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Introduction

M35BSS Business Process Integration Module leader Mark Hayles Student Fernando del Rio Perez SID: 4020158 7/27/2012 ________________ Contents Contents 2 List of Tables 2 Reflective Piece1: SAP and Article Review 3 SAP- Company ,products/services and benefits 3 Article review: Enterprize resource planing in reengineering business?????.....6 Reflective piece 2: Impact of Internet Technology on ERP 7 Benefits and adrawbacks of Web - based ERP systems 8 Reflective Piece 3: Understanding of ERPsim Game 10 Reflective Piece 4: Data mining and competitive advantage 12 Applications of Data mining 13 Reflective Work 5: ERP Sim Experience 15 List of References 17 List of Tables Table 1. SAP Business suite applications 3 Table 2. List of benefits and drawback of ERP systems 5 Table 3. Benefits and drawbacks of web - based ERP systems 9 Table 4. Individual roles of the group members 10 ________________ REFLECTIVE PIECE 1 ? SAP and Article Review SAP- SAP ? company, products/service and benefits Formed in 1972, SAP (Systems, Applications, and Products in Data Processing) is seen today as the largest inter-enterprise software firm in the global market. Due to the wide range of products that they have, SAP has become the third largest independent software solutions supplier for businesses. The headquarter of the company is located In Walldorf, Germany, However, they have subsidies in over 50 countries and thousands of customers in more than 150 different countries. SAP is present in the America's, Asia and Europe (SAP 2012). SAP provides a Business Suite which is a package of applications that offers companies the opportunity to integrate information and processes as well as improve functionality which allows the company to compete more effectively in the market. SAP Business Suite is composed of five applications being the following: CRM (Customer Relationship Management) 1. Integrates and automates many customer servicing processes 2. Customer insight and customer retention ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) 1. Integration of processes across the whole organisation PLM (Product Lifecycle Management) ...read more.

Middle

World-wide access Dependence on the resource planning website reliability Increase productivity and reliability Concerns related to privacy and security of data Provide better service to suppliers, customers and partners Reduced flexibility Implementation time is eliminated (Can be used from day one). Optimized performance and support Loss of control Reduce costs of business Integration problems Table 3: Benefits and drawback of web-based ERP systems (own table created from Mardjan, M. 2010, Martin, C. 2011) ________________ REFLECTIVE PIECE 3 ? Understanding of the ERP Sim game Our team was chosen ensuring that all its members are motivated about the ERPsim game and meet the necessary requirements to carry out its role. During the first seminar and before the start of the simulation, our team analysed different strategies to choose the more efficient one and our individual roles were organized as following: Student Name Student ID Responsibility in the Game Fernando del Rio Perez 4020158 Inventory management Niwat Chandontrikit 3461978 Marketing management Jednada Sithonsuraphana 3777846 Pricing adjustment Ndiyo Lise Clairia 3869820 Sales and market reports Table 4: Individual roles of the group members The individual roles and responsibilities were organized between the group members equally to ensure a well-organized participation of each member. As it is shown in table 4, one member was assigned for sales and market reports, one for inventory management, one for pricing adjustment and the last one for marketing expenses. However, the market and sales reports were followed for all team members. Hence, the group is totally aware of the market situation and able to react quickly to the changes In order to discuss and assure the more appropriate strategy for next round, our group get together before and after of each quarter .Information generated for the ERP system allows us to be aware of the market situation,(better selling product, overall market price etc..) react quickly to the changing environment and change strategy if it is necessary. ...read more.

Conclusion

In the third round (Quarter 3), our team followed the same strategy as in the previous quarter but managing a successful inventory strategy as well. We kept our stock at minimum level (200-300 units) to reduce company?s costs and we ordered at the end of the quarter to ensure enough stock to start the next round. By doing so, our team was able to serve customers all the time and gain competitive advantage. We changed roles and responsibilities in this round to ensure all team members a full knowledge of the simulation. We ranked in 2sd position at the end of this quarter. In the last round of the module where we played the three quarters straight, our strategy was not very successful. Our sales dramatically decreased in all regions due to the fact that other teams were selling under prices.In order to react to this change in the market environment and increase sales, we focussed our strategy in marketing investing high among of money in all areas with curbing sales efficiently. As a result, our team obtained very low profits and poor margin. However, in the last quarter of this round we used the same strategy that in previous rounds focussing our investments in those regions where we were selling well. Eventually, we ranked in 5th position. The information generated from the ERP allowed our team to know our week points and improve our decision making. In addition, the ERPSim Game allows me to experience the benefits of Business Intelligent systems.BI allows companies to control and share information easier as so make it available through the whole company and to everyone within the organisation. It is known that information is power for business but if they do not focus it correctly it could be very painful in long time basis. BI provides and presents information in a more efficient and attractive visually way as well as prevent companies from extracting manually through irrelevant data. By using BI systems, companies can follow customers? behaviour to improve relationship. ...read more.

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