March 2007 Mechanical Engineering: Editorial

editorial

enterprising advances

By
John G. Falcioni,
Editor-in-Chief

They say that enterprise resource planning systems integrate all data and processes of an organization into a unified whole. The system keeps all the important information about a business where planners and decision-makers can find it.

Sounds pretty good, all right, but I've thought that's what file drawers and dividers are for. Surprisingly, many managers still think so as well.

Even as the proliferation of ERP systems is reaching beyond large companies to small and midsize ones, some managers are reluctant to take the plunge because they believe ERP systems are either too expensive to set up or too difficult to use. Others are simply concerned about undertaking a new venture that threatens to change internal processes that their employees have become accustomed to—no matter what gains a successful ERP system promises to deliver.

Of course, the term "ERP" has come to mean different things to different people. A data mining project may be called ERP, as might a software program that performs accounting and payroll functions. Essentially, any unified database system that serves various company systems is referred to by the snappy initials.

Manufacturers were the first to implement ERP systems, since they needed a way to tie design software tools with other data to pull together a successful enterprise. It has now spread to disparate industries and multiple uses, from control of inventory, processes, and workflow to other infrastructure-management functions.

Industry analysts say that a new service-oriented architecture may attract more converts to ERP. Associate editor Jean Thilmany reports on that in her article, "Crystal Ball for Business," which begins on page 36. The architecture is bridge software that may let companies avoid some of the head- aches of implementing an entirely new business system and at the same time let them recoup the benefits of ERP.

At Johns Hopkins University Hospital in Baltimore there is an emphasis on control, too. Researchers there are interested not only in controlling data, but also in controlling the smooth motion of robotic arms during surgery.

Associate editor Jeffrey Winters writes that "for many tasks in sensitive parts of the body, the human touch may be too clumsy" and is giving way to robots.

But don't fret; the experience of a surgeon continues to play a big role even in robotic surgery. It's not likely we'll be subjected to the whims of an R2D2-type robot in the operating room any time soon.

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Congratulations to Robert E. Nickell—a past president of ASME and a member of the Mechanical Engineering Magazine Advisory Board. Last month, Nickell was named to the prestigious National Academy of Engineering. He is one of 64 new members, who bring the total NAE membership to a select 2,217 engineers in the United States. There are also 188 foreign associates, nine of whom are newly elected.

According to the academy, membership recognizes those who have made outstanding contributions to engineering research, practice, or education. Members have been cited for significant contributions to engineering literature, for pioneering work in developing fields of technology, for advancements in traditional fields of engineering, and for innovative approaches to the teaching of engineering.

Nickell, the president of Applied Science & Technology in San Diego, was elected in recognition of his contributions to both the finite element method and the safe operation of power plants.