Concepts in Enterprise

Resource Planning
4th Edition

Chapter Three
Marketing Information Systems and the Sales Order
Process
 Objectives

After completing this chapter, you will be able to:

• Describe the unintegrated sales processes of the fictitious Fitter
Snacker company.

• Explain why unintegrated Sales and Marketing information systems lead

to company-wide inefficiency, higher costs, lost profits, and customer
dissatisfaction.
• Discuss sales and distribution in the SAP ERP system, and explain how
integrated data sharing increases company-wide efficiency.

Concepts in Enterprise Resource Planning, Fourth Edition 2

 Introduction

• Fitter Snacker (FS)

o Fictitious company that makes healthy snack bars.
o It Does not have an integrated information system.

• Marketing and Sales (M/S) is the focal point of many of FS’s activities.
o FS’s M/S information systems are not well integrated with company’s other
information systems.

• Company-wide use of transaction data is inefficient.

• FS manufactures and sells two types of nutritious snack bars:

̶ NRG-A: “advanced energy”
̶ NRG-B: “body building proteins”

Concepts in Enterprise Resource Planning, Fourth Edition 3

 Overview of Fitter Snacker
• FS has organized its sales force into two groups, known as divisions:
o Wholesale Division
o Direct Sales Division

• The two sales divisions differ in terms of quantities of orders and pricing
terms.
• Sells snack bars under the Fitter Snacker brand name.
o Packages the bars in store-brand wrappers for some chain stores.

Concepts in Enterprise Resource Planning, Fourth Edition 4

 Problems with Fitter Snacker’s Sales Process

• Many of Fitter Snacker’s sales orders have problems, such as:

o Incorrect pricing.
o Excessive calls to the customer for information.
o Delays in processing orders.
o Missed delivery dates.

• Reasons for problems:

o FS has separate information systems throughout the company for three
functional areas:
– Sales order system
– Warehouse system
– Accounting system

o High number of transactions that are handled

manually.
o Information stored in the three systems is not
available in real time (The data were stored in a periodic time).
Figure 3-1 The sales process

Concepts in Enterprise Resource Planning, Fourth Edition 5

 Sales Quotations and Orders

• Giving a customer a price quotation and then taking the customer’s order
at FS.
o For a new customer, the sales process begins with a sales call, which might be
over the telephone or visits in person.

o At the end of sales call, salesperson prepares a handwritten quotation on a

form that generates two copies.
– Original sheet goes to the customer.
– Middle copy is first faxed and then mailed to the sales office.
– Salesperson keeps the bottom copy for his/her records.

o Quotation form has a free number that the customer can call to place an order.

Concepts in Enterprise Resource Planning, Fourth Edition 6

 Sales Quotations and Orders (cont’d.)

• Problems can occur with this process:

o The salesperson might make an error in the sales quotation.
̶ A salesperson in the Direct Sales Division might offer both a quantity discount and a
discretionary discount.
̶ If the salesperson is not careful, the two discounts combined might be so deep that the
company makes little or no profit on the order.

o Salespeople fax a copy of their sales quotations to the sales office, but
sometimes a customer calls to place an order before the fax is transmitted.
̶ When a sales clerk is unaware of the terms in a quotation, they must ask the customer
to repeat them.
̶ Even if the quotation was faxed, the data may not be in the customer database, leading
to duplicate orders.

o The fax received by the sales office is a copy of a handwritten form and might
not be legible.

Concepts in Enterprise Resource Planning, Fourth Edition 7

 Sales Quotations and Orders (cont’d.)

• The unintegration with other functional areas leads to inefficiencies in

the rest of the ordering process.
o The delivery date cannot be determined.
– The sales clerk checks with the warehouse supervisor to determine if the customer's order can be
shipped immediately or if there will be a delay, but the supervisor is usually too busy and can only
provide an estimate based on current information.

o Checking customer’s credit status

̶ The clerk fills out a credit-check form for new customers, which is sent to Accounting for processing.
̶ Existing customers' credit is checked using a weekly report based on previous orders.
̶ If a customer's available credit is insufficient, the clerk contacts them to discuss options.

o Entering customer’s order into the current order entry system.

̶ Once the clerk finalizes the order details, they enter them into the system.
̶ The system stores customer data for analysis, prints packing lists and shipping labels, creates an
invoice data file for Accounting, and copies it to a USB key for accounting system upload.

Concepts in Enterprise Resource Planning, Fourth Edition 8

 Order Filling

• Packing lists and shipping labels

o Fitter’s process for filling an order is no more efficient than its sales order
process.
̶ Packing lists and shipping labels are printed in the sales department twice a day (at noon
and at the end of the day).
̶ These are carried by hand to the warehouse, where they are manually sorted into small
orders and large orders.

• Warehouse includes Small-order and Large-order packing areas.

• FS uses a PC database program to manage warehouse inventory, adjusting levels

daily based on production and shipping records.
– Monthly physical inventory counts are conducted to compare actual inventory with database records,
which are over 95% accurate.
– However, the 5% error rate leads to regular order fulfilment issues.

• Because snack bars are somewhat perishable, FS keeps inventory levels fairly low.

Concepts in Enterprise Resource Planning, Fourth Edition 9

 Order Filling (cont’d.)

• Inventory levels change rapidly during the day, and FS’s current system does not
provide a good method for checking inventory availability.
̶ A picker might go to the shelves to pick an order and discover that there are not enough of
the desired type of snack bars to fill the order.

• In this case, there are several possible outcomes:

̶ If more of the bar type is available in the production area, the picker can wait for it to be
transferred to the warehouse to complete the order.
̶ Production might switch the wrappers and labels to the customer's brand for an important
customer's order.
̶ The customer might accept a partial shipment and wait for the rest (backorder).
̶ Alternatively, the customer might take what's available, cancel the rest, and reorder later.
̶ If the customer's company has enough inventory, they might prefer to wait for the whole
order to save on delivery charges.

• To determine what to do in this situation, the order picker consults with supervisors to decide
how to handle inventory shortages. The warehouse supervisor informs the salesclerk, who
updates the customer and invoice with the Accounting Department.

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 Accounting and Invoicing
• Invoicing the customer is problematic as well.
̶ Salesclerks send the Accounting department the sales order data for customer invoices.
̶ The accounting system is updated with new sales order data only at the end of each day.
so the Accounting Department lacks information on new sales until the following day.

o Clerks must manually adjust both the order-entry and accounting systems for
partial shipments and other changes during order fulfilment.
̶ Often, these corrections are not made in both systems, leading to
discrepancies that require rectification at month-end.
̶ Delayed order corrections can result in late or inaccurate invoices.
̶ If an invoice is prepared but a partial shipment is later notified, a new
invoice must be prepared.
̶ In any case, the invoice is sent to the customer separately from the
shipment.

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 Payment and Returns
• Fitter’s procedure for processing payments often yields frustrating results for
customers.
• Problems with procedure for processing payments:
̶ Most customers pay their invoices within 10 days to receive a 2 percent discount.
̶ Errors in the sales or order-fulfilment process, from the original quotation to entering the
order, can lead to incorrect invoices.
̶ Many customers do not return one of the two invoice copies with their payment, leading to
occasional errors in crediting the correct customer account.

• Problems with procedure for processing returns:

o Due to the short shelf life of FS's snack bars, the company credits customer accounts for returned
bars that exceed their "sell by" date, as well as for damaged or defective cases.
̶ This policy is generous, considering the uncertainty of responsibility for unsold bars.

o Customers should get a returned material authorization (RMA) number from Fitter before
returning items, and the Receiving Department records this number along with customer details
and returned materials.
̶ Many customers don't get the RMA number or include it, causing difficulties for Accounting.
̶ Poor handwriting on the sheet also creates problems, Making it more difficult for Accounting
department to credit the appropriate account.

o If a customer’s account has not been properly credited, customer may receive a dunning
letter in error.
Concepts in Enterprise Resource Planning, Fourth Edition 12
 ERP Operating Model

Concepts in Enterprise Resource Planning, Fourth Edition 13

 Sales and Distribution in ERP

• ERP systems can:

o Minimize data entry errors.
o Provide accurate information in real time to all users.
o Track all transactions such as invoices, packing lists, RMA numbers, and
payments involved in the sales order.

• SAP ERP Sales and Distribution module treats the sales order process as a cycle
of events:

Pre-sales Sales order Inventory

Delivery Billing Payment
activities processing sourcing

Concepts in Enterprise Resource Planning, Fourth Edition 14

 Pre-Sales Activities
• The first step in the SAP ERP sales and distribution process is pre-sales
activities.
o At this phase, customers can get pricing information about the company’s products,
either through an inquiry or a sales quotation.

̶ A quotation is a written, binding document where the seller

guarantees the buyer a specified price for a product for a certain
period, whereas an inquiry is a request for information and does not
guarantee a price or availability.

• Pre-sales activities also include marketing activities such as tracking customer

contacts—including sales calls, visits, and mailings.
̶ A company can maintain customer data in the
ERP system and generate mailing lists based
on specific customer characteristics, which
enhances targeted marketing efforts.

SAP Marketing Cloud

Concepts in Enterprise Resource Planning, Fourth Edition 15
 Sales Order Processing
• In the SAP ERP system, Sales order processing is series of activities that must take
place to record a sales order.

• Sales order can start from a quotation or inquiry generated in the pre-sales step.
̶ Information that collected from the customer to support the quotation (contact name, address, phone number) is
immediately included in sales order.

• Critical steps in sales order processing

o Recording the items to be purchased.
o Determining the selling price.
o Recording the order quantities.
• Users can define various pricing alternatives in the SAP ERP system.
– For example, a company can use product-specific pricing, such as establishing quantity discounts for a
particular item, or it can define discounts that depend on both the product and a particular customer.
– Complex pricing schemes require significant programming but can automate price calculations, reducing
errors for FS.

• SAP ERP system checks the Accounts Receivable tables in the SAP ERP database to
confirm the customer’s available credit.
Yes The order is completed

Customer has sufficient

credit available?
No Prompts sales personnel are generated to take one
of the possible appropriate actions
 Inventory Sourcing

• When recording an order, the SAP ERP system, through Available-to-Promise

(ATP), checks company’s inventory records and production planning records to see
whether
o Requested material is available.
o Requested material can be delivered on the date the customer desires.
o Includes expected shipping time.

• In the SAP ERP system, availability is automatically checked, and the system can
recommend an increase in planned production if a shortfall is expected.

• System keeps a record of all open orders, so even if product for a particular order is
still in the warehouse, the system will not allow it to be sold to another customer.

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 Delivery

• In the SAP ERP system, creating a Delivery means releasing the documents that
the warehouse uses to pick, pack, and ship orders.

• Delivery process allows deliveries to be created so that the warehouse and

shipping activities are carried out efficiently.
– For example, combining similar orders for picking, or grouping orders based on shipping
method and destination.

• Once the system has created documents for picking, packing, and shipping, documents are
transferred to Materials Management module, where the warehouse activities of picking,
packing, and shipping are carried out.

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 Billing

• The SAP ERP system creates an invoice by copying sales order data into
the invoice document.
̶ Accounting can print this document and mail, fax, or transmit it electronically to the
customer.
̶ Accounting records are also updated at this point.

• To record the sale, SAP ERP debits (increases) accounts receivable and credits
sales, thus updating the accounting records automatically.

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 Payment
• When the customer sends in a payment, this payment must be recorded in
the SAP system.

If the payment is made electronically, the system automatically processes it by

recording the payment as an electronic sales order document, debiting the cash
account, and crediting (reducing) the customer's account balance.

If the customer sends a check, a clerk manually enters the payment information,
and the system updates all related sale information.
o Timely recording of this transaction has an effect on the timeliness and accuracy
of any subsequent credit checks for the customer.
̶ FS has experienced issues with its current systems, sometimes blocking orders for
customers within their credit limit while granting credit beyond advisable limits to other
companies.

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 A Standard Order in SAP ERP
• How FS’s sales order process would work with an SAP ERP system in place.
• How this ERP system can make Fitter’s sales order process more accurate and efficient.
̶ ERP allows business processes to cut across functional area lines.

• Implementing an SAP ERP system at FS would streamline the sales order process,
improve accuracy, and enhance efficiency.
̶ Orders would be recorded in the system, integrating with inventory and finance modules to
reduce manual entry errors.
̶ The integrated SAP ERP system provides accurate information to the salesclerk about the
company's ability to meet customer requests.
̶ The system allows for complex pricing schemes and real-
time credit checks, ensuring orders are processed
accurately.
̶ Payment processing is automated for electronic payments
and streamlined for check payments.
̶ Integration across functional areas eliminates duplicate data
entry and improves data accuracy.
̶ Overall, the ERP system would optimize FS's sales order
process.

Concepts in Enterprise Resource Planning, Fourth Edition 21

 Taking an Order in SAP ERP
Data entry
• In SAP ERP, sales order clerks use code numbers for customers' names and products
instead of names to avoid confusion.
̶ Each customer and inventory item has a unique number (primary identifier) assigned by the
company.
̶ The system validates entries for most data fields, and clerks can choose from 34 predefined sales
order document types.

Figure 3-3 Data entry fields in the order entry screen

Figure 3-2 SAP ERP order entry screen

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 Taking an Order in SAP ERP (cont’d.)

Data search
• Using SAP ERP doesn't require sales order clerks to remember code numbers.
̶ For example, to find a customer, they can simply click on the Sold-To Party field to open a search
window.
• In the search window, the clerk can use different tabs to search for a customer using
various criteria (e.g., part of the customer's address) to narrow down the search results.
̶ Using criteria like Distribution Channel (e.g., direct distribution) and Division (e.g., snack bar sales
division) produces a list of customers from which the clerk can select the correct one.

FIigure 3-6 Results of customer search

Figure 3-5 Search screen for customers

Concepts in Enterprise Resource Planning, Fourth Edition 23

 Taking an Order in SAP ERP (cont’d.)
Data search
• Customer information is stored in multiple tables as customer master data, which
includes stable information like customer name and address.
̶ This master data is maintained in the central database and is accessible to all SAP ERP modules, including
Sales and Distribution, Financial, and Controlling.

• Material information is stored in tables known as material master data, which is used by
the Materials Management and Production, Planning, and Sales and Distribution modules.

• The SAP ERP system allows companies to define organizational structures, such as
Distribution Channels, to group customers and salespeople.

• For FS, the Distribution Channel defines how

materials are sold and distributed to customers,
specifying aspects like pricing, delivery method, and
minimum order quantities.
̶ Establishing Wholesale and Direct Sales Distribution
Channels for FS would help ensure correct pricing for
customer orders.

Figure 3-7 Order screen with complete date

24
Figure 3-5 Search screen for customers
 Taking an Order in SAP ERP (cont’d.)

Order processing
• A customer’s purchase order (PO) number for a sales transaction is defined by a
unique identifier; used to track orders with its suppliers.
o The SAP ERP system records this number, allowing FS’s employees to look up the order status
using either the PO number or the sales order number assigned by SAP.
o The order screen displays the customer's name and product names (NRG-A and NRG-B) even
though they were not entered directly during the order process.
o This information is retrieved from the database once the company or product code is entered,
simplifying data entry and reducing errors.

• When the SAP ERP system saves a sales order, it performs inventory sourcing to
ensure the order can be delivered on the requested date.
o This process includes checks on inventory and production availability and the shipping time.
o

o If the requested delivery date cannot be met, the system automatically proposes alternatives to
the salesclerk.
̶ For example, if only five cases of NRG-A bars are available by the requested date, the system suggests three
alternatives:
̶ Reducing the order quantity to five cases,
̶ Delaying shipment for three days when 10 cases will be available, or
̶ Shipping five cases by the requested date and the remaining five at a later date.

Concepts in Enterprise Resource Planning, Fourth Edition 25

 Taking an Order in SAP ERP (cont’d.)
Order tracking
• When a sales order is saved, SAP ERP system assigns a document number to the sales order
transaction.
• When the sales order is ready to be processed by the warehouse, a delivery document will be
created.
• Finally, when the bill (invoice) is prepared for the customer, the invoice number will be created.
• SAP ERP system keeps track of the document numbers for the sales order.
– Employees can track status of an order while it is in process or research it after shipping.

• Audit trail or Document flow in SAP ERP describes the linked set of document numbers
related to an order.
– In partial shipments, partial payments, and returned
material credits scenarios, tracking document flow can
be challenging without an integrated system.
– The document flow feature in SAP ERP displays all
related documents for a sales order, allowing a clerk to
easily track the status of delayed cases.
– Similarly, if a customer queries an invoice, the clerk can
search the SAP ERP system, and the document flow
will display all activities leading to the invoice.
Figure 3-9 The Document Flow tool, which links sales order
documents

Concepts in Enterprise Resource Planning, Fourth Edition 26

 Discount Pricing in SAP ERP
• When a company installs an ERP system, it can configure it to support various
pricing strategies.
o These can include different types of discounts based on
̶ item number or all items
̶ unit price or total order value
̶ with or without shipping charges and taxes
̶ for individual customers or customer classes, and more
o The system can also enforce limits on discount sizes to prevent salespeople from offering
unprofitable or unauthorized discounts.

• An ERP system automatically answers questions

about discounts, ensuring they are appropriate
and profitable.
– SAP's condition technique control
mechanism developed to accommodate various
ways that companies offer price discounts.

Figure 3-10 Pricing conditions for sales order

Concepts in Enterprise Resource Planning, Fourth Edition 27

 Integration of Sales and Accounting
• In FS's old system, sales records were not integrated with the company's
accounting records, leading to outdated information.
• ERP systems integrate accounting with all business processes, updating
accounting data automatically when a sales order is recorded.
– In the document flow, each Accounting document is a part of the sales order process.

• With ERP, Accounting uses the same data as Sales, ensuring up-to-date and
accurate information.
• ERP can generate reports on discounts offered, which are also up-to-date and
accurate.

Figure 3-12 Accounting detail for the West Hills sales order

Concepts in Enterprise Resource Planning, Fourth Edition 28

 Assignment
• Read the FS company case from the book @ chapter3 (uploaded on the Moodle)
and then prepare the following table:

SN Sales process Problems with old system How problem solved with ERP
steps
1 Price Quotation Handwritten/unreadable Accessing the system remotely
quotation on a form that from a mobile or tablet and
generates two copies- generate an electronic quotation
that can be sent to the customer
by email.
2 Sales order Checking customer’s credit
status ….
3

Concepts in Enterprise Resource Planning, Fourth Edition 29

 Customer Relationship Management
• Companies that lack a strong connection between their employees and
customers risk losing business.
– Inconsistencies in communication can confuse customers, as seen with FS’s example.

• Customer relationship management (CRM) software can help streamline

interactions with customers to ensure a consistent message.
– CRM aims to provide a unified customer interface, ensuring that all employees in contact with
customers have access to their interactions.
• This contrasts with traditional sales organizations where information might be siloed and lost when an
employee leaves.

• In addition to systems integration, ERP systems offer

vast quantities of data for analysis.
– By adding other software tools, companies can extend their
ERP system's capabilities.

• On-demand CRM: software and computer equipment

reside with CRM provider.

Concepts in Enterprise Resource Planning, Fourth Edition 30

 Core CRM Activities
• One-to-one marketing
– Involves tailoring products, promotions, and pricing based on a
customer's buying behaviour.
• This can include offering related products (cross-selling) or promoting
higher-margin items (up-selling).

• Sales force automation (SFA)

– Can automatically route certain customers who contact the company to a particular sales
representative.
– It can also forecast customer needs based on the customer’s history and transactions.

• Sales campaign management helps organize and track marketing campaigns.

• Marketing encyclopedias serve as databases of promotional materials about products,

which can be sent to sales representative or customers as needed.
– Includes information (e.g., brochures, product details, etc.) that a salesperson might want to help a
customer make a purchase decision.

• Call centre automation involves using knowledge management databases to assist

representatives in answering customer queries about products.
– This software can understand natural language queries and can be updated with new solutions as unique
queries arise, improving its effectiveness over time.

Concepts in Enterprise Resource Planning, Fourth Edition 31

 SAP’s CRM Software
• The SAP ERP system includes CRM tools like a contact management tool and a
sales activity manager.
o Contact management tool stores personal contact information (e.g., names,
addresses and telephone numbers), ensuring it is available throughout the
organization.

o Sales activity manager supports strategic sales activity planning and ensures
follow-up activities are completed.
– Tracking the sales activities and revenue of a sales team.

• CRM tools in the SAP ERP system can manage

customer relationships effectively, but many
companies use a separate CRM system that
communicates with the ERP system.
– This approach ensures that the CRM's planning and
analysis functions do not affect the ERP system's
performance, which is focused on processing large
volumes of transactions.

Figure 3-14 SAP ERP sales activity manager

Concepts in Enterprise Resource Planning, Fourth Edition 32
 SAP’s CRM Software (cont’d.)

• SAP ERP system processes business transactions and provides much of the raw data
for CRM.

• SAP’s Business Warehouse (BW): system for reporting and analysis of

transactional data that makes use of data mining techniques.
– By analyzing sales transactions using data mining, firms can discover trends and patterns to use in
planning marketing activities.

• Advanced Planner and Optimizer (APO): is a

component of SAP’s Supply Chain Management (SCM)
that supports efficient planning of the supply chain.
– APO’s role in the CRM process is to provide higher levels of
customer support through its global available-to-promise (ATP)
capabilities.
– APO’s role in the SAP ERP system: If a customer's desired product
isn't available at their usual location, the clerk checks other facilities,
but this is done one facility at a time. Global ATP automates this
process by checking all facilities to find the most cost-efficient option.

• The SAP CRM system integrates with SAP ERP, BW, and APO
systems to develop and execute plans, enhancing customer
Figure 3-15 SAP CRM system landscape
interactions, analyzing customer data, and optimizing customer
service.

Concepts in Enterprise Resource Planning, Fourth Edition 33

 SAP’s CRM Software (cont’d.)

• SAP’s approach to CRM is to provide a set of tools to manage the three basic task
areas related to customers; marketing, sales, and service.
– These task areas contribute to the cultivation of the customer relationship.

• Four phases of the cultivation of customer relationship (Customer development

cycle):

Prospecting Acquiring Servicing Retaining

• When evaluating a • Salespeople develop • Once sales are • Retaining a good

potential new customer business prospects into established with the customer is easier than
or new business customers. customer, the focus acquiring a new one.
opportunity with an shifts to servicing the
existing customer, • Sales tasks (processing account. • The focus is on ensuring
development activities inquiries, quotes, and current customers'
such as emails, sales eventually sales orders) • Service tasks (including satisfaction through
calls, mailings, etc., are become increasingly technical support, timely delivery of quality
planned to cultivate the important in this phase. warranty work, product products and services at
prospective business. returns, fixing quality a fair price.
problems, and Complaint
• Marketing tasks handling) are critical to
predominate in this maintaining customer
phase. satisfaction.

Concepts in Enterprise Resource Planning, Fourth Edition 34

 SAP’s CRM Software (cont’d.)

• Another set of tools in SAP CRM is Marketing and Campaign Management

– Companies invest significant sums of money in marketing campaigns.

o Marketing and campaign planning includes task scheduling, resource allocation,

and budgeting.
– These planning tasks are done alongside target group creation tasks, which use data from SAP ERP
(SAP BW) to categorize customers. This allows for more personalized product and service
promotions.

o Campaign Execution Activity Management tool- to help manage the execution

of the marketing campaign.
̶ Can include handling sales calls, mailings, personalized emails, and Web-based promotional
activities directed to the targeted group of customers. For example, the status of a planned customer
phone call will remain open until the call is completed.

o Campaign Analysis tool allows the

company to evaluate the success of the
campaign so it can incorporate
improvements in the next marketing
campaign.

Figure 3-16 SAP CRM marketing and campaign management

Concepts in Enterprise Resource Planning, Fourth Edition 35

 SAP’s CRM Software (cont’d.)

Concepts in Enterprise Resource Planning, Fourth Edition 36

 The Benefits of CRM
• Lower costs
– CRM can lead to operational efficiencies, such as better response times in call center
operations.

• Higher revenue
– Segmenting customers leads to better selling opportunities and revenue increases.

• Improved strategy and performance measurement

– Installing and operating an ERP system requires management and staff to think of
the company as a whole.
For example, should salespeople be rewarded for exceeding sales quotas, and marketing people
rewarded for finding new customers.

Concepts in Enterprise Resource Planning, Fourth Edition 37

 Summary
• Fitter Snacker’s unintegrated information systems are at the root of an
inefficient and costly sales order process.
• An ERP system such as SAP ERP treats a sale as a sequence of related
functions.
– Including: taking orders, setting prices, checking product availability, checking
the customer’s credit line, arranging for delivery, billing the customer, and
collecting payment.
– In SAP ERP, all these transactions, or documents, are electronically linked.

• Installing an ERP system means making various configuration decisions.

– Configuration decisions reflect management’s view of how transactions should
be recorded and later used for decision making.

• ERP system’s central database contains:

– Tables of master data: relatively permanent data about customers, suppliers,
material, and inventory.
– Transaction data tables: store relatively temporary data such as sales orders
and invoices.

Concepts in Enterprise Resource Planning, Fourth Edition 38

 Summary (cont’d.)

• Customer relationship management (CRM) systems

o Build on the organizational value that ERP provides.
o Specifically increase the flexibility of the company’s common database regarding
customer service.
o Various kinds of CRM software are available.
o Can be installed in-house or on-demand.

Concepts in Enterprise Resource Planning, Fourth Edition 39