Globalization Necessitates Improved Communication
As companies become more internationally oriented, more business units become involved in their activities, which increases the demands on companies' ERP systems.
Evolving Communication Needs
For the furniture industry, globalization has meant that companies have grown in size and scope. In order to manage different business areas, smaller legal units within the company are organized as groups. Each group often has more than one production unit and relies on an ever-increasing amount of subcontracting to supplement the company's own production.
At the same time, the structure of the sales process in the furniture industry has also changed. It used to be common that sales were made directly from the producer to the distribution chain. For most of the industry, large retail chains now handle sales. These chains are often responsible for a substantial amount of the furniture turnover in many countries.
The Implications of Structural Reorganization
The industry's structural reorganization process means that greater demands have been placed on companies' ERP systems. Companies need an ERP system that promotes efficient communication between multiple units.
It should be able to handle the consolidation of economic and logistics transactions as well as reuse of basic data between separate legal units. It should also handle sales units where customer order tracking as well as internal invoicing routines between different units are required.
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