This article aims to explore the potential of ERP systems, covering their definitions, importance, examples of usage, and guidance for organizations considering ERP implementation. 

What is ERP? 

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) is a management system that organizes, collects, stores, and centralizes data from various departments, such as inventory, logistics, sales, accounting, finance, production, procurement, and human resources. By linking these processes, ERP improves operational efficiency and fosters seamless collaboration across an organization. 

Why is ERP Essential for Businesses? 

• Improved Operational Efficiency: ERP automates parts of processes, reducing time and errors. 

• Enhanced Visibility: ERP offers a comprehensive view of all workflows, facilitating smoother inter-department communication. 

• Real-time Data Access: Access data from anywhere, improving process flexibility and effectiveness. 

• Scalability for Growth: ERP systems expand to support growing business needs and adapt to organizational changes. 

Types of ERP 

1. Cloud-based ERP: Accessible anytime and anywhere via the internet or mobile applications. 

2. On-premises ERP: Installed on local servers, offering higher security but limited remote access. 

3. Hybrid ERP: Combines online access and local server usage for flexibility. 

Key ERP Modules 

1. Financial Management: Manages financial data, generating reports for strategic decisions. 

2. Human Resource Management (HRM): Tracks employee performance, attendance, and other HR-related data. 

3. Supply Chain Management (SCM): Offers an overview of inventory, production, and supplier orders for efficient decision-making. 

4. Customer Relationship Management (CRM): Analyzes customer needs to tailor products and services, enhancing client retention and satisfaction. 

Use Cases of ERP in Different Industries 

• Manufacturing: Streamlines supply chain management and resource allocation, reducing delays. 

• Retail: Provides real-time inventory insights, helping optimize stock levels to meet customer demand. 

• Finance Services: Enhances efficiency in accounting and risk management systems. 

• Energy Sector: Manages assets, tracks operations, and ensures compliance with safety and environmental standards. 

3 Factors to Consider Before Choosing an ERP 

1. Business Needs: Identify current challenges, desired ERP functionalities, and integration requirements. 

2. Return on Investment (ROI): Assess cost savings, operational improvements, and long-term value. 

3. Implementation Partner: Choose an experienced partner with both technical and business expertise for successful deployment and post-launch support. 

By addressing these factors, businesses can ensure a smooth ERP implementation that meets organizational goals. 

Sources: 

• Eurostep 
• MilestoneIS 
• Datacor 
• NetSuite 

The post What is ERP, and How Does It Boost Business Efficiency?  appeared first on Bluebik.

            The perfect choices of solutions help organizations cope with the challenges. The key question is “What is the best solution?” To answer this question, Bluebik is introducing SAP Data Intelligence or SAP DI that was developed to unlock the data management potential of organizations. This solution is compatible with both cloud and on-premise systems.

What is SAP DI?

SAP DI is the tool that was developed on the SAP Data Service or SAP DS which SAP users have widely applied and been familiar with for a long time.

SAP DI is outstanding for being the cloud-based solution that is also compatible with on-premise data systems. Therefore, SAP DI is a breakthrough in data management because it serves the trend of businesses using both cloud and on-premise systems and also responds to the following challenges relating to data collection and storage

• the collection of data from various sources where data are complex and have different forms/structures
• the data collection that is fast, accurate and convenient for future use
• the reliability of data and their security which prevents data breaches

SAP DI is surprisingly useful 

Many users misunderstand that SAP DI is only a data ingestion tool that reads data from sources and sends them to databases for storage. In fact, SAP DI can be applied more extensively than expected. The overview of its applications is as follow.

Data cleansing – SAP DI supports data cleansing to enhance the quality of the data that will be used in the future. Users can set specific methods and criteria for their data cleansing.

Data ingestion – Data ingestion is crucial to successful data management. Absolutely SAP DI performs data ingestion perfectly because it clearly understands the system and data architecture of SAP. It accurately collects huge and complex data from SAP.

Data transformation – SAP DI can handle data transformation and data ingestion simultaneously such as the conversion of data formats and calculations by preset formulas.

Data quality monitoring – SAP DI allows users to set their criteria for data quality evaluation and reports results on dashboards so that data can be applied conveniently for purposes, especially for business analyses.

The data literacy of SAP DI

SAP DI can read all data on SAP covering cloud and on-premise data on SAP Table, SAP CDS View and SAP BW. It can also work with data from other sources including SQL and Oracle, data files of various formats (Excel, CSV and Text) and data stored on cloud platforms like Google, AWS and Azure.

The kinds of organizations that benefit from SAP DI

SAP DI was designed to be compatible with various sources of data, both cloud and on-premise ones. It is thus beneficial to the organizations that must handle considerable and complex data. It is suitable especially for the organizations that use SAP for their enterprise resource planning (ERP) because SAP DI was designed by SAP. This is why SAP DI runs efficiently with SAP.

Bluebik: Thailand’s first and successful implementer of SAP DI

Besides effective tools, another vital factor is implementers’ experience. This is the reason why SAP Thailand entrusts Bluebik to be the first implementer of SAP DI for data management on cloud platforms in Thailand. SAP DI goes live perfectly at leading organizations in the country.

The factors that make SAP Thailand delegate Bluebik to do the task are Bluebik’s comprehensive knowledge and expertise on SAP in terms of functional requirements and advanced technical requirements. In addition, Bluebik has good teamwork with SAP Thailand and its teams have readiness and experiences for the implementation of large data management projects. This guarantees that Bluebik’s clients can make the most use of SAP DI to meet all their requirements.

Bluebik is always willing to provide clients with SAP DI details and installation services. As a leader in the application of solutions, Bluebik has teams that are ready for consulting and end-to-end services to satisfy clients in all industries. Please feel free to contact Bluebik at hello@bluebik.com or share interest at https://forms.gle/CaaR5BWeBvP3C6ia6.

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The organizations that use SAP are supposed to be familiar with SAP Fiori Client which was the important mobile application that SAP developed and released for users to download conveniently since 2013.

After SAP Fiori Client was available publicly for about a decade, SAP SE, the leading multinational company that developed the world’s best ERP, however removed it from both Apple’s App Store and Google Play Store on June 30, 2022. The company officially informed users of the removal on OSS Note 2992772 on March 31, 2022.

The big question – What should SAP users do?

SAP Fiori Client is no longer available on the public app stores. Can SAP be used on mobile devices now? Bluebik has answers.

1. Use via web browsers

SAP recommends SAP Fiori Client be used on mobile devices via web browsers such as Safari and Chrome. However, this solution is very problematic for users because on web browsers there are no push notifications.

2. Requests for direct SAP Fiori Client downloads

Although SAP removed SAP Fiori Client from the public stores, the company still makes this app available for the organizations that need it. Such organizations must send their app download requests which include their organization ID, organization Name and S-User account to SAP Support.

This solution requires a complicated process to install the app on the devices of users, unlike previous direct downloads from the public stores. For the installation, Android device users must have the Enterprise Mobility Management Solutions (EMM) system. Those who use Apple devices must install the app via Apple Business Manager. Users can have the app installed via Apple Business Manager or use the Redemption Code to download the app from Apple.

3. Self-development of SAP Fiori Client

For the organizations that still need SAP Fiori Client and want new features in addition to its standard features, SAP said that they could develop SAP Fiori Client to serve their demand by using SAP Mobile Platform SDK 3.2. However, the organizations must bear the costs of the developers who are capable of developing SAP Fiori Client and have basic knowledge about SAP, the Signing Certificate costs that must be paid to Apple or Google and the long-term costs of regular app updates to be compatible with the changes of iOS and Android.

4. LISMA – the mobile solution developed particularly for SAP

LISMA is the best solution when it comes to costs and SAP functions on mobile devices. LISMA is the mobile solution developed by SAP experts at Bluebik Group Public Company Limited. It has proved to effectively meet the demand of the leading organizations that have used it.

LISMA stands for LINE as SAP Mobile Application. Bluebik developed it so that LINE which is everyone’s everyday application can be used to operate SAP efficiently in place of SAP Fiori Client. LISMA users can operate SAP effortlessly through the LINE app that is already on their mobile phones without any difficulty in application installation and any burden of long-term app maintenance and development because LINE is a free app and its developer regularly maintains and develops it.

SAP’s decision to remove SAP Fiori Client from public app stores prompts the organizations that use SAP to adapt and look for the above-mentioned solutions to maintain their smooth and agile use of SAP. A consultancy with great knowledge about SAP and clear understanding of various business requirements can recommend the best solution related to costs and effectiveness for the good of individual users.

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Although ERP is highly efficient and popular, many organizations have not fully used it and even suffered problems about its implementation and application because they have neither readiness nor knowledge to use ERP. Such organizations experience either delayed or failed ERP implementation and unfortunately lose considerable budgets and business opportunities. This is the reason why Bluebik introduces the 7 rules to guarantee the successful and efficient implementation of ERP.

1) Business processes and operations must be final and clear before ERP implementation  

The main function of ERP is to support the business processes and operations of organizations. ERP is used directly for these two areas. They are direct factors behind the selection of ERP software and the design of ERP features. For the efficient use of ERP, an organization should clearly design its business processes and operations to prevent any change during ERP implementation. Otherwise, there could be considerable problems in the future including project delay, uncontrollable budgets, failure to meet business requirements and even the wrong use of ERP features.

2) Organizations must select the ERP software that suits their business and is highly popular

There are so many ERP programs which vary, depending on their designs and objectives made by their developers. Therefore, organizations must set their clear and detailed purposes and requirements which will enable them to select the software that will perfectly serve their demand. The selected software should be popular and widely used because it will help cut maintenance costs in the long run and it will be easy to find a consultant to solve future problems.

3) Quality must be a main criterion for the selection of an implementer

The selection of a system implementer is an important step before an organization can use ERP. Many organizations make a wrong decision in this step because they base their selection mainly on (low) costs and forget the truth that cheap things are not good especially when it comes to ERP implementation. It is widely known that payments for a consultant and a programmer form a main part of ERP implementation costs. Therefore, quotations clearly reflect the quality of work. Many organizations that make wrong selections suffer project delay and many other problems. Solutions to difficult and complicated ERP problems require considerable time and human resources and are thus inevitably costly. This is the reason why organizations should base their selection of system implementers on quality. Quality-oriented selection prevent future damage.

4) An ad hoc team must be formed to work full-time with the selected implementer

The collection of business requirements that will be used as the bases for the designs of ERP to serve users’ demand is the most important step for ERP implementation. A system implementation firm will regularly meet users from departments to discuss their requirements during project implementation. This is to ensure smooth implementation and the maximum satisfaction of users. An organization should thus set up its ad hoc team that will communicate with departments swiftly and is ready to work full-time with a system implementer.

5) System customization makes a convenient and effective ERP system

Popular ERP systems were mostly designed to facilitate overall business processes in a comprehensive and efficient manner. The designs of their user interface (UI) meet common standards and were not intended to support specific application because they were aimed to be compatible with a wide range of business activities. Consequently users at the operational level find that standard ERP systems do not satisfy their demand and are not user-friendly.

System customization can solve the problem but it needs the experts who have an excellent command of ERP. This is because system customization must not affect business process flows and the original control system of ERP. Above all, the customization must not damage the warranty of the software.

6) An experienced project management office (PMO) is needed to avoid risks and damage

ERP implementation is complicated and time-consuming. Planning and management are crucial to the efficient and effective ERP implementation. Organizations should have the project management offices that are experienced particularly in ERP, especially the selected software, to reduce risks and possible damage and maximize efficiency in the project management.

7) Change management can stimulate application

ERP application will drastically change business processes and operations and affect the work of staff. Although staff members have been trained to use ERP, initially some of them may not change the nature of their work. Change management can raise awareness and prepare staff to adapt to the changes of their work systems. Efficient change management helps guarantee successful transition to new work systems as expected.

Today’s investment in technologies and innovations provides the foundations for organizations’ future. Whether the investment is worthwhile depends on the ability of organizations to use the technologies and innovations. This underlines the need to avoid risks and prevent damage in every project of technology application because it paves the way for the expected growth of organizations.

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