Riordan Manufacturing

This paper outlines Riordan's Manufacturing's need to develop and improve its information systems. Riordan is making recommendations on system integration, in order to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of its critical inventory management processes within all three of its operating entities located in Georgia, Michigan, California and China. During the acquisition of these additional operating entities, Riordan did not address system compatibility between operating each operating entity.

Some of the challenges being faced by the company is incompatibility of information systems between operating entities recently acquired, data integrity and consolidation of existing data. Riordan's SDLC objective is to complete a quantified analysis and implementation support to establish new inventory operations processes and/or optimize existing inventory processes. Riordan is wanting to create reliable inventory management processes to help ensure equipment availability, accessibility and performance, streamline methods and procedures to improve inventory utilization, and optimize inventory allocation to reduce capital investment while maintaining and improving service performance.

Riordan wants to also include modules within this system that will provide access to crucial inventory, storage, management, and database records. An ideal system will enable the company to accurately maintain and manage centralized inventory of all network elements through its operating entities within Georgia, Michigan, California and China. The company's use of technology to support continuing business operations is a primary focus. Riordan has allocated a budget of $500,000 in first quarter of 2005 for the beginning stages of this process. Project implementation is estimated to occur within (9) nine months.

In order to ensure consistency of operations and quality control within all operating entities, the company has developed a strategy to define and develop a model to accurately depict its operational needs. Riordan has identified potential implementation alternatives, tradeoffs, and has also quantified and assessed the effort required to complete this project, and create a forward development plan for proceeding. Activities have included documenting end-user needs, organizational direction, constraints, management and user consensus and commitment, identifying and analyzing primary data entities, and primary business units.

Within each of Riordan's operating entities, the company has developed a high-level entity-relationship model and high-level functional model. This model was formed with the assistance of the company's key leadership.

Riordan manufacturing in its preparation faze for globalization must insure various entities are competitive in global and domestic markets. Future opportunities to acquire potencial entities solely depend on our success of merging existing entities. With the constant change in global markets Hugh McCauley (chief operations officer), Charles Williams (V.P. international operations) and Maria Trinh (chief information officer) have embarked on a mission to move Riordon Manufacturing into the Twenty First Century.

The visionary thinking of our officers to transform our company, and unify services will enable Riordan to make long-view and strategic planning for the future. Emerging markets and technologies are enviable; innovation is the key to our success. The comparison of our plants daily operations links us directly with the ongoing development and decision making of our organization. Knowing that the future is uncertain, scenario planning will help develop new strategies for future challenges. The seeds of philanthropy are planted through the development of a foundation, Riordan can and will rival all well known