Modularity, Integration and IT Personnel Skills Factors in Linking ERP to SCM Systems

This study investigates some underlying technological factors for linking enterprise resource planning (ERP) to supply chain management (SCM) systems. ERP systems serve technological requirements across functional areas within a corporate boundary while SCM systems focus on collaborative relationships with partners in the supply chain, emphasizing business process integration and information sharing through IT. In order to facilitate SCM operations for business planning and decision making, an ERP system must be extensible in terms of support for a range of external constituents in the supply chain. The research reported in this paper investigates these linkages and provides a framework for developing and evaluating SCM processes in order to serve enterprise needs in terms of resource management for scalability, implementation costs and operational efficiency for meeting the business objectives.