Does any Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system equals any other ERP system? And if not, where are all those differences? First what is ERP? Or at least what are some main differences to make a first rough selection?

• Enterprise resource planning systems (ERPs) are management information systems (MISs) that integrate and automate many of the business practices associated with the operations or production and distribution aspects of a company engaged in manufacturing products or services. (www.wikipedia.org)

There are too many differences, but many of them are small. Different packages have their main focus on some sector segment. And the definition of Wiki hits an essential point (of difference).

There are different kind of companies that require the overall management of their resources. Production companies are the most obvious ones, but a (distribution) company like DHL or FEDEX are happy to control their resources. The interesting thing about these distribution companies is that they do not really produce themselves their main focus is to deliver what has been produced by others.

Where a production company (Boeing, Philips, etc) need to control the resources in order to manufacture a product, a distribution company needs to control the resources that are to be transported. Information about this transport is often a critical factor. For example if you travel and your flight schedule has changed, it is important to know where you luggage is located.

The ERP systems that are designed and built are often owned by companies that have a specific origin. Some of those companies have been outsourced, and started to produce for others. The question then is, what type of company was the mother organization; a producer or a distributor.

A ERP Supplier focused on production will most of the time also deliver logistical modules, but their expertise is production. The third type of ERP is again quite different than the previous ones. Both the production and the logistics focus of an ERP supplier share the fact that they concentrate on primary business processes.

The third type of an ERP system excels not in production, nor in logistics, but in finance. Finance is the area where both logistics and manufacturing meets, but it is not part of the primary process. According to the profile of your organization you should set your focus on one of these three ERP characteristics.