Riordan_Business_Systems_Analysis

Riordan Business Systems Analysis Riordan Manufacturing uses many different methods to accomplish its mission of providing service to its customers. However, to maintain its status within the corporate world, Riordan needs to make certain changes. By taking a look into the current business systems, from methods to technology, Riordan can ensure its processes function smoothly and it will be capable of being competitive down the line. To better understand the current and future configurations, analysts have compared current setups with future or recommended ones. By taking a look into standardizing all sites, improvements in information systems in the financing department, and how operations can function more smoothly, Riordan Manufacturing managers should be capable of making informed decisions on the future of their company. Standardization of all Riordan Sites In order for this project to be a success Riordan needs to start by upgrading all of its sites with new Windows Servers, user computers, printers, software, hubs, telephone systems, and internet connectivity to all of its sites in Pontiac, Michigan, Albany, Georgia, the China plant, and Headquarters. After doing an extensive inventory of each location the following equipment should be upgraded: Current Configurations Site Servers Workstations Network Printers Connection Telephone Pontiac 2 x Pentium III Windows NT 256MB RAM 45 x Pentium I & II Windows 98 4 x Hubs 5 x Older Laserjets 1 x Fractional T1 Antiquated Albany 2 x Pentium III Windows NT 512MB RAM 20 x Pentium I - III Windows 98 2 x Older Laserjets 1 x Fractional T1 Antiquated China 1 x Hub 1 x Older Laserjet HQ 1 x Hub Future Outlook Site Servers Workstations Network Printers Connection Telephone All 1 x Backup & SQL Server Pentium IV Windows 2000 or Higher New Network/Duplex Laserjets Full T1 VoIP By upgrading the Windows NT servers and adding the backup server and firewalls to the sites Riordan can secure its network from any and all hackers coming in from the internet to the site networks. After securing the network Riordan can then standardize its databases to SQL where information can readily be shared between sites. By using SQL data and customer information will be able to be more secure. While completing the updates to the database software Riordan will need to upgrade its workstations at two of four sites. When Riordan upgrades the systems and standardizes to one Operating System and Office software it will be able to share documents between all sites. One concern is that current operating systems do not allow security on workstations. When Riordan does not have security on its workstations it is open to internal theft or misuse. Analysts recommend the purchase of additional Uninterruptable Power Supplies (UPS) to power servers in case of power outages at all sites. The last item recommended is to upgrade internet connections from fractional T-1 lines, especially at Albany and Pontiac sites, to full T-1s. With all of these recommendations in place Riordan could implement a backup system which is lacking. Riordan will need to setup daily backups on each site as well as live updates between all sites so that there is security and ready access to current data for all sites in case of loss of communication between any sites. By backing up the data at each site first Riordan will be adding a second layer of security and each site will have faster response time when accessing the data instead of having to go over the Internet to the off-site data storage system. This will make it easier to secure the data and complete live backups over the Wide Area Network (WAN). By running live updates at all sites, up to the minute inventory and customer information is a real possibility. It will be work intensive and costly to revamp the entire network at all locations, but security of customer’s data must occur at all costs. Riordan Manufacturing cannot take data or network setup too lightly, because the cost for the loss of data is much more expensive than fixing the issues now. The recommendations made are to keep Riordan competitive and to keep the company safe and secure. Right now, if one system went down Riordan would lose a major part of its data. When one puts a dollar amount to the loss of data and time if these changes are not made, one can see it does not compare to the cost of the upgrades and additions that are required. Finance and Accounting Getting manufacturing on one system is going to require that parts of the hardware, including some workstations and servers, have new workstations and upgrades completed to existing systems to make sure there are no compatibility issues with current and future applications. Recommendations must be applied toward the existing networks to perform at the rate needed and address the concerns the company has along with goals and levels the company is required to be at to supply excellent performance without issues. The problem with the finance and accounting department is that the four locations have different network setups. China and San Jose’s corporation run the same configuration, with some additional equipment, and Pontiac and Albany do the same. The hardware make-up is illustrated in the following diagrams. Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4 The above network designs need to be changed to run the new software program that is going to be loaded on the network servers. The hard drives, Operating Systems, and Random Access Memory (RAM) on these individual workstations need to be upgraded before any software programs can be loaded or function without causing incompatibility with hardware and software. The servers have to be upgraded in the areas of hard drive space for any software housed; certain servers need upgrading and replacement due to the amount of the files to be stored, and the access control levels for personnel accessing the database that will be stored on the servers. Recommendation for the hardware changes for San Jose is that the 15 Mac g5s need to be upgraded from the 1GB hard drives to 60 or 80GB hard drives. The 75 workstations located at the San Jose and China locations need hard drive upgrades with the capacity of 160GB or more for individual workstations and RAM upgrades from 512 MB to 2GB. This will give the workstations a great base for software downloads, installation and running of more than one program. This may be an issue that is causing system crashes, data loss, and extensive downtime to bring a crashed server back online. The software operating system to be loaded on any standalone workstation should be either Vista or XP, these operating systems will be stored on the servers in case of workstation crashes or Windows errors that may cause the system to be reloaded and the machine to be reimaged. Michigan and Georgia have a total of 65 workstations that need to be replaced. The specifications will be mirrored from the San Jose and China locations so that everyone will have the same setup, if not the same workstations. In addition to the hardware replacements, the network cabling in Michigan has to be changed from CAT 3 to CAT 5. According to Net Services (2007), says that “CAT 3 cable is an unshielded twisted pair (UTP) cable designed to reliably carry data up to 10 Mbit/s, with a possible bandwidth of 16 MHz.”. The change to CAT 5 will allow more data to be transmitted at a faster rate. Kanye (2008) states that “Cat-5 cable supports data speeds of 100 mbps or more. A standard Cat-5 cable can also reach 300 feet (100 meters), and aside from networks and telephones it can be used for many other purposes.” With these changes the networks are going to be faster and more functional than in the past. The servers are another issue that has to be changed in order to make sure that the network stays online with minimal downtime, except for maintenance. The hardware needs to be replaced along with the workstations. The hardware to be changed consists of motherboards in four servers, to Core Duos, 4 GB RAM and terabyte drives on not just these servers, but all the location servers. The terabyte drives should be separated into usable storage space. These changes will be a great improvement over what is currently in place. The Financing and Accounting Departments should run Coda Dream, which would be loaded on the servers for every location. It has capabilities that will allow the data running in the windows environments to be downloaded into the new software without data loss. Simple visual basic programs can be run if there is specific information desired. This software runs on the .NET framework, SQL, and Windows servers. This is going to be where the access control levels will be enforced. Access for this certain level will require an Active Key with a Personal Identification Number (PIN) utilizing a Virtual Private Network (VPN) tunnel. This will be set up for the workers that want to access it from an offsite location via a notebook. All software should be loaded on company assigned equipment. Any remote access should use the Active Key feature, due to some of the remote usage required for finance working from home or offsite. Some of this work could include meetings that require financial information as part of a presentation. This software would be in real time, so the financial records could be prepared in less than 10 days and auditing could take days instead of weeks. With these changes, the network would perform at the level the company seeks to achieve. Operations Riordan Manufacturing has many operations in various locations. Currently, statistics of operations are shown using Microsoft products, such as Project, Excel, and Word. The type of information contained within these types of files consists of blueprints, statistics, inventories, memorandums, and reports. Each area of operation is separated within the intranet page. These areas consist of inventory; supply chain; project process; production and strategic planning, placed together due to their interrelationship; and communication. Inventory Riordan currently tracks inventory of raw materials, their usage, product creation, and shipment to the end customer using an inventory system. Each area either uses paper logs or database systems to input information. Personnel give that information to the inventory clerk for input to the inventory database. While this method does work, it creates many possibilities for mistakes, omissions, and loss. A better method would be to have one application that is capable of receiving all information and is networkable through each department. For more ease, shipments could be bar-scanned to allow for more accurate tracking of quantity, weight, or volume. This scanning could be uploaded to the system to account for raw materials. Then, as a product is completed, an employee could select what they assembled and the quantity. From this, the application would pull the amount of raw material entered. As the product made its way to the billing and shipping department, the number of products on inventory would decrease, based on the number of orders. This would ensure a more accurate and timely record of raw materials, products on hand, and products on order is available. Supply Chain To keep production going, there is a need to bring in raw material and ship out finished products. Within the China and Georgia plants, it is difficult to know how much raw material to have on hand, but the facilities are too small to store a large bulk of extra substances. There is a small amount kept in reserve. The larger problem exists with contracts between buyers and Riordan, because there is not a schedule regarding when the buyers will wish to have more product. China’s supplier is borderline unreliable, even though they forecast needs. Georgia purchases additional materials as orders come in. When the product is complete, each area uses a shipping company to get the product to the buyer, whether local or international. To provide a better response time to customers and ensure immediate material and product order status, a Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) system is recommended. This system allows the suppliers of the raw material and Riordan to be in instant contact. The application keeps an inventory of on-hand stock and calculates how much raw material is required based on received orders. By implementing a system such as this, suppliers would immediately know how much material Riordan would need at its plants as soon as the order was received from a Riordan customer. VMI provides both the supplier and the buyer to easily see when items are required. Additionally, this software could provide Riordan customers with a status of their order and allow them to order their items directly, without having to submit a paper order form or call to place it. Project Process Post project reviews are extremely important, because they allow all parties involved and future groups to learn from mistakes and answer the questions of how things could have been done better. Currently, Riordan has teams that are formed to lead discussion based on surveys and information gathered from project tracking tools. Meetings are held to come up with items to discuss and then surveys are put together with questions specific to the project. Once the surveys are completed, the results are compiled and discussed at another meeting. After the final draft of the “Lessons Learned“is written, the entire package is stored in an archive library. To improve this, all information could easily be pulled if all project information were located in the same database, but using different tabs or directories. The post project reports should, also, be stored electronically with the project to allow for easier access to the project from start through finish to review. By having all the information in one place, anyone would be able to easily pull all the data he or she required. Strategic Planning and Production All strategic planning is easily capable of being seen through Microsoft products, such as Excel and PowerPoint. Each individual’s responsibilities are outlined in an easy to read format and all items are clearly laid out. The production area shows blueprints, design ideas, and after-action reports from previous projects. At this point, two projects are listed. These projects are the Pyramid Bottle Project and Cardicare Valve. Contained on the intranet page is a link to the plans and blueprints for the Pyramid Bottle, but only the after-action reports are listed for the Cardicare Valve. The only true improvement that could be made is to use this information and archive data to create a type of document library. This document library could be used to quickly and easily access planned ongoing, completed, and reviewed projects. Having a system such as this would allow for easy access of goals and responsibilities or training of new employees. By giving new employees a better understanding of where each level of the company wishes to be or what it strives for, the new employee can gain a better understanding into Riordan Manufacturing as a whole. Communications All communication is, currently, located on the Intranet and labeled “Confidential” if data is not to be seen by too many parties. This allows easy access to those who require the correspondence for their position. To better secure information from individuals who wish to cause harm or mischief to a company, a more secure method of storage and retrieval of memorandums should be implemented. This could include a file storage hierarchy, which has restrictions on who has the permission to access the directories. The permissions could easily be controlled by an Information Technology administrator who would restrict and grant based on guidance from the originators of the messages and the location of the files. Using this type of system, there could be numerous folders created electronically, which could have various security groups added to them for access. Riordan Manufacturing supplies many useful products. However, to remain competitive and continue to provide quality products while increasing productivity, it is important that an analysis of current and needed systems is completed. Based off of the recommendations supplied, managers and owners should be able to easily make decisions and determinations on the future road Riordan plans to take. By implementing any one of the changes recommended, Riordan should be able to continue to supply the best products available to its clientele. By taking a look at standardization procedures for all sites, making improvements in information systems to apply to the financing department, and how operations can function more smoothly by making a few changes, Riordan is on track to remain a competitive company for many years. References Kanye, R. (2008). Wise geek: What is CAT-5 cable' Conjecture Corporation. Retrieved September 24, 2008, from http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-cat-5-cable.htm. Net Services. (2007). Cat 3 cable. Net Services, Inc. Retrieved September 24, 2008, from http://netservices1.com/cat3.html.