Executive Summary The current inventory processes we have in place are not as efficient as they could be. The main problem is there is no communication between departments, factories, and suppliers. This causing an abundance of wasted man hours, and inventory produced. Our goal is to provide more communication between departments, factories, and suppliers to create more efficiency and produce less waste. We would need a complete system overhaul in our inventory system. Based on our analysis we would need a new inventory management system, and we would also need to create an extranet system to communicate between departments and suppliers. This system would have department specific login, and department specific information given based on that login. This would improve communication in all areas. An example is that the suppliers could log in and see our specific needs based on sales. The sales department could see the amount we have merchandise is available to customers based on the amount stored in the warehouse and so on. In the development of the new software program we request that one person from each department and from each factory would come to help us create this new software tool. This is to make sure it is applicable to their department. This feedback would make in user-friendly and specific to that field. The system would be set up at our corporate headquarters, and would need an IT department dedicated to system maintenance. We would need to help our suppliers with connectivity, and connect all factories using this system. There would also have to be regional training in that one person from each department would need to go through to train others. The estimated cost of this improvement would be approximately 7.5 million dollars. This would be recuperated 3.75 years by the reduction in overproduction and man hours. However, with this improvement we would have a competitive edge in our field and could potentially increase our market share. Service Request Solution Setting up the network basis is necessary to the success of this project. A Client/Server network is needed to implement through a TCP/IP protocol. Each plant will function as Local Area Network linked together as a Wide Area Network. All the users with the access will have the ability to exchange information instantly. This configuration will generate the best and secured settings to create and direct the information to the users.
The project that will be examined is an upgrade to our main Human-Machine Interface (HMI) software: Cimplicity, to SQL Server and to the Windows OS. Cimplicity is a product of the GEFanuc group of General Electric. This group develops a full suite of applications used in the manufacturing environment. By way of introduction, the manufacturing floor environment uses a variety of types of equipment. To control these machines, a specialized computer is used. For the purposes of simplicity (not the program), this paper will refer to them all as PLC's or Programmable Logic Controllers. Most of these PLC's are accessible via the ethernet and communicate to our Protocol Data Units (PDU) in the computer room. These PDU's have Cimplicity installed on them in the form of projects that are named for the various areas or functions of our plant such as GA or General Assembly. The project we are undertaking will be a fundamental change to these PDU's in our computer room. The servers currently run Windows NT and will be upgraded to Windows Server 2003 or Windows 2000 and SQL Server will will be upgraded from version 7 to SQL 2000.
Ava Beane has considered, within the case study, two possible alternatives that would help enforce the four objectives given from the Scientific Glass executives. These four objectives are: improve order fulfillment time for both old and new customers, reduce customer backorders; reduce sales team involvement in tracking and expediting delayed product orders; and increase inventory turnover which would reduce overage and underage costs. Beane hypothesize that to achieve these objectives, the company would either have to centralize all warehouse functions or to completely outsource the warehouse process (Schmidt and Wheelhouse, pg. 6-7).
After almost 50 years of operation, Best Buy is the leading retailer of consumer electronics, mobile phones, computers, appliances, televisions, digital imaging, and entertainment products. The company operates online retail and retail stores under the name Best Buy and owns Geek Squad, Magnolia, Five Star, Future Shop and Pacific Sales. The company has two segments. A Domestic segment which is composed of its operations in the United States; and international which is composed of its operations in Canada, Mexico and China. The company has 1500 stores worldwide, with 1100 big box and 400 Best Buy mobile standalone stores. Best Buy has an abundance of information systems that it relies on heavily for inventory management, distribution, customer fulfillment and customer facing point of sale that must all interact and operate together in order for Best Buy, both online and in-store to achieve and maintain its goals for customer satisfaction and sales.
The implementation phase of the System Development Life Cycle (SDLC) is the most perplexing and crucial part of the project. Riordan Manufacturing has carefully chosen the stakeholders to ensure implementation of the Human Resources system. Going forward, a decision needs to be made in regards to what departments get the system installed first to last. The first group to use this new HR system will be the Information Technology department, followed by Human Resources. Going in this order will be the most strategic in gaining acceptance and will also train the IT folks how to use it so they can support it the end users. Lastly the remaining departments will have the software pushed to the workstations, one group at a time.
Imagine that you have just earned your business degree and have been hired as a hospital administrator at a small hospital that, like many others, is experiencing financial problems. Having studied finance, you know that efficient cash management is important to all firms in all industries to meet the day-by-day operations of the firm. One way to ensure such efficiency is to use a carefully planned and managed inventory control system that can reduce the amount of cash an organization has tied up in inventory. Being familiar with Just-In-Time Inventory, you know it is a proven system that helps reduce the costs of managing inventory.
Inventory is important to the supply chain, yet it is not universally well understood. It is considered as an economic asset to a non-income-producing use of capital funds. It is characterized, both positively and negatively in the aforesaid sentence. Only when considered in light of all quality, client service and economic factors—from the viewpoints of purchasing, manufacturing, sales and finance—does the whole picture of inventory become clear. Effective inventory management is essential to supply chain competitiveness.
Inventory management is the first line of defense for a restaurant in keeping their customers safe and free of food borne illnesses. Also this is a cost effective measure to ensure that you are receiving exactly what the distributor promised you when you placed your order. There are numerous ways to implement safe receiving and storage procedures; as well as, understanding what you are getting. We will take a look at how inventory management is a vital asset to your restaurant and why it should not be taken lightly or overlooked.
My company is always searching for methods that will help companies become more efficient. Recently, I had the privilege of attending a Microsoft conference that introduced Nike’s Chairman, President and CEO, Mark Parker as the guest speaker. Apparently, due to, demand fluctuations and stiff competition, Nike now has an abundance of excess inventory. Upon hearing this startling revelation, I immediately thought about the Adapting Supply Chains to Tough Times, case study I read the other day. However, the problem that I discovered with Nike is that it has multiple locations, that all have different inventory needs. For instance, the Air Jordan X Retro “OVO” might sell well on the west coast, but not as well in the east. Therefore, my dilemma was to incorporate components of inventory management that would fit every location. Obviously, I had already begun
department is in need of a complete new system in order to keep up the quality work
As competition increases within organizations of similar markets, seeking ways to improve overall operations of a business is imperative. Businesses strive for development and that can be done by constructing an effective and efficient supply chain and inventory managing system. Supply and inventory management must be regulated by both the suppliers and the leadership teams of an organization, but primarily the organization being that they know exactly what products are needed for production. Planning, scheduling, forecasting and knowing an entities consumer demands are some qualities that can pursue a business with managing these operations. Organizations must assure its operations are sufficient to the point
Inventory management software is, usually, tailored to the inventory functions needed by the organization (Saxena, 2009). Typical inventory management systems used include Vendor-Managed Inventory (VMI), Warehouse Management System (WMS), and Inventory Control Systems (ICS) (Bidgoli, 2010). Common features provided in the mentioned applications are: (a) order management that determines and automatically handles stock replenishments based on determined threshold; (b) asset tracking that allows tracking of materials via barcode or serial number once it is stored in a warehouse or storage facility; (c) service management that enables analysis of production phases and activities in terms of cost, time consumed, workforce needed, and other criteria; and (d) product identification that is enabled through barcode reading or radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags (Lang, 2009; Bidgoli, 2010). Organizations require the maintenance of their inventories to serve its unique function in the production chain. Inventories can be classified according to its functions, which in turn directs how these materials should be managed (Saxena,
According to Srinidhi and Tayi (2004), companies that are flexible enough and are able to change from a JIT system to a traditional inventory system will have a competitive advantage over other firms who do not switch. In such uncontrollable environments, the major benefit of JIT becomes a handicap with the increase in delivery times and the added data handling and coordination required in such times. This leads to a decrease in quick response time, which ultimately leads to increase in costs to the firm.
Riordan Manufacturing can continue to expand by reducing the inventory cost of raw materials and finished goods. Riordan currently has a legacy MRP Information System (IS) in place, and this project provides an excellent opportunity to upgrade the infrastructure to allow for a more cost-efficient way to track inventory.
Inventory management is a method through, which a business handles tangible resources and materials to ensure availability of resources for use. It is a collection of interdisciplinary processes including a full circle from the demand forecasting, supply chain management, inventory control and reverse logistics. Inventory management is the optimization of inventories of manufactured goods, work in progress, and raw materials. According to Doucette (2001) inventory management can be challenging at times; however, the need for effective inventory management is largely seeing more as a necessity than a mere trend when customer satisfaction and service have become a prime reason for a business to stand apart from its competition. For example, Wal-Mart’s inventory management is one of the biggest contributors to the success of the company;
However inventory is difficult to manage because it crosses so many lines of responsibility. The purchasing manager is responsible for supplies of raw material and would like to avoid shortages and to purchases in bulk order take advantages of quantity discounts.