"Core system" customization vs configuration

Increasingly, ERP vendors have tried to reduce the need for customization by providing built-in "configuration" tools to address most customers' needs for changing how the out-of-the-box core system works. Key differences between customization and configuration include:

  • Customization is always optional, whereas some degree of configuration (e.g., setting up cost/profit centre structures, organisational trees, purchase approval rules, etc.) may be needed before the software will work at all.
  • Configuration is available to all customers, whereas customization allows individual customer to implement proprietary "market-beating" processes.
  • Configuration changes tend to be recorded as entries in vendor-supplied data tables, whereas customization usually requires some element of programming and/or changes to table structures or views.
  • The effect of configuration changes on the performance of the system is relatively predictable and is largely the responsibility of the ERP vendor. The effect of customization is unpredictable and may require time-consuming stress testing by the implementation team.
  • Configuration changes are almost always guaranteed to survive upgrades to new software versions. Some customizations (e.g. code that uses pre-defined "hooks" that are called before/after displaying data screens) will survive upgrades, though they will still need to be re-tested. More extensive customizations (e.g. those involving changes to fundamental data structures) will be overwritten during upgrades and must be re-implemented manually.

By this analysis, customizing an ERP package can be unexpectedly expensive and complicated, and tends to delay delivery of the obvious benefits of an integrated system. Nevertheless, customizing an ERP suite gives the scope to implement secret recipes for excellence in specific areas while ensuring that industry best practices are achieved in less sensitive areas.

Extensions

In this context, "Extensions" refers to ways that an ERP environment can be "extended" (supplemented) with third-party programs. It is technically easy to expose most ERP transactions to outside programs that do other things, e.g.:

  • archiving, reporting and republishing (these are easiest to achieve, because they mainly address static data);
  • performing transactional data captures, e.g. using scanners, tills or RFIDs (also relatively easy because they touch existing data);

However, because ERP applications typically contain sophisticated rules that control how data can be created or changed, some such functions can be very difficult to implement.

Advantages

In the absence of an ERP system, a large manufacturer may find itself with many software applications that cannot communicate or interface effectively with one another. Tasks that need to interface with one another may involve:

  • ERP systems connect the necessary software in order for accurate forecasting to be done. This allows inventory levels to be kept at maximum efficiency and the company to be more profitable.
  • Integration among different functional areas to ensure proper communication, productivity and efficiency
  • Design engineering (how to best make the product)
  • Order tracking, from acceptance through fulfillment
  • The revenue cycle, from invoice through cash receipt
  • Managing inter-dependencies of complex processes bill of materials
  • Tracking the three-way match between purchase orders (what was ordered), inventory receipts (what arrived), and costing (what the vendor invoiced)
  • The accounting for all of these tasks: tracking the revenue, cost and profit at a granular level.

ERP Systems centralize the data in one place. Benefits of this include:

  • Eliminates the problem of synchronizing changes between multiple systems - consolidation of finance, marketing and sales, human resource, and manufacturing applications
  • Permits control of business processes that cross functional boundaries
  • Provides top-down view of the enterprise (no "islands of information"), real time information is available to management anywhere, anytime to make proper decisions.
  • Reduces the risk of loss of sensitive data by consolidating multiple permissions and security models into a single structure.
  • Shorten production leadtime and delivery time
  • Facilitating business learning, empowering, and building common visions

Some security features are included within an ERP system to protect against both outsider crime, such as industrial espionage, and insider crime, such as embezzlement. A data-tampering scenario, for example, might involve a disgruntled employee intentionally modifying prices to below-the-breakeven point in order to attempt to interfere with the company's profit or other sabotage. ERP systems typically provide functionality for implementing internal controls to prevent actions of this kind. ERP vendors are also moving toward better integration with other kinds of information security tools

Disadvantages

Problems with ERP systems are mainly due to inadequate investment in ongoing training for the involved IT personnel - including those implementing and testing changes - as well as a lack of corporate policy protecting the integrity of the data in the ERP systems and the ways in which it is used.

Disadvantages

  • Customizsation of the ERP software is limited...
  • Re-engineering of business processes to fit the "industry standard" prescribed by the ERP system may lead to a loss of competitive advantage.
  • ERP systems can be very expensive (This has led to a new category of "ERP light" solutions)
  • ERPs are often seen as too rigid and too difficult to adapt to the specific workflow and business process of some companies—this is cited as one of the main causes of their failure.
  • Many of the integrated links need high accuracy in other applications to work effectively. A company can achieve minimum standards, then over time "dirty data" will reduce the reliability of some applications.
  • Once a system is established, switching costs are very high for any one of the partners (reducing flexibility and strategic control at the corporate level).
  • The blurring of company boundaries can cause problems in accountability, lines of responsibility, and employee morale.
  • Resistance in sharing sensitive internal information between departments can reduce the effectiveness of the software.
  • Some large organizations may have multiple departments with separate, independent resources, missions, chains-of-command, etc, and consolidation into a single enterprise may yield limited benefits.

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