Riordan

Identifying Required Process Changes

CIS 319: Computers Information and Systems

University of Phoenix

Executive Summary

Riordan Manufacturing is a Fortune 1000 global enterprise that manufactures plastics. They manufacture plastic beverage containers in Albany, Georgia; custom plastic parts in Pontiac, Michigan; and plastic fan parts in Hangzhou, China. Riordan is headquartered out of San Jose, California, which also homes their research and development team.

Riordan Manufacturing has received several service requests for improvements within the company. The following requests are some interest of improvement:

Manufacturing with Inventory

Final Product Shipping

Finance and Accounting

Marketing Research and Sales

Sales Department

The purpose of the project is to create a business requirement definition for the development or attainment of a MRP system to support the objective to reduce inventory cost. Implementation of a plan to add XML support to the databases of Riordan Manufacturing, will allow them to track shipments and orders throughout its supply train.

In order to increase efficiency, accuracy and improve on time management in many of Riordan Manufacturing departments, we have outlined the following suggested changes.

Raw Materials Receiving New Process:

The receiving clerk will scan the invoice that is linked to the main software system that includes the shipment details on inventory to be received. The barcode will relate to an order that has been placed and the arrival of the products is logged. This bar code data will transfer to the finance and accounting department to ensure proper payment for materials received. The receiving clerk does a visual scan of the shipment to assure size and quantity is within reason of the information displayed to him via his PDA.

The unloading team unloads the truck and moves the raw materials into the raw materials area in the warehouse. The unloading team will scan the individual bulk units when stocking for accuracy.

This will eliminates the need for the receiving supervisor to log the raw materials because it is immediately logged into the system and then transferred to a shared database. This allows the supervisor to focus his/her efforts more on the overall efficiency of the warehouse. The supplier will file a paper copy of the order and keep it in the receiving clerks office for 12 months. After which, it will be archived and imaged for easy future retrieval and review. Instead of inputting the logged data into the system, the receiving clerk will now receive the purchase orders and file the paper copies.

Manufacturing with Inventory New Process:

As the manufacturing staff removes raw materials and sub-assemblies, they will scan the inventory they have taken by quantity. The scanning unit will be kept in the raw materials and sub-assembly areas to minimize equipment cost. Using a required employee number, employees will have to sign on to the computer, scan the master barcode of the item/items, and enter the quantity he/she will be removing. Like retail businesses, the scanning equipment will be similar. To allow the most accurate on hand inventory to be available to all users at all times; the device will need to be uploaded in the morning and downloaded to a PC at night.

To keep track of the scanning unit, a clipboard will be stored with the unit. Employees will have to sign out the equipment by entering his/her name, department, and time. This will be a visual tracking system, to assure duplicate requests are not made, and allow easy tracking of the equipment. As the sub-assemblies and final products are completed, they will be logged when stored. To minimize time and cost, an identical scanning unit will be placed by the storage location. This allows the databases to be updated instantly, instead of a clerk having to update the system.

Final Product Shipping New Process:

The inventory clerk can now become an order specialist. Previously, orders came from salespeople, phone, or fax; but now all orders will come to the order specialist for processing. The order specialist will enter the orders into the sales department database, which will update both the customer shipping, and the billing systems.

A simple workflow application, available through MICROSOFT OUTLOOK, allows the order specialist to send a task to the shipping department through and email. The shipping department reviews the email and prepares the merchandise for shipping.

Training for the new system will be minimal because the software is designed to minimize agent input and eliminate tedious warehouse processes.

Finance and Accounting New Process:

The shipping and receiving departments will utilize bar code technology. This will allow invoices to be scanned and uploaded to the accounting database by transferring data associated with the bar code into accounts payable and receivable invoices.

All four locations will be equipped with the proper equipment, i.e., wireless scanners, barcode label printers, and software. Pricing for this change is around $55,000 and covers two locations for all equipment needs such as wireless scanners, docking stations, and corresponding printers to print labels at a rate of 2.5 inches per second. This package also includes all necessary software to enable utmost utilization of bar code labeling.

The pilot locations will be Albany, Ga.; and Pontiac, MI. Trialing in just two locations will allow errors either in the submission format or in the overall process to be identified and corrected before implementation to all locations.

The shipping and inventory managers will be the pilot users of the system until all processes have been tested and corrected. In the event problems arise during the pilot phase, managers will have to continue to keep logging all previously stored info on all paper and inventory sheets so that the data will not be lost.

Once all three locations are online with the wireless scanners, Riordan will need to consider the purchase of additional scanners. Ideally, each location should have one extra scanner on hand. Due to the cost, additional scanners may be placed in the