Information Technology
...Applications of Information Technology
Abstract
The author believes that ABC Enterprises, a manufacturer of railroad car parts in Illinois, could benefit from a data warehouse. To investigate this, he conducted a literature search and interviewed key managers within the company, including the company president. The author also drew on his experience in two different positions within ABC: Regional Sales Manager and Director of Engineering, as well as experience at another company. He also presents an implementation plan for establishing and maintaining a data warehouse including data from the legacy ERP system.
Introduction
ABC Enterprises (ABC) is a privately owned company headquartered in Illinois, and is one of five divisions of the ABC Company. ABC’s President and CEO was ABC’s Chief Financial Officer for about 20 years before taking the Presidency six years ago.
ABC designs, assembles and sells parts for railroad cars around the world, with about 30% of its revenue from international sales. Descriptions and pictures of the product lines are shown in Appendix A. Parts and raw materials are predominately sourced from the United States, Mexico, China, India and Holland. A sister division, XYZ, is also a key supplier, manufacturing about 30% of the products ABC sells in plants in Wisconsin, and Mexico. (President’s name, 2007)
The company has recently grown through product line acquisition and by capturing market share. Revenues have increased from about $40MM in 2002 to $140MM in 2006.
Information Systems at ABC
Like many companies, ABC’s first computer applications were mainframe applications of data intense corporate functions like accounting and payroll. A complete Material Requirements Planning (MRP) system did not come on line until the mid 1990s, and has not been upgraded to stay current or customized to meet the needs of management....
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