erpI was having a mid morning meeting with a friend who works for a small manufacturing plant. He mentioned that his company had just switched from one of the no name ERP systems to SAP. For those of you not familiar with SAP, they are considered the monster in the ERP space and many of the top companies in the world use SAP as their preferred choice for ERP.

For those of you who have no idea what an ERP system is, it essentially is a software program that allows businesses to manage every aspect of their business both internal and external areas of information, “across an entire organization, embracing finance/accounting, manufacturing, sales and service, customer relationship management, etc” (Wikipedia)

After our brief meeting, I went back to the office and began exploring some of the opensource alternatives. Being a fan of open source architecture (ergo Zimbra) I thought it might make sense to see what Open Source ERP options might exist for the small to medium and even enterprise businesses that might be interested in saving some money.

Here are 5 Open Source ERP systems that I looked into that show some promise and that are reasonably priced:

1. Openbravo – $50 per month

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It’s one of the best open source ERP software for SMBs. Openbravo is a web-based program that was based on open source Compiere ERP program. It provides the entire status of a company that includes production information, inventory, customer information, order tracking and workflow information.

Openbravo accompanies wide ranging features that makes it easier to handle for end users. Some of its key features include dimensional reporting, alerts, email, keyboard navigation. It is easily configurable and tailors the existing functionality and business rules, as well as add new functionality without any programming.

The ERP software offers better compatibility and sharing, allowing export of single file or a collection of files to Excel, CSV, or PDF directly from the application. Users can easily create third-party modules or plugins or even browser the directory and choose the shared functionality created by other users to install. It allows high scalability enabling deployment in single server or on a cluster of them, serving up to thousands of users. Any record in the system can be easily audited and traced to user who created it.

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2. OpenERP – $50 per month

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This is a complete open source ERP software, designed to address the enterprise needs and processes. OpenERP integrates accounting, hr, sales, crm, purchase, stock, production, services management, project management, marketing campaign. It offers separate client and server components and XML-RPC interfaces. Open ERP is complete and modular system with 350 modules. The ERP software has a strong MVC architecture with an object database, a dynamic GUI, distributed server, flexible workflows, and customizable reports. The database is PostgreSQL and the server part is written in Python.

The key features of OpenERP include management accounting, financial accounting, inventory management, sales and purchase management, tasks automation, Human Resource Management, marketing campaigns, help desk, and point of sale.

Apart Linux, Windows and Mac interfaces, OpenERP has an web interface eTiny that is also available for the Turbogears web framework. OpenERP is widely  used by customers looking to automate their sales processes effectively.

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3. ERPNext – $5 per month

ERPNext is an web based, open source application that helps small and medium sized business manage their accounting, inventory, sales, purchase, manufacturing, projects, customer support and website..

This product has been in the works in different ways since 2005 and was launched in 2010. It is used by about 100 companies in over 30 countries in varied domains such as Manufacturing, Retail, Distribution and Services.

There are a lot of nice single module (Accounting, Invoicing, Customer Support, Projects) apps available for business but nothing that is integrated. The integrated options are usually too expensive and too complex to use. ERPNext fills this gap by providing a friendly and affordable app with all the features of a full ERP.

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4. Apache OFBiz – FREE

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It is an Open Source Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system that provides a suite of enterprise applications that integrates and automates several business process of an enterprise. The  framework offers a common data model and sophisticated business processes. There is a common architecture for all applications build around data, logic and process components. Apache OFBiz  is built on open source technologies and standards like JavaJava Enterprise Edition (JEE), XML and SOAP.

Apache OFBiz comes with a wide range of functionalities  that include

  • Accounting (agreements, invoicing, vendor management, general ledger)
  • Asset Maintenance
  • Catalogue and Product Management
  • Facility and Warehouse Management
  • Manufacturing
  • Order Processing
  • Inventory Management, automated stock replenishment etc.
  • Content Management System (CMS)
  • People and Group Management
  • Project Management
  • Sales Force Automation
  • Work Effort Management
  • Electronic Point Of Sale (ePOS)
  • eCommerce
  • Human resources (HR)

OFBiz introduces the concept of screens where each page typically represents a screen.  It’s architecture allows rapid customization of the application to a business needs without any new coding.

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5. JFire –  FREE

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It is a comprehensive and flexible ERP solution for businesses of all size. The system offers enterprise processes with powerful analysis, reporting, and customization options. It has been designed to be highly customizable. JFire is a highly scalable system that can support small companies as well as giant companies with extensive user base, multi-currency & multi-language requirements. JFire is developed with the latest technologies such as J2EE 1.4, JDO 2.0, Eclipse RCP 3.3.

Key modules in JFire include

  • Accounting
  • Flexible Price Configurations
  • Store Management
  • Reporting
  • Integration with external payment and delivery interfaces
  • CRM

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