * Status Cross tabulation

Status

TotalExcellent Good Fair Poor

System Yes 33 26 9 0 68

No 0 0 5 27 32

Total 33 26 14 27 100

Construction Of Hypothesis:

H0: There is no association between Existing system and Status

54

H1: There is an association between Existing system and Status

Factors Chi-square Vale Degrees Of Freedom

Significance

Existing system and Status

87.228 3 H1 is accepted.

Chi-Square Tests

Value df

Asymp. Sig. (2-

sided)

Pearson Chi-Square 87.228a 3 .000

Likelihood Ratio 108.125 3 .000

Linear-by-Linear Association 73.634 1 .000

N of Valid Cases 100

INFERENCE:

It is inferred from the above table that chi- square value is 87.228 which is greater than

table value so reject H0 . Therefore there is an association between existing system and

status.

4. Chi square for Manual System and Constraints:

Case Processing Summary

Cases

Valid Missing Total

N Percent N Percent N Percent

Manual system*Constraint 100 100.0% 0 .0% 100 100.0%

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Manual System

TotalExcel Paper work Softwares others

Constraint Not timely 31 0 0 0 31

Not accurate 28 0 0 0 28

Less reliable 2 9 3 0 14

Nil 0 0 16 11 27

Total 61 9 19 11 100

Construction of Hypothesis:

H0: There is no association between manual system and constraints.

H1: There is an association between manual system and constraints.

Factors Chi-square Vale Degrees Of Freedom

Significance

Disease and Type Of Food

155.50 9 H1 is accepted.

Chi-Square Tests

Value df

Asymp. Sig. (2-

sided)

Pearson Chi-Square 1.555E2a 9 .000

Likelihood Ratio 153.837 9 .000

Linear-by-Linear Association 78.865 1 .000

N of Valid Cases 100

INFERENCE:

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It is inferred from the above table that chi- square value is 1.555which is greater than

table value so reject H0 . Therefore there is an association between manual system and

constraints.

CHAPTER 2.7: FINDINGS

PERCENTAGE ANALYSIS

1. 34% of the respondents preferred TALLY.

2. 64% of the respondents are satisfied with the price range of ERP products.

3. 68% of the respondents consider RELIABILITY as an essential criteria importance.

4. 74% of the respondents are influenced by the term CUSTOMISATION to go for a

specific brand.

5. 56% of the respondents are not ready to switch from their existing manual system to

computerized ERP system.

6. 77% of the respondents are willing to go for open source and customized ERP packages.

7. 69% of the respondents are not having any difficulty in data maintenance in the existing

system.

8. 70% of the respondents are aware of ERP packages.

CORRELATION:

1. Inference: Relationship between companies and the ERP status are positively correlated

since correlation value is 0.814

2. Inference: Relationship between ERP and Expectations from the point of view of

companies are positively correlated since correlation value is 0.915.

3. Inference: Relationship between Employee and the training required from the point of

company is positively correlated since the correlation value is 0.783

CHI SQUARE TEST:

1. There is an association between Firms and ERP status.

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2. There is an association between ERP and Importance.

3. There is an association between Existing system and Status.

4. There is an association between Manual system and Constraints

CHAPTER 3: RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSION

CHAPTER 3.1: RECOMMENDATIONS

GUIDELINES FOR VENDORS:

Understanding the market conditions : India has become a highly competitive playing

field for ERP vendors especially in the SME market. Most of the organizations here by

virtue of their size would be classified under the SME market; the potential in this market

is huge. All the major vendors have set their foot print in this region from Microsoft,

SAP, Oracle, SAGE, Epicor etc. In addition there are a number of local home grown

products that cater to niche requirements or verticals. A new ERP vendor needs to

position itself right when deciding to enter such a competitive landscape. It is better for

the global players to work with a channel partner as they have better customer reach and

market awareness. The local players need to capitalize on their specializations or vertical

expertise in order to capture a share of the market

Deep cash reserves : The ERP business is one that has longer realization times than most

software packages. Even without a single deal in hand, an ERP vendor/ channel partner

would require a sales team, an implementation and development team. The first cash

realization would come about 8-9 months after you have done your first implementation.

So vendors entering the market need to have deep cash reserves or financial backing to

sustain themselves at least for a year or two before setting their footprint in this market.

Sourcing the right Human Capital : The biggest challenge in the Indian market is

sourcing the right people for your business and when it comes to highly specialized ERP

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resources with domain expertise, the task becomes that much harder. An ERP vendor

would require a strong sales team, Implementation and development team which again

consist of pre- sales, domain consultants, functional consultants, project manager,

developers, testers etc. Sufficient time and effort has to be put into sourcing the right

talent.

Enabling Channel partners : Channel partners are a vendor’s brand ambassadors in a

region. They have to be adequately trained in not only the product offerings but also the

processes involved in sales, implementation and post implementation scenarios. This

would require multiple training sessions and constant interactions to enable them to cater

to your product. Vendors also have to put processes in place to ensure that partners do not

cannibalize into each other’s opportunities and managing such conflicts is key to

sustaining your business in the region.

Need for Specialized/ Verticalized Solutions: Indian market has certain key verticals

that are growing at a phenomenal rate. One of the entry strategies that a new vendor

entering the market can adopt is to develop products around these verticals incorporating

the processes and best practices in them. This would enable them to capture a share of the

ERP market without directly competing head on with the bigger players with generalized

ERP.

Explore all possible revenue avenues: Vendors have more than one option to earn

additional revenues and increasing their share of the pie. These include license revenue,

Up-selling and Cross-selling opportunities, Services revenue, AMC revenue, IP revenue:

Selling your IP

SELLING/ PRE IMPLEMENTATION PHASE:

Analyze the customer business:

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The first step before approaching any SME customer is to analyze its operations for suitability

and solution fitment. If the vendor has an idea about the complexity and the nuances of the

customer business, he can pitch in with the unique functionalities that is solution can offer.

Factors considered can include:

Company Size

Financial Parameters

Buying Culture – Brand conscious versus price sensitivity

Appropriateness of the product viz – a viz the complexity of the process

Scalability of the product viz a viz the company’s future strategies

More importantly, if your product cannot cater to the specific needs, then this is the right time to

back out rather than forcefully customize and sell your solution which could backfire post

implementation.

Consultative selling - Understanding the SME customers : The challenge in SME

selling is that the process from day one takes on a consultative mode. Customers may a

times will not have processes or systematic ways of working but their businesses will be

highly successful in nature. The key to selling to an SMe customer is be sensitive to the

fact that an SME entrepreneur would probably not appreciate any direct imposition of so

called “best practices” that many ERP packages have as a prerequisite. It requires tactful

dealing and often informal methods to convince them of the benefits of ‘slightly’

restructuring their processes and introducing a whole new system of working. SME look

for two main characteristics in an ERP package – Faster implementation and how soon

they can reap the benefits i.e. the ROI. So the trick is in having template solutions or

“verticalized” solutions which would require minimum customizations and hence lesser

implementation time.

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Playing on your strengths :ERP vendors of all genre have a possibility of expanding

their market in India– be it the bigger players like Microsoft/ SAP / Oracle or the smaller

players like EBiz or ETA Infotech which are doing well in their own way. This is

because there are segments of the market that have different considerations when going

for an ERP package. Some are brand conscious and would go only for the big names

while others are more price conscious and are more attuned to catering to their business

needs and would be looking for specialized products.

Gaining Larger Pie of the SME ERP market : Vendors have a chance to provide end

to end solutions for an ERP solution. There are minimum hardware and network

requirements that are prerequisite when implementing ERP. Vendors can have strategic

tie – ups with hardware and network providers. This not only helps the vendor to position

themselves as one stop shop for ERP but also increase the switching costs for the

customers

Setting Expectations Right from Day Zero!! : ERP is often pitched as this magic tool

that can automate all the business processes operations and provide all the customer

requirements at just a button click away. This kind of hyping can lead to over

expectations and a perceived notion that the implementation was a failure even if the ERP

system is working as per business requirements. Vendors have the onus of setting

expectations right from selling phase to avoid such scenarios later on.

Getting Terms and Conditions clear cut when deal is closed : Most of the ERP

implementations fail as a result of not getting the customer requirements clearly or the

inability to define the same. In addition, customers add on to the requirements once the

implementation is under way and they get a feel of the system capabilities. While being

open to certain amount of modifications and add ons, too much of the same can lead to

huge schedule and cost creeps and the vendor might have to go back to the negotiating

table to re-evaluate the terms. It is always advisable to document the terms and conditions

as agreed upon by both the parties when the deal is closed.

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GUIDELINES FOR CUSTOMERS:

Pre Implementation Guidelines Identify the need to Implement ERP: In many

instances, ERP will not solve the company’s business problems. Before making a

decision as large as implementing a system that will cost millions and affect the entire

company, it's important to have a clear understanding of what the compelling reason is to

accomplish this project. There may be more cost-effective and lower-risk options such as

improving processes, redesigning the organizational structure, consolidating entire global

supply chain, or implementing a performance management system. In these cases, maybe

choosing not to implement ERP is the best solution. On the other hand, ERP may be the

business tool that enables these improvements.

Clarify the Business Requirements: Once the decision to implement an ERP has been

made, it is important to begin by looking at the desired operational model and using that

as a starting point in determining which software to implement. Executives should define

and document key business requirements for any package they may select. This includes

not only nice-to-haves, but also requirements that are "deal-breakers" if the software is

unable to accommodate. In addition, executives should use ERP business requirements

definition as an opportunity to improve current operations, efficiency, and effectiveness.

The company should be focused on achieving a measurable business value for the

organization, and should thus choose the software that enables it to do this.

Identify the Business Case and estimate the ROI: It is important to understand and

document what the total costs will be for each ERP vendor under consideration, as well

as anticipated business benefits. This helps in ensuring that the company realizes the

potential benefits of implementing ERP. All costs, including hidden project costs such as

internal project resources, data conversion, and lost productivity immediately following

go-live, should be included in the business case and ROI calculation for each ERP vendor

under evaluation. If the resulting ROI for a particular ERP vendor does not make sense or

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meet minimum investment criteria of the company, then it's probably not a good idea to

undertake the project.

Finalizing the Implementation Partner: Typically ERP implementations are taken up

either by the software vendors themselves or by the third-part vendors and the

consultants. Companies have to choose either of the above options by keeping cost and

expertise as the prerogative. It is also important to look at consulting firms that are

capable of helping you manage the non-technical aspects of the project, such as

organizational change management, training, and ERP benefits realization. There are

many consulting firms, which are technology neutral and specialize in providing project

planning and business consulting for all types of ERP implementations. Companies have

to work with consulting firms in preparing a Request for Proposal (RFP) which generally

covers almost every aspect of ERP selection criteria from functionalities, technology,

hardware, support, implementation and costing methodologies.

Post Implementation Guidelines

In-house Technical Expertise Experience indicates that the lack of internal or always

available onsite specialist decreases the chances of success dramatically. And the

explanation should be simple to this fact. Nowadays ERP system requires minor or major

customization, integration and reporting and all these steps in turn require patient coding

and testing in the test environment or on the sample dataset/database

Dedicated ERP Administrator: This is true that users could be trained and would know

how to use the system. However typical ERP has its own life and somebody should

assign new users, setup security roles for them, modify reports and makes custom reports

available for the users, setup printers, try first to resolve the issue by looking at the

techknowledge database, and so on. ERP Administrator doesn’t have to be IT guru –

she/he needs to be trained on how to administer the program and how to deal with

technical support. Imagine for a moment that if you take out manager from the company

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– even if all the employees have excellent training and used to work for the company

numerous years – you will still expect performance degradation. The same should be said

about ERP system.

Expect Certain Number of Issues : IT industry is not yet mature and it is probably sad,

but the reality that even very experienced consultant, developer makes errors – or your

software environment has something that make the custom piece malfunction. When you

see the consultant being persistent in resolving your issues – please be patient and try to

help him.

Trust Your Consultant When you decide on somebody to implement the system, you

need from this moment on to trust him and let him have high security access to the ERP

hosting server. Complex security makes consultant suffer from getting connected,

installing the patches or custom pieces. So many times we were spinning our wheels in

trying to test new custom business logic, when, say Windows or MS SQL Server security

was restricting us to do the actions we needed.

Do not over negotiate. This is from the sales cycle. When you purchase the system – you

should purchase the software and implementation from the same company – otherwise

your partner will place you on the second priority list. We saw numerous examples, when

client purchases Microsoft CRM licenses from nation-wide distributor, and then is trying

to find somebody to implement the system. Also if you are cutting software prices – you

may see your consulting company rescheduling the work for you in favor of somebody

else.

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CHAPTER 3.2: CONCLUSION

The conclusion for this study can be summarized with the benefits of ERP in SME. It is

in the sense that business process of any organization will be effective only when ERP is

in place. ERP will be a competitive advantage for the business concern. Some of the

benefits that a company can carry out with the help of ERP are as follows:

Tangible Benefits after ERP Implementation:

Inventory Reduction

Personal reduction

Productivity improvement

Order management improvement

Technology cost reduction

Procurement cost reduction

Cash management improvement

Revenue/profit improvement

Transportation/ logistics cost reduction

Maintenance reduction

On time delivery improvement

Intangible benefits after ERP implementation:

New/improved business processes

Customer responsiveness

Cost reduction

Integration

Standardization

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Flexibility

Business performance

Monitoring cost

Less Information processing cost

CHAPTER 4: SCOPE FOR FUTURE STUDY

The study was conducted in the effectiveness of business process before and after

implementing ERP. The analysis and interpretation part will be mainly focusing on how a ERP

package can transform the business effectiveness to the edge of its success by eliminating the

difficulties of manual system followed previously by the companies. The study completely

supports to make companies aware of ERP packages, implement it in their companies to have a

competitive edge in the business process as well as to lead the business in a right way.

The scope for future study can be more emphasized on how to convince the companies to

implement ERP at their place and also how the after sale services such as Demo, product

knowledge, queries managing from the point of view of the client can focused more. To be very

concise more study can be made on the difficulties and major negative blocks faced in the ERP

implementation phase to make ERP very accessible and acceptable by every industry.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. BOOKS AND JOURNALS

David Allen, Thomas Kern, Mark Havenhand, 2002, ERP Critical Success Factors: an

exploration of the contextual factors in public sector institutions.

C.R.Kothari, 2004, Research Methodology methods and techniques(2nd Edition; New Delhi: New

Age International (P) Limited).

T.R Bhatti, 2005, Critical Success factors for the implantation of ERP: Empirical Validation.

Guy G. Gable and Michael R. Vitale, 2005, The Future of Enterprise Resource Planning Systems

(4th Edition; U.S Press Ltd).

Jose Esteves, Journal of Enterprise Information System, 2009 Volume: 22 Issue: 1/2 Page: 25 to

35, 2009 Volume: 22 Issue: 1/2 Page: 25 to 35.

2. ARTICLES AND MAGAZINES

Fredrick Moytor, 2005, Towards an Ontology Supporting Managerial Decisions, Articles

factory, Issue no: 47, Page no: 31.

Philip Anderson, 2003, Key rationales for implementing ERP in SMEs, Articles factory, Issue

no: 38, Page no: 27.

George Anderson, 2000, Identifying usability issues with an ERP implementation, Articles

factory, Issue no: 30, Page no: 23.

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Stephen birlbin, 2008, ERP integration-Enabling the effective sharing of data across the

enterprise, Articles factory, Issue no: 58, Page no: 18.

Sunil Saagal, 2007, Factors affecting ERP system adoption, Business India, Volume no: 3, Issue

no: 58, Page no: 32.

ANNEXURE:

QUESTIONNAIRE FOR EFFECTIVE BUSINESS PROCESS WITH ERP IN SMEs

NOTE: The data that you are providing will be confidential and will not be published

anywhere .

ABOUT THE COMPANY:

NAME OF THE COMPANY:

BUSINESS ACTIVITY UNDERTAKEN:

NAME AND POSITION:

EMAIL ID:

URL OF THE COMPANY:

PHONE NUMBER/MOBILE NUMBER:

QUESTIONS:

1. How many employees are there in the company?

a) 1-30 b) 31-50 c) 51-100 d) 101-150 e) Above 151

2. Whether the company is using any ERP system at present?

a) Yes b) No c) Under Consideration

3. If the company has purchased any ERP please answer the following questions:

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What is the name of the ERP product? ______________________

How long has it been in use? ___________________________

What is the cost of the ERP, including implementation? _______________

What are the modules present in the ERP? ______________________

Are you satisfied with the performance / usage of this ERP?

_______________________________________________

MODULE WISE QUESTIONS:

PRODUCTION

4a.Does the shop floor gets a proper internal work order for manufacturing?

a) Yes b) No

4b. Whether information in terms of availability of equipments, raw material & labour are

available for planning a work order?

a) Yes b) No

4c. Are you able to plan execution of orders as per committed dates?

a) Yes b) No

If the answer is no to any of these questions, what are the problem areas? Please explain.

INVENTORY

5a. How is the stock level being monitored?

a) Excel b) on paper work c) Any other software

69

5b. Do you often face stock out or over stock situations?

a) Yes b) No

5c. Do you have any mechanism to find out which items are fast / slow / non moving?

a) Yes b) No

FINANCE

6a. Do you have any mechanism to find out the value of inventory in hand at any given time?

a) Yes b) No

6b. Are you able to find out the profitability of individual orders?

a) Yes b) No

6c. Are you able to analyse profitability for every department and cost centre?

a) Yes b) No

6d. Is your ledger automatically updated for all material transactions (Purchase, GRN, issue,

production completion, despatch etc.)

a) Yes b) No

6e. Do you have a system to give information on aged payables and receivables to help in cash

management?

a) Yes b) No

SALES

7a. Does your sales people have information on the status of the sales order?

a) Yes b) No

7b. Do you know your most profitable customers

70

a) Yes b) No

PURCHASE

8a. Do you have a mechanism to monitor vendor performance on delivery schedules, quality

etc?

a) Yes b) No

8b. Are you able to get updated status of every Purchase Order?

a) Yes b) No

PLEASE TICK ON THE RESPECTIVE COLUMNS:

CRITERIA STRONGLY

AGREE

PARTIALLY

AGREE

NOT

AGREE

Existing system is poor

Needs automation

Needs ERP knowledge

ERP modules demo

Functional consultant guidance

ERP support services

GENERAL QUESTIONS:

9. If you need to implement ERP what are the expectations from it?

_____________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________

10. What is the budget that your company has decided for ERP implementation?

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_____________________________________________________________

11. When do plan to go in for ERP implementation?

______________________________________