Investigating the Impact of ERPs on Job Shop Manufacturing Logistics Performance

Abstract

Job shop manufacturing processes have been reluctant to adopt enterprise resource planning systems (ERPs) for enhancing logistics performance. The cost of adopting and deploying ERPs is a high-entry barrier. Prior research has claimed that performance can be enhanced by improving logistics planning using technology such as ERPs. Most past research has examined the effect of ERPs on logistics performance in production processes other than job shops, which seems to suggest that in small-scale production processes the cost of ERPs makes it irrelevant. Are manufacturing job shop production processes the exception that proves the rule? Using both a t-test two sample for means and a Kolmogorov-Simonov (KS) test, this study tested whether or not ERPs can improve supply chain logistics performance in job shop manufacturing processes. The results might lead to a positive social change in the adoption or non-adoption of ERPs in job shop manufacturing.