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ScienceDirect
Available online at www.sciencedirect.com
Procedia Manufacturing 55 (2021) 424–430
2351-9789 © 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the FAIM 2021.
10.1016/j.promfg.2021.10.058
10.1016/j.promfg.2021.10.058 2351-9789
Available online at www.sciencedirect.com
ScienceDirect
Procedia Manufacturing 00 (2019) 000–000
www.elsevier.com/locate/procedia
2351-9789 © 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the FAIM 2020.
30th International Conference on Flexible Automation and Intelligent Manufacturing (FAIM2021)
07-10 September 2021, Athens, Greece.
Framework for implementation of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)
Systems in Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs): A Case Study.
O.Alaskaria,*, R.Pinedo-Cuencab, M.M. AhmadC
a School of Computing, Engineering & Digital Technologies, Teesside University, Middlesbrough, UK
b School of Computing, Engineering & Digital Technologies, Teesside University, Middlesbrough, UK
C Islamia University Bahawalpur, Pakistan
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +447765008205. E-mail address: O.Alaskari@tees.ac.uk
Abstract
Today Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) face global challenges and continuous change in consumer demands, most recently COVID-19
and the prospect of a future Serious Acute Respiratory (SARS) pandemic generating further challenges, thus SMEs require to be more flexible
to respond quickly to these changes. This can be achieved by transformation into the digital economy, use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)
techniques, integrating business processes and to have real-time information which will enable senior management to make better, quicker
informed decisions. Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) is one of the solutions for the SMEs to overcome these challenges and to obtain a
competitive advantage. Subanidja, and Broto, 2019 stated that ERP systems are still not widely implemented by SMEs compared to their
introduction in large businesses. However, the SME have a justifiable reputation for being proactive, open, willing and receptive to the
adoption of new technologies, concepts and improvements. Also, SMEs differ in several inherent characteristics which are likely to impact on
the ERP system implementations, hence it does not make sense to use the same frameworks that have been developed for large companies to
implement ERP system within SMEs. One of the main risks of adopting ERP in SMEs is that SMEs have limited resources, so they cannot
afford to fail to implement ERP system. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to explore ERP implementation process in SME context. The
developed framework has been used to implement an ERP system in a SME. It highlighted the issues that need to be addressed while
implementing ERP system in SMEs such as clearly defined scope of implementation procedure, suitable project planning and minimal
customisation of the system selected for implementation. This study contributed to both research and practice and the research findings could
aid practitioners and SMEs when embarking on ERP projects, as well as, to suggest future research avenues.
© 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the FAIM 2021.
Keywords: ERP system; SMEs; ERP implementation
1. Introduction
SMEs are considered to be the backbone of many
economies. Over 99% of businesses in the United Kingdom
(UK) and the European Union (EU) are SMEs according to
the EU definition, which states that they employ between
1and 249 staff, along with an annual turnover, which does not
exceeding €50 million (Schoenherr et al. 2010). While SMEs
are an integral part of these economies, they also face
numerous challenges due to the increasing competition
globally thus; the complexity of the processes in the
organisation has increased. Therefore, in order for SMEs to be
competitive and responsive to continuously changing of the
market, they need to integrate all of the units within company
at information level to have the correct information in real
time to make quick and appropriate decision. This can only
occur by adopting the most appropriate information systems
relating to the business strategy of a company. Consequently,
ERP systems can be regarded as the backbone of the
information systems in organisations (Yang et al., 2007).
Kilic et al., 2015 stated that different and diverse pieces of
information coming from different processes can be unified
by ERP systems for better support of managerial decision-
makers. ERP systems are information systems that enable
organisations to improve their business processes, minimise
information redundancy and improve information integrity
Available online at www.sciencedirect.com
ScienceDirect
Procedia Manufacturing 00 (2019) 000–000
www.elsevier.com/locate/procedia
2351-9789 © 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the FAIM 2020.
30th International Conference on Flexible Automation and Intelligent Manufacturing (FAIM2021)
07-10 September 2021, Athens, Greece.
Framework for implementation of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)
Systems in Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs): A Case Study.
O.Alaskaria,*, R.Pinedo-Cuencab, M.M. AhmadC
a School of Computing, Engineering & Digital Technologies, Teesside University, Middlesbrough, UK
b School of Computing, Engineering & Digital Technologies, Teesside University, Middlesbrough, UK
C Islamia University Bahawalpur, Pakistan
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +447765008205. E-mail address: O.Alaskari@tees.ac.uk
Abstract
Today Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) face global challenges and continuous change in consumer demands, most recently COVID-19
and the prospect of a future Serious Acute Respiratory (SARS) pandemic generating further challenges, thus SMEs require to be more flexible
to respond quickly to these changes. This can be achieved by transformation into the digital economy, use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)
techniques, integrating business processes and to have real-time information which will enable senior management to make better, quicker
informed decisions. Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) is one of the solutions for the SMEs to overcome these challenges and to obtain a
competitive advantage. Subanidja, and Broto, 2019 stated that ERP systems are still not widely implemented by SMEs compared to their
introduction in large businesses. However, the SME have a justifiable reputation for being proactive, open, willing and receptive to the
adoption of new technologies, concepts and improvements. Also, SMEs differ in several inherent characteristics which are likely to impact on
the ERP system implementations, hence it does not make sense to use the same frameworks that have been developed for large companies to
implement ERP system within SMEs. One of the main risks of adopting ERP in SMEs is that SMEs have limited resources, so they cannot
afford to fail to implement ERP system. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to explore ERP implementation process in SME context. The
developed framework has been used to implement an ERP system in a SME. It highlighted the issues that need to be addressed while
implementing ERP system in SMEs such as clearly defined scope of implementation procedure, suitable project planning and minimal
customisation of the system selected for implementation. This study contributed to both research and practice and the research findings could
aid practitioners and SMEs when embarking on ERP projects, as well as, to suggest future research avenues.
© 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the FAIM 2021.
Keywords: ERP system; SMEs; ERP implementation
1. Introduction
SMEs are considered to be the backbone of many
economies. Over 99% of businesses in the United Kingdom
(UK) and the European Union (EU) are SMEs according to
the EU definition, which states that they employ between
1and 249 staff, along with an annual turnover, which does not
exceeding €50 million (Schoenherr et al. 2010). While SMEs
are an integral part of these economies, they also face
numerous challenges due to the increasing competition
globally thus; the complexity of the processes in the
organisation has increased. Therefore, in order for SMEs to be
competitive and responsive to continuously changing of the
market, they need to integrate all of the units within company
at information level to have the correct information in real
time to make quick and appropriate decision. This can only
occur by adopting the most appropriate information systems
relating to the business strategy of a company. Consequently,
ERP systems can be regarded as the backbone of the
information systems in organisations (Yang et al., 2007).
Kilic et al., 2015 stated that different and diverse pieces of
information coming from different processes can be unified
by ERP systems for better support of managerial decision-
makers. ERP systems are information systems that enable
organisations to improve their business processes, minimise
information redundancy and improve information integrity
Available online at www.sciencedirect.com
ScienceDirect
Procedia Manufacturing 00 (2019) 000–000
www.elsevier.com/locate/procedia
2351-9789 © 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the FAIM 2020.
30th International Conference on Flexible Automation and Intelligent Manufacturing (FAIM2021)
07-10 September 2021, Athens, Greece.
Framework for implementation of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)
Systems in Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs): A Case Study.
O.Alaskaria,*, R.Pinedo-Cuencab, M.M. AhmadC
a School of Computing, Engineering & Digital Technologies, Teesside University, Middlesbrough, UK
b School of Computing, Engineering & Digital Technologies, Teesside University, Middlesbrough, UK
C Islamia University Bahawalpur, Pakistan
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +447765008205. E-mail address: O.Alaskari@tees.ac.uk
Abstract
Today Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) face global challenges and continuous change in consumer demands, most recently COVID-19
and the prospect of a future Serious Acute Respiratory (SARS) pandemic generating further challenges, thus SMEs require to be more flexible
to respond quickly to these changes. This can be achieved by transformation into the digital economy, use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)
techniques, integrating business processes and to have real-time information which will enable senior management to make better, quicker
informed decisions. Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) is one of the solutions for the SMEs to overcome these challenges and to obtain a
competitive advantage. Subanidja, and Broto, 2019 stated that ERP systems are still not widely implemented by SMEs compared to their
introduction in large businesses. However, the SME have a justifiable reputation for being proactive, open, willing and receptive to the
adoption of new technologies, concepts and improvements. Also, SMEs differ in several inherent characteristics which are likely to impact on
the ERP system implementations, hence it does not make sense to use the same frameworks that have been developed for large companies to
implement ERP system within SMEs. One of the main risks of adopting ERP in SMEs is that SMEs have limited resources, so they cannot
afford to fail to implement ERP system. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to explore ERP implementation process in SME context. The
developed framework has been used to implement an ERP system in a SME. It highlighted the issues that need to be addressed while
implementing ERP system in SMEs such as clearly defined scope of implementation procedure, suitable project planning and minimal
customisation of the system selected for implementation. This study contributed to both research and practice and the research findings could
aid practitioners and SMEs when embarking on ERP projects, as well as, to suggest future research avenues.
© 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the FAIM 2021.
Keywords: ERP system; SMEs; ERP implementation
1. Introduction
SMEs are considered to be the backbone of many
economies. Over 99% of businesses in the United Kingdom
(UK) and the European Union (EU) are SMEs according to
the EU definition, which states that they employ between
1and 249 staff, along with an annual turnover, which does not
exceeding €50 million (Schoenherr et al. 2010). While SMEs
are an integral part of these economies, they also face
numerous challenges due to the increasing competition
globally thus; the complexity of the processes in the
organisation has increased. Therefore, in order for SMEs to be
competitive and responsive to continuously changing of the
market, they need to integrate all of the units within company
at information level to have the correct information in real
time to make quick and appropriate decision. This can only
occur by adopting the most appropriate information systems
relating to the business strategy of a company. Consequently,
ERP systems can be regarded as the backbone of the
information systems in organisations (Yang et al., 2007).
Kilic et al., 2015 stated that different and diverse pieces of
information coming from different processes can be unified
by ERP systems for better support of managerial decision-
makers. ERP systems are information systems that enable
organisations to improve their business processes, minimise
information redundancy and improve information integrity
Available online at www.sciencedirect.com
ScienceDirect
Procedia Manufacturing 00 (2019) 000–000
www.elsevier.com/locate/procedia
2351-9789 © 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the FAIM 2020.
30th International Conference on Flexible Automation and Intelligent Manufacturing (FAIM2021)
07-10 September 2021, Athens, Greece.
Framework for implementation of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)
Systems in Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs): A Case Study.
O.Alaskaria,*, R.Pinedo-Cuencab, M.M. AhmadC
a School of Computing, Engineering & Digital Technologies, Teesside University, Middlesbrough, UK
b School of Computing, Engineering & Digital Technologies, Teesside University, Middlesbrough, UK
C Islamia University Bahawalpur, Pakistan
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +447765008205. E-mail address: O.Alaskari@tees.ac.uk
Abstract
Today Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) face global challenges and continuous change in consumer demands, most recently COVID-19
and the prospect of a future Serious Acute Respiratory (SARS) pandemic generating further challenges, thus SMEs require to be more flexible
to respond quickly to these changes. This can be achieved by transformation into the digital economy, use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)
techniques, integrating business processes and to have real-time information which will enable senior management to make better, quicker
informed decisions. Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) is one of the solutions for the SMEs to overcome these challenges and to obtain a
competitive advantage. Subanidja, and Broto, 2019 stated that ERP systems are still not widely implemented by SMEs compared to their
introduction in large businesses. However, the SME have a justifiable reputation for being proactive, open, willing and receptive to the
adoption of new technologies, concepts and improvements. Also, SMEs differ in several inherent characteristics which are likely to impact on
the ERP system implementations, hence it does not make sense to use the same frameworks that have been developed for large companies to
implement ERP system within SMEs. One of the main risks of adopting ERP in SMEs is that SMEs have limited resources, so they cannot
afford to fail to implement ERP system. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to explore ERP implementation process in SME context. The
developed framework has been used to implement an ERP system in a SME. It highlighted the issues that need to be addressed while
implementing ERP system in SMEs such as clearly defined scope of implementation procedure, suitable project planning and minimal
customisation of the system selected for implementation. This study contributed to both research and practice and the research findings could
aid practitioners and SMEs when embarking on ERP projects, as well as, to suggest future research avenues.
© 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the FAIM 2021.
Keywords: ERP system; SMEs; ERP implementation
1. Introduction
SMEs are considered to be the backbone of many
economies. Over 99% of businesses in the United Kingdom
(UK) and the European Union (EU) are SMEs according to
the EU definition, which states that they employ between
1and 249 staff, along with an annual turnover, which does not
exceeding €50 million (Schoenherr et al. 2010). While SMEs
are an integral part of these economies, they also face
numerous challenges due to the increasing competition
globally thus; the complexity of the processes in the
organisation has increased. Therefore, in order for SMEs to be
competitive and responsive to continuously changing of the
market, they need to integrate all of the units within company
at information level to have the correct information in real
time to make quick and appropriate decision. This can only
occur by adopting the most appropriate information systems
relating to the business strategy of a company. Consequently,
ERP systems can be regarded as the backbone of the
information systems in organisations (Yang et al., 2007).
Kilic et al., 2015 stated that different and diverse pieces of
information coming from different processes can be unified
by ERP systems for better support of managerial decision-
makers. ERP systems are information systems that enable
organisations to improve their business processes, minimise
information redundancy and improve information integrity
© 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
Peer-review under responsibility of the scientic committee of the FAIM 2021.
O. Alaskari et al. / Procedia Manufacturing 55 (2021) 424–430 425
2 Author name/ Procedia Manufacturing 00 (2019) 000–000
(Shin 2006; Supyuenyong et al., 2009). Over the past two
decades, ERP systems have become one of the most
important and expensive implementations in the corporate use
of Information Technology (IT). The benefits and importance
of ERP systems have been recently accentuated with the
continuous development of technology to support the
implementation of Industry 4.0 concepts. Concepts such as
Internet of Things, visualisation and data analytics have
contributed to the development of the next generation of ERP
systems characterised by being intelligent and autonomous
systems. Such technology has contributed to enhance
performance of ERP systems in the areas of planning and
scheduling, machine monitoring, maintenance and Salesforce
Dot Com (SFDC) (Vidosav and Slavenko 2020). ERP 4.0
technology has been successfully deployed in organisations
highly automated enabling the deployment of SMART
factories, including digital twin models of factories,
production lines and processes. The ERP implementation
phase is critical, as it requires a global reconsideration of the
business procedures (Quiescenti et al., 2006) as well as being
the most resource consuming phase. The implementation of
an ERP system is a costly and risky endeavour, Subanidja,
and Broto, 2019 mentioned that implementation of ERP
system needs higher investment and there are associated
failures. Thus, following the structure to implement ERP
system steps is a critical and difficult exercise for any
organisation especially for SMEs, always restrained by
limited resources both human and financial to support such
initiatives. There are several frameworks proposed by various
researchers to implement ERP system in SMEs, such as that
developed by (Jagoda and Samaranayake, 2017; Sahran et al.,
2010; Metaxiotis et al., 2005). These found that the majority
of developed frameworks to implement ERP system use
similar methodology of pre-implementation, implementation
cycle and post-implementation phases or framework proposed
using Critical Success Factors (CSFs). However, they did not
consider how the phases of implementation could link
together and moving from one phase to another. This gap
motivates the current study to develop structure framework by
linking all phases of implementation of ERP system and use
of the output of a phase as input to other phase. Therefore,
this research building on previous research, and contributing
to the existing body of knowledge developed an
implementation framework that can be utilised by
practitioners in SMEs looking to implement ERP systems.
The rest of the paper is organised as follows, Methodology is
provided in Section 2; the Company Background and
Developed Framework are provided in Sections 3 and 4,
respectively; the Discussion, Conclusions and the Limitation
are given in Section 5, 6 and 7.
2. Methodology
A qualitative approach was adopted in this research,
Silverman (2001) argued that qualitative, rather than
quantitative, data provides a deeper understanding of certain
phenomena. Yin (2009) mentioned that case studies collect
rich data and are appropriate to study a contemporary
phenomenon within its natural setting. According to
Schoenherr et al. 2010 and Galster and Avgeriou 2015, case
study methodology has frequently used in research studying
of ERP implementation, believing that this approach is an
appropriate one to explore the knowledge dimensions in ERP
applications and factors. Therefore, a single case study was
selected as the research method, with the analysis of
documentation being the main data collection approach. Data
collection methods used in this research were literature
review, semi-structured interviews nature and document
sampling. The literature review was used as secondary source
of data by reviewing journal articles and conference papers
obtained from various reputed able databases such as IEEE,
Google Scholar, Elsevier, Springer, Emerald and Scopus,
primarily of literature of ERP implementation in SMEs,
certain key words were used to search for articles these
include “ERP in SMEs” and “ERP implementation in SMEs”.
The data that was collected from the company by the
Facilitator, the author, who as the Facilitator was a key
member of the ERP system implementation team, who was
given access to the company shared drive and samples of
documents from different function areas were taken and used
as supporting material for this research. Also, the Facilitator
was observing and recording company activities by observing
different project activities in different project stages,
especially during the initial ones. The interviews were of
semi-structured nature conducted with the key staff. A team
was formed from each department with the correct skill set
such as good IT skills. Team members were cross-functional,
which added difficulty to the company with no culture of
working across functional areas and no experience of such
large projects. It consisted of the managers of: Marketing,
Procurement, Operations and Finance. All team members
were senior with long-term experience in that business.
Overall, the team was responsible to plan, execute and control
the project as well as the supporting the staff who were
stakeholders in the project.
3. Company Background
This was a small-sized company, according to the EU
Commission definition of a SME, was located in the North-
East of England. The ethical constraint was total company
anonymity, entirely understandable in the socio-economic and
political situation in which this company was operating, and
continues to operate, therefore, the name of the company will
remain anonymous. This company provides an accurate
perception from SMEs, where ERP systems are not well-
known, compare with large companies. This particular
company operates in a highly competitive sector, included
Automotive, Industrial, Infrastructure, Marine, Nuclear, Oil &
Gas, Petrochemical and Renewables, and thus, the need to
improve their performance particularly with regard to quality,
delivery, flexibility and minimum cost of production was
paramount to the company serving a wide range of mainly
larger companies across multiple sectors that offer different
types of services and products and was aiming to be a world
class player by exploring local and international opportunities
through the improvement of its flexibly. The main processes
of the company were: seeking opportunities, receiving
enquiries, producing quotations, sales order and negotiation,
order acknowledgement, executing the contracted jobs,
426 O. Alaskari et al. / Procedia Manufacturing 55 (2021) 424–430
Author name/ Procedia Manufacturing 00 (2019) 000–000 3
invoicing and lessons learnt. The problem for this company,
as with SMEs in general, was operating in dynamic and
rapidly changing environment and the use of a variety of
Microsoft Excel based templates, a Customer Relationship
Management (CRM) system and other systems for the
preparation and management of its account, sales, purchases
and inventory; however, these systems were stand-alone, not
integrated; thus, a lot of work and cost was wasted due to data
re-entry, which caused difficulties for the company to manage
the complexity of production schedules, maximising
equipment and labour use; increasing challenges for the
managers and decision-makers to make quick decisions in
confidence to respond to the daily changing of the global
marketplace due to the company's lack of total visibility and
accessibility to real time information. That situation that was
the causation of the decision to re-engineer and automate
current process of the company and implement an ERP
system project to replace all these systems with a single “best-
of-breed” integrated solution to improve performance and to
produce timely, accurate information relevant and thus
strengthen the company's position in the market.
4. Developed Framework
This section presents the theory of the developed framework
and discusses the actual ERP installation, customisation,
Business Process Re-engineering (BPR), and all other
activities that align the system with the company
requirements in nine phases, each of which was divided into
three steps, namely: Input, Process and Output. The aim of
developed framework is to assist SMEs to implement ERP
system by undertaking these suggested phases and steps. The
steps of the process were developed as a basis for providing a
step-by-step, and easy-to-follow, procedure. Indeed, the
procedure of the developed framework can be considered as a
feedback loop, in which the actions of one step are based on
the result of another step; moreover; the whole framework of
phases should work in a simple flow form. Some of the
criteria were considered when the framework was developed
such as to be: simple in structure; systematic and easily to
understand; clear between the phases and steps outlined;
general enough to suit different contexts; and represent a
“road map” and planning tools for implementation.
Phase 1
Aim of the Phase
Input Processes Outp ut
Phase n
Aim of the Phase
Input Processes Outp ut
Fig.1. Basic conceptual structure of the framework
4.1. Phase 1: Process Analysis
The aim of this phase was to map out the current workflows
of the company. Thus, the input of this phase was the review
and examination of the documents and reports currently in
use; and the key users were involved in specified business
processes with which they were familiar. In the process step
discussions were conducted with key users to understand how
current processes were performed within the existing system,
and assessment of key issues associated with current work
practices. Following conducting these activities, the output of
this phase assisted the map out of the current company work
processes and workflows, which helped to define any
additional requirements or modifications needed to the
selected ERP system to characterise the desired business
processes with reference to existing business practices.
4.2. Phase 2: Preparing the Scope of Work (SOW)
The aim of this phase was to define the SOW of the
processes within the company from the standpoints were the
ERP system to be implemented. Thus, the output of Phase 1
an understanding of the existing workflows of the company,
was used as input step of this phase. The process step of this
phase was a number of meetings between the key staff and the
software provider to discuss and understand “As Is”
implemented module as well as the need for the customisation
of a module to fit the company work processes, and some
optional considerations for future phases. The company tried
to avoid and to minimised any customisation required to the
selected ERP system, as this is time and financial consuming
and might affect the core of the selected ERP system, thus
little tweaks were needed to current workflow to ensure that
the ERP system full configuration and to meet the company
needs and, thus, avoid any a conflict between the logic of the
ERP system and the logic of the business. The outputs of this
phase were a structured document, including milestones and
deliverables that were expected to be provided by the
Software Provider; thus a clear list of all required data and
data load sequences were identified, to adopt in an organised
manner, for example, preparing a comprehensive list of:
customers, suppliers, contained in a part catalogue in a
predefined file format determined by the Software Provider;
also, a list of required software customisations, plus an
estimate of customisation costs. The output of SOW phase
was included in the deliverables agreed upon by the company
and Software Provider approved by the company.
4.3. Phase 3: Creating a Project Plan
The aim of this phase was to create a Project Plan for the
Software Implantation. The input step in this phase was that
proposed by the SOW, namely the output of Phase 2. The
process step of this phase was a meeting between the
company key staff and the Software Provider to discuss the
SOW with the aim to prepare a detailed software modification
document, by determining the functionality specified in the
SOW, and which functions are not immediately available in
the standard software packages. The output of this phase was
that of a project work plan, covering project activities and
milestones, for implementation, planning training sessions,
and testing modifications of the software. After finalising the
SOW and delivery project plan the approval of both parties,
namely that of the company and the software provider was
obtained.
4.4. Phase 4: Build the System
The aim of this phase was the building of the system based
on SOW, the input step in this phase was the gathering of the
current forms and reports in use. In the process step, the forms
templates which were already available in the system were
O. Alaskari et al. / Procedia Manufacturing 55 (2021) 424–430 427
4 Author name/ Procedia Manufacturing 00 (2019) 000–000
customised and document layouts, reports were designed, the
computer screens and menus were customised by hiding
certain tabs to provide that end user with a computer screen
devoid of tabs which that user does not use, thus avoiding any
confusion, and easing the training of the end users to the
software that is specific and user friendly. The selected ERP
system has a Business Process Management (BPM) tool,
which was used to configure the system by determine
appropriate relationship, rules and procedures of the
workflow of the business processes in accordance with the
company needs. Such a configuration concerns all of the
business processes that the system should or should not
support. The output of this phase was the finalisation of the
forms, reports, customised screens and access
authorisation/approval points throughout the processes flow
for the end user.
4.5. Phase 5: Preparing the Standard Operating Procedures
(SOP)
The aim of this phase was the preparation of SOP
documents for all the processes that are covered in the SOW
as approved by the company. The inputs in this phase were
the SOW and project plan. The process step was the
development of SOP and the engagement of the key users by
asking them to review the document based on their area of
responsibility, and then the validated procedures, with
modifications if necessary, the document was signed off by
the respective users. The output of this phase was the very
specific SOP, step-by-step instructions for users in every role,
stipulating how to perform their specific work processes when
using the ERP software, this ensures the understanding and
consistency in performance of duties and roles for the users.
4.6. Phase 6: Creating a Data Migration Plan
The aim of this phase was to plan for data migration. Data
migration is the critical element of the whole project;
therefore, it is vital to plan this correctly. Thus, in the input
step of this phase the collection of the available data from
different departments and the consideration of the standards
of existing data, as the departments had different patterns of
data classification. In the process step, the current source of
data was compared with the system target data (mapped data),
in a predefined file format determined by the provider of the
software and then, the setting up of certain translation rules;
and the review of all data as to its viability, thus the reducing
and/or eliminating redundancy; and the cleaning of the data
by removing incorrect, corrupt data or outdated from records,
tables, and databases prior to the migration to the software.
These actives were performed manually, Microsoft Excel
templates in Comma-Separated Values (CSV) format, to
avoid corrupting were used in this task, and small amount of
data (gold sample) was developed and uploaded into the
software to test the data, any errors that transpired were
rectified, then the data was validated and any corrections
applied to ensure that the data was mapped to the correct
fields of the software. The output of this phase was the
enhanced data loaded into the software. As this phase was
time consuming and does not have effect on other phases the
work in this phase was undertaken concurrent with other
phases.
4.7. Phase 7: User Acceptance Tests
The aim of this phase was to test the SOPs by key users
after the data was uploaded into the software. The input step
of this phase was the translation from the SOW into SOP
documentation in accordance with the system modules. Thus
the process step was the involvement of the key user to
perform acceptance tests by executing the different work
flows and processes according to the SOPs and ensuring that
the SOPs reflect the actual steps that users have to carry out,
also the modifications were tested and approved by the
provided software development team as well as key users
from the project team. The output of this phase was the
provision of very clear operation procedure documents to be
used by users to operate the software.
4.8. Phase 8: User Training
The aim of this phase was for the key users to receive
training from the software provider, so the said key users
were able to operate the new software and train the other staff
within the same department. The input of this phase was to
scheduled training practice sessions of key users for each
work process. In the process step of this phase, key users were
trained on the new application to be carried out on live data in
a test system, and the training followed the SOP, including
the entering and/or manipulation of documents and other
information that is part of the traditional work assignments of
the end-users.
The output of the phase was that the key users were trained
and corrective issues raised during training sessions were
taken into account.
4.9. Phase 9: Go - Live
The aim of this phase was that the project becomes
operational, to Go - Live. In the input phase, data was updated
and uploaded to the software. In the process phase, key users
had the opportunity to input on final questions on the
operation of the software in the live environment. In the
output phase the system culminated in going live. Finally, IT
infrastructure within the company was updated to ensure that
all the hardware and server are available to accommodate the
new ERP system.
428 O. Alaskari et al. / Procedia Manufacturing 55 (2021) 424–430
Author name/ Procedia Manufacturing 00 (2019) 000–000 5
Table 1. Guidelines for the implementation procedure of the developed framework
No
Input
Process
Output
Phase 1
Review and examination of
current documents and
reports
Key users’ discussions and assessment to understand
current processes
Map current company work processes and
workflows.
Define additional requirements / modifications
to selected ERP system
Phase 2
Utilise Phase 1 output - the
company's existing
workflows
Key staff and software provider meetings to understand
“As Is” implemented module.
Understand module customisation to fit the company's
current & future needs
Documentation milestones, and deliverables to
be provided by the software provider.
Identify a data and data load sequences
Required software customisations, and estimated
costs.
Agreed SOW and deliverables by company and
software provider.
Phase 3
Output of Phase 2
proposed by the SOW
Meeting between the company key staff and the
software provider to discuss the SOW.
Prepare a detailed software modification document, by
determining the functionality specified in the SOW
Determine which functions are not immediately
available in the standard software packages.
Project work plan and implementation
milestones
Training sessions, and software modification
testing
Phase 4
Gathering of the current
forms and reports in use.
Customise current forms templates document layouts
and reports
Customis e the scr eens and menus of t he syste m
Determine relationship, rules and procedures of
business processes
Finalisation of forms, reports, customise the
screens, authorisation/approval points
Phase 5
SOW and project plan
Develop and validating of SOP's
Step-by-step instructions for all users
Phase 6
Collection of all data from
all departments and
evaluate their standards
Compare current / mapped data
Translation rules; review viability of all data
Reducing/eliminate redundancy from all records
Develop gold sample. uploaded into the software, test
data
Error rectification
Data validation and any corrections ensuring data
assigned to correct software fields
Load the enhance data into the software
Phase 7
Translation from SOW into
SOP documentation
Testing acceptance by according to the SOP's
Ensuring the SOP's reflect company requirements
Provision of SOP's for all users
Phase 8
Key user training sessions
Key user live data training in a test system
Key user training
Corrective issues
Phase 9
Uploaded to the software.
Key users check final questions on live environment
Going live
O. Alaskari et al. / Procedia Manufacturing 55 (2021) 424–430 429
Author name/ Procedia Manufacturing 00 (2019) 000–000 5
Table 1. Guidelines for the implementation procedure of the developed framework
No
Input
Process
Output
Phase 1
Review and examination of
current documents and
reports
Key users’ discussions and assessment to understand
current processes
Map current company work processes and
workflows.
Define additional requirements / modifications
to selected ERP system
Phase 2
Utilise Phase 1 output - the
company's existing
workflows
Key staff and software provider meetings to understand
“As Is” implemented module.
Understand module customisation to fit the company's
current & future needs
Documentation milestones, and deliverables to
be provided by the software provider.
Identify a data and data load sequences
Required software customisations, and estimated
costs.
Agreed SOW and deliverables by company and
software provider.
Phase 3
Output of Phase 2
proposed by the SOW
Meeting between the company key staff and the
software provider to discuss the SOW.
Prepare a detailed software modification document, by
determining the functionality specified in the SOW
Determine which functions are not immediately
available in the standard software packages.
Project work plan and implementation
milestones
Training sessions, and software modification
testing
Phase 4
Gathering of the current
forms and reports in use.
Customise current forms templates document layouts
and reports
Customis e the scr eens and menus of t he syste m
Determine relationship, rules and procedures of
business processes
Finalisation of forms, reports, customise the
screens, authorisation/approval points
Phase 5
SOW and project plan
Develop and validating of SOP's
Step-by-step instructions for all users
Phase 6
Collection of all data from
all departments and
evaluate their standards
Compare current / mapped data
Translation rules; review viability of all data
Reducing/eliminate redundancy from all records
Develop gold sample. uploaded into the software, test
data
Error rectification
Data validation and any corrections ensuring data
assigned to correct software fields
Load the enhance data into the software
Phase 7
Translation from SOW into
SOP documentation
Testing acceptance by according to the SOP's
Ensuring the SOP's reflect company requirements
Provision of SOP's for all users
Phase 8
Key user training sessions
Key user live data training in a test system
Key user training
Corrective issues
Phase 9
Uploaded to the software.
Key users check final questions on live environment
Going live
6 Author name/ Procedia Manufacturing 00 (2019) 000–000
5. Discussion
There is no doubt that the impact of globalisation on
business is increasing the competitiveness, and companies
need to be more quickly adapt to the changing environment
around them, thus ERP system is one of the most important
tools/enablers for a companies to meet and exceeds the
information needs and requirements. ERP implementations in
SMEs have been found to be important for SMEs to follow
industry best practices. Although there has been a increase in
recent years in the use of ERP system in SMEs, however, it is
understood from the literature that most of the ERP
implementations are not successful and the success
percentage is relatively low, due to the complexity and
difficulty associated with ERP system implementation
process, the complexity of ERP implementation is different
between companies, based on the size of the company and
complexity of the system itself. Therefore, many SMEs
consider the implementation of ERP system is a critical in
their improvement strategy. As SMEs always has constraint
on their resources thus, they need to think about how and
when they utilise these resources, so they are not run out of
these resources during the implementation of ERP system
rather than being too ambiguities of what and when to do. It
seems that it is important to have very clear steps of
implement the ERP system in SMEs this will facilitate the
implementation complexity of the system. In other words,
instead of radical changes to the SMEs cause by
implementing ERP system, an incremental systematic
approach seems to be more appropriate. So structure
framework to aid SMEs implement ERP system is required to
overcome difficulties during implementation of ERP system
was needed to allow SMEs achieve the benefits associated
with ERP system. This study framework, which consists of
several phases and steps in the context of SMEs, was
developed, aiming to help industry practitioners implanting
ERP system. There are various studies in the recent literature
proposing different techniques to provide a solution to this
complex and critical problem. With this study, different from
the existing ones, a systematic and easily to understand
framework that takes into account the phases and steps based
on input, processes and output was proposed. In the first
phase, process analysis was conducted to current process and
workflow within the company. The SOW was prepared based
on understand “As Is” workflows of the company and to
determine milestones, and deliverables. The obtained
information was used to create project plan for the software
implantation. Then the system was build based on SOW,
which assist to prepare SOP documents for all the processes.
At this point it’s important to mention that the company tried
to make any changes within the company processes to be able
to align its processes with software not vice versa, to avoid
any knock-on effect on the core of the system. Available data
was migrated uploaded into the software using small amount
of data (gold sample) to test the data, then the key users was
test and acceptance after the data was uploaded into the
software in order for the key user to receive training so they
will be able to operate the new software and to train the other
staff before go live. It is important that SMEs managers must
carefully consider and plan the right steps of the successful
implementation of the ERP System. This study is providing
clear guidelines to SMEs who consider implementing ERP
systems in future by using developed framework to decide
appropriate steps of ERP implementation also prioritising
resources and efforts to manage key factors affecting ERP
implementation success. The proposed framework assisted
the company to reduce the implementation duration,
minimise common problems of ERP implementation project
and facilitate effectively implementation phases of ERP
system, which is very important for SMEs to manage ERP
system implementation.
6. Conclusion
The importance of ERP system for supporting SMEs has
been widely recognised. Therefore, the main objective of this
study was to develop a framework to assist SMEs to
implement ERP system and to highlight issues that need to be
addressed during implementing the ERP system in the SMEs.
The developed framework in this paper consist of nine phases
where each phase has input, processes, and output. The
applicability of the framework was explained through a case
study of a company that employed a phases of
implementation of the framework. This study contributes to
the on-going research on implementation of ERP systems in
SMEs. SMEs considering the implementation of ERP
systems in future, can use the developed framework in this
study by following the appropriate steps and phases which
have also been demonstrated in the case study. The business
changes generated by COVID-19 dramatically alternate the
individual and business relationship regarding employment,
customer, retailer, supplies, and service provided, the World
Health Organization (WHO) has indicated the probability of
further SARS pandemic. This framework provides a
methodology for SMEs to be ‘ahead of the game’
7. Limitation
The proposed framework was successfully applied in a
single company, this suggested that the methodology could
be expanded by implementing the develop framework in
other SMEs. Further investigations are required for
generalising the developed framework including IT
infrastructure, adoption of digital economy concept in
business processes which can also enhance the capability of
the framework in service and government organisations.
8. CRediT authors statement
O Alaskari: Project administration, Methodology, Data
curation, Original draft preparation, Writing. R Pinedo-
Cuenca: Supervision, Methodology, Reviewing and Editing.
M M Ahmad: Validation, Reviewing and Editing.
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