Choosing an erp system for the enterprise. ERP systems: what is it in simple terms, the pros and cons of ERP, an overview. Who chooses an ERP system

The abbreviation ERP comes from the English expression Enterprise Resource Planning which literally means enterprise resource planning. In theory, such a system is a general strategy for the company's activities, which takes into account the following areas:

Control financial resources- tax reporting, accounting, budget planning;
Human Resource Management;
Asset Management;
Interaction with partners and keeping track of the history of clients' transactions.

On the practical side, speaking of ERP systems businesses mean software for the automation of each of the listed areas, as well as other processes of the company's activities in order to bring them into a common interconnected database necessary for the operation of the enterprise.

In simple words, ERP systems are complexes of activities, including: models of information flow management at the enterprise, equipment for its storage and processing, software, IT department and specialists technical support, as well as directly to users.

Building an IT system for enterprise resource planning

As a complex software, ERP system consists of the following elements:

Platform- the main environment (kernel), which ensures the operation of the program components, as well as the basic functionality ( reference Information, functions) of the company. This is the basis of the system, without which its work is impossible.
Data management tools- this includes storage on the server, programs for processing information and transferring them for the operation of modules.
Plugins- programs that are independent of each other that connect to the platform and use the main databases in their work. It is the presence of independent modules that can be disconnected and connected without disrupting the operation of the entire complex that distinguishes ERP systems from other types of software used in automating business processes.

The modules connected to the main platform of the production resource planning system are conventionally divided into three groups:

Internal- programs used within the enterprise, to which employees have access.
External- programs to which customers and partners have access (for example, Personal Area reseller dropshipper).
Connectors- programs for connecting with other software products that are not part of the ERP system, but are used by the company in its activities. They exchange data.

Where to get an ERP system for an enterprise

There are three ways to purchase resource planning software:

Creating your own product... It often turns out to be an irrational method, since the lack of a professional approach can lead to a situation where only one direction will be taken into account, which will not give a tangible effect. Moreover, the system introduced in this way is usually difficult to replace or supplement.
Purchase of a ready-made platform and its implementation in the work of the enterprise... Here you need to do right choice according to the activities of your company. High-quality and well-known products are quite expensive and require constant support from the developer.
Professional development of ERP systems individually for the company... Only 20% of programs created on the domestic market are successfully integrated into the work of enterprises. This means that the risk of a company to receive a low-quality product at an inflated cost is quite large.

How to choose and implement an ERP system

There is no one-size-fits-all resource planning system that fits all companies. For each production, its most optimal product is selected, which is then adjusted during the implementation process.

Types of ERP systems for enterprises

The classification of ERP systems is carried out according to several parameters, the accounting of which will help you in choosing the right product. So, according to their purpose, they can be industry-specific and general. The first option is suitable for very large companies, as well as for enterprises that produce a unique product or use non-standard business methods.

By the type of organization, systems of the following formats are distinguished:

Public- Many users have access to the general functionality of the program, but your data is available only to employees of your company.
Private- the program is isolated and can be changed and refined for the tasks of the company.
Hybrid- a combination of two types.

By the type of information storage:

Cloud- databases are located on external servers.
Internal- the data is stored on the company's own server.

By user interface format:

Stationary (desktop)- software for connecting to databases is installed on a PC and can work autonomously from the Internet using only internal communications.
Browser (working only online)- access to the system is carried out through the company's website and the personal account of an employee, client or partner.

By software architecture:

Modular- are made up of many components (modules) designed to solve various problems.
Monolithic- unified comprehensive programs.

By license class for use:

Proprietary- closed software, for the use of which you need to pay for a license.
Open source- free open source software.

Mistakes in choosing a resource planning system

The wrong choice of the ERP enterprise management system will not only entail additional costs, but can also negatively affect the operation of the enterprise. To avoid mistakes, you need to know the main ones:

Lack of a correctly chosen and clearly formulated goal... It is important to understand that ERP should improve the company's performance by adopting the positive aspects and compensating for the negative ones. Therefore, when choosing, it is necessary to determine exactly what effect from the implementation should be obtained. If your goal is to optimize your business as a whole, you will not get the desired result. All tasks must be specified in the terms of reference (TOR). In this case, the system must be adapted to the company, and not vice versa. It is wrong to completely rebuild a business, especially if it is profitable, to fit an ERP system.
Wrong choice of methodology for solving the assigned tasks... Each ERP system is built for a specific area of the business. It can be adapted for the production area or exclusively for trade.
One-sided view of system selection... The team of specialists making up the technical assignment, choosing and controlling the system implementation process should include representatives from various departments of the company (IT, sales, personnel, production). Otherwise, the final product will be selected from the standpoint of the convenience of only one link of users and will not bring the required efficiency to the enterprise as a whole.
Insufficient qualifications of the developer and specialists implementing the implementation... The process of creating and integrating a resource planning system is costly and many companies, in an effort to reduce costs, turn to firms with little experience or use free ERP systems, which is quite risky.
Low level of control over the process of integrating the program into the system.
Complexity of the interface... If the program is too complex for intuitive understanding, you may face the problem of the need to train staff to work with it. It also increases the risk of accidental errors when entering data, which entails incorrect planning and all the ensuing consequences.

What functions should a resource planning system provide?

The main tool in business planning that allows you to make a decision is reporting documentation. It is she who is the basis of the ERP, which, in turn, should provide the ability to analyze report data from various positions. Therefore, an effective ERP system must have a number of the following functions:

Providing convenient document flow... The main purpose of ERP systems is to provide fast documentation (invoices, invoices, reports, prices), as well as subsequent operations with them (search, access, forwarding, editing).
Planning... The algorithm of the system, especially for production, should allow planning payments, deliveries, warehouse operation, seasonal changes, and production volumes. For each company, production planning is individual in nature and is tied to the volumetric calendar strategy.
Transparency of information... The program should record all transactions, parties, volumes and dates of their performance, which will make the company's work more transparent for analysis.
Access control for different levels... Since the system covers a very large amount of information about the work of the company, most of which should remain closed to employees of lower levels, customers and partners, it should allow you to close some of the data for users with different permissions.
Unified data network... The ERP system must provide the ability to track all processes separately (for example, transactions) at all levels from the purchase of raw materials and production, to the registration of sales and payment of taxes.
Personnel accounting... The program should provide for the possibility of monitoring the number of personnel, planning the schedule of exits and hours worked, taking into account the level of qualifications of employees and scheduling vacations, passing training courses. Also, an effective planning system provides for the possibility of calculating salaries and bonuses, taking into account the form of remuneration.
Work with providers... The functionality of the system should allow you to store and process the supplier base, send requests for availability, plan the formation of orders, release working capital and pay bills, control the delivery process, and keep records of purchases.
Work with clients... The system should allow full accounting of data for each client, regardless of how many legal entities are included in the structure of the latter. This implies not only the ability to provide the client to work through his own account, but also the storage of data on completed transactions, accounts receivable, delivery planning, invoice processing, history of cooperation. This allows you to study the demand and the level of profit received from each client.
Service and repair... If we are talking about production, this part of the program should provide for the planning of technical inspection of equipment, the schedule for scheduled repairs, modernization or replacement of equipment of the enterprise. For trade enterprises the system must provide for the possibility of accounting service sold goods and repairs under warranty obligations.

Features of ERP implementation

The resource planning system operates with databases, of which, as a rule, there are a lot. The information itself can be in various media, including paper documentation, and therefore its transfer to electronic format is a huge work. The data itself is divided into two groups:

Important- information that is the basis of the company's activities. These are data on the work and production management, reporting of the sales department and personnel officers. They must be used in the ERP system without fail.
General- information relevant to specific company which is not used by the company all the time, but is also important. These data are added to the system as needed or at the request of the company's management.

An ideal ERP should provide for the ability to use all types of data, but in practice, to simplify the implementation process, the important ones are taken into account first, and then the general ones are gradually integrated.

Based on what data should be used and the required functionality of the system, a technical task is drawn up. It is an official document (instruction) that demonstrates what tasks and goals need to be achieved in the implementation process. On the basis of the TK, a schedule of integration works is drawn up.

There are three strategies for implementing an enterprise resource planning system:

Step-by-step integration- first, the main modules are launched into operation (for example, financial accounting, accounting and document flow), and then after debugging their work, the rest are gradually introduced. This method is very time consuming and cannot be demonstrated immediately. It is often used by companies when developing a system on their own.
Complex implementation- the system is applied in all directions at once and in full, and then gradual debugging of work is carried out. This method allows you to quickly integrate an enterprise resource planning system. It is used when purchasing off-the-shelf software.
Combined method- The introduction of ERP systems occurs at once in all areas of activity, but in stages. This strategy allows you to minimize implementation time with the least loss of quality of work. Most often, this technique is used by private companies that offer services for the development of individual software.

How an ERP system works and who needs it

Given the complexity and high cost, the implementation of ERP will be appropriate only for large companies, where the amount of data for accounting is very large and requires systematization. Such systems demonstrate high efficiency for large-scale production, in various corporations and holdings. If the company does not produce a wide range or is engaged in the manufacture of small batches, it does not need such a serious resource planning system, and will only slow down the process and lead to unnecessary losses.

The only exception, according to experts of consulting agencies, is the use of ERP systems by small companies operating in a very competitive environment, where the automation of all processes creates an additional advantage.

To understand whether you need such a system, you need to calculate the economic efficiency of its implementation. It can be determined by various parameters (decrease in inventories, speed of production, reduction of staff, increase in labor productivity), and as a result, for the enterprise itself, it should bring additional profit or, at least, reduce costs.

A quick overview of popular ERPs

Most often, the main ERP systems of companies are ready-made products adjusted for the activities of the enterprise. They can be paid or free. With proper implementation, efficiency can be achieved in both cases.

Popular free products:

ERPNext- a minimalistic program for the work of a private entrepreneur (IE). The main disadvantage is limited disk space, which can be increased for an additional fee.
Galaxy ERP- designed for the domestic market and allows you to take into account frequent changes in legislation.

Paid programs:

SAP ERP is one of the most popular systems offering wide functionality and user-friendly interface.
1C: Enterprise is a fairly popular and affordable system that offers a large number of specialized solutions.
OpenBravo ERP- a program for the middle level with convenient scaling and affordable cost.

Pros and cons of ERP

Most of the shortcomings of ERP systems stem from its main qualities, since the main problems that companies face when implementing a program are associated with making mistakes when deciding on the need to use and direct choice of software.

Disadvantages of Resource Planning System Integration

Despite the fact that the purpose of ERP systems is to improve the production process, they have their drawbacks. Among the latter:

Complexity of the program and, as a result, high purchase and implementation costs.
Increased requirements for equipment for data storage and processing including servers for storing backups. It must be reliable and fast, which determines the high cost.
The need for additional data protection, careful control of the security system and setting up the access hierarchy. Storing information in electronic format, and especially with network access, increase the risk of theft or destruction (intentional or accidental) of important documents.
Dependence on the energy supply of the company... If in offices, warehouses or there is a problem with the electrical network in the sales area of the company, the work of the company may completely stop.

Practical advantages of an ERP system

Implementing a strategy and software for accounting and resource planning is effective method to achieve improvements in the work of the company, which has the following advantages:

Possibility of integration into various types of production and quick adaptation to a wide range of enterprises' activities. ERP system is suitable for industrial complexes, banking organizations, trade enterprises, service sectors.
Support of planning methods for various areas of the company.
The ability to build a virtual enterprise.
High-quality accounting of finance for all departments.
The ability to manage corporations with a large number of international divisions and remote employees.
Scalability and flexibility for implementation in enterprises of various sizes.
Ability to work with other programs and applications used in the enterprise.
Integration of data into a single system, which makes it available to multiple departments.

Understanding the features of the ERP system, what it is in simple words and how to choose for your enterprise, you will be able to warn yourself against the mistaken purchase of an expensive product you do not need, choosing the most effective one, you will be able to correctly implement the implementation, increase the efficiency and profit of the company.

This article is dedicated to implementation issues on domestic enterprises modern integrated control systems (IMS). Specifically, we will focus on the selection criteria for ERP class systems that can be useful both for potential consumers of such systems and for suppliers.

Depending on the degree of use of standard concepts, methods and means, the following classification of generations of automated control systems can be carried out.

1st generation:

a) the use of individual models of business processes for individual enterprises or their types;

b) the use of flat files (or hierarchical DBMS) and 3GL, in the style of IBM 360/370.

Examples: unique systems metallurgical companies USX and British Steel, which only operate in a specific facility.

2nd generation:

a) use of a typical model of business processes MRP / MRP II for any type of enterprise;
b) see point 1. b plus the use of our own development tools of the 4GL class.

Examples: basic systems of companies , SAP and Baan.

3rd generation:

a) development of the ERP model (clause 2a). Application of relational DBMS from leading manufacturers (Ingres, etc.) based on international SQL standards;
b) refusal to use individual development tools (use of unified tools based on SQL, including standard screen forms, reports, etc.);
c) the transition from the ideology of the mainframe to the ideology of "client / server" and distributed databases.

Examples: basic systems from Oracle, ESI / Technology, IFS; adaptation of new versions of 2nd generation systems in terms of using some of the capabilities of typical relational DBMS while maintaining their own development and support tools.

4th generation:

a) transfer of typical functions, procedures, triggers from the application level to the DBMS level (using the capabilities of a new generation of relational DBMS from leading manufacturers);
b) the use of design and programming automation (CASE) to support the "electronic project" at all stages of its life cycle;
c) further standardization and specialization of business functions with the allocation of tools to support data warehouses, OLAP and decision support systems into independent application modules;
d) using the GUI, including the Web interface.

Examples: new developments of firms Decade Financials and Alcie, completely built on Designer / 2000 and Developer / 2000; new versions of ERP systems from Oracle, ESI / Technology, IFS. It is important to note that domestic developments focused on the 4th generation technology began to appear - these are K * 3 systems and BOSS CORPORATION.

5th generation:

a) further typing of metadata, logical structures of databases and descriptions of business functions based on STEP and CORBA standards (including UML);
b) allocation of independent object-oriented subsystems for product data management, as well as technologies based on STEP and CORBA standards (2nd generation PDM systems);
c) creation of a repository of standard components of business objects and functions for “assembling” application systems and their “re-assembling” (for “reengineering business processes” when implementing an ERP system);
d) the allocation of independent object-oriented subsystems of service maintenance and administration, based on the ideology of ORB and DCOM.
e) the use of corporate and global networks to create "virtual" industries and enterprises.

The development of 5th generation systems is just beginning:

an alliance between Oracle and Metaphase and Sherpa was organized to integrate the Oracle ERP system with the PDM systems Metaphase and Sherpa;

Siemens Nixdorf is developing an interface between ERP R / 3 from SAP and PDM system from Metaphase;

separation of an independent PDM module from the ERP system of the IFS company;

Baan's acquisition of BA Intellegence, one of the manufacturers of PDM systems.

Criterias of choice

Criterion 1. The place of the basic software product among the five generations of integrated control systems.

The larger the generation number, the easier it is to install, configure and operate the system, the less personal involvement of the developer and / or its partners in commissioning and especially during operation is required. For example, Oracle specifically emphasizes the ability to self-develop applications by the customer using the standard development tools Designer / 2000 and Developer / 2000.

The concepts of "degree of modularity" and "degree of scalability" are also closely related to the generation of the base product of an ERP system. So, for example, means of interaction with additional modules ALE and XMA from SAP and Baan, as well as means providing an interface with external systems BAPI and BPC have recently been specially developed as separate products. At the same time, the IFS Messaging (MHS) or Oracle Open Interface tools were originally a single universal mechanism for synchronizing both native modules and messaging with "foreign" modules.

An example of modularity and scalability is the use of the IFS system in a furniture factory, whose business processes provide for a limited set of functions covered by "logistics" (movement of materials, purchases, sales, automatic accounting entries, balances, reports), and about 40 terminals, operation of the system is supported by four employees of the automated control system, and they know "only" the standard tools of DOS, SCO UNIX and Oracle. On the other hand, the system is also operated at the giant Volvo with factories scattered all over the world, where, in addition to the "standard" set of ERP modules, a powerful repair management subsystem (Maintenance) is used, which is now being implemented at MMK as well. In both cases, the same software is used to support ERP-level management integration.

At Russian enterprises, it makes sense to more actively introduce new technologies - they do not have the "load pressure" of the 2nd generation MRP systems.

In addition to describing the evolution of ISU from a developmental perspective tools it is useful to discuss new trends in standardization, specialization and cooperation in ISU, which are already going beyond the framework of 5th generation systems:

the standard "system-wide" functional blocks (Workflow, Web, DataWarehouse, EDI, etc.), used (for example, Oracle) in all "traditional" ERP modules, are being enlarged;

development of unified standards for organizing interaction between different suppliers of ERP systems began (for example, support by ten leading manufacturers of Uniform Specifications of the Open Application Group - OAGIS;

the expansion of functionality began to correspond to the 3rd and 4th levels of the five-level model of enterprise management by S. Beer, for example, Baan's declaration on MRP-III (Money Resource Planning), which involves the inclusion of Goldratt's Theory of Constraints (TOC) methodology (http://www.goldratt.com ).

Criterion 2. Number of business functions to be automated.

Very often this criterion is used with some mythological connotation (more is better). Therefore, it makes sense to consider its various aspects in more detail.

On the one hand, the number of business functions to be automated cannot be a determining criterion for the following reasons:

most of the integrated systems based on MRP / ERP standards have a typical basic set of automated business functions;
the main task Russian managers- feel new technology integrated management - it can be solved by almost any MRP system (albeit at a different price);
Studying all business functions offered by leading foreign manufacturers (SAP, Oracle, PeopleSoft, Baan) is impossible without mastering their basic set and takes a long time (5 years or more).

You can even say that the richness of functions in combination with outdated tools, "bad" logical data structure, the absence of generally accepted "standard elements" is simply harmful for the neophytes from the ISU. Thus, the external richness of functions emotionally obscures the real assessment of the consequences of using the supplier's own non-standard means.

On the other hand, it is necessary to start implementing new analytical capabilities as early as possible for such functions allocated into separate subsystems as working with data warehouses, OLAP, decision support systems (DSS) and analytical functions of a higher level (for example, a typical module "Automatic warning" Oracle (Alert).

Criterion 3. "MONO" and "MULTI" - focus on the DBMS vendor.

The declaration of independence of the MRP / ERP system from a specific DBMS is necessary first of all for developers, and not for clients who want to implement the system. This independence is largely due to the remnants of 2nd generation MRP systems, when developers used only their own database administration tools and tools.

In the general process of IT evolution, such vendors will not be able to widely use the capabilities of new generations of DBMS and modern means development. Go to MRP / ERP systems of the 4th generation for suppliers focused on several DBMS (with their own own funds administration and development) will be more difficult than for MONO suppliers. It will also be difficult for MULTI suppliers to switch to an object-oriented 5th generation MRP / ERP framework.
From the point of view of "providers" of ERP systems, there is an inverse relationship between MONO and MULTI. So, when focusing on MULTI, there will be a tighter binding to the "owner" than when focusing on the supplier's MONO, since it is required to master not only standard "commercial" development tools, but also tools specific to the given ERP provider.

Criterion 4. Ease of Russification of the system during implementation and maintenance.

This criterion requires giving preference to systems that have tools for the table setting of translatable concepts with automatic regeneration of screen forms, menus, etc. into another language. Even if the ERP system has already been localized, it is necessary to take into account the labor costs of developing the system and adapting its new versions.

Criterion 5. Experience of the team of developers / providers in the practical implementation of "large" management systems at the enterprises of the CIS.

The team has methods for adapting the MRP / ERP ideology to Russian conditions often turns out to be a decisive factor in successful implementation - it is not enough to buy a system, you also need to correctly configure it, and most importantly, bring it to an independent viable existence that requires minimal support from the manufacturer.

The experience of many Russian companies specializing in the implementation of systems such as "Low End PC" and "Middle PC" for ERP systems is not enough. We agree with the conclusions presented in the work. Indeed, innovative Russian developments (in terms of functionality) can be made "in no way in the field of financial and economic systems." At best, we will always have to catch up, and at worst, “prophets in their own country” will appear who will pass off their home-grown crafts as revelations. Our own experience shows that the very fact of practical adaptation of an ERP system already significantly increases the level of understanding of management processes at an enterprise. At the same time, companies that use standard commercial 4th generation ISU tools, such as Ost-In or IT, have an advantage.

Criterion 6. The level of computerization of the enterprise at the time of installation of the integrated management system.

The more homogeneous the computing environment in the enterprise and the closer it is to generations of 3 - 4 integrated systems (criterion 1), the easier it is to implement an MRP system (in the CIS metallurgical industry, such an environment today turned out to be Oracle). Conversely, when heterogeneous systems are in operation, it is very difficult, if not impossible, to implement an integrated system without fundamentally reworking legacy systems. Moreover, regardless of the product of which company was chosen and what resources it is ready to allocate for the implementation of its product.

Criterion 7. Flexibility of the supplier's pricing policy.

Taking into account this criterion allows you to reduce direct costs of the system. Supplier pricing flexibility largely depends on the degree of modularity of the system and its scalability (see criterion 1).

In general, we recommend that you focus on typical standard solutions in a broad sense. This will allow, on the one hand, without special labor master modern technologies management, and on the other hand, to reach a new level of standardization and integration, which the world community has approached today. There are several examples of a new level of integration:

alignment of OAG standard specifications for ERP systems with the OMG Manufacturing Domain Task Force (MfgDTF);
the use of the Univesal Modeling Language (OMG) in the new object-oriented tools CASE (, Designer / 2000);
active work of the ISO TC184 / SC4 subcommittee on the standardization of the "Data Architecture" of any enterprise based on object-oriented metamodels within the STEP community;
harmonization of CORBA, STEP, PDM standards.
It is here that a breakthrough in intellectual potential is possible
CIS to the world level (with appropriate organization of work).

Additional Information

The stage of assessing and choosing an ERP system for implementation in an organization is of great importance. Special attention requires an assessment of the functionality and manufacturability of complex ERP systems designed for large distributed enterprises. The larger the automated enterprise and institution, the higher the cost of an error when choosing a system.

Choosing an ERP system. Criteria and stages

The stage of assessing and choosing an ERP system for implementation in an organization is of great importance. Particular attention is required to assess the functionality and manufacturability of complex ERP systems designed for large distributed enterprises. The larger the automated enterprise and institution, the higher the cost of an error when choosing a system.
When choosing an ERP system, it is necessary to find a carefully balanced compromise between two conflicting requirements for an ERP system - complexity and flexibility, both at the level of functionality and at the level of technology. Potential clients can work in different ways, if the enterprise has a production process, then it can be very diverse, from custom-made to in-line production.

In some cases, companies will have to upgrade the standard-shipped applications to supplement missing functionality.
The main groups of criteria for choosing an ERP system:

Comprehensive functionality covering all available business processes;

Functionality required to comply with national legislation and generally accepted practice of interaction between business entities;

Functionality that implements the use of the best, most effective, proven world practice methods of organizing work;

Functionality reserve, providing opportunities for business changes and development over the next 5-10 years;

Ease of use;

Advanced tools for customizing business processes;

Simplicity of modernization and addition of system functionality through the implementation of new business processes that reflect the specifics of a particular enterprise;

Availability of tools to simplify the implementation process;

Integration of various components of the system;

Performance;

Scalability;

Use of standard widespread IT technologies;

Availability of means of integration with other applications;

Compatible with common office applications;

Availability of a standard implementation technology for all partners, ensuring guaranteed implementation results;

The technical means used for the operation of the system;

The system environment in which the system can operate;

High-quality documentation and contextual help in any situation;

Open platform and open system interfaces;

Open system structure and open source code of all applications;

Controllability and reliability of the system;

Easy to install;

Ease of management;

Availability of training technology to work with the system and training materials;

Required user skills;

Sustainability of the system manufacturer;

Annual investments in the development of the system;

The prevalence of the system in the market, in the industry, in the region, user reviews;

The presence of the supplier and system in the local market;

System development and modernization strategy;

Structure and capabilities partner network on the implementation of the system;

The structure and capabilities of the certification and training system;

The prevalence of specialists in the market;

Technical support and updates system;

The frequency of the release of system and documentation updates, the speed of reaction to changes in legislation;

Implementation costs;

Operating costs;

Cost-effectiveness from implementation;

Protection of investments in the made settings and changes when upgrading versions;

Terms of implementation;

Required composition of the implementation team.

Each group can include a different number of criteria - from several to several dozen. For each criterion, regardless of which group it belongs to, a question should be prepared, to which it is necessary to obtain answers from potential suppliers of the system.
The purposeful choice of an ERP system is to reinforce the company's advantages.

Careful selection of the most suitable for of this enterprise system is very important because the implementation of such a system has a very beneficial effect on the overall level of efficiency, effectiveness, cross-functionality and collaboration across the enterprise. The company must select an ERP system based on predefined, predefined, agreed criteria for evaluating systems.
The selection process must be carried out in accordance with organizational principles and company policy until the final decision is made.

It is very useful to use lists for this purpose. control questions... The lists of questions provided by the consultants should be supplemented or changed depending on the requirements of a particular organization. In addition, in the process of discussion, such lists play an important role, since they help to focus attention on really important issues.

The process of selecting an ERP system for an enterprise should include the following steps:

Creation of a team to select an ERP system;

Formulation of functional requirements for the intended system that should cover the entire enterprise.

Search and primary selection of suitable ERP systems.

Preparation detailed lists control questions by groups of criteria and assignment of priorities to them;

Selection of those available ERP systems that best meet the established requirements according to the approved criteria. The company can also partner with suppliers by providing them with checklists;

Assessment of the final list of ERP systems in terms of the set of requirements described in the previous section;

Selection of ERP systems for demonstration of work, meeting with suppliers, conducting practical tests;

Assigning suppliers to carry out functional and load testing, direct participation in tests.
In doing so, you must use the same data that is provided to all suppliers for testing and subsequent reporting of results.

Combining the results of the rating obtained with other ratings of ERP systems obtained from external sources, with test results, with data on the cost of installing and operating ERP systems, with data on the timing of systems implementation, information on the experience and professionalism of the supplier company, as well as on risks associated with the implementation of each of the ERP systems;

A systematic approach based on an accurate numerical estimate of the parameters will not only exclude the possibility of making an erroneous decision, but also make the motives obvious. the decision... The recommendation report will provide a clear rating of ERP systems and the rationale for such a rating, as well as reasons for making a final decision. At later stages of implementation, it will be obvious to everyone why the choice fell on this, and not on another ERP system. This approach will allow at any time to trace the process of making the final decision on the implementation of a specific ERP system in the company.
The selection team must necessarily include:

1. functional subcommand;

2. a technical subcommand;

3. technology subcommand;

4. commercial subcommand.

The functional sub-team should be composed of employees with a good knowledge of the company's business operations, production technology, strong and weak sides activities of the company. Because driving force ERP systems implementation projects are users, it can be recommended to include representatives of all functional departments in the functional sub-team, who will subsequently participate in the implementation of the system.

It is desirable that all of these representatives have experience in implementing other, previously used systems.

Members of the technical team should have extensive experience in development and implementation projects of common applications, as well as an understanding of standard development environments and traditional methodologies used in life cycle software development. Having experience in developing in an ERP system environment will be a great added benefit. Members of this sub-team must understand the main reasons for using an ERP system and that functional users are the driving and driving force.

Technology sub-team members should be familiar with the latest advances in computing hardware, networks and systems, especially mobile technology, scalability and the interoperability of computer networks.

To make informed decisions about the infrastructure for implementing an ERP system, they must be familiar with modern standards and data transfer protocols. The competence of this sub-team also includes an approximate forecast of the load on the system and the possible reaction of the system, issues of compatibility, modernization, network traffic in local and global networks.

Members of the technology sub-team should be familiar with archiving, backup and recovery systems for lost data, as well as navigate in the preparation of premises, cabling, installation and support of various technical devices.

Members of the commercial sub-team should have skills in negotiating with suppliers, drafting and concluding contracts, defining terms and conditions for deliveries, acceptance criteria and approval procedures; understand the issues of quality assurance, payment terms, licensing terms, differences between versions and releases, legal intricacies and taxation, etc.

Advantages and disadvantages of the selected ERP system based on information collected on the basis of an agreed list of evaluation criteria.

Table of comparative characteristics of ERP-systems.

Estimating the cost of implementing comparable ERP systems and the benefits that will be obtained as a result of the implementation.
The cost estimate should be made on the basis of the collected information on the costs of equipment, software, directly to the ERP system, network creation, installation, personnel training, as well as information on the cost of the technical support contract, the cost of consulting services during installation, communication costs, etc. .d.

An approximate schedule of the implementation project, indicating the dates of the main stages

The group of criteria "needs of the organization" may include:

Compliance with the business processes of the organization. The ERP system must be able to be customized to the organization's processes. This criterion determines the flexibility of the system in response to changes in the company's activities.
Scalability. An ERP system should allow replicating solutions to several departments or several types of company activities. Also, it must be able to adapt to the scale of the organization.
Consistency with the organization's strategy. The ERP system is operated over a long period of time. Therefore, it should help the implementation of the company's strategic plans. The choice of the system must be carried out taking into account the development prospects.
Availability of industry solutions. An organization's processes depend on the industry and market in which it operates. When choosing a system, these factors must be taken into account.

The group of criteria "applied technologies" may include:

Software architecture. Depending on the needs and capabilities of the organization, it is necessary to select the appropriate software architecture of the ERP system, for example, "cloud services", "client-server" architecture, or "object-oriented" architecture.
Technical architecture. This selection criterion is interconnected with the previous one. The choice of a technical architecture may require the organization to update communication channels, hardware, and computer facilities.
ERP system implementation technology. This criterion depends on the service provider. As a rule, large manufacturers of ERP systems offer to apply the implementation technology for their software... Such technologies are available from SAP, ORACLE, Microsoft, etc.

The group of criteria "functionality" may include:

The composition of the modules. The choice of ERP system modules must be carried out depending on the current and future needs of the organization. The system should be able to expand in functionality.
Integration. When choosing a system, it is necessary to consider the possibility of integration with existing control systems in interrelated areas.
Visibility. An essential element of the functionality of the ERP system is the simplicity of the interface and the convenience of the users. When choosing, it is necessary to take into account the possibility of customizing the interface to the needs of users.
Compliance with the regulatory framework. ERP system affects many areas of the enterprise, which are regulated by law. Therefore, an important selection criterion will be the ability of the system to adjust to the requirements of local legislation.

The group of criteria "support" may include:

Support cycle. When choosing an ERP system, it is necessary to determine how long the supplier will support the system. Is it possible to switch to new version ERP systems, is there a possibility of improving the system for the needs of the organization.
The presence of a support service. In the course of work, users of the ERP system will always have questions and difficulties. For effective work system, it is important that the vendor can ensure that the users of the system are supported.
Implementation experience. This criterion is related to the work of the supplier of the ERP system. It is necessary to pay attention to the number of successful implementations of ERP systems from a particular supplier.

The group of criteria "cost of ownership" may include:

The cost of the software. For an organization's ERP system to work, it is necessary to purchase licenses to use it. When choosing, you need to take into account the method of calculating the cost of these licenses (for example, for a group of users or for one workplace etc.).
Hardware cost. Hardware costs can vary significantly depending on the architecture used. The organization may need to purchase server equipment, update the fleet of computing facilities.
Maintenance cost. This criterion is also significant in the cost of acquiring an ERP system.
The cost of upgrading and upgrading. For some ERP vendors, the cost of upgrades and upgrades may equal or exceed the original purchase price.

ERP system implementation

ERP system implementation is usually a long and complex process. Each major manufacturer of ERP systems has developed its own technologies and implementation methods. These techniques are somewhat different from each other, but the general procedure is basically the same. In addition, the procedure for implementing an ERP system may differ depending on the software and hardware architecture of the ERP system. These techniques are worth paying attention to when choosing a service provider.

An organization that has decided to implement an ERP system, on its part, needs to take a number of actions to successful implementation implementation project.

These actions include:

1. Preparation of implementation. At the stage of preparation of the organization, it is necessary to determine the main goals for the sake of which the ERP system will be implemented. This will allow you to clearly understand the results and expectations from the implementation of the ERP system. Since the implementation of an ERP system is a rather costly project, it is necessary to estimate the estimated budget that the organization can allocate for implementation. Also, at this stage, the person responsible for the project is determined, and key specialists (members of the project team from the organization) are identified, the order of their interaction is determined.

2. Business analysis. These actions are among the most critical in the entire project. As a rule, an ERP system should work for ten years or more. Therefore, it is necessary to determine the prospects for the development of both the organization itself and the market for a long period.

At this stage, the organization should assess:

market and company development prospects for several years;
the composition and the possibility of developing the business processes of the organization;
needs for automation.

3. Choosing an ERP system. System selection should be based on current and future business needs. When evaluating various options, it is necessary to be guided by the criteria specified above (criteria for selecting ERP systems). To choose the system that best suits the needs of the business, it is advisable to select at least 3 variants of systems from different manufacturers.

4. Choosing a supplier. As a rule, there are many suppliers of the same ERP system on the market. These are vendor companies or system integrators. They offer a range of services for the technical implementation of an ERP system. When choosing an ERP system supplier, you need to pay attention to its specialization. There are three types of supplier specialization.

Each type of supplier has its own advantages and disadvantages:

horizontal specialization. These companies have a large number of customers who work in various industries. Typically, these vendors have extensive support services. However, their approach to implementation is "typical" for all customers.
vertical specialization. These vendors specialize in serving customers from limited quantity industries (from one to three). This allows them to create solutions specifically tailored to the specifics of the industry. The approach to implementation of such companies is "sharpened" for a specific industry.
customer-oriented specialization. These vendors, as a rule, implement an ERP system according to the needs of the customer. During implementation, they take the basic functionality of the ERP system as a basis and modify it to fit the customer's business conditions. This option has a significant drawback associated with system updates and stability of its work.

5. Project management. The person responsible for the implementation of the ERP system and the organization's specialists must manage the project within the company. They must maintain a project plan, control the timing, budget, scope of work, compliance with the goals of implementation. Another important task in project management is coordinating the interaction of the organization's employees with the supplier representatives (the implementation team from the supplier).

6. Testing. Even with the most better organization implementation, there is a risk of errors in the system. Therefore, during the commissioning of the ERP system functionality, it is necessary to provide for mandatory testing of the work of processes, departments and modules of the ERP system. In the best way testing is the execution of parallel work in the old system and in the implemented ERP system. This will get rid of basic mistakes.

7. Trainings and education. Employee training is a prerequisite ERP system work. Depending on the complexity of the system, it can take several weeks. Before starting the training, you need to make sure that the ERP system has been tested. One of the bad options is when the service provider combines testing and user training. In this version, employees of the organization (future users of the system) act as system testers.

8. Commissioning. Commissioning is an important step in the implementation of an ERP system. There are two options for commissioning the system: launching the system at once throughout the organization, and phased commissioning. The second option is more preferable, because allows you to gradually move to new working conditions. In the event of errors or problems in the work, only part of the business (individual processes or departments) will be affected, and not the entire organization.

The main mistakes when implementing an ERP system

Implementation of an ERP system is one of the most difficult, time-consuming and expensive tasks to improve performance. In the course of implementation, problems and errors always arise, to one degree or another affecting the timing, cost, and effectiveness of the project.

The main mistakes of the ERP system implementation project include:

poor planning. For the successful implementation of the project, the implementation of the ERP system must be carefully planned. Poor planning often leads to loss of priorities, confusion with process automation, poor understanding of the current and future state of the processes.
insufficient evaluation of the suppliers of the ERP system. Organizations do not work well on the issue of choosing suppliers of ERP systems. As a result, the choice is made in favor of the suppliers who offered the lowest price. Often, the supplier lowers the price in order to get at least one client and work out the implementation of a new system for him. As a result, after the completion of the project, it may turn out that the functionality of the ERP system is severely limited or the system is working with errors.
lack of understanding of needs. Starting the implementation of an ERP system, many organizations do not understand what functions and modules they need, what needs of the organization can be automated through the ERP system. This leads to the fact that many unnecessary and unused functions and modules are introduced, or vice versa, the necessary functions are applied to a limited extent.
lack of understanding of time and resource costs. Typically, organizations underestimate the time and resources required to implement an ERP system. This leads to high expectations from the system. Employees of the organization begin to believe that the ERP system will start working in full in a short time and it will not take much effort to work.
lack of qualified personnel in the implementation team. A common mistake of ERP system implementation projects is to attract simple performers to the project team. The project team on the part of the organization should include highly qualified specialists (key employees) in each area of the organization's activities: finance, management, procurement, production, warehouse, etc.
lack of priorities. Organizations do not prioritize goals before starting a project. This leads to the fact that during the implementation of an ERP system, you have to solve many tasks, constantly switching between them. As a result, implementation time increases, additional errors and problems appear.
there is no training for employees. Insufficient or complete absence employee training is a common cause of a failed ERP system implementation. Employees do not understand how to work in the system and this causes rejection. The system will be unclaimed, its functionality will be used to a limited extent.
underestimating the accuracy of the data. The ERP system is based on data processing. Therefore, the accuracy and efficiency of the system will depend on the reliability and accuracy of the data that is entered into the ERP system. To reduce errors, it is necessary to initially enter reliable and accurate data into the system. The personnel working with the system must carefully check the data before entering it into the system.
use of outdated applications. Another problem leading to the low efficiency of ERP system implementation is the continued use of outdated applications. The work is duplicated in the ERP system and old applications. Organizations continue to use them because paid for their support and license renewal. This leads to the fact that the transition to work in the ERP system is delayed.
effective testing of the system is not carried out. Often, ERP system vendors offer testing on a limited number of users. Such testing will not be able to identify all the flaws and will not allow you to simulate the real user load.
lack of a maintenance and modernization strategy. If a company does not develop a strategy for maintaining and modernizing its ERP system, then it will quickly become obsolete. The technical (hardware) part of the ERP system requires modernization, because over time, the amount of data grows and new computing power is required. The software part must be constantly updated in accordance with the changing requirements of legislation and the market.

The above implementation problems are the most common and frequently encountered. In addition to the above, there are always problems specific to each specific enterprise or organization. "An effective method to avoid or minimize losses from such errors is to carefully prepare and plan each stage of the ERP system implementation project.

How to choose an ERP solution? What questions should you ask representatives of ERP companies (and what questions do you have the right to receive full and comprehensive answers to), how not to be misled when presenting an ERP solution? How to bring the implementation of an ERP system to its logical conclusion?

I will try to answer these and other questions in this article. It will focus on the fundamental capabilities that, in my opinion, should be satisfied by ERP solutions for small and medium business - segment of the SMB.

To consider big business I will not be in this article, because large enterprises usually have highly qualified specialists on their staff who are able to evaluate the systems existing on the market, "try on" them to the existing infrastructure at the enterprise and hold a tender, in the conditions of which the parameters of the future system are already clearly spelled out. Or, in general, a consulting company is hired to select an ERP solution.

On average, the amount "Failed" IT projects in Russia today are about a quarter of their total. But I think that I will not be mistaken if I call ERP-implementations one of the most failed, and here is already a percentage successful implementations does not exceed 15-20%. Why do business automation projects fail?

Lack of a clear goal set by the customer
Wrong choice of ERP solution
Poorly formulated TK
Low qualification of specialists implementing the solution, both on the part of the customer and on the part of the contractor
Insufficient administrative resource on the part of the customer.

I am sure that both potential customers of implementation, who do not want to pay their money for empty promises, and IT companies, tired of shyly hiding almost finished “success stories” on the table, are interested in improving this situation. Therefore, my goal is to maximize the knowledge of potential customers of ERP systems, then the risk of failure during implementation will significantly decrease. In this article, we will talk about choosing a solution, namely, how to reduce the number of errors when choosing an ERP solution. In the article I will formulate the minimum, in my opinion, functional requirements, the presence of which will allow the customer to be sure that the functional foundation of the system is strong enough, and potentially the system is able to solve many problems.

The first thing that needs to be done even before you start looking for an ERP system is to give yourself a clear answer to the question "Why do I need this?" In other words, clearly articulate the goal to be achieved. So that when accepting a system from a supplier, it is banal to put "ticks": this is decided, this is decided, but this is not.

Of course, there is a number of functionalities that must necessarily be in the ERP system, otherwise the implementation will not give the desired result, and we will dwell on these possibilities below. But in addition to standard capabilities, the system should be able to solve those tasks that are inherent in your company, and setting up (and in most cases, to be honest, development) of such capabilities, as a rule, takes up most of the project time. And if representatives of an erp company are trying to convince you that you need to rebuild the business for an ERP system, then this is stupidity, because for maximum effect the system should absorb all the best that is in business, plus give the business all the best that it already has.

Who Chooses an ERP System?

There is no need to be afraid of ERP systems and think that it is something very complex. In no case should you trust the choice of an ERP system only to system administrators, or only to sales managers, etc. Each of them will choose a system solely according to those criteria that interest, first of all, himself. Moreover, the requirements of each may contradict each other. While the ERP system must meet the requirements of the entire business as a whole. Therefore, the choice of an ERP system is a task, if not of the first person of the company (but in small and medium-sized businesses only first person), then at least one of the first persons. Only the head (or top manager) of the company can unambiguously and consistently formulate tasks and goals. Many leaders say "I don't understand anything about this." What is it? An ERP system is a reflection of your business, its structure must be understandable to a person, knowing the laws his business (and by no means the market information technologies). Choosing a car, we may not know how everything is arranged there in detail, and, nevertheless, we approach the choice of a car fully armed, knowing exactly what characteristics it should have, how much it should cost, etc. , and we are not afraid of this choice. You also need to approach the choice of an ERP system, i.e. clearly knowing what requirements it must meet and what functionality it must have. And feel free to formulate these requirements in simple, understandable language. And, by the way, ask for answers in the same language.

ERP system: for whom?

The system should be arranged simply and obviously, because your employees will have to work with it, who understand "this" even less than you. Thus, if the ERP system is not clear and not obvious, then this is already a reason to think. When you are driving a car and you need to turn right, you simply turn the steering wheel to the right side, and it does not matter to you what happens “inside”. Likewise, work in the program should not burden the user with incomprehensible terms and concepts, endless checkmarks and buttons. The ease of use greatly facilitates the user training process.

Purpose of implementation

You must be clear about goal implementation project. The goal should not be vague, but completely clear. The goal cannot be “optimization of business processes”, “improvement of the company's performance”, etc. Such goals cannot be “felt”, so after the system is launched it will be impossible to understand whether the goals have been achieved or not. The goal, for example, may be to build consolidated financial statements (very specific financial statements) based on the automation of specific (I emphasize) business processes. The goal may be to implement a resource planning system and indicators (again specific), etc. If you automate the supply chain and finance, but do not have clear financial and management reports, then there will be no result, since there will be no feedback, and you will not be able to influence the process. The situation in the company will be incomprehensible, making timely decisions will be difficult.

Of course, ideally, you need to have on hand the formulated requirements (a description of business processes with reporting requirements and system capabilities), but this is extremely rare. In many companies, there is not only a document describing business processes, but even an understanding of how they (these business processes) generally work and who is responsible for what. Therefore, before proceeding with the choice of an ERP solution, you must formulate for yourself clear criteria for evaluating the implementation, so that according to its results you can say to yourself “I got (got) what I wanted (wanted)”. It is worth noting that starting the process of implementing an ERP system, in any case, you will have to participate in the development terms of reference(TOR), where you will describe your business processes in conjunction with the supplier of the ERP system. It is not worth automating business processes without a technical assignment, because in this case, the risks of unsuccessful implementation significantly increase, because there is no document according to which you could accept or not accept the finished work. In addition, if you have no idea what you want to get in the end, then you are unlikely to be happy with the result.

ERP system - a tool for making decisions

In my opinion, any ERP solution is, first of all, a decision-making tool. On what basis are decisions made? Based on reports. This is one of the types of criteria. Reporting. The system should provide full-fledged reports on the company's activities, which are, for example, "Profits and losses", "Movement Money"," Balance ", and many other management reports. If these reports reflect the real picture of the state of affairs, then you can easily understand the problems of the company, and you will have the opportunity to influence the situation. And if during the presentation you are told that in the demo version these reports are simply not configured, do not believe it. If they are in the system, they will be shown first. Reports are required to provide not only numbers, but also tools for their analysis. There are different ways to analyze the report figures, and I will not focus on this here. The main thing is that you have the opportunity to check all the numbers directly from the report, i.e. detail each figure down to the primary data directly from the report. Otherwise, you will not be sure of the accuracy of the data. Reporting should be transparent.

Reporting should reflect the main aspects of the company's activities, be simple and understandable. It should be fully and automatically compiled by your ERP system. If the data in the reporting on the company's activities comes from the outside, through the export / import procedure or, even worse, manually, then someone in the company must constantly do this (maintain the format, changes, etc.), which means wasting time and money ... The ideal option is when all the company's activities are carried out in the ERP system, and on the basis of this data, the system itself builds reports.

It is important not only to know the performance indicators, but also to be able to analyze their dynamics and structure. Indicators are needed not just to look at them, but to make decisions based on their analysis that can change these indicators. It is one thing when you see that customer accounts receivable this month is 1,000,000 rubles, and quite another when you see that at the beginning of the year it was 2,000,000 rubles, and then gradually decreased. It means that the decisions that you make to reduce it, work.

What is the point in the value of accounts receivable if you do not know which customers and for what transactions formed it? This means that the system should be able to detail all the numbers in different sections.

It is important to know not only the dynamics of changes in the company's performance indicators, but also the structure of these indicators. That is, to be able to assess the “share” of each component (goods, customers, managers, contracts (projects), etc.) in various indicators. This will allow taking effective measures to optimize customer relationships and adjust the product range. Knowing the clients "leaders" and "outsiders", you can make decisions on targeted measures to improve the situation or to keep it. The same goes for goods. In this area, you can make many "wonderful discoveries": it often happens that the goods that bring the most profit are regularly absent from the warehouse and, on the contrary, there are goods in the warehouse that do not bring profit.

Example of a profit and loss statement:

The reporting structure should be customizable, since the composition of indicators in each company may differ. In addition, it should be possible to add indicators during operation, on the go. Moreover, the system should allow you to do this quickly and, preferably, without involving a developer.

I talked about financial reporting, now we will talk about operational reporting. Operational reporting should allow monitoring of business processes. A simple example is your customer ordered a product from you. You deliver to him on order. As part of this delivery, there are a lot of parameters that you need to control and take immediate measures to correct the situation in case something goes wrong. In order to deliver the goods to the client on time, it is necessary that your logisticians order it from the supplier on time, the supplier invoices you on time, you pay it on time, the supplier dispatches the goods to you on time, etc. And all these parameters must be constantly monitored, otherwise problems cannot be avoided. And it is the ERP system that should allow you to do this. With such opportunities, you can constantly improve the quality of your company.

The most important point is end-to-end accounting. The system should allow you to take into account the goods through and through, according to all the parameters you need. What does this mean? This means that you must be able to trace the history of any shipment. You have shipped the goods to the customer, and the system should show which shipment is from which shipment, who is the supplier, and where the rest of the shipment is. Without such a system, you will not receive the correct formation of invoices in the context of the cargo customs declaration(CCD), because if the shipment contains the same goods, but from different lots (the goods were purchased from different suppliers), then the goods must be split into different lines in the invoice, since they have different CCDs. An even more difficult case is the accounting of product serial numbers. The need for it arises when a company supplies equipment that needs to be serviced under warranty, individually for each product. How can you be sure that this product was purchased from you? Serial number only.

Functions that should be in your ERP system

I told you about the principles of the ERP system, but now it's time to describe the functionality that you have the right to expect.

Document flow... In essence, business is the circulation of money, goods and documents. Orders, contracts, offers, invoices, invoices, acts, applications, etc. The system should allow all such documents to be done not only quickly, but also functionally. It's one thing when you can only print a document, and quite another when you can save it in various formats (pdf, doc, jpeg, xls, etc.) and send it to the client via e-mail... This means that the system must have a modern built-in report editor. Any document must have a route that it must go through without fail (for example, a contract for the supply of goods must go through a lawyer, checking his literacy and "pitfalls", commercial director, and only after that get to to CEO for signature). What is very important, during the route, the system must, according to certain rules, restrict users' access to a document or process (in order to avoid information leakage from the company, to protect against changes after approval), and the document route itself must be flexibly configurable.

Work with clients... You constantly come across a situation when your client has several legal entities, which means that you are faced with the problem of understanding mutual settlements for the client as a whole. Today your client bought goods from you for one of his legal entities, and tomorrow for another. However, control receivables, sales volumes, income, etc. you want not for the legal entities of your clients, but for the client as a whole. You must clearly understand for each client what part of the profit (and other indicators) was generated for the company by this particular client (and not entity client). Both in absolute terms and in relative terms.

The customer card must be informative, i.e. it should contain not only contact information for the client, but also all information on mutual settlements and documents. In other words, knowing the client, you need to be able to see all the invoices, payments for them, shipments, etc., without making any complex (and sometimes incomprehensible) reports for this.

United Information system ... All corporate information is a single array of interconnected data, so it is extremely inconvenient when information on working with clients is in one system, and information on supply management is in another. An ERP system is, first of all, a unified information space for your enterprise. Business processes are inseparable, which means that their management should be inseparable. The situation when it is necessary to trace the transaction from the moment of the conclusion of the contract to the delivery of the goods to the client arises constantly, and the system should make it possible to trace this chain through and through.

Transparency... The ERP system should make all business processes of the company transparent. Here's a simple example. You have entered into a contract for the supply of a certain product. After completing the trade, you should see through and through:

When and what contract was concluded
- when and what invoices are issued to the client
- when and how they are paid
- when and from whom the goods were ordered
- when and how the supplier's invoices are paid
- when, to which warehouse, and on which waybills this product was delivered to you
- when the cargo is delivered to the client, according to which waybills, from which warehouse.

This is such a simple transaction that you should be able to reproduce from start to finish at any time. It would seem that everything is very simple, but in reality, difficulties arise with such situations.

Work with providers... Working with suppliers implies the formation of orders to suppliers, accounting of supplier invoices, invoices and other documents. Also, the system should allow you to record supplier offers for your orders (in order to be able to choose best supplier according to various parameters). However, this opportunity is convenient to use when it comes to large specifications, and if your order consists of several items, then it is simply not economically feasible to enter all offers into the system, since this task also takes time. When working with suppliers, you should be able to trace through each transaction from the moment of ordering to the moment the goods arrive at the warehouse: when the goods are ordered, what invoice (or invoices) you received in response to your order, when and how you paid for it, what invoices and when the cargo was delivered to you. The system should allow fixing the points of location of the cargo when it comes to long-term deliveries. And, of course, control all additional delivery costs and include them in the cost of the cargo. As for planning, a competent supply planning tool will significantly reduce warehouse stocks without losing sales, which means freeing up working capital, which in the current situation with lending is very important.

Service and repairs... Nowadays, there are less and less companies that are engaged only in trade. As a rule, everyone tries to provide customers with services for equipment maintenance and repair.

You need to be able to manage and plan engineer visits, keep track of spare parts, and quickly find the parts you need. It is often not so easy to understand which spare part for which equipment, and the system must solve this problem. It is indispensable to take into account the serial (factory) numbers of the equipment in the provision of repair and maintenance services.

Acceptance of equipment in a hospital, sending to external repair organizations, replacing equipment to a client, carrying out examinations, all these functionalities are needed if your company provides services for the repair and maintenance of equipment to clients.

If you provide services to your clients, it is useful to see how such a transaction is being processed. How the contract is concluded, how the serviced equipment is recorded in it, how invoices and acts of work performed are formed. Ask to see this functionality. Many people say about it, but in fact, literally a few ERP solutions have it.

User access control... Choosing an ERP system, you should already represent the approximate levels of access of your users and feel free to ask to show exactly how users' access to system sections, to documents, to clients, etc. is regulated.

Everything that is shown to you during the presentation should be clear to you. If what you were shown is not clear to you, then this no.

The system should allow delimiting access at the level of sections, menu items, buttons. Let's take a list of clients (or maybe a list of salaries). You don't want everyone in the company on this list to see all the entries, do you? This means that the system should allow determining the algorithms for user access to lists, for example, by department or by manager.

What is the access control system built on? How is access configured? Do you need to configure access for each specific user of the system? If so, then this is a dead-end path. Functional roles should be organized, access to which should be clearly configured and defined, and then these roles can be linked to the user (or even better to the staff structure of the company).

Planning. Should the system allow planning the activities of the company? Undoubtedly. However, most small businesses do not need this, simply because the planning system itself is also a certain cost that will not always pay off. But if you don't need it now, it may come in handy later. So check out the planning tools and capabilities. Concerning financial planning, then the system should allow planning performance indicators not only in gross equivalent, but also by divisions, transactions, customers. The cash gap control system will help prevent situations when money is needed but not available. However, it is not easy to implement such a system at an enterprise, because have to plan literally each payment, and this is not always possible. As for planning the supply of products (raw materials), this issue is an order of magnitude more complicated than financial planning, both in terms of requirements and in terms of the complexity of implementation. Now I'm not talking about the system of ordering goods, when the balances have reached safety stocks, but about real planning, where planning algorithms take into account delivery times, transport, seasonality, current deliveries and other criteria. I think I won't be mistaken if I say that only one out of twenty companies that have undertaken the implementation of supply planning will bring it to its logical conclusion. But it is worth looking at the tools that are in the system, and, preferably, inquire about which algorithms the planning works, how exactly procurement planning for the company as a whole and the delivery of goods to warehouses are provided. It is up to you to decide how these algorithms are suitable for your particular company. But I will repeat once again: to implement fully functional procurement planning in a company (especially in companies with a large assortment) is a daunting task, which is often solved over the years.

Production. Everything here is quite individual, because in each manufacturing business there are peculiarities that are very difficult to formulate. But, at least, the software product should allow for volumetric scheduling, form shift tasks, take into account raw materials, form the cost of products, set up product routes. The rest of the functionality must be studied individually and carefully for each case.

Personnel management. HR management is not just a list of employees, it is also the structure of the company, its staffing table, all kinds of orders, reports, employment contracts etc. And, of course, the salary, the algorithms of which often take on such bizarre forms that it seems impossible to automate it at all. The most difficult thing in salary calculation algorithms is the calculation of bonuses to employees, and here the system should allow setting up automatic calculation of bonuses for different employees based on different financial indicators... In other words, some employees should receive 10% of the profit (or revenue) for a certain group of headings when the plan is fulfilled (or without the plan), and others 15%. More complex algorithms, apparently, will have to be refined individually.

A well-thought-out ERP system will also allow you to keep track of candidates for vacancies, and when you need to close a vacancy, you can contact a person about whom you already know a lot, who was interviewed in your company.

On the description of the functions, I finish my story about the choice of an ERP system. After describing the capabilities of systems of this class, I must separately say: When choosing an ERP system, you choose not only a software product, but also people who will help you implement and support it. Therefore, your conversations with a company representative should not take the form of a two-sided monologue, where each side speaks about something different and in one language it understands. You must speak "the same language" and understand each other.

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