The document discusses the evolution of enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems from early inventory control software in the 1960s to modern ERP platforms. It describes how ERP systems initially focused on automating individual business functions like inventory management before expanding in scope to integrate across business areas with MRP in the 1970s and MRPII/ERP in the 1980s-1990s. The document notes ERP now covers the complete range of business activities and extends beyond individual companies to support inter-organizational processes and partnerships through technologies like e-commerce. Finally, it outlines some key differences between traditional ERP and newer ERP II systems, which optimize entire supply chains through external collaboration.