Windmills & CSFs for ERP-diffusion of technovation in academia-industry: A qualitative analysis

The enterprise resource planning (ERP) is one of the strategic-consideration in any multifaceted manufacturing industry. In past one decade, globally the requirement of ERP for academia and industry has experienced exceptional augmentation. Globally aviation industry has adopted ERP-software packages in pursuit of competitive advantage over rival industries. The innovation in material and manufacturing management systems has altered the dynamics of shop-floor-scene. The induction of advanced manufacturing technologies, Nano-technology, Composite-materials and psychometric testing of highly skilled labor in a target focused team environment has enormously enhanced the prospect from 5Ms [these 5M-resources are namely man, machine, material, money and minute (time)]. The resource-management and supply-chain-management is becoming extremely complex and require dedicated ERP modules for better management and effective control over the industrial and financial activities through integrated business intelligence (BI) software. While most of the companies have shifted from conventional manufacturing operations to MRP supported operations, yet the rate of success for adaptation of ERP is far less than expectations. Hence, it has become more critical to observe the methodology for diffusion of ERP technology in a complex manufacturing industry. Conversely, in the absence of sufficient knowledge-areas the critical variables responsible for diffusion of ERP has emerged as inevitability for implementation of ERP in an industry. In contemporary competitive global-village the ERP-implementation is a cumbersome process and takes years before it yields and reveals its effectiveness. A number of working principles and guidelines have already been developed in other industries and can be employed in a variety of ways in aerospace manufacturing industry for optimum performance and to earn competitiveness through ERP suites. This paper provides critical success factors (CSFs) for diffus- ion of ERP knowledge areas i.e, technovation (technological-innovation) equally applicable to a multifaceted-industry or a ldquouniversity-aerospace-departmentrdquo involved in R&D programs in a joint venture with industry.