European Journal of Scientific Research ISSN 1450-216X Vol.38 No.3 (2009), pp.486-499 EuroJournals Publishing, Inc. 2009 http://www.eurojournals.com/ejsr.

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A Research on Corporate Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Systems used for Supermarket Supply Chain Inventory Management in Turkey
Sedat Belba Gazi University Department of Business Administration Besevler 06500 Ankara / TURKEY E-mail: sbelbag@gazi.edu.tr Tel: +90 0312 216 1238 Mustafa imen Hacettepe University Department of Business Administration Beytepe 06800 Ankara / TURKEY E-mail: mcimen@hacettepe.edu.tr Tel: +90 312 297 8700; Fax: +90 312 299 2055 ule Tarm E-mail: suletarim@yahoo.com Tel: +90 505 915 4401 Ayegl Ta ankaya University, Department of Business Administration Balgat 06530 Ankara / Turkey E-mail: aysegul@cankaya.edu.tr Tel: +90 312 284 4500; Fax: +90 312 286 4873 Abstract The purpose of this study is to draw a detailed picture of the current situation with regard to supply chain inventory planning systems used in the Turkish retail sector. During the study, companies developing enterprise resource planning (ERP) software were contacted and asked questions oriented to reveal the contribution of current enterprise resource planning software in supply chain management and the opportunities they offer to users in terms of inventory planning. Interviews were made using one or more of the interview techniques of electronic mail, telephone or one-to-one interview. Through these interviews, it was attempted to determine the estimation and planning capabilities of the existing ERP software and draw an inventory of the solutions currently offered to users that will meet the varying demands of the companies operating in the retail sector. In addition, a comparison of the ERP products of national and foreign software companies producing solutions with various functionalities for the retail sector is made along with an evaluation in view of enterprise management. Keywords: Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), supply chain, retailing.

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1. Introduction
For a company, supply chain refers to the sum of all the processes starting from the procurement of the raw material from the manufacturer/producer and ending with delivery of the end-product to the consumer (Silver, Pyke and Peterson 1998). The supply chain encompasses many activities within it, such as production, purchase, sale and distribution. Moreover, a supply chain is an organizational network of suppliers, shippers, production plants, distribution centres and retailers (Hillier and Lieberman, 2005). Due to these reasons, smooth operation of the supply chain is very important for enterprises. Otherwise, enterprises can encounter unfavourable situations arising from supply chain issues, such as increased costs, delayed orders, wrong order placements or wrong order quantities. Such problems cause not only financial burden for the enterprise, but also have a negative impact on the brand value in the eyes of the consumers. Companies have aimed to be able to minimize the problems and risks they might encounter (Iles, 2007) and, with this aim, have in time integrated computer software into their systems. At first, Material Requirements Planning (MRP) software which allowed companies to keep track of their inventories started to be used. Later on, when these programs became insufficient for the task, they turned towards ERP. ERP is the generic term used for management software that include modules such as production, finance, marketing and human resources and that allow companies to plan their goods and services (Stevenson, 2007). These software, used by many enterprises, particularly by multinational corporations, have a critical role in ensuring increased efficiency. Zhao and Fan (2007) suggested that new generation ERP systems should be developed based on the principles of low cost, high quality and efficiency. In the recent years, ERP software have become widely used in almost all sectors such as production, services, finance, transportation and public utilities (Botta-Genoulaz and Millet, 2006). To give a few examples, Berchet and Habchi (2005) used an ERP system to arrange the supply chain activities of the telecommunications company Alcatel; Olson (2007) compared alternative ERP options and procurement of ERP systems as package programs and made a list of the advantages and disadvantages of both methods; Yan et. al. (2008) conducted a study aiming at identifying and proposing solutions to problems encountered in ERP applications in the Chinese retail sector; Karsak and zoul (2009) conducted a study on how to select the appropriate ERP software in decisionmaking processes; Chou and Chang (2008) examined the effects of ERP applications on performance increase; Vandai (2008) studied the critical success factors in ERP application; Chang et al. (2008) analyzed the performance effects of ERP on supply chain; Bose et. al. (2008) conducted a study on application of ERP systems in the supply chain management and inventory management of a company in the Chinese production sector; and Mabert et. al. (2003) studied the main differences between the ERP application approaches of companies. This study accepts that the main purpose of the ERP software is to regulate the operation of the supply chains of companies. Companies want to minimize the impact of any potential problems in the supply chain by using ERP software. Holsapple and Sena (2005), analyzing 53 companies using ERP systems, attempted to identify against which problems these systems were established and have proved successful. Today, uncertainty seems to be a critical factor that needs to be dealt with by companies in supply chain management. The uncertainty factor should be handled delicately, especially in sectors such as retail where inventory planning is a critical function. The retail sector needs new approaches that will assist in managing uncertainty in the current competitive environment and that will ensure fast and reliable response to changing market conditions (Fisher, Raman and McClelland, 2000). Yet, many planning systems rarely use planning methods that include the uncertainty factors. The purpose of this study is to draw a detailed picture of the supply chain inventory planning systems used in the retail sector in Turkey. As a result of this analysis, an inventory of the currently offered solutions that will respond to different needs in the retail sector and particularly in supermarket chains will be created. To this end, the study will include a comparison of the products of national and foreign companies producing solutions with different functionalities for the retail sector, and an evaluation thereof in view of enterprise management.

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In the first phase of the research, national ERP software companies and multinational software companies offering software for Enterprise Resource Planning in the major countries of the world were identified. The list was finalized by adding the open source ERP programs. Hence, main companies offering solutions in Enterprise Resource Planning to users were included in the study. General information on these companies is given in detail in Annex, Annex 2 and Annex 3. Multinational software companies were kept limited to companies with enterprise resource planning packages being used in Turkey. All companies established in Turkey and producing software for Enterprise Resource Planning were included in the list. Lastly, all open source ERP software were added to the list. In the second phase of the research, companies developing ERP systems were contacted in order to identify the contribution of current Enterprise Resource Planning software in supply chain management and the opportunities they offer to users in terms of inventory planning. Interviews were made using one or more of the interview techniques of electronic mail, telephone or one-to-one interview. Through these interviews, it was attempted to determine the estimation and planning capabilities of the existing ERP software, which are given in the findings section.

2. Methodology
The research population consists of all companies developing Enterprise Resource Planning software for the retail sector and particularly for supermarket chains in Turkey. These companies developing ERP software were contacted, and asked various questions oriented to identify the contribution of current Enterprise Resource Planning software in supply chain management and the opportunities they offer to users in terms of inventory planning. Interviews were made using one or more of the interview techniques of electronic mail, telephone or one-to-one interview. Through these interviews, it was attempted to determine the estimation and planning capabilities of the existing ERP software. The main questions asked during the interviews are listed below: 1. Is the ERP software in question capable of monitoring stock on per-item basis? 2. Is the software capable of making estimations? If yes, is the demand estimation made for a single period (one week/one year) or for a multiple period (more than one week/ month/year? 3. Are they point estimations or can estimation errors also be identified? 4. Can the software tell the user when and in what quantity to order? 5. Can the software offer safety stock target? 6. What are the methods/rules/approaches used in identifying the safety stock? 7. Can the safety stock level be calculated optimally? During the interviews, it was attempted to identify which demands current ERP software are able to meet to what extent, in the light of the above questions. Information obtained as a result of these interviews is given collectively in Table 1. 2.1. Evaluation Criteria In Table 1, prepared based on the features offered by ERP software covered under the scope of this study, main criteria that are important for supply chain and inventory planning are identified. Table rows refer to ERP software while columns refer to the identified criteria. Hence, the basic inventory planning functionalities offered by these software are summarized. The criteria included in the Table are as follows; (i) Monitoring: This criteria shows whether the software package does item-based stock monitoring. This implies the softwares capability to show the user the process starting from the purchase of an item and ending with its exit from the system, including all the mobility taking place within the company. (ii) Forecasting (Estimation): Shows the softwares capacity to forecast demand for products. This criterion is divided into two: point estimation and estimation errors. Point estimation is the

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estimation of the demand quantity for a specific period of time for a specific item. It does not include any probability data. The estimation error criterion shows whether the software is capable of making stochastic estimation. Estimation error is an error value regarding the probable deviation from the estimated value of the demand. (iii) Deterministic Planning: Planning by the software package where it is assumed that the package knows for certain the information on demand, price and supply time. Here, two points should be kept in mind. Firstly, the software makes this planning in a heuristic (intuitive approach) manner, and secondly, whether this planning is optimal or not. (iv) Stochastic Planning: Capability of the software to make future-oriented planning in line with the needs of the user, assuming that only stochastic distributions of demand, price, supply time and quantity are known. Here, the software calculates the safety stock that must be maintained in order to prevent a situation of being low on stock. This criterion is divided into two categories: static and non-static stochastic planning. Under static stochastic planning, it is assumed that the stochastic distribution of an element of uncertainty such as demand shows no variation between periods. Non-static stochastic planning assumes that the distribution varies between periods, and is therefore more general compared to the former and should be used in sectors where periodicity is important, such as the retail sector. With the help of this table, an inventory of the functionalities of current resource planning software in terms of inventory planning was identified. Hence, the picture of the point reached in ERP software was drawn.
Table 1: Inventory Planning Functionality in ERP Software
Monitoring SAP R/3 Oracle INFOR ERP(Baan) IFS Application SAGE MAS 500 CANIAS ERP SAS Fusion@6 LOGO Unity OBASE Wolvox Micro Compiere ERP5 GNU ERP SQL Ledger Opentaps Openbravo OpenERP OpenPro YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES Forecast Period Error YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES NO YES NO YES NO YES YES YES NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO Deterministic Heuristic Optimal YES YES YES YES NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO YES YES NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO Stochastic Stationary Non Stationary NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO YES NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO

3. Findings
In this section, an evaluation of the functionality offered by ERP software in the area of retail supply chain management will be made within the framework of the criteria described in the previous section.

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3.1. Multinational ERP Software Corporations Since these software are oriented to solve the problems of organizations with complex structures, they are usually preferred by large companies. They help the companys operations after they are integrated into the system with the help of experts. In addition, in order for them to be efficient, they have to be used by experienced personnel. Due to the need for specialized personnel and the high initial installation costs, only a small number of small and medium sized enterprises use them. SAP R/3 SAP AGs ERP package SAP R/3 offers support to its users in many areas. The software has demand planning, production, order, RFID, distribution and warehouse modules. In terms of inventory planning, it is capable of per-item stock monitoring. Demand estimation is made using historic data, via exponential smoothing, moving average and linear regression methods. SAP R/3 software is one of the software capable of deterministic planning. Deterministic optimisation is achieved by using (i) Groff procedure, (ii) Part Period Balancing, and (iii) Dynamic Lot Sizing methods on the data obtained in the estimation phase (Theis, 2004). Oracle Oracles ERP package is capable of per-item stock monitoring. Oracles demand estimation is made by the module called "Demantra". Basically, this module uses the Bayesian approach. The Bayesian estimation approach is based on combining the historic sales data with planned sales data. Estimation can be made even when no historic data is available. This is done by using the previously planned sales data and the data obtained during sales (Oracle White Paper, 2006). Oracle ERP package is another package capable of offering deterministic planning to its users. The order optimization package tries to identify the optimal stock level taking into consideration factors such as sales volume, suitability of estimated values, seasonal changes and user criteria. The software, able to offer suggestions according to the high or low level of sales and product diversity, uses the order management methods of (i) "MinMax", (ii) "Dynamic", (iii) "Poisson", (iv) "TimeSupply" and (v) "Hybrid" (OHara, 2007). IFS Applications IFSs ERP software allows item-based stock monitoring. The software, able to make demand estimations, uses the methods of moving average, least-squares regression, exponentially smoothed moving average, the Brown model, Bayesian and multiple regressions. Moreover, it can identify estimation errors using deviation, average error percentage and the Theil U-statistics methods. IFS ERP does not have a module that informs the user when to order or how many to order (IFS Demand Planning Brochure,2004). Infor ERP (Baan) INFOR ERP is capable of monitoring stock. In addition to point-estimations, this software can identify estimation errors. INFOR ERP does not offer planning opportunities to its users (Wagner 2000). Sage MAS 500 Sage MAS 500 ERP monitors stock based on items held in stock. In addition, it can estimate demand using various statistical methods. It can calculate probable error rates in demand estimations. Sage MAS 500 ERP software does not offer planning opportunities (Sage Mas 1000 Brochure, 2007). CANIAS ERP CANIAS ERP package can monitor stock. It forecasts demand using various statistical methods. In addition, it can also take into account probable error margins in estimations. This software does not offer planning solutions to users. It does not have safety stock calculation options (Canias ERP, 2007).

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SAS SAS ERP is capable of per-item stock monitoring. It has the High Performance Forecasting 2.3 module which enables demand estimation. This model uses seasonal models, local models (Winters method, simple structural model), ARIMA time series and the Croston methods (SAS Manual, 2007). SAS ERP is the only software covered under this studys scope that is capable of static stochastic planning. The software makes static stochastic planning using its Inventory Optimization 1.3 module. For these plannings, the program uses four methods: SS(s,S), BS(base stock), NQ(s, nQ), RQ policies. The module calculates the averages and variations of demand and supply times and makes calculations in line with the preferred policy. In addition, it can calculate penalty costs and service levels for users, enabling safe stock targeting. (SAS User Guide, 2006). 3.2. ERP Software Developed in Turkey Most of the ERP packages offered to users by software companies established in Turkey are designed to meet the demands of small and medium sized enterprises. A big majority of available ERP packages are for enterprises active in the manufacturing industry. However, some also offer tailored solutions for other sectors such as banking, textile, food, pharmaceuticals and retail. ERP packages provide support in areas such as finance, inventory, accounting, human resources, customer relations management, warehouse management, supply chain management and so on. ERP software are gradually finding a wider area of use in Turkey. The low number of personnel with sufficient knowledge to use this software in the enterprises is the biggest obstacle preventing their most effective use. Netsis Fushion@6 Fushion@6 ERP package by Netsis can track stock on item basis. The software can estimate demand using statistical methods such as moving average, trend model, seasonal model, weighted moving average etc. It cannot calculate probable errors for demand estimations. The software does not have planning features with any method (Netsis Main Manufacturing Plan 2006). LOGO Unity LOGO Unity ERP software can track per-item stock. Capable of estimating demand using statistical methods, the package cannot detect error margins in demands. It does not offer planning support. OBASE OBASE ERP package can track per-item stock. The software can estimate demand using historical data (normalized mean sales quantities). The safety stock quantity is determined by the user. This software, being incapable of calculating estimation errors, does not offer planning support to users. Mikro ERP This software allows stock tracking. It can make single-period demand estimations for products. These demand estimations are made via point estimations taking into account the sales fluctuations and critical levels. There are no methods to determine safety stock levels; hence the user should determine safety stock levels. It has no future planning capabilities. Wolvox E-Business Wolvox E-Business offers stock tracking capabilities to its users. In addition to providing multiperiodical demand estimations, it also includes probable errors in estimations. Having no planning features, this software does not offer safety stock targeting.

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Most of the open source ERP software included in the study scope are oriented to provide solutions to the problems of small and medium sized enterprises. These software have modules formulated for a variety of departments, such as accounting, supply chain management, customer relations management, stock, finance and human resources. The greatest advantage of these software is that they are suitable for constant development since they are open source. It is possible to quickly rectify any aspect of the software considered as lacking by users, through comments left on forums dedicated to these software. In addition, such ERP packages can easily be downloaded from the Internet and integrated into ones system in a very short time. In view of stock management, all open source ERP software studied have per-item stock tracking capabilities. On the other hand, none of the software in this category offer demand estimation or planning capabilities to their users.

4. Conclusion
Before the interviews, it was thought that all available ERP software could do stock tracking and demand estimations. And it was thought that most would fall short in terms of both deterministic and stochastic planning. After the interviews, it was found that only the software offered by SAS is able to make stochastic planning. It was found that only a handful of large software companies are able to offer deterministic planning, while the others offer only estimations. The fact that none of the companies studied offer stochastic planning for non-static demand has shown the importance and necessity of further studies in this area. Nevertheless, it was found that the products of multinational software companies are generally used by large companies, while local software companies develop their products for small and medium sized companies. Most of the ERP software were initially prepared to meet the needs of enterprises active in the manufacturing industry. Later on, solutions targeting the retail sector were also added to these packages and introduced to the market as separate packages. Therefore, it was seen that although most had many shortcomings, there are efforts to rectify them day by day. The results of analysis are presented in Table 1. A detailed comparison of the products of national and foreign software companies offering solutions with different functionalities for the retail sector and an academic evaluation of the situation in view of enterprise management has never been done before. In order to provide guidance for retail companies and lay the foundation for future studies in this area, for the first time in Turkey a detailed inventory of the inventory planning systems used by retail companies in Turkey and the functions and planning facilities offered by these systems were analyzed.

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Appendix 1: Multinational Companies Offering ERP Software In Turkey

SAP AG SAP was established in 1972 as a joint venture of 5 engineers who formerly worked for IBM. After its first year, the company developed its first financial accounting programme. Later, this program was called the R/1(R representing real time data processing) system. By the end of 1970s, as a result of some work on the SAP database and dialogue control systems, the SAP R/2 system was created. Furthermore, another characteristic of SAP R/2 is that it was designed to address the needs of multinational corporations using different languages and currencies. In 1988, the name of the company was changed from SAP to SAP AG. SAP AG made a transition from R/2 to R/3 system in 1992. The user-server concept of this system enables using interlinked databases with consistency. Moreover, the system can respond to confirmation requests coming from the computers of different suppliers (SAP AG History,2008). SAPs enterprise resource planning program is named SAP ERP. This program is the first product of the suite that consists of five organizational applications: the SAP Business Suite. The others are SAP CRM (Customer Relations Management), SAP PLM (Product Lifecycle Management), SAP SCM (Supply Chain Management) and SAP SRM (Supplier Relations Management). Today, with over 1500 SAP partners, 25 industry-focused business solutions and around 47,800 clients in 120 countries, SAP is one of the large software companies of the world. SAPs main

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competition area is the Enterprise Resource Planning Industry. However, the company also operates in the areas of marketing and sales software, production and warehouse software, and supply chain and logistics software. Oracle Oracle was established in 1977 by Larry Ellison, under the name Software Development Laboratories. Later on, the companys name was changed to Relational Software Inc. in 1979 and finally to Oracle Systems in 1982. Oracle launched Oracle 2, the first version of the Oracle database software, in 1979. The last version of this product launched by Oracle was the 11g version introduced in 2007. Today, Oracle has become one of the large software giants. Oracle had a partnership with SAP AG that continued for ten years starting from 1988, which enabled integration of the Sap R/3 system into the Oracle database. However, the two companies have now become rivals (Oracle History, 2008). Although Oracle has built its foundation on its database program, it has also prepared programs oriented to other areas. Oracle produces programs oriented to many different areas such as banking, communication, retail and industry applications. Some of its major products include the Customer Relations Management (CRM), Supply Chain Management (SCM), Production and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) packages. Infor ERP (Baan) Baan was established by Jan Baan in 1978 in the Netherlands for the purpose of providing financial and managerial consultancy services. Baan software owes its reputation to its technical architecture and the 4GL language. Winning the Boeing contract was one of their biggest successes. However, after the public offering of the company, the sales figures given by the management to the capital market were somewhat exaggerated. When this was found out, in 1998 the Baan stocks suffered a heavy fall. Upon this mishap, the company was sold to Invensys in 2000 due to economic reasons, and was bought out by Infor Global Solutions in 2006 (Baan ERP History, 2008). Since the day it was established, Baan focused on Enterprise Resource Planning software, with full force. Baan ERP software offers support to users in many areas such as service management, simple production, quality management, process management and supply chain management. IFS Application IFS was founded in 1983 in Sweden for the purpose of developing a management software for nuclear power plant control. It focused mainly on production, technology and public sectors. IFS Applications is a software that is applied with all its modules and which has more than 60 components. What distinguishes IFS Applications from other ERP packages, like SAP, is that this software is bought with a preloaded web services module (IFS, 2008). The Sage Group Sage was established by David Goldman and Graham Wylie in 1981 in Newcastle for the purpose of developing accounting and estimation software for small sized businesses. In 1984, the Company launched the Sage software which used the CP/M operation system. In 2001, it started producing software for customer relations management. Sage has many software developed to address the needs of accounting, production and human resources departments. With its ERP software named Sage Mas 500, the company offers support services to its clients on finance, inventory management, order management, customer relations management and human resources management (The Sage Group, 2008).

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IAS or CANIAS ERP (Industrial Application Software) IAS (Industrial Application Software) was founded in Germany in 1989 for the purpose of meeting the organizational demands of small and medium sized businesses as well as large businesses. With its software development office located in Istanbul, the company offers project management, consultancy, training and tailor-made software development services to many European countries including Italy, the UK, the Netherlands and France, as well as to far eastern countries such as China and Taiwan (Canias ERP, 2008). The CANIAS ERP package offered by the company consists of modules such as logistics, production and capacity control, accounting and finance, actual costing, customer relations management, human resources management, document management and maintenance management in its standard series. SAS SAS Institute was founded in 1976 by Anthony Barr, James Goodnight, John Sall and Jane Helwig as a software production company in the USA. Although SAS is actually the abbreviation for statistical analysis system, in time it transformed into the brand name. The main SAS product offers statistical analysis with multiple modules that are compatible with IBM operated computers. However, especially after Windows started to be used widespread, they adapted their software to Windows. SAS includes modules on customer relations management and business intelligence. The program featured fourth generation programming language (SAS History, 2008). Serving many sectors such as aviation, automotive, banking, communications, production and retail, the software offers support to companies in the areas of reporting, querying, data mining, forecasting and optimization.

Appendix 2: Turkish Companies Offering ERP Software

Netsis (Fushion@6) Founded in 1991, Netsis develops corporate business software for companies of different sizes operating in various sectors, in conformity with contemporary and international criteria. Being a 100% Turkish capital company, today Netsis has Turkey regional offices in Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir, a main software base in the zmir High Technology Institute Technopark, and a business partner channel with around 400 business partners throughout Turkey. Main software products by Netsis include Enterprise Resource Planning Fushion@6 and Entegre@6 developed for small sized businesses. The Fushion@6 series offers support to businesses with regard to customer relations management, supply chain management, finance management and human resources management (Netsis, 2008). LOGO Business Solutions Logo Business Solutions was established in 1984 for the purpose of developing engineering software for personal computers in Turkey. Today, Logo has evolved into a technology group bringing together seven companies, all of which focus on information technologies. Logo's most popular products and services are the efficiency and competition solutions tailored for SMEs. Some of these solutions include corporate resource management, supply and demand chain automation, and customer relations management and business processes design and consultancy products and services, all tailored to specific company sizes. Logos latest development is the Logo Unity On Demand software prepared for Enterprise Resource Planning. Logo Unity is written in the Java programming language and is compatible with IBM DB2, MySQL and Oracle databases (Logo, 2008).

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OBASE was established in 1995 to deliver software and consultancy services. It offers data integration, business intelligence, corporate performance management, customer relations management and similar services to its customers. With its software focusing on information management, OBASE is active in many sectors including retail, telecommunications, transportation, finance, production, insurance, logistics, pharmaceutics and textile. OBASE offers support to companies with its Retailer, Detailer, Accounting and Fund Management, Personnel Management and Reporter software. Packages oriented to the retail sector such as Retailer and Detailer provide services related to orders, purchase-sale, stock management and demand management (Obase, 2008). Aknsoft (Wolvox) Aknsoft was established in 1995 in Konya. The company offers corporate software solutions to national and international clients. The company divides its programs into the following categories: commercial, sector-based, web-based and DOS-based. Aknsoft supports companies with a diversity of software options, such as MRP, MRPII, CRM and in particular ERP. The companys ERP software Wolvox contains material management, material requirements planning, capacity requirements planning, cost accounting, general accounting, production control and quality control systems, planning, budget, maintenance, human resources and preliminary accounting modules (Akinsoft, 2008). Mikro Software House Mikro Software House is an Istanbul-based company that offers information solutions to small and medium sized businesses. Its products are divided into three groups: ERP, Retail and Standard series. The leading software in the ERP product group are the my-ERP, ERP9000 and MRPII 9000, which are adapted to the needs and sizes of businesses. The Retail group, which offers tailor-made solutions to retailers, includes Retail 9000, Ofis and Microshop. The companys corporate resource planning software, the ERP9000 suite, contains production resource planning, purchase and sales, stock management, finance, personnel management and accounting modules.

Appendix 3: Open Source ERP Software

Compiere Compiere targets small and medium sized businesses operating in retail, distribution and service delivery areas. Customer transactions (pre-sale, sale, orders and other activities), supplier relations, accounting and control, service management and basic project management functions are available. Currently one of the most popular open source ERP software, Compiere has been downloaded by more than 900,000 users to date. Compiere software is compatible with Windows, Linux and Mac OS X operating systems. The program, developed in the Java programming language, is able to use Oracle and Sybase databases. In addition, it supports 26 different languages and 4 different accounting systems (Pink, Janke and Wassmer, 2005). ERP5 ERP5 was developed in order to support the organizational structure and decision-making processes of textile companies operating within international distribution areas with a worker capacity of more than 300. The program has many modules, some of which include: Commerce: Purchase, sale, order and storage functions

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Product data management: product description, types, categorization Material requirements planning Customer relations management Accounting Human resources ERP5 is compatible with Windows, Linux and Mac Os X operating systems. Its software language is Python. It uses the open source Zope database (Deldycke, 2005). GNUe(Enterprise) ERP GNUe focuses on offering an integral ERP software package with forms, reports and work flowcharts able to run on all databases, with an XML structure. The softwares architecture and interface were developed using various programming languages based on open source (GNUe Brochure, 2002). Although its package solutions are up to date, all ERP modules are constantly updated and developed. The software, able to work on almost all operating systems, is able to use PostgreSQL, MySQL, MaxDB, Oracle IBM DB2 and Sybase databases. Written in Python, the program allows development with other software languages (Carter, 2005). SQL Ledger SQL Ledger is an open source ERP software for accounting and production, developed for the purpose of meeting the basic requirements of small and medium sized businesses. Program features are adequate in terms of adaptability to national accounting systems. In addition to accounting, it also has functions for purchase-sale and inventory management. Its functions and user interface can be tested on the internet. It is compatible with Windows, Linux and Mac OS X operating systems. It can use Oracle, IBM DB2 and Postgre SQl data bases (Herzog, 2006). Opentaps The Opentaps program offers the opportunity to develop business applications that are adaptable at corporate level. Although its focal point is e-commerce, it is also making progress in the ERP area. Programs target group includes retailers, distributors and producers. It has modules for E-commerce, product catalogue, purchase orders inventory and warehouse management, production, customer services, customer services management and marketing management. Its data models have planning, forecasting and budgeting capabilities (Jones, 2005). Opentaps is compatible with Windows, Linux, MAC OS X operating systems. As database, it can use MySQL, MaxDB, PostgreSQL, Oracle, Microsoft SQL and IBM DB2. Using Java and XML as software language, the program supports 39 different languages (Basil Argasosy,2005). Openbravo The groundwork for Openbravo started in mid 1990s when two students from the Navara University, Nicolas Serrano and Ismael Ciordia, decided to develop a software for the universitys management system. By 2001, Openbravo ERP, fully adapted to corporate management systems, was launched. The focus has been on two software: Openbarvo ERP and Openbarvo Pos. Openbravo ERP includes modules for data management, purchase management, warehouse management, production management, sales management, finance and accounting and project management. Developed in Java, the program supports XML, Html and Javascript (Openbravo ERP, 2008). OpenERP OpenERPs interface features many graphics and diagrams. The program targets small and medium businesses with maximum 150 employees operating in commerce, distribution and services sectors. It

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has modules for accounting, customer relations management, purchase and sale, human resources, marketing, material requirements planning, inventory control and project management. Some specialpurpose modules for interface and e-commerce have also been integrated into the OpenERP software. OpenERP can use interfaces created with XML, Excel, Pdf and Open Office. Compatible with Windows, Linux and Mac OS X operating systems, the program uses the PostgreSQL database. It is written in the Python programming language. It supports 11 different language options (Herzog, 2006). OpenPro OpenPro offered users its open source ERP software in 1999, via the web. OpenPro has modules for customer relations management, supply chain management, e-commerce, finance and accounting and human resources. Having a flexible structure, the software is compatible with Windows, Linux, Unix, Sun, and IBM operating systems. It can use Ms-SQL, MySQL, Oracle, IBM DB2, Postgre SQL databases. OpenPro is written in the php programming language, and offers users the opportunity to customize their interface (OpenPro ERP, 2008).