Level of ERP Customization

There are various terms to refer to the process of changing ERP systems. Some called it “ERP customization, some refer to it as “ERP tailoring”, others said it “ERP modification”. Referring to it as ERP customization may cause confusion since customization means only a configuration as popularized by SAP. The configuration itself is defined as setting up organization structure and business process in the ERP system using the available parameter offered in the system without changing the system.  Meanwhile tailoring SAP reflect a broad definition, which includes configuring standard ERP table and field, also change the system. Thus, in this paper term, ERP modification will use to give more a narrow term that refers to making changes in ERP system other than the process of setting up an available parameter in the configuration process. Previous research categorized all processes in developing ERP systems into three categories based on the degree of vendor support, namely; configuration, extension, and modification. Configuration activities are including changing entries in tables or configuration files, which are supported by the vendor. Extensions mostly are supported by the vendor via common interfaces in their system (known as user-exits). Meanwhile, modification could include code changes and other more invasive change, which is not supported by the vendor. This paper refers to Haines’s (2009) extensions and modification as “modification”, since those two categories are regarded as system changes.

Figure 4 ERP development activity categories (Haines, 2009)

To list all the possible types of modification, a modification taxonomy is made. One of the initial and highly cited academic literature is taxonomy developed by Brehm et al. (2001) which lists modification into 8 types, namely; screen masks adjustment, bolt-ons, extended reporting, workflow programming, user exits, ERP programming, interface development, package code modification. Further, Anderson (2011) added ‘form’ as one modification type.

Screen Masks Adjustment refers to the activity of modifying available screens in the system to match with the organization’s requirement. Example activities of screen mask adjustment are; Fading in or out specific tables, rows, or columns; Creating user-specific menus; Adding specific buttons; changing, adding, or deleting input fields and output masks. Bolt-Ons are software product which designed to bring additional function such as a program or even module in the ERP system to satisfy organization needs. An example of Bolt-Ons is high-end product configurators, shop solutions, or customer resource management (CRM) systems. Workflow programming refers to modifying embedded workflow in an ERP system to match with the organization’s business process. Workflow is a system-initiated process that is necessary for process automation and control on the operational level. ERP vendors provide dedicated workflow tools which are often integrated as bolt-ons so that it can be implemented easily. Extended Reporting or “report adjustment” refers to changing layout reports using predefined built-in settings or using a report generator. On the other hand, another research explain it as the activity of modifying standard reports in (minor or major) or creating a new report not only using a built-in setting in ERP. User Exit is an interface provided by the ERP vendor to merge and connect programs (add-ons) which explicitly developed by ERP implementing organizations without accessing ERP source code. User exits will not cause harm to the ERP maintenance but the complexity of user exit may be difficult to maintain. ERP Programming refers to the development of ERP applications and modules without making changes to the existing application or module code. The difference between user exits is the code written in the programming language used by ERP vendors, for example, ABAP in SAP or C# for Microsoft Dynamics AX. Interface Development is an effort to develop an interface to another system such as a legacy system that needs to be integrated with a new system. Some ERP vendors facilitate this modification by providing API (application programming interfaces) which can reduce effort and complexity. The difference between this modification with EPR programming and user exits is there is no need to develop adds on using package code, rather it uses modern middleware solution such as enterprise application integration (EAI) tools can also be used to simplify the process. Package Code Modification happens when the existing code of ERP is changed directly at the program level. This type of modification has the highest risk compared to others since it can threaten ERP performance and very expensive in maintenance as the change made may be corrupted and overwritten by system updates and upgrades. Therefore, many ERP vendors discourage this type of modification and exclude the ERP implementing organization from support services. Lastly, Forms refer to developing custom forms that are required to input data in the system.

Reference:

Wijaya, M. I., Suzanna, & Utomo, D. (2021). Enterprise Resource Planning Modification: A Literature Review. ComTech: Computer, Mathematics and Engineering Applications, 12(1), 33-43. https://doi.org/10.21512/comtech.v12i1.6610

Brehm, L., Heinzl, A., Markus, M. (2001). Tailoring ERP Systems: A Spectrum of Choices and their Implications. Proceedings of the 34th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences. doi: 10.1109/HICSS.2001.927130

Hustad, E., Haddara, M., & Kalvenes, B. (2016). ERP and Organizational Misfits: An ERP Customization Journey. Procedia Computer Science, 100(1877), 429–439. doi: 10.1016/j.procs.2016.09.179

Haines, M. N. (2009). Understanding enterprise system customization: An exploration of implementation realities and the key influence factors. Information Systems Management, 26(2), 182–198. doi: 10.1080/10580530902797581

Anderson, G., Sams. (2011). Teach yourself SAP in 24 hours. Sams Publishing.

Pierre-Majorique Léger et al. (2011). Readings on Enterprise Resource Planning. HEC Montréal: ERPsim L@b.

Portougal, Victor and David Sundarman. (2006). Business Process: Operational Solutions for SAP Implementation. USA: IRM Press.