ERP5
Encyclopedia
ERP5 is an open source ERP
based on Python
and Zope
. It has the particularity of being based on an unified Model to describe its implementation.
(France), Dakar
(Sénégal), Tokyo
(Japan), Campos
(Brazil) and Dresden
(Germany). The first ERP5 implementation at Coramy, a midsize swimsuit manufacturer in the north of France, was awarded “Best ERP project” in 2004. Little information is provided by Nexedi about the companies which use ERP5, apparently as part of corporate policy to protect trade secret. Notable public users are EADS Astrium
, Bet'Eire Flow and Sénégal Government.
This approach departs from data structure oriented modeling and from the idea that ERP implementation should at the same time change the processes of an organization and its information system. Rather than forcing organizations to adopt preset business processes, or so-called best practices provided by the ERP vendor, the ERP5 implementation process tries to capture efficient practices which are already implemented in the organization and map them to the UBM model. The risk of failure and the implementation costs of ERP implementation in large organizations are thus reduced through this approach. The ERP5 implementation process was successfully applied to the computerization of business processes of a Central Bank.
However, this implementation approach does not fit with the budget constraints of small companies or with the time constraints of newly created organizations. An alternative approach, based on Software as a Service, was later suggested by Carvalho and Johansson and implemented by TioLive LLC which now provides ERP5 SaaS. Based on a small list of questions, which any CEO of a company can answer to in less than an hour, a standard ERP5 configuration is generated with preset business processes and custom nomenclatures (so-called categories in ERP5 terminology). This approach is now being automated with data mining and artificial intelligence tools.
A third alternative consisting of the combination of both approaches, namely the use of preset business processes and their extension at the core of ERP5, seems also possible but has not been covered yet by academic research.
and on ERP5: Compatible, NEOPPOD, Geoblabla, Data Publica, TioSafe, EDOS, System@tic.
Enterprise resource planning
Enterprise resource planning systems integrate internal and external management information across an entire organization, embracing finance/accounting, manufacturing, sales and service, customer relationship management, etc. ERP systems automate this activity with an integrated software application...
based on Python
Python (programming language)
Python is a general-purpose, high-level programming language whose design philosophy emphasizes code readability. Python claims to "[combine] remarkable power with very clear syntax", and its standard library is large and comprehensive...
and Zope
Zope
Zope is a free and open-source, object-oriented Web application server written in the Python programming language. Zope stands for "Z Object Publishing Environment", and was the first system using the now common object publishing methodology for the Web...
. It has the particularity of being based on an unified Model to describe its implementation.
Unified Model
Whereas most ERPs are based on business field specific models and culture dependent ontologies, ERP5 uses a single model, called the Unified Business Model, that is used to describe all its components. This approach to enterprise modeling was introduced in 2002 by Smets and Carvalho. The UBM relies on 5 generic concepts, namely Node, Resource, Movement, Item and Path. According to Carvalho, abstraction and genericity not only reduce the complexity of ERP5 systems but also increase code reuse incentive and sustainability. Thanks to this unification, a typical ERP5 implementation thus consists of 20 to 30 tables whereas the implementation of an ERP based on traditional enterprise modeling requires thousands to tens of thousands of tables because they need to piece together several components.History
ERP5 was created and is still mostly developed by Nexedi, an open source software publisher based in LilleLille
Lille is a city in northern France . It is the principal city of the Lille Métropole, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the country behind those of Paris, Lyon and Marseille. Lille is situated on the Deûle River, near France's border with Belgium...
(France), Dakar
Dakar
Dakar is the capital city and largest city of Senegal. It is located on the Cap-Vert Peninsula on the Atlantic coast and is the westernmost city on the African mainland...
(Sénégal), Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
(Japan), Campos
Campos dos Goytacazes
Campos dos Goytacazes is a municipality and city located in the northern area of Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil, with a population of 463,545 inhabitants. Its area is 4,031.910 km², which makes it the largest municipality in the state and its elevation is 14 m...
(Brazil) and Dresden
Dresden
Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
(Germany). The first ERP5 implementation at Coramy, a midsize swimsuit manufacturer in the north of France, was awarded “Best ERP project” in 2004. Little information is provided by Nexedi about the companies which use ERP5, apparently as part of corporate policy to protect trade secret. Notable public users are EADS Astrium
EADS Astrium
Astrium Satellites is one of the three business units of Astrium, a subsidiary of EADS. It is a European space manufacturer involved in the manufacture of spacecraft used for science, Earth observation and telecommunication, as well as the equipment and subsystems used therein and related ground...
, Bet'Eire Flow and Sénégal Government.
Implementation Process
The implementation process of ERP5 has been extensively researched and described through academic research. Campos and Carvalho describe the document oriented analysis approach which is considered for the implementation of large ERP5 systems in existing organizations. The ERP5 implementation process consists of collecting paper or electronic documents in the organization, mapping each terms and underlying concepts of each type of document to the UBM abstraction, and modeling the decision process materialized by signatures through document workflows. Unit tests, functional tests and performance tests are developed using built-in quality assurance frameworks in order to make sure that the implementation matches specified document oriented use cases and in order to prevent regressions.This approach departs from data structure oriented modeling and from the idea that ERP implementation should at the same time change the processes of an organization and its information system. Rather than forcing organizations to adopt preset business processes, or so-called best practices provided by the ERP vendor, the ERP5 implementation process tries to capture efficient practices which are already implemented in the organization and map them to the UBM model. The risk of failure and the implementation costs of ERP implementation in large organizations are thus reduced through this approach. The ERP5 implementation process was successfully applied to the computerization of business processes of a Central Bank.
However, this implementation approach does not fit with the budget constraints of small companies or with the time constraints of newly created organizations. An alternative approach, based on Software as a Service, was later suggested by Carvalho and Johansson and implemented by TioLive LLC which now provides ERP5 SaaS. Based on a small list of questions, which any CEO of a company can answer to in less than an hour, a standard ERP5 configuration is generated with preset business processes and custom nomenclatures (so-called categories in ERP5 terminology). This approach is now being automated with data mining and artificial intelligence tools.
A third alternative consisting of the combination of both approaches, namely the use of preset business processes and their extension at the core of ERP5, seems also possible but has not been covered yet by academic research.
Innovations
With more than 8 million lines of code and 5,000 commits per year in average, the ERP5 development benefits from a steadily growing activity. Nexedi itself is part of multiple research projects and research clusters with a strong focus on Cloud ComputingCloud computing
Cloud computing is the delivery of computing as a service rather than a product, whereby shared resources, software, and information are provided to computers and other devices as a utility over a network ....
and on ERP5: Compatible, NEOPPOD, Geoblabla, Data Publica, TioSafe, EDOS, System@tic.