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.
In addition, on day 105, the reorder quantity was 13,200. This approach was effective as it increased the number of inventory kits available for production. In total, the company used $2,059,000 to increase its inventory levels. The increased inventory levels and the readjustments of reorder points enabled the factory to increase the number of jobs accepted each day as well as to reduce the number of jobs waiting for kits. In addition, there was a high number of kits queued at station one from day 80 which was accompanied by increased utilization of station one. Besides, we were able to reduce the lead time for all the orders and this enabled the company to increase its revenues.
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.
Lastly, the stores and warehouses are not communicating well which is resulting in confusion for both parties. Store managers waste time by having to spend store hours on the phone with the DC to expedite demanded stock. This time waste can be avoided by properly organizing the warehouse and having informed workers who can get the job done right and on time. Also worth mentioning is the current condition of the warehouse; there is inventory underneath conveyors and scattered across aisles, making it harder to track down stock.
This was one arrangement that disposed of the considerable number of issues IT offices were confronting. The machine can be gotten to remotely from a fundamental station this helped the overseer to push the software's, send overhauls and fix administration through the remote system. This product likewise implied that the officers can stay in their individual vehicles and concentrate more at work they have as opposed to investing hours in the IT office to get the redesigns. There was consistency in the framework as every one of the machines would get same programming over the system. This additionally implied the officer can utilize the framework to get to the information and issue tickets in
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.
Increase supplier efficiency with real time information on firm planned orders and forecast. Efficiency takes time but with the massive amounts of technology we have these days there is no reason why ORUN should not implement a management system to where they can effect change in their plants. A management system would include having a way to scan, locate and communicate the statuses of their real time information. Having such a system can close the significant communication gap the plants have throughout their companies. The system will also enhance customer service. With the ability to have a product on the shelf will alleviate the operation behind the scenes and will make customers happy with a rapid delivery time. Bottom line up front if ORUN wants to increase supplier efficiency with real time information they need a system that allows for that thus creating a well-rounded supply chain
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
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 of 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 seen 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; effective and efficient inventory management is of critical importance.
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,
The client/server software architecture is a versatile, message-based and modular infrastructure that is intended to improve usability, flexibility, interoperability, and scalability as compared to centralized, mainframe, time sharing computing. A client is defined as a requester of services and a server is defined as the provider of services. A single machine can be both a client and a server depending on the software configuration. This technology description provides some common client/server architectures and attributes.
Local Area Networks also called LANs have been a major player in industrialization of computers. In the past 20 or so years the worlds industry has be invaded with new computer technology. It has made such an impact on the way we do business that it has become essential with an ever-growing need for improvement. LANs give an employer the ability to share information between computers with a simple relatively inexpensive system of network cards and software. It also lets the user or users share hardware such as Printers and scanners. The speed of access between the computers is lighting fast because the data has a short distance to cover. In most cases a LAN only occupies one or a group of buildings located next to each other. For larger area need there are several other types of networks such as the Internet.
This can’t be said enough. The systems your business uses need to be connected and able to exchange information back and forth through an automated process.
Virtualization, which is when one computer hosts the appearance of many computers will be necessary for my future. Virtualization will be needed to access the company’s database to confirm client’s flight reservations, purchase orders, etc. We would also need it to have flight simulators for new parts at the manufacturing company. For example, we would need to have a flight simulator that will give us all the information a real computer would and that would respond to our commands, to test the plane without having to put the actual expensive software and hardware in the plane. The second concept that can be applied to my dream job is database management system. I would need this concept to be able to have an extensive amount of data that is accurate, to control redundancy, and to have a safe backup/recovery process. As an executive officer, I need to be able to rely on database management system to give me accurate information on parts that have caused flights to take emergency landings for example. This could include all the materials used in the production of the product or vendor information. Finally, the WAN concept is essential for my dream job because I need to be able to have computers that connect between two or more different sites. For a manufacturing company, there would be multiple sites where items
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.
Many industrial plants require a central computing facility to collect data from various sensors and then to act accordingly. For example, in a chemical engineering plant, as the pressure in one vat increases the computer registers this, and opens a release valve slightly while also adjusting the boiler temperature.