An Improvement Model Presented to Reduce the Required Time for the Implementation of ERP in the Organization

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1 World Applied Sciences Journal 21 (2): , 2013 ISSN IDOSI Publications, 2013 DOI: /idosi.wasj An Improvement Model Presented to Reduce the Required Time for the Implementation of ERP in the Organization 1 1 Saeid Jafarzadeh Ghoushchi, Mohd Nizam Ab. Rahman, 2 1 Sohrab Abdollahzadeh Moghadam and Majid Jafarzadeh Ghoushji 1 Faculty of Engineering and Built Environmental, National University of Malaysia (UKM) 2 Faculty of Industrial Engineering, Urmia Industrial University, Urmia, Iran Abstract: One of the many issues in utilizing ERP systems in organizations are, in fact, the implementation stage. This study by investigating the common and available methods of implementation, as well as their inefficiencies will provide a new more efficient method. This new method, in fact, will first assess the required time of implementation in each of the units of the organization and then will take advantage of a spherical model with central core instead of a linear model. These units, with regard to the required time of implementation, will surround this core as in the form of some layers. The circuits are ordered in a way that the further we move from the core towards the external layers, the shorter the required time of implementation will become. This way, the priority of implementing ERP will be assigned with a direction from external layers to internal layers. Eventually, all the experiences of the previous stages will be transferred to the central core, which has the most complexity. Through this method, it is expected that we may prevent the fully parallel issue, which was a dominant and apparent issue in previous models, so that the required time of implementation would decrease. Key words: ERP Parallelization Implementation Fully parallel INTRODUCTION ERP systems are being developed successively and currently they can include all integrated information ERP systems first appeared in 1970s when MRP Methods that can be used across any organization[4].the systems were introduced. Through 80s a new model, improvement of the internet has shown enormous impact namely, MRPII was introduced which was mostly on every aspect of the IT section including the ERP considered for automation of required material and Supply systems[5]. This environment of accessing systems Chain Management. In the 90s MRPII was generally resources from anywhere anytime has helped ERP dedicated to provide a better coverage to key concepts of suppliers extend their ERP systems to integrate with trade enterprise, which in fact was the cornerstone for modern external business modules such as Supply Chain ERP availability and distribution [1]. ERP systems are so Management (SCM), Customer Relationship. complicated and complex that their implementation and set Management (CRM), Sales Force Automation (SFA), up requires distinct and special methods, in order to Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS), Business maintain the established goals in proper and timely Intelligence (BI) and e-business capabilities[6]. These manner [2]. prove that borders of ERP systems are being extended Enterprise applications are systems that Organize incessantly. activities, knowledge and decisions across many different ERP systems include and thus support all key levels, operate and business units in a corporation. ERP concepts of the organization, namely, Customer systems are Standard to be the most important enterprise Relationship Management, after sale services, programs all around the world [3]. Supply Chain Management, logistics management, Corresponding Author: Saeid Jafarzadeh Ghoushchi, Department of Mechanical and Material Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Built Environmental, National University of Malaysia (UKM), Malaysia. 203

2 Human Resource management, sales and marketing, Period of Implementation: This factor is one the most finance, procurements and supports and other related significant elements of having a successful-or otherwiseparts of the organization. It has been proved that one of ERP usage in organizations [9], for a lengthy period of the main reasons that organizations fail to utilize these implementation, will lead towards numerous issues, for systems, is the time-consuming process of implementation instance: losing the significance, accepting old routines and establishment [2]. Although the procedure of presented by trade instead of new routines presented by parallelization has been regarded as the most efficient plan ERP, increase in expenses during implementation and in reducing the required time of implementation, yet the finally losing public volition and confidence in having the studies have proved that these methods have, to some system set up due to the lost harmony amongst different extent, failed to considerably reduce this time. Therefore, units of the organization [10]. providing a new method relevant to this field is apparently One the sections in ERP implementation is the necessary. This subject falls under the interest of process of re-engineering part of routines and functions discussion in this paper. in order to comply with ERP systems, which itself is considered as one of the most time-consuming and Influential Factors in ERP intense section of the implementation procedure. The Size and Complexity of the Organization: the smaller Therefore, reducing the required time specifically at this the organization is in its extent, the faster and easier the section will tremendously reduce the overall required time process of implementation of ERP system will become. It of the process. In this respect, one of the main and is clear that as the size and dimension of the functional methods in reducing the implementation time, organization decreases, the related divisions and its is the process of re-engineering, which will be discussed constituents will follow and become fewer in number; at large under the next heading [11, 12]. therefore, the required ERP software for such an organization will include fewer sections and limited modules, which, consequently, will facilitate the set-up Management and Staff: The skill and knowledge of of the software and-in general, the ERP system and thus organization management of ERP will help having a better it will demand for a much lower budget through the next implementation of it. This knowledge can be maintained stages of the process of implementation, for instance through practical education on understanding the educating the staff. In fact, it is believed that the Small concepts, functions and methods of implementing the and Medium Enterprises have a better chance of having ERP. Management dedication is an invaluable factor a successful implementation of ERP systems in them [7]. without which the implementation project has no other In this respect, when the organization is small or medium outcome but failure [13]. On the other hand, the in its size and extent, the process of setting up the ERP experience proved that employer s extensive dedication system is likely and successful and with the growth and and vocational prejudice, which lack sufficient research development of the organization into a big organization on the influence of ERP and the necessity of the system will maintain its functionality. implementation, have been the main reason of failure in As Management Information Systems in considerable number of projects [14]. organizations are considered as information Staff-akin to managers, must also have complete collectors/transmitters and ERP systems are also founded knowledge over the concepts as well as the method of on basis of unifying the information and data, therefore ERP implementation. In fact, one of the necessary factors Management Information Systems automatically will be of having successful ERP projects is thorough presented as one of the most important sections in the involvement of staff and their understanding of the implementation process of ERP; hence, beginning the concepts and functions of ERP in all its aspects. process of implementation directly from the Management Information System happens to be a positive point in Consultant: Consultants investigation and engagement through the whole process of ERP implementation. in the study of issue such as proper timing and correct Therefore, the authors of this paper suggest Management planning, influential education and items that require re- Information System as the start of the ERP implementation engineering, will lead towards having a successful ERP [8]. implementation stage [15]. 204

3 Software: At present, the available and common software in the field of ERP are mostly provided by SAP and Oracle; SAP R/3, for instance, can be regarded as successful software that corresponds to ERP systems. Yet, it must be noted that the best software choices in the field of ERP are not necessarily those with a steep price tag, or those widely known ones[16]. In fact, the most important factor in selecting the software packages is how well they conform to the framework, ideas and process of the organization. It because, although the available software are designed based on successful experiences in ERP implementation and usage, yet when they show an Fig. 1: Schematic of Thorough Parallelization Method intense contrast with processes of the organization then they cannot be used. Generally, the selected software while atomizing the processes must perform well in harmonizing the organizational behavior with ERP system [17]. With respect to personalizing the software it should be considered that, while the software has been personalized to function well under the framework and processes of that specific organization, yet it may have been influenced by old and non-functional process of the organization and thus would have the proper Fig. 2: Start with an Intended Delay in ERP functionality. Regarding the elements influential in implementation when re-engineering in some units seems necessary. In mentioned above and by keeping the experiences gained these cases, the complexity of some of units at the worldwide and available research results, the process of organization had placed those in charge of implementation re-engineering methods and organization runtimes will be under intense pressure of their jobs. Hence, the only considered as a significant factor both financial-wise and gained result would be nothing but nonconformities and time-wise in implementing ERP in which reducing the non-compliances. Such a chaos, will increase the required required time will reduce the overall required time of the time of implementation and in some cases will bring about whole implementation project. In this light, parallelizing project s failure. Fig. 1 is a schematic of this process[19]. different processes is one of the methods that considerably reduce the time of implementation. Later we Start with An Intended Delay Method: The beginning of will discuss, at large, the available various form of parallelization in the form of unit by unit is considered parallelization and their negative aspects, respectively[18]. with a predefined delay. This method is greatly preferred to the previous method as it may reduce the required time Methodology: This section describes two available and for the process of thorough parallelization throughout the common methods and suggested improved method. project. Yet it includes general difficulties and issues. The Thorough Parallelization Method: In this method, the most notable issue of this method is the lack of implementation of ERP will begin at large in all units of the prioritization as well as marking the beginning of the organization. It has been proved that this method was project. Therefore, the first unit which begins the able to reduce the required time of ERP implementation; in implementation of ERP, as well as other priorities would practice, however, it was not adequate enough and become unknown and undetermined. Moreover, the other included some issues. For instance in spite of the issue is a thorough parallel ERP implementation at previously maintained re-engineering in all units of the considerable number of units of the organization during organization, yet quite often after the beginning of the the process of implementation. As illustrated in Fig. 2, in process of implementation, there are number of instances periods of time, thorough parallelization, which is one of 205

4 main deficiencies of the first method, has occurred again. This issue will eventuate an increase in the required time of the ERP implementation [20]. World Appl. Sci. J., 21 (2): , 2013 The Suggested Method: This paper suggests a method which is a combination of two available and common methods; it is, thus, based on the positive points of these two methods and it has tried to amend their deficiencies. This model functions by first measuring the required time of implementation in each unit of the organization. Then, instead of using a linear model, it will establish a spherical model with one central core and numerous circuits, which each include one or more organizational units with similar required time of implementation. These circuits are Fig. 3: Illustrates the placement of the units ordered in a way that as we move away from the central core towards the external layers the required time of consumed time of implementation. Moreover, units with implementation will decrease. This will determine the relatively close required time of implementation will bear priority of ERP implementation in each unit of the a same categorization. The result of this step is a organization by first assigning the units located at the multifaceted category which each category includes a external layers and then the units in the internal layers number of units with different required time of (which require less time for the implementation compared implementation. These categories contrary to common to other units). Until the implementation is completely methods are set in a spherical order, so that the most finished in all units of each layer, the implementation external layer belongs to a category that requires the least process will not start in other, more internal layers. This time of implementation. As we approach the central core, process will continue until it reaches the central core. the required time of implementation and the complexity Therefore, all the experiences gained in circuit n will be increases, until, at the core, it reaches its maximum. Fig. 3 transferred to n-1 and consequently the experiences illustrates the placement of the units. gained from the both previous layers will be transferred to The model and method suggested by this paper is layer n-2 and eventually all experiences from the previous based on the positive points of previous models and stages will be transferred to the central core which indeed eliminating their deficiencies and taking the steps which has the most complexity. This way, we will prevent the will follow. The result will be a new model with better issue of thorough parallelization and as a result the result. required time of implementation will significantly decrease. Step I: This paper presents an overview of the current RESULT AND DISCUSSION research and challenges in genetic algorithm on maintenance scheduling problems. In this review, I The required time of implementation in different units consider 15 articles; complete detailed information about of the organization will be measured. The reason behind these articles is presented in the next table. the aforementioned inquiry refers to the different required time of the implementation due to dissimilar structure and Step II: The beginning of the ERP implementation will be dimension of each unit. Later, however, this elements will from the units which are located at the most external be used as the significant factor in prioritizing the process layers and feature lowest required time of implementation, of implementation in the selection of units. By bearing in lowest necessity of re-engineering during implementation, mind that the required time of implementation in as well as least complexity. As long as the implementation organization units are to be assessed through the re- process of all units of this layer is not fully complete, the engineering stage; therefore the project will not be implementation process will not begin in the second layer. affected by any overcharge of time nor finance. Then, Gained experiences in this stage will be transferred to there will be a list which includes all different units of the other stage and it will continue until the end of the organization ordered in respect of the highest and lowest project, as this will facilitate the whole process of 206

5 systems. The most notable reasons in having an unsuccessful implementation of the aforementioned systems are having a lengthened period of implementation and an increase in implementation expense. In this respect, the main resolutions to decrease the required time of implementation are re-engineering the main functions of the business as well as routines of the organization before the ERP implementation process and finally parallelization of activities during the process of implementation. As with the apparent failures in reducing the required time of ERP implementation, an innovative Fig. 4 ERP implementation in improvement model method capable of reducing the time is presented by this paper. The most important feature of the suggested model implementation in the more complex units to come. is to provide required elements in categorizing and Re-engineering processes during implementation, are prioritizing the start of ERP implementation process in particular to units that belong to layers and stages in different units of the organization, which in fact has never which the implementation process is being carried out. seen-or practiced, before in any previous method. Therefore, only a limited number of re-engineering process will be done in each stage, which will cause a REFERENCES considerable decrease in the total number of required reengineerings. This will, relatively, affect the required 1. Klaus, H., M. Rosemann and G.G. Gable, number of human resources, namely, to require fewer What is ERP? Information Systems Frontiers, experts. As a result, the issue of thorough parallelization 2(2): which was a dominant issue in both two previous 2. Umble, E.J., R.R. Haft and M.M. Umble, methods will be eliminated. Enterprise resource planning: Implementation When the implementation process will start at the procedures and critical success factors. European units of the central core, the experience have reached their Journal of Operational Research, 146(2): maximum and almost all the required re-engineerings 3. Basoglu, N., T. Daim and O. Kerimoglu, during implementation have been done previously. As the Organizational adoption of enterprise resource units of this layer have the highest level of complexity and planning systems: A conceptual framework. The require the highest time of ERP implementation, thus they Journal of High Technology Management Research, naturally require the highest level of experience as well as 18(1): re-engieerings. Previously gained experiences as well as 4. Kumar, V., B. Maheshwari and U. Kumar, re-engineerings will prepare the procedure for a An investigation of critical management successful ERP implementation in the last units of the issues in ERP implementation: emperical evidence organization. Therefore, the result of utilizing this model from Canadian organizations. Technovation, would guarantee a successful accomplishment of the 23(10): project. Fig. 4 demonstrates the condition of ERP 5. Zheng, S., et al., The integrative role of CRM implementation in different units of the organization. with ERP and SCM in the e-business environment. CONCLUSION 6. International journal of information technology and management, 1(1): Rashid, M.A., L. Hossain and J.D. Patrick, The evolution of ERP Systems: A historical ERP systems-in case of complete and successful perspective. Enterprise Resource Planning: implementation, have particular feature in harmonizing the Global opportunities and challenges, pp: main processes of the organization. Yet, the experiences 7. Koh, S.C.L. and S. Saad, Development of a of using such systems in leading organizations proved business model for diagnosing uncertainty in ERP that there only few number of organizations that could environments. International Journal of Production have a successful implementation and usage of such Research, 40(13):

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