THRISSUR: The management work at Kerala Agricultural University (KAU) will get a boost with the introduction of two new Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) tools. The two management information systems, University Pension Administration System (UPAST) and University Sales Information System (USIST), which were indigenously developed by the university will be launched by Agriculture Minister K P Mohanan on January 28.UPAST and USIST follow the earlier modules of the project- University Financial Accounting System (UFAST) and University Legal Information System (ULIS) which were launched in September 2010 by the then finance minister Dr Thomas Isaac.Vice-Chancellor Dr K R Viswambharan said that KAU is the first university in the country to develop a complete ERP package using indigenous resources.Experts point out that a full-fledged ERP package from a mainstream vendor, like SAP or Oracle, would have cost more than `100 crore.“The system developed by KAU is user-friendly, without any complexities and procedural lacuna. This has improved the quality and reduced the time taken to complete the work, thereby increasing productivity. This is followed by a massive change in terms of accountability administration and control,” he said.By using the UPAST system, a pensioner can monitor his pension benefits through the Internet and communicate with the university. The USIST is the module for sales or billing. Sale of seeds, planting materials and various other products from different KAU centres can be integrated through the system. The systems manager of KAU said that a few more utility modules like, human resource and payroll and research project management system are being developed.A number of other modules like e-tendering, virtual office (e-administration), e-documentation, e-filing, academics (starting from online application to registration to award of degree), e-Library, e-recruiting, chat with farmers etc are in the offing. On implementing the payroll module, it will be possible to debit the salary through the respective banks of the employees. Online payment of income tax and similar deductions are another advantage. The main saving is from the printing cost of various bills to be prepared for payment.The key strength of the ERP is the single source of data.Though, the university had started attempts to develop softwares in 1985, a complete ERP development project started only in 2010 as a part of e-governance. The university’s IT personnel aim to provide an integrated university information system that reduces redundancy and streamlines data entry. They also aim to ensure a system that can adapt to changes. The department plans to sell the ERP modules to similar organisations.
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