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Office Automation and Group Collaboration Software
Abstract
Competition in the global marketplace has become increasingly fiercer. The need for information to make sound business decisions has become crucial to the survival of any business that wants to remain a valid player in today’s competitive environment. We will examine how one business gathers and uses their information to make decisions that allow them to remain a world leader in aviation electronics.
Office Automation and Group Collaboration Software
Realizing that competition in the aviation electronics business was becoming ever more keen in the late 10’s, the leaders of our company realized the importance of data integrity in making decisions concerning the future of the company. They realized the importance of having one system that would provide information across all facets of the company, at the click of a mouse. A project of this magnitude required many management decisions. First of all, would the company try to write it’s own software program, or would it purchase software from another company specializing in business software. The software, no matter how it was developed, was going to have to pull information from a legacy system that over the years had been modified to meet individual department needs.
It was decided that the company would purchase its’ business software. The decision was made to purchase its’ software from a company called SAP. After the implementation date was pushed back a couple of times, it was finally turned on November 1st of 1, at a reported cost in excess of $150 million dollars.
The advantage of this software was its’ ability to tie all functions of the business together. We finally had a system that manufacturing could go and see if the parts it needed to build product had been ordered and when they would be available. Finance could look in the system and see how much work was in process, how much inventory Rockwell was holding, and look at the projected sales for the month.
The ability to access all of this information came at a price. One of the biggest complaints and disadvantages of the system was how labor intensive it was for the people using it. I was told by the people in the shipping office, where I work, that the transaction that required three or four screens in the legacy system were now taking up to twenty seven screens to complete. Another disadvantage in the beginning was reliability. At first it seemed like it was always down.
Because of the complexity of the software system, and of our product lines, it was impossible to convert the whole business at one time. Consequently we were faced with changing over one division at a time within the company. I think the most frustrating part of the change over to SAP was all of the misinformation that order administration was putting out. Most of this could be attributed to the poor training that was associated with the transition.
It was decided that there would be one “super-user” in each area that would help those that had not been trained once the system was activated. The problem with that logic was it took all the super-users working 1 hours per day just to get product out of the door. Needless to say, it ended up being a learning- by-doing event.
With two divisions on board, it was decided to up-grade the software package in May 00. It was basically the same software, but it was enough different that those without much computer knowledge found it difficult to manipulate their way through the system. We still have one more division to “go-live”, which is scheduled for February 004. The transition will be complete at that time. A very painful four and one half years.
Another software package we use in shipping is called Clippership. Clippership is a software package that we use to figure the cost of shipping product, one the box size and weight has been entered into the system. It is actually a “bolt-on” system to SAP. By that I mean the two systems interface or talk to each other. Once the box information is entered, Clippership prints a waybill with all of the information from SAP printed on it, such as delivery number and sales order number. It also prints the tracking number on the waybill.
The waybill number is also recorded in SAP. Probably the biggest advantage of the interface is that internal customers can input the delivery number into SAP and find out if their product shipped, how it shipped, (Fedex, DHL, Airborne, etc). They can then take the tracking number and go to the respective carrier website and find out when it arrived and who signed for the package.
One other software package that works with SAP is called Abaco. It is the time and attendance software that is used to track the clock-in and clock-out activity of those people who have to clock in and out. It also tracks by code absenteeism, family medical leave, vacation, tardiness, etc. That information is then transferred automatically to SAP where it is stored and available to Labor Relations or the Union Hall in case there are any issues.
Making transitions as major as we did was and still is painful. But without the information at our fingertips, controlling budgets, inventory, and projecting sales would be much more difficult. And those are the things that can make or break a company. As we proceed into the 1st century, it is going to be those companies that can manage their information that will survive.
References
No references were used.
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