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It is a full feature ERP based on zope (zope.org) which is a python based application framework. ERP5 created Unified Business Model ( http://www.erp5.org/UnifiedBusinessModel) that can be used to create any business workflow using its 5A concept which underlies all functionality. It is based on the idea that there are nodes (warehouses, accounts, locations) that have paths (conditions for movements between nodes), resources (material etc) flow between nodes with defined paths and each instance of resource is an item that can be tracked. With a solid foundation of UBM which is thoroughly tested, one needs to define a workflow using these 5As and you have an application meeting *your* requirements. This is different from the idea of "best-practices" that more often than not are far from the processes that used within your organization. So, it means that organization does not have to bend itself to meet the requirements of the solution.

Probably the most effective solution would be to pick up one of long-living Open Source ERP projects, such as ERP5 and Compiere, because they have been proven to work in real business scenes for over 5 years, including both at SMEs and at large companies. The applications are very broad, like manufacturers, resellers, banks, hospitals, etc. So I don't think it would be difficult to apply such a solution to your target.

As for barcode, some USB barcode readers are broadly available, and they function just like keyboards. They are recognized as usual HIDs under Linux, so it is pretty easy to read code numbers as if they were key inputs from a keyboard.

Now I think that many of you are overlooking the bigger picture that indeed there are much larger Open Source financial packages such as Compiere (paid support available), ERP5 and ofbiz.org (which has a paid support beta program for their financial module which will be open sourced)
http://compiere.org/
http://www.erp5.org/
http://www.ofbiz.org/
http://www.opensourcestrategies.com/ofbiz/index.ph p

Don't say there aren't any such programs until you've checked out:
http://www.freshmeat.net/

For example, remote users struggled to grapple with a virtual private network (VPN) login system that required three different passwords to establish a connection. Furthermore, plans to introduce a customer relationship management (CRM) system floundered after it became clear that integrating CRM with the existing environment was simply going to be too much effort.

Ultimately, it was the failure of a network interface card and a hard drive that taught IT systems manager Ross Forgione just how wide the gap can be between vendor promises and reality. "Restoring and recovering of any messages that may have been deleted took 24 hours-plus," he recalls. "We were assured that there were procedures and processes you could follow to recover down to the individual message, but when it came to reality, it was a lengthy process and an absolute nightmare."

Compiere (http://www.compiere.com/ ) comes to mind as the one of leading contenders. This is because it is Java based thus allowing components. Here is some other OSS ERP projects (http://erp5.org/ ) (http://community.igalia.com/twiki/bin/view/Fister ra/WebHome ) (http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&ct=res&cd=6&url=ht tp%3A//www.itjungle.com/tlb/tlb022106-story01.html &ei=cT0NRO3oH4KAqwLc2rxa&sig2=5uLzyeFbC38zn2tar4EL jw ) (http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&ct=res&cd=7&url=ht tp%3A//www.ofbiz.org/&ei=cT0NRO3oH4KAqwLc2rxa&sig2 =vrPeV4du9fR0FCBlgci8xg ) OSS ERP article (http://searchsap.techtarget.com/originalContent/0 ,289142,sid21_gci1102271,00.html ) There does seem to a be a lot of projects suprisingly enough.

http://erp5.org/ is missing from the list of ERP solutions in the article.

I know of at least two more-or-less-big projects:

• ERP5
• Open for Business

Anyone care to comment on how all these projects compare to each other?