5 Minute Guide to ERP

5 Minute Guide to ERP

Information technology has transformed the way we live and the way we do business. ERP, or Enterprise Resource Planning, is one of most widely implemented business software systems in a wide variety of industries and organizations. In this short article, we’ll try to concisely explain the basic yet important concepts relevant to ERP.

What is ERP – ERP is the acronym of Enterprise Resource Planning. ERP definition refers to both ERP software and business strategies that implement ERP systems. ERP implementation utilizes various ERP software applications to improve the performance of organizations for 1) resource planning, 2) management control and 3) operational control. ERP software consists of multiple software modules that integrates activities across functional departments – from product planning, parts purchasing, inventory control, product distribution, to order tracking. Most ERP software systems include application modules to support common business activities – finance, accounting and human resources.

ERP Systems – ERP is much more than a piece of computer software. A ERP System includes ERP Software, Business Processes, Users and Hardware that run the ERP software. An ERP system is more than the sum of its parts or components. Those components interact together to achieve a common goal – streamline and improve organizations’ business processes.

History of ERP – Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) is the evolution of Manufacturing Requirements Planning (MRP) II in 1980s, while MRP is the evolution of Inventory Management & Control conceived in 1960s. ERP has expanded from coordination of manufacturing processes to the integration of enterprise-wide backend processes. In terms of technology, ERP has evolved from legacy implementation to more flexible tiered client-server architecture.

Benefits of ERP – ERP software attempts to integrate business processes across departments onto a single enterprise-wide information system. The major benefits of ERP are improved coordination across functional departments and increased efficiencies of doing business. The implementation of ERP systems help facilitate day-to-day management as well. ERP software systems is originally and ambitiously designed to support resource planning portion of strategic planning. In reality, resource planning has been the weakest link in ERP practice due to the complexity of strategic planning and lack of adequate integration of ERP with Decision Support Systems (DSS).

ERP Failures – We couldn’t conclude our brief guide to ERP without mentioning ERP failures. The failure of multi-million dollar ERP projects are reported once in a while even after 20 years of ERP implementation. We have identified the four components of an ERP System – 1) ERP software, 2) Business Processes that ERP software supports, 3) Users of ERP systems, and 4) Hardware and Operating Systems that run ERP applications. The failures in one or more of those four components could cause the failure of an ERP project.

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How Many Types Of Steroids Are There?

How Many Types Of Steroids Are There?

There are basically types of steroids; natural and synthetic. The natural steroids are natural compound, or steroid hormones encourage physical growth of body. These natural types of steroids are developed naturally both in men and women. Men produce more steroids than women; that is why their muscles are firmer and harder than the latter. The synthetic steroids are the drugs that are derived from male sex hormones or androgens. These types of steroids are called anabolic steroids or androgenic steroids. They are created synthetically in science labs.

Steroids fall under the class of drugs that is available lawfully only by proper recommendation. Sometimes, minor dosages of steroids are taken to deal with a handful of grave medical circumstances. There are many types of steroids produced synthetically. There are several types of steroids that are often used by bodybuilders, sports persons, and athletes to elevate their stamina and performance levels.

Often, various types of steroids are abused by jocks engaged in power sports such as power-lifting, muscle building, baseball, football and rugby. Steroids are available in form tablets, capsules, and injections. Some of the common steroids include Testosterone, Dianabol, Danocrine, Anadur, Anavar, Andriol, AndroGel, Anadrol, Cheque Drops, Oxandrin, Winstrol, Deca-Durabolin, Durabolin, Equipoise, and Depo-testosterone.
There are three mainly types of steroids such as corticosteroids, estrogens and progestogens, and androgens. These steroids are often used for different purposes.

Corticosteroids – Corticosteroids are steroid hormones, which are formed in the adrenal cortex. Cortisol plays a vital role in ascertaining salt and water stability in the body, and determining carbohydrate, fat, and protein metabolism. When body feels distressed, the pituitary gland at the bottom of the brain discharges ACTH, adrenocorticotropic hormone that braces adrenal gland to generate cortisol. The spare cortisol lets the body to tackle the stress such as infection, trauma, surgery, or emotional problems. Some of the corticosteroid types of steroids include Betamethasone, Budesonide, Cortisone, Dexamethasone, Hydrocortisone etc.

Estrogens and Progestogens – These types of steroids are the female sex hormones, which are responsible for the growth of secondary sexual features in them. These steroids can also maintain the female reproductive system. Estrogens and progestogens are the active ingredients in prescription birth control tablets.

Androgens – This is the male sex hormone produced in the testes and responsible for typical male sexual features. Testosterone is the androgenic hormone, which take care of the male reproductive system. Testosterone is normally given to treat female breast cancer, androgen deficiency, and for growth stimulation, weight increase, and RBC production. These types of steroids are generally called ‘anabolic steroids’ as they encourage muscle growth. They also help patients to recover quicker from a surgery and cancer treatment that resulted in damage to muscle tissue.

How to Prevent Identity Number Theft

How to Prevent Identity Number Theft

Identity number theft is becoming very common nowadays. In fact, the incidence of identity number theft has in increasing annually. You see and hear a lot about it from television, radio and newspapers and magazines. We see and hear about report of huge amounts of personal information being stolen by identity number thieves. The numbers being stolen include veteran number, social security number and credit card number.

Identity number thefts are one of the most controversial topics in this day and age of computers, emails and the Internet. The scariest thing about identity number theft is that it is a crime that can affect anyone. Indeed, there is great chance now more than ever that your personal information will be stolen by identity number thieves.

Therefore, the question in everyone’s mind is: How can we protect ourselves and our families from identity thieves? The first thing that any individuals wanting to be protected from identity number theft must do is to be informed and educated. Each and everyone of us should be aware of the procedure o protect our personal number from identity number thieves.

Below are some tips on how to protect yourself from identity number theft.

1. One of the best way you can do to protect yourself from identity number theft is to avoid providing personal information from individual you talk to, especially to strangers. Giving personal information to people you do not know can have very disastrous consequences for you.

2. If you are in a public place, be very discreet about the financial events happening in your life. These event include big ticket purchase, capital investments, stocks or property acquisition, etc. Talking about financial events in public can lead to unwanted interest on your finances.

3. Leave you check book or check register in a safe place in your home or office. Never carry your check book or check register with you when you go out. If you must carry a check, then just bring one or two blank checks in your wallet. There have been many reported cases of identity number theft stemming from stolen check books.

4. Have your Social Security Number memorized so you wouldn’t have to carry your SS card with you always. Carrying your SS card all of the time increases the risk of it being lost or stolen. If that happen you will be making yourself vulnerable to identity number theft.

5. If you have several credit cards, do not carry all of them with you. Bring only one or two credit cards when you go out. This would minimize the chance of you credit being stolen and of you becoming a victim of identity number theft.

6. such as social security numbers, credit card numbers, bank account numbers, passwords, etc on your laptops or desktops personal computers. If you must write it down in a document then secure it with a password or delete it before turning off your laptop or personal computer.

7. Avoid charging a high bill on one credit card. This could lead to unwanted attention on your finances. Try to use two cards on expensive purchase.

8. Limit your use of Automated Teller machines (ATM). When you use the ATM be sure that the person behind you does not see the transaction you are making. ATM is another hot place for identity number thieves.