Internal Supply Chain Management within SMEs: When ERPII Is Not Enough?

The aim of this paper is to develop and further advance understandings of the limitations of common ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) type systems with respect to internal SCM (Supply Chain Management) co-ordination and control. ERP systems are now routinely used within SMEs (Small-to-Medium sized Enterprises) and may be seen to offer many distinct operational advantages, but barriers to enterprise growth and market development still remain. Recent industrial and academic work has been placed upon incremental improvements of existing frameworks to deliver ‘ERPII’ or solutions based upon extended-enterprise or networked supply chain models. However, indications from this research reveal that as SMEs shift towards more agile and customer focused business strategies, there has to additionally exist, a re-examination of how internal reference frameworks and process systems are supported and operationalised within the new solutions. Results constructed from survey data and case study investigations provide new recommendations and guidelines for researchers, practitioners and ERP solution vendors.