Using ERP as a basis for Enterprise application integration

Architecting and implementing e-Business supply chain solutions across and within the modern day enterprise, is now becoming a necessity in order to maintain competitive and be adaptable to market needs. As such, the integration of information and processes is a vital step, using technologies such as using Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Supply Chain Management (SCM) and enterprise portal platforms. The effective sharing of resource planning and other enterprise related data across and within the enterprise is typically seen as a facet of a business to business (B2B) platform. However, such infrastructures typically involve a tight integration across intra and inter-organisational systems. This paper examines an Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) initiative taken by a global manufacturer of industrial automation products, which attempted to utilise ERP as an integration tool across its internal B2B infrastructure, to achieve such an aim. This paper discusses those integration considerations and complexities, experienced by the case company upon embarking on an EAI integration programme through the adoption of a core ERP as a catalyst for organizational change. In doing so the authors present an analysis of the inherent risks and limitations of this approach in terms of previously published literature in the field, relating to technology-driven organizational change and EAI impact and adoption frameworks

The impact of enterprise application integration on information system lifecycles

Information systems (IS) have become the organisational fabric for intra-and inter-organisational collaboration in business. As a result, there is mounting pressure from customers and suppliers for a direct move away from disparate systems operating in parallel towards a more common shared architecture. In part, this has been achieved through the emergence of new technology that is being packaged into a portfolio of technologies known as enterprise application integration (EAI). Its emergence however, is presenting investment decision-makers charged with the evaluation of IS with an interesting challenge. The integration of IS in-line with the needs of the business is extending their identity and lifecycle, making it difficult to evaluate the full impact of the system as it has no definitive start and/or end. Indeed, the argument presented in this paper is that traditional life cycle models are changing as a result of technologies that support their integration with other systems. In this paper, the need for a better understanding of EAI and its impact on IS lifecycles are discussed and a classification framework proposed.Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) Grant Ref: (GR/R08025) and Australian Research Council (DP0344682)

Towards the integration of enterprise software: The business manufacturing intelligence

Nowadays, the Information Communication Technology has pervaded literally the companies. In the company circulates an huge amount of information but too much information doesn’t provide any added value. The overload of information exceeds individual processing capacity and slowdowns decision making operations. We must transform the enormous quantity of information in useful knowledge taking in consideration that information becomes obsolete quickly in condition of dynamic market. Companies process this information by specific software for managing, efficiently and effectively, the business processes. In this paper we analyse the myriad of acronyms of software that is used in enterprises with the changes that occurred over the time, from production to decision making until to convergence in an intelligent modular enterprise software, that we named Business Manufacturing Intelligence (BMI), that will manage and support the enterprise in the futurebusiness manufacturing intelligence, enterprise resource planning; business intelligence; management software; automation software; decision making software

Improving Information Flow within the Production Management System with Web Services

The efficiency of the production planning and control process in construction depends significantly on the reliability and timely availability of resource information. The Last Planner system for production control mandates that a construction task should not be started unless all the seven resource prerequisites are in satisfactory condition. Failure to do so results in wasteful processes. However, this information is not readily available due to the lack of systems integration that prevails within the industry. Current implementations of the last planner system mostly rely on the team leaders‘ and foreman‘s ability to gather the required information for the weekly planning meetings and also for the look-ahead planning. However, much time is wasted chasing relevant information due to the above-mentioned problems. Also, the reliability of planning could be much improved if there is a system available, which aggregates resource information from various project stakeholders in one place. In such a situation, web services could provide an ideal platform for integration as they provide a flexible way to integrate disparate systems, with choreography based on identified business processes drawn from Last Planner and implemented using BPMN/BPEL. With the improvement in connectivity as a result of better availability of high speed Internet through mobile and fixed networks, there is a better opportunity for information integration through web services. A conceptual framework based on web services is put forward which aims to improve the information flow within the industry and provide the right information at the right time to enable better planning and control within the production system

Enhancing ERP-Architectures for Business Networking - Case of Deutsche Telekom AG

Many organizations have ERP systems in place and are confronted with initiatives from their functional de- partments, consultants or software vendors that aim at im- plementing solutions for Business Networking. This con- cept includes the design and management of IT-enabled relationships between internal and external business part- ners. It provides a holistic perspective on strategies, such as electronic commerce, supply chain management, and customer relationship management. Since a new array of applications to address these inter-business relationships is swiftly implemented, architectural considerations are often left out. Reasons for this include time pressure, a lack of experience, methods, and concepts. Consequently, existing ERP-centric architectures are not modified or have to be modified after the fact. Using a case example from Deutsche Telekom, this article presents a possible proactive solution for a definition of a future application architecture as well as procedures to achieve a Business Networking architecture that meets business requirements

Linking design and manufacturing domains via web-based and enterprise integration technologies

The manufacturing industry faces many challenges such as reducing time-to-market and cutting costs. In order to meet these increasing demands, effective methods are need to support the early product development stages by bridging the gap of communicating early design ideas and the evaluation of manufacturing performance. This paper introduces methods of linking design and manufacturing domains using disparate technologies. The combined technologies include knowledge management supporting for product lifecycle management (PLM) systems, enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, aggregate process planning systems, workflow management and data exchange formats. A case study has been used to demonstrate the use of these technologies, illustrated by adding manufacturing knowledge to generate alternative early process plan which are in turn used by an ERP system to obtain and optimise a rough-cut capacity plan