The legacy system at all Huck North American
and European sites was CA/ManMan, a classic
mini-computer based MRP II system. ManMan
had been in place since 1983 when it replaced
a homegrown, IBM-based, centralized data processing
system. While some of the smaller sites
operated remotely, most sites had their own
HP3000 as the standard hardware platform. The
system(s)had been upgraded several times, and
numerous modifications had been installed. While
the base software and company modifications were
administered from company headquarters, each
site had specific modules that were unique to its
business environment. ManMan users were very
familiar with the system and its capabilities. The
hardware was extremely stable and software at
some sites had not been upgraded for several
years. Huck sites in Japan and Australia were on
unique, local systems.
Although the MRP II system was ancient by IT
standards, Huck had implemented an extensive
local area network. Most users accessed the main
computer through the network and were familiar
with windows-based applications. Network-based
information sharing was widely used by most key
users. For example, all engineering and manufacturing
drawings, as well as statistical process control
data, were accessed through the network. PC
workstations were placed throughout the plant for
Fig. 2. Why ERP implementations fail.
E.J. Umble et al. / European Journal of Operational Research 146 (2003) 241–257 251
easy access to these documents by all shop floor
users.