Business Information Systems Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Business Information Systems - Essay Example As the demand for BMW products increases, the firm has benefited from a positive relationship with its customers including non boat owners. To ensure that its operations are smooth and that the needs of its customers are met, BMW emulates various departments that include finance, warehousing, manufacturing, human resources, marketing, and distribution among others. In order to remain competitive in the UK market, the company has embarked on an expansion plan that will result to increased number of investors. In addition, the company has embarked on adoption of technology that will be vital in curbing the various problems that are currently been experienced in the manufacturing, design, human resources and customer care departments. This paper seeks to discuss how BMW can use technology to address managerial and other issues that is affecting its operations. Enterprises Resource Planning (ERP) One of the major issues that are experienced in the warehouses is the uncertainty in the del ivery of raw materials. As a result, the workers in the production facilities are not sure on when to start working on any order as specified by the consumers. One of the major strategies that BMW should adopt in order to improve the rate of information flow from external stakeholders including the suppliers who are based in Middle East and Far East is enterprises resource planning (ERP). ERP is a vital information system that enhances the flow of information between all the departments within a firm as well as with other stakeholders (O’Brien, 1999). Based on the need to satisfy its customers by providing their products in a timely manner, it is imperative for BMW to put in place a two-tier ERP. This entails use of software and hardware that will allow the company to run two ERP concurrently. For example, BMW should establish production centers in various regions thus reducing the time taken to deliver the raw materials to the main production center. Similarly, the company s hould establish a database that has the information such as the telephone numbers of the individuals responsible to delivering the raw materials as well as their emails. In this way, the company will be in a position to track the transportation of raw materials from the suppliers to the subsidiaries production centers or to the main production center. Cost benefit analysis and online accounts Being a manufacturing company, BMW should not overlook the composition of their workforce. Key problem that is currently been experienced in the manufacturing department is that it is unclear how many staff the company require to meet the increased demand for its products. To address this issue, it is vital for BMW to emulate an effective scheduling of its activities. This entails allocating each of the employees a particular task and the actual time that it requires for it to be accomplished. To identify the number of workers required in the manufacturing department, it is essential for the su pervisors to undertake a cost-benefit analysis that entails computing the cost of producing a single component and the benefits arising (Laudonet al, 2009). This can be done by determining the hourly wage for the employees and the sales arising from the products. In this way, the supervisors will notice the components that are generating more profits thus increasing the number of staff. To identify individuals with the necessary skills, it is fundamental to come up with clear job description.