How Are ERP Projects Realized? What Are The ERP Projects Stages?

When talking about the stages of an ERP projects, I will take the material management module as an example. For this reason, let’s get to know the material management module;

Material management is the process of performing material planning, purchasing, stock management, storage and transportation /distribution /control. In short, material management is the process of planning, implementing and controlling the material movements of an organization with the most appropriate time, place, method and possibilities.

STEPS

The first step in an ERP project is to choose the right project team and project manager.

In the transition phase of the enterprise to the ERP system, the correct determination of the needs and demands, the use of sufficient and correct resources, the implementation of the right strategies, and the good organization and coordination can only be achieved with a good team and manager.

The important point here is to include one of the top management in the team. Since it has extensive knowledge, it provides the right information to learn and speed.

2- Determine the business needs correctly.

Incomplete or faulty transactions will result in a failed ERP project. For this reason, all needs should be determined during the planning phase of the project. Otherwise, the demands to be added later will cause the project to deteriorate, and the missing areas will cause the project to give erroneous results.

3- Preparation of Main Data Flow Diagrams

The operations planned to be performed on the system are primarily modeled with data flow diagrams. It provides an overview of the system. It is the preliminary step of the project.

4- Preparation of Analysis Questions

Detailed information is learned with questions about business processes. These questions are divided into 3 groups;

1- General Questions

2- Detail Questions

3- Questions for the Future

A minimum of 50–60 questions should be asked to the business for each group of questions.

5- Key Performance Indicator

At this stage, the processes in the warehouse are expressed numerically. Performance tracking in business processes is provided. Interruptions are detected and intervened directly. Some of the key performance indicators used in warehouse management are;

- Stock turnover rate

- Rack utilization rate (Number of full shelves/ Total number of shelves)

- Warehouse volume utilization rate (Volume used in the warehouse / Total warehouse volume)

- Damaged product rate (Number of damaged products delivered to the warehouse / Total number of products)

- Just In Time

- Warehouse financial performance

6- Detail Data Flow Chart Drawing

It is the making of work flow diagrams in detail. The stages in the project process are given in detail.

7- User Trainings

After the ERP system is established, training is given to the employees who will use this system. Each team is given training in their own field. The material module is divided into three as the goods receiving team, the goods placement team and the goods delivery team.

The important point at this stage is to choose a key user. The project team gives detailed training to the key user. If they encounter a problem in the future, the key user will intervene first.

8- Determining the Data to be Entered into the System

The data to be entered into the system is decided according to the work flow diagrams. The data needed is determined by following the business process. Examples of these are product name, product code, product category, product brand, stock status, product size and weight.

9- Data Compatibility with Other Modules

All modules progress in harmony with each other, Any deficiency or confusion in one module will cause problems in other modules This makes the whole system faulty. For example, the warehouse management department entering the stock status incorrectly will cause the purchasing department to give wrong orders.

10- Entering Data

After completing all the stages, the system is installed and data entries are provided to the system.

11- Performing and Re-evaluating Tests

Users who have been trained for testing purposes are asked to enter product information. At this stage, users are kept under surveillance. In case of incorrect data entry or incorrect operation, the trainings are repeated by the project team. The processes are repeated until there are no errors. Then it goes to the live use phase.

12- Operating the System

After solving the problems encountered during the test data entry stage and making the necessary arrangements, if no system-side or user-side error is observed, it goes to the live use stage. However, the 6-month remote observation process continues. The purpose of the remote monitoring process is to intervene directly by the company in case of a possible error. After this process, the project is delivered according to the project delivery conditions. In case of encountering an error later, the key user resolves the issue. In case of an error that the key user cannot solve, the ERP company is contacted.