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Business Process Automation

  • Chapter
Springer Handbook of Automation

Part of the book series: Springer Handbooks ((SHB))

Abstract

Integrated enterprise-wide information systems (EwIS) are a class of customizable packaged business software applications that have replaced arrays of disparate legacy systems in organizations around the world. EwIS have been the catalyst for the reengineering and automation of core business processes that has led to organization-wide transformation across most industries in corporate America. Chief among this category of packaged business software is enterprise resource planning (ERP), the back-office suite that was embraced by many industries in the 1990s as a cure for legacy system ailments and impending year-2000 (Y2K) disasters. ERP is considered a product of the evolution of an earlier manufacturing planning system referred to as manufacturing resource planning (MRPII). Whereas MRPII was focused on the factory planning environment, ERP incorporates enterprise-wide functionality and therefore is used in virtually all industries. ERP has enabled organizations to streamline, automate, and commoditize their business processes, leveraging best-of-industry practices, quite significantly over the last 15 years. Two other packages that are attributing to this phenomenon are customer relationship management (CRM) and supply chain management (SCM). In this chapter we review EwIS in a historical context as it has developed over the years and discuss the most important characteristics of EwIS today as well as how we expect this field to evolve.

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Abbreviations

ASP:

application service provider

BI:

business intelligence

BPR:

business process reengineering

CRM:

customer relationship management

ERP:

enterprise resource planning

ES:

enterprise system

ES:

evolution strategy

ESB:

enterprise service bus

ESR:

enterprise services repository

EwIS:

enterprise-wide information system

IT:

information technology

MRPII:

material resource planning (2nd generation)

RFID:

radiofrequency identification

SCM:

supply chain management

SEM:

scanning electron microscopy

SEM:

strategic enterprise management

SME:

small and medium-sized enterprises

SOA:

service-oriented architecture

SOAP:

simple object access protocol

SRM:

supplier relationship management

UDDI:

universal description, discovery, and integration

WSDL:

web services description language

Y2K:

year-2000

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Information Systems and Decision Sciences, Louisiana State University, 3183 Patrick F. Taylor Hall, 70803, Baton Rouge, LA, USA

    Edward F. Watson PhD

  2. Chevron Corp., 100 Northpark Blvd., 70433, Covington, LA, USA

    Karyn Holmes

Authors
  1. Edward F. Watson PhD
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  2. Karyn Holmes
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Edward F. Watson PhD or Karyn Holmes .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. PRISM Center, and School of Industrial Engineering, Purdue University, 315 N. Grant Street, 47907, West Lafayette, IN, USA

    Shimon Y. Nof

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© 2009 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Watson, E.F., Holmes, K. (2009). Business Process Automation. In: Nof, S. (eds) Springer Handbook of Automation. Springer Handbooks. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-78831-7_90

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-78831-7_90

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-78830-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-78831-7

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