Intelligent ERP

In this chapter, we take the reader through a journey of the history of ERP systems and show the strengths and weaknesses of ERP solutions and how the providers deal with the constant change in requirements. In this context, ERP vendors and their market share are briefly introduced. The first material resource planning (MRP) systems were provided as best of breed solutions for more than 50 years ago. Monolithic ERP systems followed, overcoming the integration challenges of MRP products. Today, cloud-based ERP solutions are in focus, which aim to reduce hardware and operations cost with cloud computing techniques. However, the future is intelligent ERP systems that make use of artificial intelligence to mimic cognitive capabilities of human being for increasing the automatization of business processes. This is a completely new research area for which we suggest answers in the elaboration.