ERP is an acronym that stands for Enterprise Resource Planning. It’s a business management software system that integrates every department – financials, supply chain, operations, manufacturing, sales, procurement, and HR.
Here at etac we are a long-established supplier of Microsoft Dynamics NAV and 365 Business Central. This innovative software streamlines the way you operate, boosting productivity and efficiency.
With improved workflows and automation, what’s not to like! You can gain better insights into your business from real time data, and it offers a system that grows with you.
But the software we have today is a long way from its beginnings.
A paper-based production scheduling process for manufacturing was developed by Ford Whitman Harris in 1913. The ‘Economic Order Quantity’ set the standard for manufacturing and started the ball rolling. By the 1940s businesses started using calculating machines.
It wasn’t until the 1960s that the concept of the EOQ was combined with mainframe computers and became known as Material Requirements Planning (MRP).
J.I. Case, a manufacturer of tractors, is believed to be the first business to use the MRP system. Uptake in using these systems helped manufacturers manage inventories and output, and reconcile balances.
Through the ‘70s and ‘80s the MRP systems became more sophisticated. In 1972 SAP (Systems Applications & Products) was launched in Germany, with a software for business that worked in real time. By the 1990s the first true ERP systems came in to use.
Gartner, a research firm, coined the phrase ‘Enterprise Resource Planning’ – reflecting that it wasn’t just a solution for manufacturers.
By the millennium, ERP went to the cloud, further increasing the scope of how the software could be used. Gartner then updated the term to ERP II for internet enabled software working in real time. This meant the system could include functionalities outside of the business including CRM systems (customer relationship management) and supply chain management.
From there, the software developed, security and functionality improved, and eventually we get to where we are today, with ERP systems that can support and improve every aspect of your business.
In 1984 Jesper Balser, Peter Bang and Torben Wind, three students from the Danish Technical University, founded a company called PC&C.
They designed and created PC-PLUS, an accounts package for the IBM PC that became an instant hit. It set the standard on accountancy software and grew from there, and a few years later became known as Navision.
From the work of those 3 students, the business eventually became an international company listed on the Copenhagen stock exchange.
Microsoft acquired the business in 2002, and it became Microsoft Dynamics NAV.
It had become a multiuser software system used by hundreds of thousands of businesses.
We’ve been working with NAV since 1994, and more recently Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, so there’s not much we don’t know about it!
Find out more about our services here.
etac Solutions are long established suppliers of Microsoft Dynamics NAV and now provide Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central as part of our ERP services. We pride ourselves in taking a different approach in order to craft the most appropriate solutions for our customers. We are a technology partner who can integrate, implement and then support your ERP solution at every step.