Cost Through Lean Manufacturing Technique -Myassignmenthelp.Com

Question: Discuss About The Cost Through Lean Manufacturing Technique? Answer: Introduction: Information systems refer the processing systems that process the information through smart equipment (Like computers, network hardware, servers and others) to support and manage organisational decisions (Laudon and Laudon 2016). IT should not be confused with the IS, as the former is just a subcategory of the latter. IT deals only with the technology that is operational in the system while IS itself is the system that includes the users and the processes as well. Hence, to cover a broader perspective, the report has taken consideration of the IS system, and the technology will be assessed based on the same. Strategic Information System (SIS) is a sub-category of the IS which takes the responsibility of developing and offering a competitive advantage to the considered organisation (Arvidsson, Holmstrm and Lyytinen 2014). The report is developed to discuss the details about SIS from the benefits to the challenges in the energy industry. In the report, Enterprises Resource Planning (ERP) is suggested as the SIS system to be implemented in the operations. Competitive advantage and the additional value that the organisation will gain after implementing the SISs are also discussed in the report. A potential solution for the implementation of the SIS in the organisation with appropriate methodology is discussed in the report as well. The report is concluded to offer an analysis of the internal control system and its development method. Comparison and contrast on the challenge and issues faced by SIS planners: SISP (Strategic Information Strategy Planning) is a significant change in an organisation. It is an essential activity done to assess strategic applications and to align the firms strategy with efficient IS for achieving the firms goals and objectives. These changes draft some challenges for the SIS planner which need to be tackled with before implementing the system. As those challenges can lead to the failure of the project which is undesirable for any firm. The challenges associated with the SISP are discussed in the following section. Management: The most significant challenge in the SISP is the lack of commitment from the management. Their role is vital, and hence the planners have to convince them to for a committed approach towards the implementation (Lederer 2013). However, the issues associated in the develop in convincing the senior officials as they may not believe in the system's capabilities and hence a waste of money and time. In the public sector industries lack of communication, poor coordination, responsibility sharing and the decision making are the most prominent issues associated with the management. Retirement/transfer of the officials can also put a halt to the implementation. Stakeholders: Public sector firms are slow at decision-making which offers challenge to the planners because deploying training modules may be time consuming and improper. This may result in a delayed deployment of the IS. The private industries are unable to employ the proper skill for the implementation and operation of the system because of their limited funding. Additionally, the stakeholders who are not interested in automatic working (through the computer) are an even bigger threat to the process (Motro and Smets 2012). While the issues are with the stakeholders and their lack of interest in computing operations that leads to failure of the training module and hence resulting in a negative review of the system. Technical: Technical difficulties associated with the implementation of the system are the issues regarding the hardware and software. Energy industry offers telecommunication barriers in the installation of the SIS (Luthra et al. 2014). Energy industry equips heavy equipment which derives the challenge of moving from the old systems to the new. On the other hand, cost of deploying the new equipment for the SIS implementation is the challenge offered for the planners. The public sector industry can manage the cost issue however it is difficult for the private energy industry. The maintaining the quality of the equipped technology is a challenge for the public sector industry (Samad and Kiliccote 2012). Database: An appropriate database is needed in every organisation is needed for data safekeeping. However, those data can be processed to determine the need of the deemed organisation. The above mentioned target can be achieved by statistically analysis the failed project or the reports that are based on the conflicts within the organisation. The importance of adopting the considered step is because not all the need of the organisation is known to the management. Some needs are hidden and hence these should be analysed manually. However, if an organisation dont have an appropriate database it becomes challenging for the planners. It becomes difficult for the planners to collect data from different sources and plan the subject accordingly. While issues derived due to lack of database management is the time it consumes in the planning (Galliers and Leidner 2014). Environmental: The most crucial challenge that the planners face in implementing the considered system is the remote location of the plants establishment (Leyh and Muschick 2013). Depending on the type of energy to be produced, the location of the industry varies, and all the locations are away from the civilian areas. Additionally, environmental challenges include the environment within the organisation. Organisational changes, culture, inadequate capabilities behaviour and others are to be taken consideration of before planning. While the organisational environmental matters if not appropriately handled may lead to conflicts and political issues (Bryson 2018). Time: Tackling with the challenges mentioned above develops yet another challenge for the planner namely time challenge. Hence, it is necessary for the planners to take full consideration of the time that will be required in tackling the challenges and the implementation. The issue that may derive is cancellation of the project because of exceeding the time framework (Galliers and Leidner 2014). The reason for the cancellation can be because of the change in strategy for the organisation, and they may think the project to be unnecessary or any other reason may be quoted for the same. The planners also have to tackle other minor challenges like aligning the system with the business strategy, measurement of the benefits, expenses associated with the new system, lack of budget for the hardware and software upgrading and others. However, the most complicated issues related to the deemed planning are limited to the factors discussed above. Assessing IS in Energy Industry for Competitive advantage: The report has used ERP as the IS system that is used for assessing whether or not the system offers competitive advantage after implementation. ERP represents the software that is equipped for the smooth operation of the business. Business processes like order and inventory management, stakeholder resources, CRM (Customer Relationship Management), accounting and others are concentrated to a single system to streamline operations and the information (Bernroider, Wong and Lai, 2014). The subject supports multi-dimensional functions of various units and stores and processes them in unit database. It also offers a limited amount of in-sync reporting along with automation. The deemed system does not interfere with the operations or control of any department, instead it just offers a suitable method for doing the departmental work while monitoring the operations. The subject of the report offers a managed operation within the organisation as well as outside it. Adopting the deemed system enables the firm to increase their resource productivity and hence quality of the produced products. CRM is a part of the deemed system which helps in maintaining customer related issues when needed direly which in turn improves the image of the firm in the market. It is also known that competitive advantage can be gained by building trust of the customer through quality product offering along with decent customer support (West, Ford and Ibrahim 2015). Hence the considered system does offers competitive advantage. However, if the implemented system is faulty it can show just the opposite results. ERP does offer a competitive advantage only if implemented appropriately. To justify the claims made above the report has considered Australian Gas Light (AGL) Energy Ltd. AGL is an energy industry of Australia that have multiple plants (including thermal, hydro, sol ar, gas and other plants)n for generating energy (Agl.com.au, 2018). Before implementing the ERP, the firm should consider the following points: ERP that suits the organisation: The firm should be able to analyse the type of ERP that they need for themselves and not follow the competitive firms or sister organisation (Dass 2012). The reason for quoting the same is that the competitive organisations have implemented the system depending on their need and environment while the sister organisations hold expertise in different fields. Hence, no business and its internal operations are equivalent. So, depending upon the needs, the firm should implement the system. Listening to the stakeholders: The firm must prepare their human resources before implementing the ERP as they are the ones who will operate them (Amid, Moalagh and Ravasan 2012). The latter if not comfortable with the system will not make accurate use of the system and gain a competitive advantage for the firm. However, if the ERP is implemented with proper planning and accuracy, then it may offer a competitive advantage to the firm. The section following gives an insight of how ERP can help AGL to gain competitive advantage. The AGL is a vast industry where the operations are done at a larger scale and are always in operation. The industry also has geographically dispersed processing units, sophisticated chain supply demands that develop extreme pressure on the organisational resources. However, ERP implementation offers flexibility by enabling rapid movement and regulating the workload among the units that are distributed geographically (Bradford 2015). The subjected system also offers an appropriate flow of information among all the units that help them to stay updated with the problems and their potential solutions related to the operations and the customers. This step offers the considered organisation a c competitive advantage over its competitors. The ERP also upgrades the fault detection system that helps the organisation in maintaining equipment, preventing shutdowns and others which enables the firm to deliver optimum performance level (Ptri et al. 2012). Energy industry can also demand human effort at any time of the day and however, it is difficult for the engineers to stay present at the workplace at every instance. Here, ERP helps in minimising the problem as the former enables remote operation of the systems at any time. So, the problems can be sorted out immediately without any delay (Ptri et al. 2012). Taking all the discussion above, it can be concluded to state that implementing ERP does offer competitive advantage for the firm. Developing SIS for innovative implications: A strategy for adopting the innovative use of SIS demands analysis of various factor before its development. For the same, an SDLC 7-phase model can be equipped (Siddiqi 2013). The model has been described as follows with the help of the figure below: The figure above shows the 7-phases of System development lifecycle. The seven phases are planning, defining requirement, design, development, test, implementation and operation phase. The phases have been deliberately explained below: Planning: Planning stage defines the plan to devise a system for strategic development. The planning is done by defining the needs of the organisation and the problems associated with the same. It also considers the resources, time framework, associated costs, benefits after equipping and others. The considered phase is of great significance in the energy industry because the latter is a vast and highly volatile industry. Consideration of the challenges (mentioned above) is also an important reason for giving high importance to the discussed phase. Defining Requirements: This phase defines the functional requirement that the planners need to consider to implement the system. In the energy industry, the requirements needs are fault detection and prevention (Relays, Circuit Breakers and PLC module operations), measurement of the energy developed, resources consumed, operations of the generating units and others (Cellura et al. 2014). The subjected phase also analyses the system to confirm that the latter is suitable to meet the challenges offered by the organisational operations. Designing: The phase in consideration defines the control over the adopted technology by the considered organisation. The former offers an elaborate description of the desired specification, operations and the features that saturate the functional needs of the IS that will be equipped. More often, this phase leads to cancellation of the project because of the cost efficiency criterion (Yoo et al. 2014). AGL energy equips bulk equipment, and implementation of the system will derive the need for new equipment that is supposed to be rectified in the discussed phase. Development: The deemed phase converts the above mentioned phases to a working solution that offers reliability (Kaur, Singh and Pandey 2017). This phase marks the end of initialisation and initiates the production of the system, and hence it is featured as installation and the change. The benefits that can be deduced from the system are at the peak, and the attained control is limited to offer freedom for the operations by the former. Testing: Test phase includes the process of integrating. In the referred phase the strategic system is integrated with the business strategy along with the integration of all the systems from old to new. While, as the name suggests the testing of the integrated systems and strategies are also test for the error or benefits after the implementation (Sohn, Lee and Cho 2015). The process is done by employing the Quality Assurance professionals. Implementation: When the system is associated with the former system and starts functioning at a constant and smooth rate (Ray and Malhotra 2013). In the deemed phase the coding and designing the system is completed including the improvises made if any error is detected in the synching and testing of the system with the functions of the energy plant. The transmission of the information along with authorising the controls to the new system from the older system is done in the discussed phase. Operation: This is the last phase of the considered model where the employees of the system can modify the operational controls of the system as per their comfort (Mohankumar and Anand 2015). Fine-tuning, performance boosting, adding new capabilities to meet the end-users requirements are all part of the considered phase. The operations of the IS system initiates during this phase. In this very phase, any innovative method to boost the performance of the operations on the implementation of the IS can be done. End User computing: End-User computing strategy comprises of all the approaches and processes adopted by the industry for the assessment, assimilation and identification of the end-user technology in the organisation (Childs et al. 2012). An appropriate end-user strategy will enable AGL to avoid wastage of capital and time on the solutions which later proves to be inaccurate, consisting of risk or are of no use. Implementation and operationalising of the deemed strategy are done through the protocols that are designed to deal with such complex end-user management problems. Resource procurement, development of the app by the users, decentralising the support services and line management controlling are the end-users management issues. Approach AGL can adopt when developing the strategy for ERP use: The Director of the ERP while devising the strategy needs to keep in mind that the latter should not focus on the technology only but the business, the stakeholders and others that contribute to the sustainability and the increment of revenue as well (Aggelidis and Chatzoglou 2012). The former can equip the following five-step method to strategise the end-user computing strategy. Moving the applications to the data centre will enable the authority to keep track of the end-users performance (Barroso, Clidaras and Hlzle 2013). The discussed step will also lighten the work pressure at the endpoint and enable remote operations. End-user strategy shoulders all the responsibility to a single person (team leader) and further the team leader decides the team for various operations (Childs et al. 2012). Hence, the team leader should be chosen with appropriate precaution. The director should assess the choices and capabilities of the end-user so that the former can offer the latter the system that meets their requirement and are more productive (Barroso, Clidaras and Hlzle 2013). Testing the end-users would allow the authority to measure the metrics influence over the end-user experience, storage capacity, security system monitoring and the performance of the server (Aggelidis and Chatzoglou 2012). Selecting the appropriate framework and architecture would be of significant advantage for the authority in managing the system. Strategic Information Systems can add business value to an organisation through IT/IS: Modi and Thakkar (2014) have cited the example of how using an IT technique Toyota regained its place in the competitive market after the second world war. The second world war had catastrophic effects on the Japanese carmaker as after the war they lacked in the race with their western counterparts. Then Taiichi Ohno who was an engineer at one of the units in Toyota suggested his seniors adopt Just-In-Time (JIT) approach (Modi and Thakker 2014). JIT is a resource strategy that the organisations adapt to increase their efficiency while reducing wastage of resources that results in a reduction of the costs associated with the inventory. The measures above were achieved by forecasting the demand accurately by use of computing and calculating services. The senior officials agreed with the approach that resulted in the improved sustainability of Toyota. Many more examples can be cited to quote the point that implementing IT/IS techniques can help in the improving the business sustainabili ty. Business value refers the all the values associated with the business. The value may vary from the goodwill of the business to health and well-being of the organisation (Wang et al. 2012). Hence to add value to a business one must implement systems that offer a shield for all the value above and SIS does the same. SIS offers various advantages to an organisation by increasing the overall productivity and efficiency of the produced product while reducing the costs associated with the production. The deemed subject also offers a competitive advantage to an organisation. Implementing the IS/IT into the business strategy also keeps the health of the organisation intact. Hence, from the discussion, it can be concluded that SIS does add value to the organisation by equipping IS/IT. Good internal control: Internal control is the process of establishing a set of protocol within an organisation that supervises over the duties, information, security and financial details along with reducing the errors of the organisation while taking consideration of the legal factors (Tunji 2013). Hence developing an internal control system for an organisation is of great significance. A good internal control consists of the following mentioned key features (Hopkins 2017): Control over the environment within the organisation that includes the integral and ethical values. Assessment of the risks associated with the image of the firm, firms objective, processes and organisational factors. Control over the activities, security, outsourcing and others. Maintaining a standard of the information and communication. Monitoring the operations of the organisation. While designing the internal control system, the organisation should consider the following points to avoid excessive risk or the threats that possesses harm to the reputation of the firm or the associated employees: A draft plan for the development of the system should be distributed among all the departments to garner their support. The draft should be designed to maintain a balance between both the enterprises need and the stakeholder's A clear mechanism should be adopted based on the systems that successful enterprises are using. However, changes should be made to the mechanism to make it suitable for the considered organisations environment. The goals and the scope of improvement for the system should be well-defined. The system should be enabled with the self-auditing system so that the auditing is done within the department and hence protecting the image of the staffs that work in the same department. However, the report from the different department should be validated by a top auditing team to prevent any fraud or whistleblowing from the associated department. The purpose of the auditing should also be well defined to the employees to prevent any misconception. Keeping a check on the points mentioned above will help the organisations to achieve the desired result while keeping the risk level to its minimum. Other factors need to be assessed before devising the system though those mentioned above are the factors that affect the risk level and employees satisfaction level. Conclusion: The report has stated the importance of the IS and the strategic development that it offers in the business industry. The deemed report also cites a comparative analysis between the challenges and issues that are associated with the development and implementation of the SIS. The report has equipped ERP as the IS model and energy Industry (Specifically AGL Energy Ltd) to evaluated and recommend various factors associated with the subject of the paper. The report also suggests how the implemented system offers competitive advantage to the firm however if not implemented appropriately the results can be contradictory to the desired results. Hence, the planners of the SIS should take proper precaution while devising the plan for the same as improper planning will result in a waste of time and resources for the firm. Various other factors were discussed in the report to earn an in-depth view of the role that IS/IT offers in the business world. End-User computing strategy has also been evaluated in the report with consideration of the AGL Energy Ltd. Components of good internal system along with its development method is also a topic of discussion in the matter. Appropriate case studies along with references have been offered to increase the reliability of the report. One of the most significant example cited in the report is of Toyota who was suffering post world war II, though after changing its strategy they earned back their position in the competitive market. However, in conclusion, the author wants to state that the proposal recommends implementation of the strategic IS planning in the organisation as it not only offers business sustainability but also offers a competitive advantage in the market. References: Agl.com.au. (2018).About AGL | AGL. [online] Available at: https://www.agl.com.au/about-agl [Accessed 30 Jan. 2018]. Aggelidis, V.P. and Chatzoglou, P.D., 2012. Hospital information systems: Measuring end user computing satisfaction (EUCS).Journal of biomedical informatics,45(3), pp.566-579. Amid, A., Moalagh, M. and Ravasan, A.Z., 2012. Identification and classification of ERP critical failure factors in Iranian industries.Information Systems,37(3), pp.227-237. Arvidsson, V., Holmstrm, J. and Lyytinen, K., 2014. Information systems use as strategy practice: A multi-dimensional view of strategic information system implementation and use.The Journal of Strategic Information Systems,23(1), pp.45-61. Baltzan, P., 2012.Business driven technology. McGraw-Hill/Irwin. pp.172 Barroso, L.A., Clidaras, J. and Hlzle, U., 2013. The datacenter as a computer: An introduction to the design of warehouse-scale machines.Synthesis lectures on computer architecture,8(3), pp.1-154. Bernroider, E.W., Wong, C.W. and Lai, K.H., 2014. From dynamic capabilities to ERP enabled business improvements: The mediating effect of the implementation project.International Journal of Project Management,32(2), pp.350-362. Bradford, M., 2015.Modern ERP: select, implement, and use today's advanced business systems. Lulu. com. Bryson, J.M., 2018.Strategic planning for public and nonprofit organizations: A guide to strengthening and sustaining organizational achievement. John Wiley Sons. Cellura, M., La Rocca, V., Longo, S. and Mistretta, M., 2014. Energy and environmental impacts of energy related products (ErP): a case study of biomass-fuelled systems.Journal of cleaner production,85, pp.359-370. Childs, H., Brugger, E., Whitlock, B., Meredith, J., Ahern, S., Pugmire, D., Biagas, K., Miller, M., Weber, G.H., Krishnan, H. and Fogal, T., 2012.VisIt: An end-user tool for visualizing and analyzing very large data(No. LBNL-6320E). Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA (US). Dass, R., 2012, January. Challenges and Opportunities in Planning and Implementation of ICT for the Bottom of the Pyramid: An Experience Sharing from India. InSystem Science (HICSS), 2012 45th Hawaii International Conference on(pp. 4829-4829). IEEE. Galliers, R.D. and Leidner, D.E. eds., 2014.Strategic information management: challenges and strategies in managing information systems. Routledge. Hopkin, P., 2017.Fundamentals of risk management: understanding, evaluating and implementing effective risk management. Kogan Page Publishers. Kaur, R.K., Singh, L.K. and Pandey, B., 2017. Security Analysis of Safety Critical and Control Systems: A Case Study of a Nuclear Power Plant System.Nuclear Technology,197(3), pp.296-307. Laudon, K.C. and Laudon, J.P., 2016.Management information system. Pearson Education India. Lederer, A.L., 2013. The Information Systems Planning Process Meeting the challenges of information systems planning.Strategic Information Management,216. Leyh, C. and Muschick, P., 2013. Critical Success Factors for ERP system upgradesThe Case of a German large-scale Enterprise. Luthra, S., Kumar, S., Kharb, R., Ansari, M.F. and Shimmi, S.L., 2014. Adoption of smart grid technologies: An analysis of interactions among barriers.Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews,33, pp.554-565. Modi, D.B. and Thakkar, H., 2014. Lean thinking: reduction of waste, lead time, cost through lean manufacturing tools and technique.International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering,4(3), pp.339-334. Mohankumar, M. and Anand, M.K., 2015. A Green IT Star Model Approach for Software Development Life Cycle.International Journal of Advanced Technology in Engineering and Science,3(1), pp.548-559. Motro, A. and Smets, P. eds., 2012.Uncertainty management in information systems: from needs to solutions. Springer Science Business Media. Ptri, S., Jantunen, A., Kylheiko, K. and Sandstrm, J., 2012. Does sustainable development foster value creation? Empirical evidence from the global energy industry.Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management,19(6), pp.317-326. Ray, M. and Mohapatra, D.P., 2013. Risk analysis: a guiding force in the improvement of testing.IET Software,7(1), pp.29-46. Siddiqi, A., 2013. Information systems and software development.Software Development Techniques for Constructive Information Systems Design,182. Sohn, K., Lee, J. and Cho, C., 2015. The modernization of Feedwater Pump Turbine (FWPT) controller for nuclear power plants unit 5 and 6.Transactions on Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence,2(6), p.25. Tessier, S. and Otley, D., 2012. A conceptual development of Simons Levers of Control framework.Management Accounting Research,23(3), pp.171-185. Tunji, S.T., 2013. Effective internal controls system as antidote for distress in the banking industry in Nigeria.Journal of Economics and International Business Research,1(5), pp.106-121. Wang, N., Liang, H., Zhong, W., Xue, Y. and Xiao, J., 2012. Resource structuring or capability building? An empirical study of the business value of information technology.Journal of Management Information Systems,29(2), pp.325-367. West, D.C., Ford, J. and Ibrahim, E., 2015.Strategic marketing: creating competitive advantage. Oxford University Press, USA. Yoo, J., Kim, E.S., Lee, D.A. and Choi, J.G., 2014, August. An integrated software development framework for PLC FPGA based digital ICs. InInternational Symposium on Future IC for Nuclear Power Plants/International Symposium on Symbiotic Nuclear Power System (ISOFIC/ISSNP).