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The purpose of this paper is to present the findings of research carried out as part of an industrial project for selection of an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system in a made‐to‐order (MTO) small‐to‐medium enterprise (SME) scenario. It develops a framework or methodology for selection. It also highlights the areas pertaining to the unique needs of, first, the SME sector and, second, the MTO sector, to be considered while selecting a solution. A work book is developed to provide a structured ERP software selection process for SMEs using a comprehensive literature review plus practical experience. This research is potentially aimed at being useful to other SMEs as a guide for a structured selection process.

A combination of comprehensive literature review and experience of managing the selection process for an ERP system in an SME was employed for the study.

Over the past few years, the number of large companies buying new ERP systems has reached saturation point. This has led to the ERP developers seeking instead other potential markets among SMEs. The MTO scenario within the SME sector is one which is very capricious in terms of demand forecasting, lead times, routings, etc. When selecting a system, an organisation in such a segment needs a tailored methodology and a list of key target areas to consider.

The paper represents a very useful source of practical information for the SME sector to consider when selecting an ERP system.

The paper provides valuable insight into the details of ERP selection, focusing on the peculiarities of the SME MTO sector.

NOW, WITH THE AID of the European Community, the Equal Pay Commission and who knows who else, an Industrial Tribunal has smashed poor old Euclid right over his head. They have proved to their own satisfaction (if to nobody else's) that things which are unequal to any other thing are quite definitely equal to each other.

WHATEVER individuals may think of the miners' strike and Mr. Seargill's attitude in it, the fact remains that they reflect a momentous change in the direction of collective bargaining: the initiative has moved from workers to management.

NEXT TO banking, we are informed, Business Consultancy is the most favoured profession for graduates in the United States and it is likely, as in so much else, that here in Britain the same trend will be followed. It follows, as the famous query in a one‐time quiz member put it, that ‘it all depends on what you mean by Business Consultancy’.

The fight over juggernaut lorries has not been won or lost with the recent ban. The law relating to massive loads has been broken in the past and will no doubt go on being ignored. Ian Mandle investigates; pictures by Eric Lockraine.

A FEW MONTHS ago we were listening to a management consultant who had arrived here from the USA, though he was originally an Israeli. We did not agree with all the things he said. One of his audience, in fact, asked a question based on one of his statements that he seemed to have difficulty in answering. Certainly it did not seem to satisfy his questioner.

THAT THE NEWSPAPER industry has gone through a tremendous change has been obvious to all by the horrific scenes of violence shown on television over the past several months.

WAS Britain right to resist so strongly the EEC move last month towards the introduction of a much shorter working week?