ERP Systems - Page 8

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) is a set of software applications integrated into a business process management system for the purpose of resource management. The software integrates data from each business function, presents it in a consistent fashion, and automatically updates it when relevant changes are made. This allows every department in a company or organization to access the same set of records at a given time. Due to its integration, it is often called "single version of the truth". ERP has evolved from traditional production-line, manual, and paper-based techniques to a position where computer networks and multiple computer systems work together while supplying up-to-date business information both to the management and to the front line, sometimes in real time. It gives management a view of the business as a whole, including details on inventory quantities, financial performance, employee data and activity, and more. It also enables effective planning and control of business procedures through a single version of truth expressed in integrated view, in separate business functions (such as finance, manufacturing, sales, etc.).