The Development of an Enterprise Resource Planning System (ERP) for a Research and Technology Institute: The Case of the Nuclear and Energy Research Institute -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.