Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) is a term that originated in the manufacturing environment, and ERP systems typically attempt to cover all basic functions of an organization. The introduction of an ERP system to replace two or more independent applications eliminates the need for external interfaces previously required between systems, and provides additional benefits that range from standardization and lower maintenance (one system instead of two or more) to easier and/or greater reporting capabilities (as all data is typically kept in one database).
With M&J's in-house IT skills the company has integrated multiple software products to develop a custom ERP solution to meet the complex application needs required in the modern electronic manufacturing environment. The ERP solution running at M&J includes the following modules:
- Finance
- Materials Inventory
- Purchasing
- Sales
- Manufacturing
ERP can make a big difference in a dynamic manufacturing environment. For example, change how a product is made, in the engineering details, and that is how it will now be made. Effective dates can be used to control when the switch over will occur from an old version to the next one, both the date that some components go into effect, and date that some are discontinued. Part of the change can include labeling to identify version numbers.