TRIDENT UNIVERSITY
MODULE 1 CASE ASSIGNMENT
ITM436 Operations Mgmt and Operations Systems

In this paper I will attempt to discuss the ERP technology changes made by Hansen to both production and non-production functions of their business. I will also discuss how production and non-production effects are related to each other.
The Hansen Company was created in the 1950’s by Bert and Dawn Hansen who were building their home and created reliable toilet valve in the process. They began manufacturing the valves in their garage and shipping them around the country by railway. Since then they have grown in to the leading manufacturer of polythene pipe fittings, threaded pipe fittings and high flow foot and check valves. Today they are worldwide manufacturer and supplier of over a 1000 different products.
“In the mid 1980’s some more enthusiasm and ideas were injected into the business when Carl Hansen (Bert and Dawn’s Son) arrived from completing his engineering trades. Within a short period of time, Carl’s experience in engineering and his desire to use the “right” technologies in manufacturing and materials added even more strength to the Hansen Company.” [ (Team, 2012) ] Hansen was growing rapidly and its Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems were outdated and had outgrown its financial system in conjunction with multiple disparate spreadsheets. “Rather than storing information in one central system,” says Hansen financial controller Kathryn Hanham, “a lot of data had to be entered manually into various spreadsheets. For example, our raw materials were processed outside of the main system, which made planning very difficult. Our previous solution had several constraints in handling our export documentation and multi-currency requirements.” [ (iStart, 2008) ]
With a dedicated project team, Carl Hansen transformed the company by implementing changes on