Lean OR ERP – A Decision Support System to Satisfy Business Objectives

Abstract Lean manufacturing and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems are two most important strategies utilized by manufacturers attempting to compete for sales and profits in the global market. Most of the organizations around the world use ERP or Lean, but rarely both. Literature reveals that modern operations management, by default, requires all industries to use an ERP system. Increasing competition compels industries to reduce their costs and improve operational efficiency, which may be possible by practicing lean manufacturing principles. Small and medium enterprises are not familiar where ERP system is required and where the lean approach is suitable when they have a specific business objective. Therefore, the article presents the relative contribution of ERP and Lean system to facilitate in the realization of business objectives in manufacturing. Contribution/importance levels are ranked as ‘importance weight’, which will guide the small and medium enterprises in strategically distributing their resources on either ERP, Lean or both. The presented concept is based on systematic mapping of publications contributed in the field of ERP system and lean manufacturing system.