Development of training programs for users of enterprise resource planning system

Abstract

One of the important factors (may be, the main one) determining duration of initial (trial) operation of Enterprise Resource Planning (EPR) is quality of users training to collaboration in integrated (at the level of elementary transactions) control system. It is obvious that duration of initial operation and corresponding losses from the incidents arising at EPR operation can be significantly reduced not only due to high-quality design and EPR testing, but, considerably, due to increase in level of competences of users reached by their training. Mathematical definition of training program development for EPR users of large metallurgical company is given in the article. The main criterion there is general increment of users’ competences as a result of implementation of training program. Procedure of task solution is based on method of network programming which relies on structural and similar network representation of criterion and restrictions. General scheme and an example of solution of the studied task are provided in which separate estimated tasks are solved by method of dichotomizing programming. Received approximate solutions of an objective can be improved by means of finding global optimum of initial task by method of branches and borders in which values of criterion function of found approximate decision are applied as borders. In practice it is expedient to consider a task, opposite to described in the article in which costs of training are the criterion. Owing to structural similarity of functions of an increment of competences and costs of training the return task can be decided according to the same scheme that it is offered for a direct task. The considered task can be generalized by taking into account the preferences of users regarding the significance of individual programs relative to others by introducing appropriate “scales”. General scheme of task solution won’t change.