Browsing Italian translation

15.

So you will find modules to suit all kinds of needs, allowing your company to build its customized system by simply grouping and configuring the most suitable modules. Hundreds of modules are available.

16.

They range from specific modules like the EDI interface for agricultural products, which has been used to interface with Match and Leclerc stores, up to the generic demonstration automation module for ordering sandwiches, which can take care of the eating preferences of your staff.

17.

The results are rather impressive. OpenERP (originally called Tiny ERP) is a Management Software that is downloaded more than any other in the world, with over 600 downloads per day. Today it is available in 18 languages and has a worldwide network of partners and contributors. Over 800 developers participate in the projects on the collaborative development system.

18.

To our knowledge, OpenERP is the only management system which is routinely used not only by big companies but also by very small companies and independent companies. This diversity is an illustration of the software's flexibility: a rather elegant coordination between people's functional expectations of the software and great ease of use.

19.

And this diversity is also found in the various sectors and trades which use the software, including agricultural products, textiles, public auctions, IT, and trade associations.

20.

Last but not least, such software has arisen from the blend of high code quality, well-judged architecture and use of free technologies. In fact, you may be surprised (if you are an IT person) to find that the download size of OpenERP is only around 6 MB. When that is expanded during installation its size is mostly attributable to all the official translations that are packaged with it, not the operating code. We've moved a long way from the days when the only people who could be expected to benefit from ERP were the owners of a widget factory on some remote industrial estate.

21.

Why this book?

22.

Many books set out to tell readers about the management of enterprise, and equally many aim to instruct the reader in the use of a piece of specialized software. We are not aiming to add to those lists because our approach is intended to be different.

23.

Having restructured and reorganized many businesses, we wanted our management experience to generate a work that is both instructive and practical. It was important for us not to write a manual about OpenERP, but instead a work that deals with advanced management techniques realized through these IT tools. You will see what management practices might be useful, what is possible, and then how you could achieve that in OpenERP.

24.

This is what we will consider OpenERP to be: not an end in itself but just the tool you use to put an advanced management system into place.