Based on the case study, Atlantic manufacturer is a primary producer of specialized and miniature goods which come in a wide variety. Further, these goods, small motors, are not consumer goods but rather specialized parts for the making of other goods. From the above, Atlantic relies on high volumes of sales, mainly to corporate clients or in the very least to other manufacturers. Within this high volume is a very wide variety which means that the orders come with a massive variety. The fact that Atlantic’s customers are also manufacturers means that time is of the essence as they operate on tight schedules under pressure from their customers. Finally, dealing with corporate clients only means that there is a very narrow customer base thus any misstep can cost the organization a large segment of the market due to negative publicity.
Losing a large chunk of the market that might even lead to an eventual collapse was what was bound to happen to Atlantic. The company had an effective marketing section that was bringing in a high number of orders. However, the sales department had a problem satisfying these orders because of either a communication breakdown between the sales team and the marketing team or a recording and record transmission problem in the sales department. To avoid a fallout with the customer through the upgrading of the sales and marketing department, Atlantic opted for the ERP sales and marketing modules. The instant case study is an evaluation of that decision.
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Overview of ERP Sales and Marketing Modules
The ERP sales and marketing modules enable a company to combine five processes into one integrated computer software provided by a dedicated software provider. Under this system, the company seems to be operating through a hired software application. The obligation of managing, maintaining, and upgrading the software remains with the dedicated service provider. Atlantic can, therefore, focus on its core business of manufacturing and selling small motors without having to worry about the operating system save for paying the provider for the services rendered. The five services provided in the ERP include customer relationship management, finance, logistics, manufacturing, and human resources (Shaul & Tauber, 2013). These are the areas that the decision to use an ERP provider will effect within the company.
Customer Relationship Management
Atlantic is having a problem with an inaccurate order which is bound to cause the manufacturing arm to make a product that is not needed yet fail to manufacture what the customers want. The customer relationship management (CRM) component of the ERP will have the effect of connecting the marketers on the field with the manufactures in the factory (Ramasubbu et al. , 2005). This will eliminate the problem of inaccurate sale information, thus saving manufacturing costs and avoiding disappointing customers. Service calls lacking warranty information is another critical problem that Atlantic has been having caused by the fact that there is no centralized data point for customer information. The ERP will also expressly resolve this issue and reduce conflict between the service team and customers.
Finance
Credit system inconsistency is yet another issue that Atlantic has been grappling with . This problem can lead to customers who have clear credit arrangements to be denied goods or customers without proper credit lines to be allowed goods on credit resulting in bad debts. The integrated finance systems ensure that the individuals in the field get ready information and make the right decisions about expending credit (Ramasubbu et al. , 2005). In the case of an error, the finance department will realize the same on the earliest and correct it.
Logistics
Customers requesting reduced lead times was yet another serious issue visited upon Atlantic. Lead times relate to the time between the making of an order and the delivery of the good so ordered. The lack of proper communication and coordination within the supply chain is the lead cause of elongated lead times. ERP will enable access to information at every point of the supply chain systems thus exponentially speeding up the manufacturing and production process (Shaul & Tauber, 2013).
Manufacturing
Atlantic has been having problems with its quality control system due to a lack of integration. This problem will be directly solved by the ERP systems which will ensure that the salesperson , the manufacturer and the quality assessment officer will be reading from the same script (Boh & Yelling, 2006/2007).
Human Resources
All the issues indicated in the case study that Atlantic is undergoing, the same having been outlined above seek to achieve customer satisfaction to attract and retain customers. Over and above the aforementioned, customer satisfaction requires a dedicated, motivated, and committed human resource body. Employees will only be dedicated, motivated and committed if they are treated fairly and judicially hence the need for a comprehension human resource management system. ERP will also avail this service to Atlantic. Every component of the ERP requires human inference from the various departments of the organization. The human resource component of the ERP, therefore, greatly contributes to the overall success of the ERP itself.
Upgrades and Updates
Computer software is among the most dynamic industries with programs becoming obsolete and in need of upgrades or updates often (Larson, 1995). Issues such as security and sanctity enhance the need for consistent upgrades. Using a locally hosted system would require Atlantic to seek to keep up with the consistently changing industry which the company lacks the expertise (Boh & Yelling, 2006/2007). USing an ERP means that the host company, being IT experts, easily solve this problem for Atlantic.
References
Boh, W. F., & Yellin, D. (2006/2007, Winter). Using enterprise architecture standards in managing information technology. Journal of Management Information Systems, 23 (3), 163–207
Larson, L. L. (1995, April). Third party software. Internal Auditor, 52 (2), 44
Ramasubbu, N., Krishnan, M. S., & Kompalli, P. (2005, May/June). Leveraging global resources: A process maturity framework for managing distributed development. IEEE Software, 22 (3), 80–86
Shaul, L., & Tauber, D. (2013). Critical success factors in enterprise resource planning systems: Review of the last decade. ACM Computing Surveys, 45 (4), 55–55:39
