3.2) Overview of Transaction Processing and Enterprise Resource Planning Systems

Question 1

What is an Enterprice resource planning system?

Answer 1

• ERP is defined as the ability to deliver an integrated suite of business applications
• “Enterprise resource planning (ERP) refers to a type of software that organizations use to
  manage day-to-day business activities such as accounting, procurement, project
  management, risk management and compliance, and supply chain operations

Question 2

What is the difference between transaction processing system (TPS) and Enterprice resource planning (ERP)?

Answer 2

1) TPS are predominantly concerned with financial transactions. TPS carry out routine business functions with three types
* Batch processing
* Real time processing
* Online processing

2) ERP is a collection of integrated crossfunctional systems. ERP can do all activities of the business in a
single system, for example:
* Purchasing
* Finance
* CRM & Customer portals

Question 3

What activities does an ERP system intergrate? (5)

Answer 3

• Revenue Cycle
• Expenditure Cycle
• Production Cycle
• H/R Payroll Cycle
• General Ledger and Reporting System

Question 4

What are the advantages of ERP systems? (7)

Answer 4

• Integrated enterprise-wide single view of the organization’s data which streamlines the
  flow of information
• Data captured once (i.e., no longer need sales to enter data about a customer and then accounting to enter same customer data for invoicing)
• Greater visibility and monitoring capabilities for management
• Improve access of control of the data through security settings
• Standardization of procedures and reports
• Improves customer service
• Increases productivity through automation

Question 5

What are the disadvantages of ERP systems? (6)

Answer 5

• Costly
• Significant amount of time to implement
• Customizing or standardizing a business process
• Complexity
• Vendor dependence & lock-in
• User resistance (learning new things is sometimes hard for employees)

Question 6

What are the core modules and funtions of and ERP system? (8)

Answer 6

Question 7

What are soem examples of organizations that use ERP systems in SA?

Answer 7

Financial (Development Bank of SA,
Standard Bank)
* Retail (Pick and Pay, PNA, DisChem)
* Wholesale (Distell)
* Manufacturing (Clover, Isuzu)
* Mining and Engineering (Anglogold
Ashanti)
* Energy/Fuels (Engen, Sasol)
* Education (UCT): Oracle PeopleSoft
* Transport (Transnet)
* Mobile Communications (MTN)
* City of Cape Town: SAP Ariba

Question 8

What is the case of SAP HANA and discovery health? (3)

Answer 8

• The digital health platform leverages SAP S/4HANA’s financial management and ERP capabilities and extensions plus third-party
  add-ons to help patients better manage their treatment plans.
• The Discovery Digital Health Ecosystem for SAP HANA delivers digital tools, clinical content, and insights through a humancentric engagement platform.
• The platform connects customers to their wearable technologies to provide all insights associated with the fitness health