Integration of Scheduling with ERP Systems

This article uses the terminology of the market leader in business software (SAP AG) and denotes those terms in italic (e.g., see [1] for descriptions). 

The terminology defined by NAMUR (compare [2]) has not been successful, for those readers that are familiar with this terminology we note that a master recipe is the same as a NAMUR base recipe and a process order is the same as a NAMUR control recipe. 

The authors use quotation marks to denote citations of typical terms and sentences that are commonly used by business people but do not always have the exact meaning in the world of science, e.g., optimization does not always mean the same for business people as for mathematicians. 

Production planning is one of the activities that needs to be carried out in preparation of the industrial production of chemical products. 

The task of production planning is to determine if and how a quantity of products can be produced at a required date or in a required time range. The aim of production planning is to ensure availability of the required product quantities in time and cost-efficiently. 

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In the embedding approach the ERP system is enhanced with subordinate planning systems that are integrated into the user interface of the ERP system and create a local temporary data storage (LiveCache). All data is still held persistently only in the ERP system (Fig. 12.3). This allows for the LiveCache to use a projection of the ERP data model that is more suitable for APS purposes. This approach is used, e.g., by the software product OR Soft SCHEDULE++. 

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