the company are thus performed. For example, when an order is placed, accounting, production, scheduling and manufacturing modules are each updated with the order information. In addition, ERP systems are designed for particular industries and for particular companies within those industries. Thus an ERP system for a toy manufacturer will be different from an ERP system designed for a retail store. For Zapf, the ERP system will be customized to incorporate Zapf's processes into the ERP system. In some cases, Zapf will need to change its processes in order to accommodate the ERP system (Martin et al 182).
At the heart of ERP systems is their ability to maintain business intelligence, information and data that crosses across the functions of the organization. Customer orders are traced using the same system that tracks orders due from vendors and the production schedule. Engineering drawings used in production are tracked along with sales forecasts and human resource records. In short, an ERP encompasses all aspects of a company's operations. However, traditionally, the information that is contained in an ERP system is not easily retrievable and may require expertise in query languages in order for decision makers to have access to the information they require. At the same time, traditional ERP systems have had difficulty in working with the Internet, causing frustration for employees, vendors and other stakeholders who are increasingly using the Web to interact with each other (Bloodworth 24).
2.1.1 THE BENEFITS OF ERP TO THE COMPANY
According to one study, there are three key benefits that accrue to companies that implement an ERP system; these can be classified as overall business benefits. These three overall business benefits include better data integration which improves access to data across the entire enterprise. The ERP system also introduces new ways of doing business, which gives companies the opportunity t...