Project proposal ( Information System) - Essay Example

126606 Business requirement How to manage diverse operations in different outlets To better manage the sales and distribution of the outlets in a centralized manner, the company should make use of available technology and infrastructure. Starbucks, for example, is using custom built HP POS terminals for its store managers which integrates all the sales terminals to a centralized system and can make the features available to all the outlets in a runtime manner.How to avail volume discountsVolume discounts can be obtained by making high volume purchases.

To make high volume of purchases, all the outlets can not make independent purchases as the cost of holding inventory will make it a non viable option. Therefore, for this they can make use of a centralized purchase system whereby the central office can make purchases on behalf of the outlets, obtaining volume benefits, and then distributing as per their needs.Data requirement How to keep track of inventoryThey can keep track of their inventories using the RFID tagging system where each inventory carries an RFID tag and can be tracked at any given point in time.

As in case of Starbucks, they made their inventory tracking and monitoring easier by the use of RFID tags. RFID-enabled deliveries to Starbucks stores would make after-hours deliveries possible and allow employees to focus on customers, rather than shipments when they are received. (www.rfidgazzette.org)How to manage distribution of supplies for various outletsThe management of distribution and supplies among various outlets is a problem under manual systems whereas with the use of IT and information systems for managing inventory and distribution, the company can make all distribution decisions and policies in a convenient and efficient manner.

Easy tracking facilities and accurate tracing features allow for runtime monitoring and planning of inventories and their distributions in different regions and outlets.The data management and entry is all automated whereas the RFID tags will carry the information which will be updated with the transportation of inventory pack from one place to another. This will provide an updated view of all inventories at any point in time.How to keep track of salesKeeping track of sales that take place at any outlet is very critical for CharredDregs coffee company.

Desired uniform and consolidated view of sales at all outlets at any given time is the requirement of the company. To meet its requirements, the company can use integrated systems of sales and distribution that provides for online runtime updates and access to data places centrally in databases.To meet their requirements, they might not get all the required components in one package available. They may have to use different components of different vendors to suffice their needs of business and data storage.

Starbucks also use components from nine different vendors as they found none of them to meet their needs completely. They decided to shift their ERP to Microsoft Great Plains from their existing implementation.References1. www.rfidgazzette.org2. http://courses.washington.edu/misman/Ass3.htm3.