A case study of a centrally managed ERP implementation for manufacturing plants of a global corporation

Xerox Corporation implemented a global Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system to effectively manage its 52 worldwide manufacturing plants and lay the foundations of future e-commerce solutions. The strategic objective for implementing a global manufacturing ERP system at Xerox is for management to gain insights into real-time financial visibility and total material requirement consolidation. This paper gives an insight into the planning and implementation process of this Oracle Manufacturing and Financial System (OMAF) from the perspective of Xerox's leading electronics manufacturing plant, Southern California Manufacturing Operations, (SCMO) located in El Segundo, California. An efficient implementation model and associated metrics, based on gap analysis, were developed to manage the activities. Gap analysis also proved to be an effective method for balancing the interests of the process owners, end-users, implementers and all other stakeholders of the project.