Happy Cow Dairy Company: Information System - Case Study Example

Table of Content Introduction 3 Type of information system 4 Advantages of using the system 5 Handling operations 5 Untapped markets 5 Time 6 Increased sales 6 Batch and online systems 6 Data processing stages 7 Collection of data 7 Preparation of data 7 Input of data 7 Processing 7 Output 8 Barcode readers 8 Advantages of Barcodes 9 Efficiency 9 Time 9 Reduce errors 9 Costs 9 RIFD 10 Uses of RFID 10 In mobile phones 10 Asset management 11 Inventory records 11 Access control 11 Mobile devices 11 Finances 12 Works Cited 13 Introduction 2 Type of information system 3 Advantages of using the system 4 Handling operations 4 Untapped markets 4 Time 5 Increased sales 5 Batch and online systems 5 Data processing stages 6 Collection of data 6 Preparation of data 6 Input of data 6 Processing 6 Output 7 Barcode readers 7 Advantages of Barcodes 8 Efficiency 8 Time 8 Reduce errors 8 Costs 8 RIFD 9 Uses of RFID 9 In mobile phones 9 Asset management 9 Inventory records 10 Access control 10 Mobile devices 10 Finances 11 Works Cited 12 Happy cow dairy report Name of Student: Professor: Course Number: Date: Introduction Happy Dairy Company is a large company that distributes milk to a large customer base. It has to distribute milk to its customers on time, which is done early in the morning. This is hampered by the large delivery of milk of about 400 deliveries which take about four hours to complete for delivery. Happy Diary Company uses a manual system to keep its records of every day transactions. Each driver has a round book to record milk that is taken round. This can be very demanding and time consuming for the drivers who have to meet deadlines other than spend time filling the diary book. Time is an important factor in the company’s operations. The broad customer base brings about a large variation in the amounts of milk sold. This is due to the changing tastes and preferences of the customers. Today he may want this type or amount milk and the following day he will order a totally different type of milk. The drivers who distribute this milk have to face these changing variations and look in to them personally since the customers do not deal with the company directly. A nightmare to the drivers is when they have to collect the due from the customers. This is done manually where they have to knock at every door to get paid. Some customers would leave money on the doorsteps and risk being stolen. Money is recorded on different leaflets and submitted to the accounts office. The different records have to be added manually. This takes time since the accountant has to look at different sheets of records and analyze them. Another weakness is that they have poor system of keeping customer records. New customers are added into new sheets which must be on order to avoid confusion during the recording and delivery. In order for the system to work, the company has employed fifteen clerks to do the job. This could be expensive for the company due to overtime salaries and meeting the cost of losing time in their operations. After an analysis of these major handles the company is facing, we have opted for an information system that is going to solve these issues and improve the performance of the company. Type of information system In modern day organizations, information systems are used to carry out every day business Information systems are a collection of software, people, data, procedures and hardware designed to support long range, short range day to day activities of the company (Allen et al.). The company and the type of operations they have would accommodate a Transaction Processing system (TPS). This system can be used to capture process and analyze information of the daily transactions. This would include deposits, orders, payments, reservations and compilation of new customers. The system would actually do the following; Record business activities, customer orders, employee time cards and customer payments. Triggering responses such as sending thank you note to customers, printing customer schedules, generating paychecks and issuing of receipts. Data maintenance which would include removing unwanted data and adding new data. These systems are used to process business data. They were among the first systems to be developed. Once the business uses this system, it computerizes all the transactions that take place. It coordinates the distribution and warehousing of products. Bank deposits and credits are balanced off from the customer’s accounts (Al-Zhrani, 1250). Advantages of using the system Handling operations The system is very complex and can handle thousands of information at once. It can coordinate thousands of transactions, purchases and bank accounts for each customer. This makes selling of goods and services to consumers easy and efficient. It saves allot of time for the company for it can do all those jobs (Basker). Untapped markets The use of transaction processing system makes it easy for the company to access business services through the internet. The internet provides untapped services which the company can explore. There many neighborhoods which want a supply of milk and through the internet they can easily offer those services. This can allow customers from new area to make orders and receive the deliveries (Jahangir). Time The system saves the company allot of time during its activities. Since manual work is avoided less time is spent on the transactions. Once data is fed in to the system, it automatically processes the data making work easier and saving time which can be used for other purposes. Increased sales A lot of effort is now put in to the management of the company and less time on the data analysis, important and crucial decisions can be made by the management boosting performance of the form. Computers are the most efficient machines used for data processing. Since the invention of the computer, the main aim was to help reduce manual work and automate systems. Computers have a capability of doing work faster than a human being. They are faster and accurate in processing information. Data that has been processed can be stored and used at a later stage. Batch and online systems When the Transaction Processing systems were developed, they mainly used batch processing. In this case, information is collected over a long time and then processed later as a collection. The collection of data to be processed is stored as a transaction file. Online systems involve directly keying in already processed information (Allen et al.). For example once the product has been keyed in and sold, the sale is read by the product code and automatically adjusted in the stock records. Data processing stages There are five stages of data processing. Collection of data Data that is relevant to the area of business is captured from various sources and locations. Its recorded in a paper for further reference. In the case of Happy Cow diary, the drivers usually gather information from the various customers and record it in A4 and A5 sheets of paper. Preparation of data Data that has been collected and put on paper is then analyzed. The information is arranged and grouped in a systematic way for easier input. The data brought in by the different drivers is verified and arranged in to groups. This makes it easier for input of data. Input of data This is the sending or keying in of data into an information system for the purpose of processing. Data can be keyed in manually through the keyboard or via scanning. As this is done, data accuracy and its validity are checked at this stage. Happy cow dairy information is verified further to ensure kits consistency and removing of errors. If the data to be input is too large, data entry companies can be hired. In this case, Happy Cow Company has a large data base to be fed with data so hiring would be advisable. Processing Various methods and means are used to manipulate the data. The process is easy and fast. In case of voluminous information, there are software’s designed to tackle such problems. The type of processing will depend on the type and what kind of business a company takes part in. Happy cow dairy type of processing wouldn’t be that much different from any other business oriented company. Output The output is used to determine various things about a business. It can show the performance of the company, whether doing well or bringing losses is. It’s a determinant of current and future policies that will be put in place. The output will show how many customers Happy Cow dairy has, the various products needed and the different amounts, location of the customers, street of residence, their bank accounts and number of new customers. Barcode readers These are electronic devices for reading barcodes which are printed. It has a lens, light source and a light censor that translates optical impulses. All barcode readers have a decoder circuitry. It’s used for analyzing barcodes data image and sending it to the output (Parikh & Jancke 5). There different types of barcode readers each identified by the type of technology used. Pen type readers, uses a light source where the person holding the pen has to move across the barcode. Laser scanners: they work the same way as a pen, only that they use lesser beam to move back and forth a barcode. CCD readers use hundreds of tiny sensors located at the head of the scanner sensor measures intensity of light in front of it. It measures the intensity of light emitted from the barcode. Advantages of Barcodes Efficiency They improve the efficiency of the operations. It records information more accurately and tracking becomes easy. Work can be done more quickly and a lot of time is saved. Time It saves on time; a lot of time is saved when tracking of products and also during inventory taking. Due to time saving, productivity of a company is improved and so is the financial performance. Reduce errors Error in recording and entry of data in the systems can cost a business to an extent of losses. This would result to unhappy customers and a lot of time spent in tracking down the products. Since barcodes are very accurate in taking data, such errors can be avoided and proper records of data can be kept. The error of a barcode scanner can be as accurate as 1 error in 35 trillion characters (Rhodes). Costs When they are well utilized and used, they save a lot of time and reduce incidences of errors. This cuts down the costs for the company. The finances can be used to do other business in the company. In a real time scenario, take an example of a supermarket. When paying for your goods, the cashier uses barcode reader to identify the type of product and how much it’s worth. The speed of serving the customers is also very fast since no time is wasted trying to key in the items. They are of great use in the supermarkets and clothing malls. For happy cow dairy they need barcode readers which will assist when issuing of milk for delivery to customers. RIFD These are Radio Frequency identification devices that are used to track people or objects when tags are attached to them. They use electromagnetic waves for tracking while others emit radio waves. They can be attached to automobiles during production to track the products. Pets and livestock are injected with tags to allow identification of the animal and also for tracking incase the animal gets lost. Lately, they are being implanted on people so as to access vital information about people (Van Lie shout et al.). They have a greater advantage over barcode readers since if passed anywhere near a reader, it can be read even if its covered. Uses of RFID In mobile phones Credit card companies have developed special microSD cards which when inserted in a phone an act both as a RFID and passive tag. If a handset is lost, it can be traced to the location. Via this micriSD, one can access bank information and also credit card information can be stored. Asset management When this technology is combined with mobile computing can be used to organize and identify assets. It eliminates manual work and also gives proof of attendance and identification of people. It’s being adopted for item level retail business Inventory records The system keeps accurate knowledge of the inventories currently in stock. Security of the inventory is also enhanced for no goods which are unpaid for can leave the main exit without a beep. Happy cow dairy can use it to keep track of the inventory Access control They are implanted in identification budges which replaced the magnetic strips. A person with such a chip can easily enter a place since the reader will automatically read and record it. Happy cow diaries can implement this system of tracking their stock and assets. Chips can be implanted on the van s and the drivers to monitor their locations as well as what they sell. The system would have an impact on the business since it will improve on efficiency but at the sane time it’s a costly method to implement. Mobile devices Mobile devices can be used to input and relay information. The distributers of the company can each be provided with a phone, which they are supposed to relay information back to the main office after every interval. This would ensure accuracy of the records and their reliability. The type of phone being used should be portable and programmed to link with the main offices only. The mobile devices can also be tracked at every location which the supplier will be. There will be an incurrence of cost since these mobile devices must have airtime for communication. They are also prone to theft and can disappear easily. The advantage is that they are portable cheap and easy to use. They use electromagnetic waves to relay information. This would save on time Finances Happy cow diary, have to adapt the above information system for them to boost their performance. Enough capital or fiancés are required to change the system from manual to automate; this would take time for all the workers will have to be trained to get in line with the new system. Since this is a big company, they have a good asset base which they can use to acquire loans from bank so as to implement this system. They can sell shares or some of the assets to raise the funds required. Works Cited Allen, B., Heurtebise, A., & Turnbull, J. Improving Information Access. Business Management US.2010. http://www.busmanagement.com/article/Improving-information-access/. Al-Zhrani, S. Management information systems role in decision-making during crises: case study. Journal of Computer Science, 6(11), 1247-1251. 2010. Print. Basker, E, Raising the Barcode Scanner: Technology and Productivity in the Retail Sector (November 16, 2011). American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, Forthcoming. http://ssrn.com/abstract=1754469/ or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1754469/ Jahangir, K. Improving organizational best practice with information systems. Knowledge Management Review. 2005. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa5362/is_200501/ai_n21371132/ Rhodes, J. The Role of Management Information Systems in Decision Making. eHow. 2010. http://www.ehow.com/facts_7147006_role-information- systems-decision-making.html/ Parikh.D and Jancke,G “Localization and segmentation of a 2d high capacity color barcode,” in IEEE Workshop on Applications of Computer Vision, pp. 1–6.2008. Print. Van Lie shout, M., Grossi, L., Spinelli, G., Helmus, S., Kool, L., Pennings, L., et al. RFID: Technologies: emerging Issues, Challenges and Policy Options.2007. http://www.stop-project.eu/portals/1/publications/eur22770en.pdf Read More