Enterprise resource planning: a case of a blood bank

This paper discusses about the enterprise resource planning (ERP) market in India and the world. The current extension of ERP is e‐CRM. The ERP market has become saturated and is on the decline; and emerging from it is the market for small and medium scale enterprises. ERP, especially in India, is being offered by small‐localized players to small and medium sized firms customizing it to the needs and their pockets. Taking this cue, the big ERP players have also started offering complete solutions to the small firms. The paper illustrates this point by using the case example of Prathma, a modern blood bank in India. Prathma has been the first blood bank in India to use ERP to integrate its functions using a customized ERP. This has installed a quality check in its day‐to‐day operations and has significantly lowered costs. The findings of this study indicate that ERP systems promises benefit from increased efficiency to improved quality, productivity, and profitability.