Business Savvy Tips: Technology to Improve Operations

Technology to Improve Operations The new e-Operations Manager for Prehistoric Computers has been given the task of applying technology to update and/or improve operations in support of the company's goals and strategies. The new manager has evaluated several different technologies that he thinks will benefit Prehistoric Computers and has settled on two of them: a shopping basket for the retail web site and an inventory management practice that will use bar coding to help automate inventory management. This paper will describe these technologies and then outline the manager's e-Operations plan.Shopping Basket

In utilizing the website offering for Prehistoric Computers, it will be necessary to provide a portal through which customers can purchase the systems that they want. Being able to build the computers they want, with the perks of hardware and software that they require, then process their purchase, will allow full use of the website by both Prehistoric and their customers around the world.

These portals interface with the company website and provide the customer with a "shopping basket system" that interface with "different credit card clearing services" that allow for secure transaction and also provide the company with features such as inventory, shopping basket, discounts, images, customer management, custom catalog capabilities, and banner advertising (Inline Internet Systems, Inc.). By providing a system on the Prehistoric website to facilitate online sales, Prehistoric will be able to increase sales and reach more customers at any time and place. Customers will access the company sales website, make their sections from the current inventory, place that item into their shopping basket, and process their order. The system will calculate sales price, applicable taxes and shipping costs, and then allow the customer to approve the order prior to the sale completion.

Development of such systems can be outsourced along with the development of the website to allow for perfect customization. Prehistoric historically sells a creatively different product and service. It would be expected that there website would have options that would differentiate it from others that sell similar products.

Inventory Management

Prehistoric Computer will integrate bar code technology to automate inventory management through e-business practices. This will allow Prehistoric Computer to strengthen its competitive advantage by reducing inventory and unfinished goods while meeting the demand of customers. First Prehistoric Computer will need to ask all vendors to include a bar code on every item they order.

A relational database will be created to store information about component parts. One table will store replenishment information such as minimum order quantities and distributor or manufacture. A second table will include the name of basic computer configurations with the UPC numbers of the components use to build them. When a vendor orders arrives in the receiving department, the component parts will be scanned into an unfinished goods database. The data recorded will include UPC numbers, descriptions, manufactures and model numbers. Each day a minimum number of standard configurations will be collected from the Web sites purchases.

Assembly line employees will then build the standard units and ship the orders. As the assembly line employees build the standard units, each component is scanned. During this process the item moves from unfinished goods inventory to finished goods inventory. The finished good inventory will then support the consumer demand from the web site. Minimum inventories will be automatically calculated through the Web sites sales trend and forecast.

As consumers purchase standard configurations, the minimum standard configuration inventory is credited and recorded as goods sold and sales. The cycle then repeats itself. When customers buy custom orders, the Web customer will select specific components from a selection that correctly assembles a compatible unit. The custom order credits the unfinished good inventory that scheduled the parts to be assembled by the assembly team where the inventory moves from unfinished goods inventory to goods sold and sales. A weekly forecast is scheduled for each individual component that establishes a minimum inventory level for each component. An extranet will allow vendors to manage their own inventory levels. Once a month the warehouse manager will reconcile the unfinished goods inventory to assure the integrity of the inventory management system. The web site will allow Prehistoric Computer to integrate scanning technology to automate and manage its inventory. The inventory management system will be more effective and efficient while meeting the demands of Prehistoric Computers customers.E-Operations Plan

The following will describe the technology, which will be leveraged to improve inventory management for Prehistoric Computers. This plan will support the overall business goals and strategies. Customer satisfaction will be improved from customer contact center, as a result of incorporating the new website a sensible balance or better stated streamlining of internal operations by internet technology will be created between order fulfillment and online inventory. The e-Operations plan will address all core competencies such as network, application/software, and professional services.

The network services will consist of both in-sourced and out-sourced resources. The Network Engineer Support, System Administration and Security will all be located on site. However, Enterprise Server Services, Help Desk Support and Management will be outsourced. The Network Engineers are needed on site because they design the solutions for supporting networks across multiple platforms and are involved in network projects from initial analysis to post implementation. System Administration and Security are also critical as they support the maintenance and network security f the systems that hold customer and corporate information.

For the initial implementation of the design the key players in the such as the Internet/Intranet Application Developer, Web Developer, Programmer, Software Engineer, Database Developer and Database administrator will all remain on site. Once stability on the system is satisfactory, we will begin to look for individual who can support dual roles as a means of reducing operational cost. Those who express interest internally will be educated in multifaceted areas.

The professional services will operate similar to the application software services. Included under professional services are configuration management, software configuration management, asset management, consulting, and technical writing. Change control falls under configuration management. Change control is needed so that the changes implemented are justified and do not impact the company's daily activities. The plan will also determine the time frame for configuration and physical audits. Software configuration management is key in the e-operations plan because it ensures integrity of application software for all lifecycles of development. Asset management includes physical, contractual and financial assets. As percentage based goals are made for the year, physical and contractual asset management will be out-sourced but for a means of compliance and control financial asset management will remain in-house. Technical writing will be a contractual versus full time job.

The e-operations plan will focus on control and flexibility to meet the customer's need. Internally we will elicit information to determine the customers need and have our web developers implement a low-cost solution in a timely manner. The e-operation plan is a combination of both insourcing and outsourcing the determination is made based on where the larger benefit resides for the lower cost.

Conclusion

Prehistoric Computer's new e-Operations manager has made the decision to incorporate a shopping basket and bar coding for Inventory management into his e-operations plan. These two technologies will help Prehistoric Computers to maintain their business and strategic goals by increasing sales from the web site and decreasing Inventory costs due to better management. The e-business plan will feature a combination of in sourcing and out-sourcing to allow greater flexibility with the limited budget that Prehistoric Computers is faced with. This flexibility is realized in both cost savings and the ability to add temporary personnel when needed to complete jobs in a timely manner.

Reference:

Merchant Editions. (n.d.). Retrieved April 7, 2004 on http://www.ihtmlmerchant.com/features_mall.htm