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Riordan Manufacturing Proposal
Riordan Manufacturing Proposal
University Of Phoenix
CIS/319
Cornell Perry
Introduction
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in the business world today. Most enterprises already have a IT infrastructure in place,
and are now taking the lessons they've learned from previous efforts to remedy
problematic areas like data quality and infrastructure standardization. At the same time,
many enterprises are also moving toward the next steps in the evolution of IT
infrastructure and are adopting new technologies and approaches such as data
long term financial goals. An IT infrastructure would solve many of these problems.
Cost savings would be realized through the reduction of duplicated efforts and service
departments and a newly formed corporate IT department (CIT). A CIO will provide
technical leadership for IT related issues and Cost Centers will be created at each
installation to adhere to strict purchasing guidelines. In addition, the CIO will establish
such as manufacturing and distribution, so they can do business more efficiently with
their resellers and suppliers. While short term financial goals will be impacted by this
sizable project, the long term health of the company will benefit from this necessary and
important step.
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Riordan Manufacturing strives for continued profits and market share for the year
2006. A 50 million dollar sales revenue figure is an approachable goal. However, the
company needs to streamline processes, as short and long-term goals will be increasingly
difficult to achieve using current standards. The problem analysis will focus on
Finance and Accounting documentation errors lead to inaccurate data and costly
retroactive audits. Major compatibility issues exist as each major division of the
company uses a different system. The Georgia and Michigan plants use different
accounting systems and the corporate center in San Jose uses a different system as well.
Delays in financial reporting are common which lead to decreased investor confidence
and lack of future capital investment. Homogeneous finance and accounting software
must be implemented in all divisions with timely and accurate information reported to
Finance and accounting purposes need to be broken up, identified, and then
receivable, order entry will be maintained by one system, and a suitable software package
will be found to meet all the above options. A single server, with mirroring will suffice
for the above needs, and of course; a proper backup solution will be needed for
safekeeping of this data. Various software packages are out there that could handle the
above needs. Microsoft has a few that could be explored. These include Solomon and
Great Plains. Others may also be explored, with one being settled on by price, and
functionality. All this data needs to be made available to the headquarters in California at
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a moments notice. The software will need to be able to be run across WAN’s, so people
in California can bring up any reports they desire to see at a moments notice.
Financial reporting is the next package to look at. The Finance and Accounting
department will be responsible to keep this software up to date. The software itself needs
the ability to tie into the above software for tracking purposes, and report building. It
would run off the same server, or another could be purchased to run this piece. The data
needs to be up to date, to the second for reporting purposes to gain investor confidence.
The software will need to be able to produce reports showing financial trends, which
could be reported to California as needed, or requested. The profit and loss statement
part to financial reporting will need to work in unison with the Sales and Marketing
department to be able to share valuable financial information, such as trends, so the sales
and marketing department can adjust their consumer strategy on the fly. This can be
telephony-over-IP systems.
The Sales and Marketing department is in dire need of a historical and current
database. Current and past sales can then be compared and trends can be analyzed for
further profits. Currently, historical sales are stored in file cabinets. Prestigious design
awards are stored in showcases in the Marketing Department. These awards need to be
added to the website for greater visibility. Riordan Mfg. also needs a greater online
presence with a state of the art website to attract customers. Sales need to be established
online.
The Sales and Marketing department itself will be using the newly created IT
department quite heavily. They will need databases built to consolidate customer
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accounts. These databases will also need to store historical sales figures, and will need to
be able to cross-reference with table in the Financial department. These reports that
could be generated from cross-referencing sales data with financial tracking will produce
marketing reports and trends. These trends will allow sales to adjust their output, and
thus increase profit in the lines that are currently a hot item. The profits, or losses,
generated by the market trends will be relayed back to the Finance and Accounting
necessary for company survival. Information Technology (IT) and IT-based systems will
systems have enormous potential to make information much more accessible and to
greatly improve Riordan The creation of an IT department will require a setup or diagram
of the needs of the company and the expected date that it can be implemented. To assist
in this manor a systems analyst will have to be hired to formulate the specific needs base
upon location, design, needs and projections. Other criteria will also have to be
considered such as, security issues, e-commerce and automation and collaborations of
various systems. Once the specifics have been determined and implemented there will
now be systems in place to cover most of the information in terms of finance, daily
Manufacturing’s efficiency, there is a need to ensure that new systems projects are
systems projects follow a life cycle consisting of several phases. Each division of Riordan
San Jose, California who will interact daily with the CIO. System analysts should also
contact the Manager, Corporate Systems IT (CIT), to discuss the most appropriate phases
Generally, Riordan Manufacturing information systems projects will require five phases
B Planning
D Control – Executed for the life of the project. Includes monitoring progress,
updating project plans, schedule and conduct of meetings, Quality Assurance
Inspections, management of risks and issues as required, scope management.
problematic over budgeting. Each Cost Center will relay IT expenditure to Corporate IT
(CIT). Each Cost Center will also ensure that the business and IT needs of Riordan
Manufacturing are met and will ensure that a consistent and streamlined approach to
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purchasing IT products is attained. Cost Center Responsibilities: Cost Centers will have
behalf of each division. This work is part of the normal budgetary and financial
reconciliation process.
needed. Riordan Manufacturing must make a concerted effort for homogeneity amongst
established between all entities. This can be achieved through a Microsoft Exchange e-
mail system. Each manufacturing facility appears to be operating individually with little
or no communication between them. All operating units will use equivalent software and
hardware with phasing in to begin immediately. Accurate Finance & Accounting records
must be kept. Computerized accounting systems will track accounts receivable and
payable. All operating units will use standardized corporate financial software to achieve
this goal. The Sales and Marketing units will need to establish an online order system.
The online retail industry is a multi-billion dollar a year entity. Riordan Manufacturing
needs an online presence. The Raw Materials & Inventory Departments will also benefit
from system-wide changes. The use of electronic controls for raw material storage and
inventory controls will save expense and time. All these implementations cannot take
created at the San Jose, California facility with a CIO being used as liaison with corporate
to avoid costly production interruption. A new website will be created to represent the
new Riordan Manufacturing image. All production facilities will be retrofitted with the
Finally, electronic sales will need to be established with an online web site. The
companies overall image could be made over with a newly redesigned website.
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Incorporating today’s technologies with an online sales engine will ensure a higher profit
margin, and greater notability in the business world. The web site could be featured in
several pertinent magazine and newspaper articles to generate buzz about the new face on
the company. This will generate new interest, and new clients and customers.
In order to streamline operations within the inventory process there are a couple
of systems within the company that will need to be improved. The first system that will
be streamlined will be the invoicing and shipping areas. These departments will input
information into a computer using either a scanner that uses OCR, by hand keying the
information into the system, or with the use of software that will take direct orders. Once
the information is inside the computer the information will be controlled through
database software. This will allow for the ease of information recall and storing, and aid
in billing and distribution. The second system will be the implementation of a barcode
reader and the use of Radio Frequency Identification Markers (RFID). This will allow
for inventory within the company to be electronically tracked; through a manual system
technology in which the inventory talks to the system, with the use of RFID, the user
knows exactly where the inventory is. The use of these items will enable the third
levels. This will help to improve supply concerns that are occurring regionally.
There is a need for the company to increase sales and the projections are as high
as 50 million dollars. IT implementation will increase this projection quickly. The use of
e-commerce software and the ability to track your sales online will be an asset to the
finance department. Software like QuickBooks or much more sophisticated software can
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give you tracking and invoicing tools and provide you with tax information and overall
detailed breakdowns. This will require fewer hands on from the finance department and
With more companies relying on IT to get them over the hump of financial gain
the Riordan Company is no different. With the company having multiple locations it is
necessary to have all the information compiled into one source. Databases are the
primary source of calculating and collecting and shared data throughout the networks.
Affiliation and joint ventures are crucial to investing and venture capital that is
need for the company to grow. Being involved in the securities business will definitely
bring on worldwide investors. With this company being a member of the SEC shows
worldwide investors that they have the potential for growth. As the investors become
involved the shares will increase and so will the profit margin.
IT appears to be the primary source amongst many for the growth of this
company. The infrastructure has a sound base of investors and profit that makes it a
viable company. With these options the company can attract more investors and expand
its markets to allow for the anticipated growth expected in the projections. Please see
Finally, the stakeholders should be considered. Aside from the four basic
stakeholders involved which is the People’s Republic of China, this is a joint venture the
Georgia, Michigan, and California entities, there is additional interest both inside and
outside the company. The shareholders, who consists of banks, and lenders, customers,
workers and several divisions within the internal financial structure of the company
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everyone form the CEO to the board of directors. Other involvement comes from the auto
Conclusion
It is now evident that for businesses to grow and succeed, organizations and
has reached a terminal point in that inefficiencies are undermining revenue and profits.
information from suppliers, and the like had been traditionally done using telephone,
faxes, and traditional postage mail. These activities can now be performed dynamically
thereby automating the entire work flow process. In addition, a corporate IT (CIT)
department can oversee all operations from a remote facility. In general, economists
agree that utilizing new technologies in the business place is a requisite for survival.
Overall, the intent of this report is to lay an intellectual framework for implementing