TOOL EAST is a new ERP system, now under development in the frames of project „Open Source Enterprise Resource Planning and Order Management System for Eastern European Tool and Die Making Workshops” - TOOL-EAST (http://www.tooleast.org/) of the Sixth Framework Programme of European Union. It will be an open source system, i.e. the developed software will be open for use by anyone for free and without limitations. TOOL EAST covers all main working processes in an enterprise – order management, design, materials procurement, production, sales management.

TOOL EAST will provide a cost-efficient ERP application on the basis of existing open source ERP applications. Those will be adapted and modified for the specific requirements of this branch in order to support the efficient coordination of intra-enterprise order processing and strengthen competition and competitiveness of Eastern European SMEs. Primarily, orders management, work planning, resource allocation and CRM will be optimized and linked together in a dynamic work environment.

One main challenge of this project is to use open source technology for the development of an integrated business application for tool and die making enterprises with high performance regarding availability, safety and maintainability at the very onset. This will also be enriched by enabling coordination between the different players in this sector. Strengthening the open source initiative in general and particularly in this field of business opens an enormous potential for SMEs. A successful case study and dissemination platform in the specific branch addressed in this project paves the way for future initiatives. Since demands for business software from other branches with specific SME structures are predominantly comparable, results from this project can be transferred easily, so that a large impact can be assumed.

The Panel Session on TOOL EAST includes a detailed presentation by Ivan Popov and wide discussion.