Agile ERP - Customizing ERP to fit your Business with Openbravo
Posted by Eric Kraieski on Sat, Feb 04, 2012
Traditional ERP systems have been extremely complex and expensive to implement and difficult to customize to your specific business processes. Most ERP systems come with an all-or-nothing proposition making it difficult to tackle departmental challenges - for example, solving a warehouse challenge without disrupting the entire organization.
Whether your company is a manufacturer, retailer, wholesaler, or a services company, you likely could benefit from a more modular business management software that supports industry-specific requirements and processes. Openbravo is a comprehensive, adaptable and agile open source ERP broadly implemented across many different industries and market segments.
Openbravo's modular design means that it is easy to quickly implement a solution, then easily add functionality in the future based on business needs. And, because Openbravo is "open source," TDS can easily customize your solution and integrate Openbravo into your existing processes and systems. The Openbravo platform is highly configurable with configuration tools, open source tools and user configuration tools. Its “my workspace” design, built-in widgets and the ability to personalize and save new views of the data provide unparalleled flexibility.
Some of the configuration and tuning tools available in Openbravo include:
- Jasper Reports - an open source report writer (similar to Crystal Reports functionality)
- Form Personalization and Named Views - the abilty for business users and IT staff to easily change the way forms and lists appear in Openbravo with zero programming and to save thise for use on a individual, role or company wide basis.
- Role-based Application Configuration and Access - allows you to define on a field basis what information is visible to and editable by user groups.
- DB Visualizer - this open source tool will let your more DB savvy staff to directly interface with the underlying database schema. This is useful in understanding the data strucuture for custom report generation.
- More advanced customizations can be developed using the Openbravo APIs, UI tools, widgets and web services taking full advantage of the Openbravo plug-in architecture and process scheduler.
Using this platform as a starting point, here are some ways that TDS has extended Openbravo for some of our clients:
- Magento eCommerce synchronization
- Integration with proprietary order handling systems
- Integration with proprietary accounting and ERP systems
- Business process engine to allow custom workflow implementation
- Advanced RMA functionality
- Integration with ADP payroll services
- Integration with time and attendance systems
TDS's application customization services can be used to create or tune Openbravo ERP to your industry or copmany-specific requirements. Openbravo is especially well suited to businesses in manufacturing, wholesale distribution, retail, eCommerce, and service companies.