Business Intelligent Systems - ABC Case Study

Informatique | 17 pages | 01-12-2005 | Format : | Note : Non noté |

PRIX : 5.40€ |

Résumé

Case study about ABC company, a global manufacturing company.
The goal of this paper is to advice ABC with Business Intelligent Systems, which can be used to solve its problems.

We will first analyze the situation and highlight the different problems the company is facing; based on the different managers' comments.

We will then propose concrete BIS solutions such as:

- KM (Knwoledege Management)
- ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning)
- GSS (Group Support System)
- ...

We will give in each of our advice different alternatives for the company (generally a cheap, medium, and high price solution).

Finally, we will have a discussion about the issues of implementing such systems in a company.

Executive Summary:

Managers from ABC company have expressed a lot of their actual problems, which can be all solved by the use of BIS tools. It is thus very easy to say what kind of BIS tool may be used to solve a particular problem.
An EIS software will be the solution to help the managers to have good information about the whole business in real-time, but ABC's core IT backbone has to be put in order first (by the use or not of an ERP software). The Distribution Manager may rely on AI, ERP, and DSS software to process all the orders electronically and rely on a more rational way to select suppliers. The Production Manager actually has problems with planning, and thus DSS can help him do better forecasts by conducting what-if analysis. The Product Design Manager can easily implement a KMS within its department as well as a GSS to help his team share the knowledge and conduct online meetings. Finally, the Marketing Manager can also rely on a KMS to improve the communication, and buy a Data Mining software to better understand the customers' needs.
But all these terms are just concepts, and imply a lot of changes in ABC business processes, as well as reengineering and training. As ABC is a multinational company and grows with Mergers and Acquisitions, a lot of issues can be raised.
For example, should ABC rely on an ERP system as the backbone of its IT infrastructure: how to integrate all the languages and be sure the future firms acquired will easily integrate the new processes? Can we really come with these concepts, just giving some software names to solve the actual problems? It does not seem to be a realistic solution.
Firstly, because every IT investment has to be linked with the company's strategy. But also because implementing such softwares have a long-term impact, so we have to see further the actual implementation issues.
Some of the systems like the KMS can today be easily integrated within some departments, because they will improve the performance of the concerned departments, and will not have a huge impact on the overall business process like an ERP may have.
But the use of others BIS tools require the implementation of an ERP first, or nevertheless, the standardization of some processes across all the departments and subsidiaries. Implementing such a system is not like implementing an off-the-shell software which may be successful in similar companies. In fact, ERP implementation can as well be a success for an organization, as a total failure for another one. And that is why the main job is to evaluate the different ERPs (if an ERP is really needed) that can be implemented in ABC, and from which one the company can leverage a sustainable competitive advantage that links to its business strategy.

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