Final Paper Bsa/375

Final LT Project

This proposal has been prepared for Riordan Manufacturing Company by the BSA/375 Learning Team Corporation. We are pleased to provide this proposal and look forward to working closely with members of the Riordan Manufacturing team. After careful analysis and review, we are confident that our recommendations will greatly enhance Riordan Manufacturing and place them firmly in the lead amongst other companies.

In order to create a successful business plan, we first conducted a needs analysis and put together a list of recommendations that could be used to help the company. Riordan Manufacturing would like to reduce costs and materials across all plants. The introduction phase involves the evaluation of the current system processes. The plan incorporates Subject Matter Experts (SME) to study the current process and to suggest new ideas and improved technology at the manufacturing plans.

The budget and the scope of the project will be for approximately 1 year. Overall, we as the BSA/375 Learning Team Corporation would have to begin the 1st phase no later than 3 weeks from the plan approval date. Upon approval, we will send in our experts for the initial evaluation. After receiving the service request, Riordan lists some requirements that we would have to agree upon before the start date. Our first task will be bringing in a Project Manager for the project. He or she will list the Statement of Scope and Goals and specify what functions will be included in the project. To accomplish this first task, we take the written daily report from the analysis and weekly survey from the End Users onsite to begin the development phase. As experts in the Information Technology field, we have to incorporate supporting measures in order for our project to be successful.

* Statement of Scope and Goals: Riordan Manufacturing is requiring a reduction of costs associated with raw materials and the storage of finished goods. After receiving evaluation from our analysts, the forecasted scope of the project is 12 months not too exceed 18 months. Our overall goal will be to implement a new system to track and manage raw materials for product inventory and usage across all plants. This system will be known as the Riordan Manufacturing Information System (RMIS) and will utilize Lean Manufacturing in order to keep inventory at a minimum while still enabling full production throughput. In addition to reducing raw materials and inventory costs, the system will interconnect plant floor systems and provide for easy reporting of processes.

* Supporting Measures for Success: Upon successful completion of the project, Riordan will see noticeable improvement in several areas. We expect to reduce raw material inventory costs by 15%. Finished goods inventory costs will be 15%-20% lower. By utilizing RMIS, Riordan will reduce on-hand materials needed and the re-ordering of backordered items. The system incorporates an automated feature that will communicate with suppliers and order parts as needed. Process flows can be easily analyzed to maintain proper throughput, thereby reducing finished goods inventory and the associated costs.

* Summary of Project Feasibility: The RMIS system is designed to enable it to be incorporated in virtually any industry. However, in order for the project to be a success, several obstacles must be overcome. RMIS relies on a system of product barcode labels and laser scanners. Currently, Riordan does not utilize any type of scanner system. Therefore, laser scanners will be installed at every Riordan manufacturing plant that requires the new RMIS system. These scanners will be located in the parts storage areas, as well as at every assembly point along the assembly line. Riordan suppliers will also be required to affix barcode labels on each part that the system will need to track. Most of the Riordan suppliers currently use some sort of barcode labeling system, so the RMIS system will be set up to be flexible enough to read a variety of barcode formats. The overall cost target of the RMIS project is $500,000. Based upon our analysis, and experience gained from other industries, we project that 50% of this cost will be recouped within the first five years after project completion. After that, the expected cost benefits will be between 5%-10% savings per year over current processes.

* Current Business Process:

Riordan Manufacturing's current process is not very efficient. It calls for multiple suppliers to ship parts to Riordan's raw material storage area at regular intervals. These intervals have been set up in advance using production history as a guideline. This process causes a huge inventory spike during slow production times thus requiring a large amount of storage space and upfront costs. There is not a standardized method for the individual assembly areas to communicate parts shortages back to the raw material storage area. Also, as indicated during our analysis, the network infrastructure and current systems at the plant are very outdated causing system slowdowns and reducing plant efficiency.

* Proposed System Requirement List:

a. Development of a two week plant floor operator's RMIS course.

b. Development of a one-week plant supervisor's RMIS course (this course can also be provided to designated suppliers).

c. Development of a one-day high level RMIS course as an executive system summary.

d. Complete all training of personnel within three months of implementation, with periodic training held on a weekly basis from that point.

e. The BSA/375 Learning Team provides full system maintenance and support on an annual renewable basis.

f. Installation of laser scanners at each station that requires monitoring. Each Riordan supplier must comply with new RMIS barcode requirements.

g. Installation of the network infrastructure. This consists of RMIS terminals at each work location and at the storage facility.

* Determination of Requirements: The BSA/375