Talking about ERP, so far there may be a lot of people do not understand, but if in large and medium-sized enterprises engaged in management work, should be no stranger to this. Since about 2004, the implementation of ERP projects in China has been carried out in full swing in various large enterprises, such as SAP, Oracle, Yonyou, Kingdee and other software manufacturers, IBM, Accenture, PWC, Hande and other consulting companies have launched a comprehensive market competition in this field. If you search the Internet, you can also see a lot of arguments and jokes about the implementation of ERP systems.

But no matter what people say,

  • One fact is that by 2014, large and medium-sized enterprises in China have basically completed the popularization of ERP system. As the core system of enterprise informatization, ERP has become an indispensable key information system in large and medium-sized enterprises. The flow and control of enterprise core business, the planning and allocation of key resources, and the accounting of business and financial data are inseparable from ERP system.
  • Another fact is: since ERP systems are mostly suite models (standard products), the secondary development (customization) of the system is high cost and long cycle, which is a problem that all enterprise users must face. In recent years, all industries are affected by the Internet and mobile Internet, and the enterprise environment has undergone tremendous changes. The huge and complex ERP system is increasingly difficult to cope with the requirements of business changes on system flexibility.

Low code platform, the sharp weapon of enterprise digital transformation

The concept of Digital Transformation (DX) began to gain popularity after ERP system was popularized in large and medium-sized enterprises. Since last year, ciOs abroad have been calling it Digital Transformation. At the same time, another concept came into view, namely low-code Platform (first proposed by Forrester Research in 2014). The emergence of low-code Platform is a sharp tool to break the rigid problem of ERP system.

As mentioned earlier, ERP systems are standard products, so system adjustment takes a long time and costs a lot. The low code platform is different. It is designed to achieve rapid customization of the system with no code or a small amount of code, so it can greatly improve the speed of system response to business requirements and reduce the total cost of system implementation. Many low-code users say it has addressed some of the shortcomings of traditional enterprise software systems. Low code platforms are attracting savvy managers because of their unique capabilities. Technology analytics firm Forrester Research predicts that the market for low-code apps will grow from more than $3 billion in 2018 to $15.5 billion in 2020.

It can be said that the emergence of low code platform makes it possible to apply the Internet development concept of “small steps, fast iterations” in the field of traditional enterprise informatization. Although the low code platform is good, it may not be appropriate to replace the existing ERP system in large and medium-sized enterprises. The best solution is to integrate the low code platform with the existing ERP system. Retain the positioning of ERP core system, use low code platform to cope with and achieve flexible business requirements of enterprises, and realize data interaction between low code platform and ERP system through system integration.

RPA alternative system integration, perfect solution to the embarrassment of interface integration

When it comes to ERP system integration, many enterprises may have a headache. Enterprises may encounter the following situations:

  • No authority: many multinational companies and subsidiaries of group enterprises do not have the authority of ERP system integration and secondary development, so many opportunities for management improvement and innovation in the enterprise are killed.
  • High cost: system integration and secondary development of some large ERP systems are very expensive. Therefore, when enterprises want to achieve some slight improvement in some links, it seems that the cost performance is not high in terms of input and output.
  • Vendors have been unable to provide integration services: some enterprise ERP systems have been in use for many years, and the original ERP vendors can not keep up with the services, unable to provide reliable integration and secondary development services.

The emergence of RPA (robot process automation) provides alternative solutions for enterprise ERP system integration.

RPA is not exactly a real, visual robot, but rather a process automation service. Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is a software product that simulates how a person operates between different systems on a computer, replacing regular and repetitive office processes performed by a person at a computer. It can simulate the characteristics of human operation on the computer just for the ERP system integration problems mentioned above provides a perfect alternative.

ERP+ low code platform +RPA+AI, accelerate enterprise digital transformation

If enterprise ERP system is not convenient for system integration with low code platform, it can realize data interaction between ERP system and low code platform through RPA robot.

We take the ERP system customized development of a procurement application process as an example:

1. Use Joget low code platform to develop purchase application process

The procurement application of each enterprise may be quite different, so many standard functions of ERP system can not meet the individual needs of enterprises. As a result, we can customize the approval process through the Jet Low code platform.

Joget (Joget) is an open source low code development platform, regardless of whether the user has programming ability, can quickly build all kinds of management systems through drag and drop, configuration. TensorFlow is also embedded in the upcoming Jet DX. Therefore, enterprises can also build AI models based on their own situation, and embed the models in jeter platform to help enterprises build more efficient AI applications.

After customizing the procurement approval process on THE JEter platform, we need to integrate it with the original ERP system of the enterprise.

2. Identify the data to be interacted with the ERP system

In this scenario, we might have two places to interact with ERP data:

First, material data is synchronized from ERP to JITTER low code platform so that users can choose to purchase materials when jITTER low code platform initiates applications. Second, the procurement application approved by JIDE low code platform is returned to ERP system to form PO (purchase order).

Under normal circumstances, database level integration can be done with THE JDBC Binder of The Jet Low code platform or with the Web Service interface of the ERP system. However, as mentioned earlier, when code-level system integration is not possible, we can use Everdroid (RPA robot) to achieve page-level integration.

3. Use Everdroid to complete data interaction between Joget and ERP system

Everdroid, one of the world’s leading providers of robotic process automation solutions, also provides a visual way to define robotic workflows.

In the above case, we can define two tasks in Everdroid:

  • One is to make the robot default, periodically query the SAP system for new materials and updated materials, and then update these values to the Joget low code platform.
  • After the approval of the procurement in Joget, the UiPath robot is triggered by the Joget process tool, and the default person creates a new PO (purchase order) in the SAP system.

conclusion

If your organization is also plagued by rigid ERP systems, you may want to try the solution recommended in this article. Take advantage of the simplicity, flexibility and quick online advantages of low code development platform (such as Joget) to achieve management innovation and micro improvement within the enterprise. If there is difficulty in system integration, RPA robot (such as Everdroid) can be used to achieve integration between systems.

(Some data from the Internet, deleted)