Comparative Systems
In today’s sophisticated marketplace, Riordan should adopt enterprise systems that will facilitate information sharing and understanding of supply networks. Dekkers (2009) says that enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems are able to provide an integrated transaction processing infrastructure for Riordan, which will enhance its performance by reducing information inconsistency and by improving transaction processing. ERP will facilitate the integration of finance and accounting, sales and marketing, human resource, operations, legal and information technology departments at Riordan Manufacturing.
Supply chain management systems on the other hand will provide Riordan with a higher level of business planning and decision support related activities that involve the coordination and execution of multi-organization wide production and distribution process (Dekkers, 2009). Customer relationship management (CRM) facilitates the establishment and retention of valuable customer relations at Riordan through smartly utilizing consumer information to provide organizations with a inclusive, dependable and incorporated view of customer base. The success of customer relation management at Riordan will highly depend on the quality of customer information that is retained through several channels and customer touch points.
Riordan requires a customer relationship management because it is a business approach to improved management of customer operations and a collection of technologies to assist in automating those operations. Goldenberg (2002) says that the benefits of using CRM include better sales and marketing information for Riordan. CRM leads to improved productivity as a result of target market identification and reduction in the number of cold leads. In addition CRM enhances customer care through its ability to highlight existing or potential customer service problems (Goldenberg, 2002). On the other hand a ERP system is a software that integrates all departments and functions across a company onto a single computer system that can serve all those different departments particular needs. Enterprise resource planning integrates finance, human resources, manufacturing in a single application system and database that can run the entire organization more easily through sharing information.
There are various advantages of implementing ERP system at Riordan. ERP system at Riordan will lead to reduced inventory and inventory carrying costs. Leon (2007) says that ERP will allow Riordan customers to obtain information on costs, revenues and margins which allow it to better manage its overall cost structure. ERP will enable Riordan to attain improved sales and customer service. This will result from improved coordination of sales and production.
In addition, Leon (2007) says that an ERP system will enable Riordan to improve its customer contacts and meet delivery processes. Riordan will achieve efficient financial management through an ERP system. A supply chain management system is software will enables the delivery of customer and economic value at Riordan through integrated management of the flow of physical goods and associated information from raw materials sourcing to delivery of the finished goods to consumers.
System Appropriate for Riordan
ERP system is more appropriate for Riordan Manufacturing. This is because ERP solution seeks to streamline and integrate operation processes and information flows in the company to synergize the resources of Riordan namely workforce, materials, money and machine through information (Madan, 2005). Madan (2005) says that an ERP is suitable for Riordan because it will fully integrate business management system covering among other logistics, production, finance, accounting and human resources.
Advantages and Future Benefits of Each
ERP systems provide Riordan with flexibility to respond to changing business requirements. Madan (2005) says that an ERP system will enable the management of Riordan to make more informed management decision making. In addition ERP performs core activities and increases customer service thereby augmenting the corporate image. Madan (2005) further says that ERP system provides complete integration of the system not only across the departments but also across the companies under the same management.
CRM system ensures better trained and more skillful sales, marketing and customer service personnel. Goldenberg (2002) says that CRM provides more up to date customer information and easy access to customer information. The implementation of CRM ensures improved responsiveness to customer and prospect requests. A CRM Riordan will increase customer satisfaction hence ensure improved productivity (Goldenberg, 2002). In addition, a CRM system will ensure that the company has better sales and up to date marketing information.
Discuss the Pros and Cons of Each System as it relates to Riordan
Unlike ERP system which captures data online, a supply chain management system for Riordan will deal with and analyze information from different points in the supply chain. Madan (2005) says that if one supplier fails to deliver, the supply chain management system will help manager at Riordan to locate another who can deliver. For Riordan, an ERP system may lack the complex simulation and optimization module to take care of needs like dynamic scheduling, backward scheduling and planning.
The use of CRM at Riordan will enable the company to focus on the customer and therefore the company can expect to retain more customers over time. Goldenberg (2002) says that this will enable Riordan to retain more customers and lead to increased profitability. CRM can present a major challenge to the company due to lack of a sales, marketing and customer service strategy hence the company will be unable to identify the areas which need automation (Goldenberg, 2002).
Supply chain management system will enable Riordan Manufacturing to utilize their data to make decisions important decisions about supplies (Goldenberg, 2002). It is important for the manufacturing company to realize that ERP systems are linear and interactive while SCM systems are constraint based and optimized (Goldenberg, 2002).
The System that Best Fit Riordan’s Needs
Enterprise resource planning system is more appropriate for Riordan needs. This is because ERP is a strategic tool that helps the company to gain competitive advantage by incorporating all business processes and optimizing the resources available. Madan (2005) says that ERP is such a strategic tool which will equip Riordan with the required capabilities to integrate and synchronize the isolated functions into streamlined business processes in order to have an edge over its competitors.
Centralized-versus-Distributed-Server Model as an In-House Implementation to Cut Costs
In a centralized server model all network resources are located on one or more central servers. Client computers access the resource remotely and have little intelligence and little to no processing power. On the other hand, in distributed computing, network resources are located on the central server but some processing is carried out by both the servers and network clients. Considering that any new software installed must work with existing systems, an in-house client server model will ensure that the new system will interface with the existing systems and data. Another reason for developing in-house centralized and distributed server model is that the system will be customized according to Riordan requirements and reduce the cost associated customizing off-shelf software.
The Viability of Both as they Apply to Riordan
An in-house distributed computing system will enable Riordan to share information and peripheral resources. Jia & Zhou (2005) says that a distributed server model is more appropriate for Riordan because it results to improved performance of a computing system and individual users through parallel execution of programs, load balancing and sharing and replication of programs and data. A distributed system will be viable for Jia & Zhou (2005) because is characterized by enhanced availability and increased reliability. It is important for Riordan to consider both centralized and distributed computing environment so that they can coexist together on the same network. This will enable the combination of thin and fat clients and can utilize resources as required. An in-house centralized and distributed server model should be chosen in order to satisfy unique business requirements, to minimize changes in business procedures and policies
Provide the Pros and Cons of Each as they Pertain to Various Business Support Systems
In client server model all processing and storage of data are done on the centralized server. This implies that only screenshots of the resulting outcome are transmitted back to the client. Jia & Zhou (2005) says that the disadvantage of client server is because clients are generally known as thin clients hence in case of server failure the entire model is also non-functional.
The advantage of in-house distributed server model is that the clients can process the data which means that incase of server failure the fat clients will continue to carry out the processing. Another demerit of client server model is that each single server is a potential bottleneck (Jia & Zhou, 2005). The use of distributed server model increases reliability because users do not depend much on central servers. This means that there is no single point of failure.
