Synergy Resources and Infor Team Up With Farmingdale State College

Synergy Resources, a provider of enterprise resource planning (ERP) software solutions and services, and Farmingdale State College are pleased to announce their pilot ERP class is up and running, generating interest from local industry and other universities. The course, Intro to ERP, uses Infor VISUAL ERP to teach students how to apply technology to manage a company’s integrated supply chain from manufacturing and purchasing to warehousing and distribution.

Enterprise Resource Planning has become a necessity in today’s workplace because it helps companies integrate all their data and processes into a unified system which will help them meet demand for products on time and cost effectively. The software allows companies to identify needs, plan production, maintain supplier and customer information, and assess costs. The class idea came about when Gene Caiola of Synergy Resources and Jill O’Sullivan, a professor at Farmingdale, saw a need to provide enterprise software education for business and engineering students.

O’Sullivan, who also teaches courses in Operations, Supply Chain Management, and Just-in-Time Inventory, believed the ERP course would complement the current course offerings and create further interest in Farmingdale students from local manufacturing companies. “Having come from industry with a background in database applications, I felt it was important for the students to have an opportunity to learn ERP software,” explains O’Sullivan. “The hands-on approach of the course that applies case studies of actual manufacturing companies helps to prepare students for real-world situations making them better job candidates upon graduation.” Mr. Caiola and Professor O’Sullivan co-wrote the textbook for the class, Enterprise Resource Planning: A Transitional Approach from the Classroom to the Business World. The book is the first of its kind providing an instructional view of the commonly used industry software Infor VISUAL ERP. Infor, one of the largest global providers of business software, gifted the software to Farmingdale State College and Binghamton University, also of the State University of NY (SUNY) system. Other colleges have already shown interest in developing their own Infor ERP courses. The interest comes from internet searches, the textbook’s publisher McGraw-Hill, and through APICS, an educational association for operations management professionals. O’Sullivan has responded to inquiries from other SUNY schools, colleges in Michigan, Ohio, Georgia, and from The American University of Beirut.

Under the direction of Professor O’Sullivan, Farmingdale State College is partnering with Synergy Resources, Infor, and the local APICS chapter to create an Enterprise Resource Planning Alliance. The alliance will promote the new ERP program of study through its web site, collaborative research projects and local events.

Gene Caiola and Professor O’Sullivan are quite pleased with the success of the pilot ERP course. “Synergy Resources and Farmingdale State College are developing a much needed program,” explains Caiola. “Graduates will have a working knowledge of supply chain applications and will be better prepared to enter the job market. With the ongoing support of Infor, we look forward to expanding the curriculum throughout the SUNY system and beyond. It is an investment in U.S. manufacturing, which is important for the health of our country’s economic future.”