Enterprise Resource Planning

Enterprise Resource Planning or ERP is a business management software that attempts to integrate all departments and functions across a company to serve the needs of all those different sectors of an organization, including product planning, cost and development, manufacturing, marketing and sales, inventory management, etc. (Wailgum, 2007). A typical company has different computer systems for each department, for example one for HR and another for finance. On the other hand, ERP combines these computer systems into one system so that it runs in a single database where other departments can easily share information with one another. This approach is critical wherein it could ultimately bring a company’s status on the top charts or a failure, depending on how it is implemented.

An example of a successful ERP implementation story is a company named, Precision Defense Services (PDS). PDS, located in Irwin, Pennsylvania, is a leading manufacturer of high quality precision machined parts for military and commercial market places (MBT,2010). To maintain the company’s industry leadership, PDS continues to acquire new technology to improve their operations. One of these is the implementation of ERP solution from Epicor Software Corporation, which is specifically designed for manufacturers serving aerospace and defense industries. PDS still runs their operations manually with several computer systems throughout the company which was hard on the company’s part since it can only do a specific group of tasks. Due to these, Epicor changed the current system of the organization into a fully-integrated single-source ERP solution.

Improving the quality, productivity, cost, and delivery are the major goals of PDS since they want to show their customers that they are receiving the best quality possible and that they could provide their customers’ demands. As mentioned earlier, PDS used to run their shop floor manually which in turn required more labor, costly, and error-prone. After the implementation of Epicor, the impact was immediately felt by the organization. It provided automation and real-time visibility, complete business control and transparency, eliminated human errors, saving staff time and improve quality management, and automated scheduling, which provides a more responsive, and accurate performance. It also helped in complying with the strict regulations and standards in the aerospace and defense industry. Through Epicor, it allowed the company to be more competitive in today’s conditions.

Hershey’s, on another hand, did not have a successful ERP implementation unlike PDS. One of the largest chocolate manufacturers located in North America, Hershey’s is a known chocolate brand to all ages as it is sold in different countries worldwide. In 1996, Hershey’s wanted to upgrade their system into an integrated ERP system to improve their overall performance, with enhancing competitiveness and customer