Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems were originally designed to automate and support administrative, financial and inventory processes. These systems have become the de-facto standard to support traditional corporate functions, including purchasing, HR and financial management. According to Gartner, a leading IT Analyst firm, packaged ERP systems such as SAP's offer good architecture, data management and platform choices, however, ERP's integration to other core enterprise applications can be very complex, necessitating the use of enterprise information management (EIM) and master data management (MDM) strategies in order to maximize an ERP implementation.

This white paper reviews the history behind ERP deployments, how the needs of an ERP system have evolved and why today's business requirements necessitate direct, real time integration between corporate planning applications and the shop floor, across manufacturing operations - including production, quality and the supply chain network.