Case Study AndersonTouche Consulting Services AndersonTouche

Case Study: Anderson-Touche Consulting Services Anderson-Touche, an international consulting firm, has just received a contract from a medium-size manufacturer to install an Entreprise Resource Planning (ERP) software system. The agreement includes purchase and installation of a new IBM AS/400 minicomputer on which to run the massive ERP program. The client manufacturer desperately needs the new system up and running within 16 weeks so that its production ability is not endangered. It has included in Anderson-Touche’s contract a generous bonus for early completion of the project. It has also included severe penalties for lateness. Alice Schware, Anderson-Touche’s project manager, wants to make sure that the installation progresses smoothly and on time. All activities involved in the ERP project, together with the time estimates for each activity are shown in the following table: Activity Description Immediate Predecessor Optimistic time Most probable time Pessimistic time A B C D E F G H Computer hardware delivery Modify new software Install computer Test new software off-site Test new network Training Run new software on new hardware Implement new production system and eliminate old one ----- ----- A B C C D, E F, G 1 2 1 2 1 1 3 1 2 3 2 4 4 2 4 2 3 4 3 6 7 9 11 3 The project manager asks you to analyze this project. You must write a managerial report, which should be turned in this afternoon by 4 p.m. a) Develop a project network b) Develop an activity schedule c) What is the expected completion time for this project? d) Identify the critical path and the non-critical activities? e) What are the chances of completing this project within the expected time computed in question c). Why? Justify your answer f) What are the chances of completing this project in the 16-week deadline? g) What are the chances of completing this project in 18 weeks? 19 and 21 weeks? h) If the variance of the project completion time is the same (does not change) as you found previously, how much should the expected project completion time be shortened to achieve the goal of 85% chance of completion within 16 weeks?

Solution

  Planning of ERP

b)      Different phases involved in successful planning

c)      Implementation of ERP system and its configuration

d)     Consulting Services requirement for ERP

e)      Advantages and disadvantages of using ERP

Some organizations — typically those with sufficient in-house IT skills to integrate multiple software products — choose to implement only portions of an ERP system and develop an external interface to other ERP or stand-alone systems for their other application needs. For instance, the PeopleSoft HRMS and financials systems may be perceived to be better than SAP\'s HRMS solution. And likewise, some may perceive SAP\'s manufacturing and CRM systems as better than PeopleSoft\'s equivalents. In this case these organizations may justify the purchase of an ERP system, but choose to purchase the PeopleSoft HRMS and financials modules from Oracle, and their remaining applications from SAP.

This is very common in the retail sector, where even a mid-sized retailer will have a discrete Point-of-Sale (POS) product and financials application, then a series of specialized applications to handle business requirements such as warehouse management, staff rostering, merchandising and logistics.

Ideally, ERP delivers a single database that contains all data for the software modules, which would include:

Manufacturing

Engineering, Bills of Material, Scheduling, Capacity, Workflow Management, Quality Control, Cost Management, Manufacturing Process, Manufacturing Projects, Manufacturing Flow

Supply Chain Management

Inventory, Order Entry, Purchasing, Product Configurator, Supply Chain Planning, Supplier Scheduling, Inspection of goods, Claim Processing, Commission Calculation

Financials

General Ledger, Cash Management, Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, Fixed Assets

Projects

Costing, Billing, Time and Expense, Activity Management

Human Resources

Human Resources, Payroll, Training, Time & Attendance, Benefits

Customer Relationship Management

Sales and Marketing, Commissions, Service, Customer Contact and Call Center support

ERP Planning

Business owners and executives often expect that installing an ERP system will be a long, difficult and costly process. But it doesn\'t have to be that way, if you make the right choice. A true solution responds to your needs for reasonable cost and minimal disruption, as well as smooth-running software.

It might help to compare ERP software to the choices you have available when you buy a new suit for your organization