Sr-Rm-001

Executive Summary Riordan Manufacturing is a global plastics manufacturer employing 550 people with projected annual earnings of $46 million. The company is wholly owned by Riordan Industries, a Fortune 1000 enterprise with revenues in excess of $1 billion. Its products include plastic beverage containers produced at its plant in Albany, Georgia, custom plastic parts produced at its plant in Pontiac, Michigan, and plastic fan parts produced at its facilities in Hangzhou, China. The company's research and development is done at the corporate headquarters in San Jose. As requested by Hugh McCauley, COO, the University of Phoenix Team B has reviewed all areas of the organization and has come up with a solution that can be implemented over a short period of time with a high return on investment. The main focus will be placed on the inventory and manufacturing processes and systems. We have found many steps are handled manually that could be automated to improve performance and accuracy. A full physical inventory is performed yearly which causes plants to be closed during that time. Other areas of concern are the incompatibilities between the finance systems located at each facility. Attempting to consolidate financial reports has proven to be time consuming and inaccurate. Customer information is located in several databases causing Sales to spend time locating information in multiple systems. Much information is still stored on paper which can be lost and makes retrieval difficult and time consuming. Finally, the infrastructure at each site has been assessed and found to be in poor condition. Both hardware and software has exceeded the recommended life cycle. The financial systems used in each facility will be replaced with a Software as a Service (Saas) product from ABC Company. This product will incorporate the inventory, warehouse and manufacturing management tools, human resources, and sales. As a prerequisite to implementing the SaaS, the infrastructure of each facility will need to be upgraded. Computers will need to be replaced with compatible systems. Routers and firewalls will need to be installed and configured for higher levels of security and performance. The Pontiac facility will require all new network cabling. Wireless access points will need to be located throughout each facility to permit the use of wireless barcode readers. The process will begin with replacing and upgrading the infrastructure. Cabling of the Pontiac facility and installation of wireless access points will begin first. This process can be performed without interruption to the warehouse. Routers, switches and firewalls will be installed or replaced as needed and configured for the SaaS connection. Minimal interruptions to Internet and e-mail may occur during this phase. PCs will be replaced in each facility and only cause minimal down time at each specific station being replaced. The final phase of the project will conclude with the initiation of the SaaS system. Configuration of the system will take place during the other phases to be completed when the other phases are completed. Data from each system will be extracted and transferred using Master Data Management (MDM) and ETL tools. EDI trading partners will need to be notified of any changes required to redirect the transmissions. Once the SaaS system has been placed in a “go-live” state, all UNIX based servers can be decommissioned or held for historical information. Business Requirements The following is a breakdown of business issues Riordin Manufacturing is looking to correct. • Manual intensive inventory process – data entry between each step • Production stops during full yearly physical inventories • Incompatible Financial and Accounting systems between sites • General Ledger and Income Statement reports take 15 to 20 days to complete after month-end closing • Slow and inaccurate reporting for consolidated government auditing • Customer information located in multiple databases • Non-electronic forms are difficult to maintain, use large space for storage • CAD application not advanced enough for new product changes • HR changes can’t be performed by managers – written forms submitted to HR • Records of training and development currently not stored • Résumés and compensation records currently stored in filing cabinets • Workstation for Webinars Existing Process Flow [pic] [pic] Existing Infrastructure Current network consists of the following systems and infrastructure: • 140 PCs from different manufacturers over 5 years old running software that is no longer supported by the manufacturer • A mix of Windows and Unix servers located at all sites • The Pontiac facility is cabled with Cat 3 cabling • All sites are using Hubs for network connectivity • Albany and Pontiac each have a Fractional T1 connection • SanJose is the only facility with Barcode reading capability Proposed Changes The following infrastructure changes are being proposed to improve performance and security across the entire organization. • Pontiac’s cabling will be replaced with Cat 5e/6 cabling for increased performance • All Hubs will be replaced with 10/100/1000 or 10/100 switches • All Fractional T1 connections will be increased to full 1.5mb T1 connections or replaced with Cable/Fios connections, satellite service will be discontinued • Install SonicWall appliances at remote sites to allow dedicated and secure connection to the main site in SanJose via VPN as well as improved firewall and monitoring tools • All PCs will be replaced with the Dell Optiplex 380 PC running Windows 7 • Install Barcode readers at facilities in China, Albany, and Pontiac • Remove all Unix servers – Windows servers will remain to support e-mail and file sharing duties • Use of Software as a Service (Saas) provided by ABC Company – each site will connect directly to the SaaS provider to access the Financial and Inventory system • Add workstation for use of training and webinars Proposed Process Flow [pic] Anticipated Benefits • Improved Inventory tracking – real-time tracking across all warehouses • Removed several manual steps in inventory process – limits human error • Periodic cycle counting will be performed in place of full physical inventories – no disruption to manufacturing • HR changes can be performed directly in the SaaS system by managers • Records of training and development will be stored in the SaaS system – ERM system • Résumés to be stored in the HRIS system • Employee files will be entered and managed directly under the ERM system • Compensation will be maintained in the HRIS system • Employee complaints, grievances, etc will be stored in the HRIS system • Consolidation of Financial and Accounting systems between all sites • General Ledger and Income Statements as well as all reporting can be performed real-time across all facilities • Improved reporting to allow for consolidated government reporting and auditing using XBRL • Improved training and education access References Apollo Group, Inc. (2004). Riordan Manufacturing Index Page portal. Retrieved from https://ecampus.phoenix.edu/secure/aapd/cist/vop/Business/Riordan/Internet/Indexport.htm