The Development of an Enterprise Resource Planning System (ERP) for a Research and Technology Institute: the case of the IPEN

Abstract

This paper reports the history of the development of an enterprise resource planning (ERP) dedicated to managing the technical activities of the Nuclear and Energy Research Institute, a governmental research and technology institute in Brazil. After the implementation of the new planning process, the development of a new management information system named SIGEPI was immediately initiated. The implementation of this system followed a strategy of integrating databases already available and developing new ones in order to facilitate the data collecting process and to improve the quality and the reliability of these data. This paper describes the evolution of SIGEPI, its main features and it also reports the difficulties faced for almost ten years of developments. The success factors of the case were classified into three groups: strategic, technical and behavioral ones. The impact of these factors and recommendation for future similar developments are presented.