Riordan Manufacturing Service Request
CIS/319 Computers & Information Processing
J. R. McDaniel
University of Phoenix

Executive Summary
During the past twelve months, Riordan’s customer’s relations department has reported negative findings from customer satisfaction surveys and statistics relating to the company’s organizational web page usage. The findings have clearly indicated to Riordan’s management there is a lack of effective and efficient communication on the part of both internal and external organizations and stakeholders who’s expected Return on Investment (ROI) is not being meet.
In recognizing this lack of effective communication, Riordan’s management has decided to make significant changes regarding how it will communicate and what type of communication platform the company will use in an effort to sustain customer satisfaction and positive ROI.
Following are Riordan’s plans that will provide for more effective communication to take place between both internal and external stakeholders:
• Implement an integrated worldwide office automation software and group collaboration software package that is user friendly for both internal and external users.
• Implement an integrated worldwide database utilizing Microsoft Access.
• Ensure all employees understand the value of the added system.
• Collect feedback and respond to feedback.
• Ensure security of newly acquired software is appropriate.
The integration of the above processes of software and database programs supports Riordan’s overall strategic plan of remaining the industry leader as a global plastics manufacturer. Riordan Manufacturing specializes in high tensile strength plastic substrates.
The company was founded in 1991 by Dr. Riordan. Riordan employs 550 people and has projected annual earnings of $46 million. Riordan's major customers are automotive parts manufacturers, aircraft manufacturers, the Department of Defense, beverage makers and bottlers, and appliance manufacturers. Riordan is currently experiencing problems in achieving customer satisfaction. This is due to departments not communicating effectively and changes are not being made satisfactorily.
Technology Considerations
Today's consumers are educated and possess a vast amount of technological knowledge. Thus, Riordan has chosen as the primary source of communication the World Wide Web, or the internet. Riordan is based locally within the United States; in addition, the company has recently expanded into China with services and manufacturing plants. As a result of the recent Asian expansion, Riordan has found it necessary to consider upgrading the communications tools used within the organization. After careful review of statistics pertaining to web usage, Riordan identified that the use of the Internet by the public has grown and will continue to grow. There is a need for real-time performance; things within the world move very quickly. It is important that Riordan possess a technological source that would quickly and effectively communicate to internal and external publics. There is also a need for customization since many of Riordan’s consumers expect more focused, targeted, communications relationships. Another widely used technological source used by Riordan is e-mail. E-mail has become the most common internal source of communication. Riordan has an online website in place that is used frequently by the organization and is also gaining popularity with vendors and customers via the Internet. Riordan also uses online media relations to communicate to the media. This allows Riordan to communicate quickly to the media during a crisis situation when immediate communication to the public may be necessary.
Business Requirements In order to successfully deploy a solution to its current systems and production challenges, Riordan must first identify its most critical business requirements. Management has targeted the following four requirements to provide business justification for deployment of the proposed process improvements:
• Scalability
• Performance
• Management
• Availability
• Scalability—how much faster are Riordan’s storage requirements growing than its server requirements? With expected continued global expansion and a current employee pool of 550 individuals, the technology system at Riordan is close to being overloaded. To ease this burden, software applications and bandwidth must be upgraded. Upgraded bandwidth will also provide fast internet service for vendors and customers alike. Performance—what are the peak performance needs of the company’s key applications? Riordan’s employees need to be able to communicate effectively and with speed. As the number of projects hitting the table continuously increases, interdepartmental access is critical. The use of public folders with the new Microsoft Outlook software application will allow integrated e-mails and cross-platforms between departments. Pertinent preparation and production information will be shared more effectively. Management—which management tasks are currently difficult due to lack of resources? The preparation and production of orders for Riordan’s customers requires many steps. Often these tasks are performed in physically separate locations. The management of the preparation and production processes is compromised by the fact that the individual department databases currently do not ‘talk’ to each other. The Scope group collaboration program offered by Microsoft Access will allow pipeline tracking of production, the attributes of accounts, contacts and relationships, management reporting, and adhoc data queries. Availability— in the event of an unplanned outage, what tasks need to be performed without disrupting business operations? Current applications will have to be upgraded to ensure quick and efficient failover to Riordan’s alternative data center in the event of an emergency. Critical back up data will need to be accessible in order to decrease the latency of order fulfillment. At the same time, it is crucial that back-up data does not congest the system and slow down applications during normal operation conditions.
Current Process Currently, Riordan Manufacturing is attempting to consolidate customer satisfaction information to deliver better value to the customer. The company holds customer information in separate databases, paper files, and microfiche. Historical sales information is managed electronically. This includes order, delivery, and payment dates by order, the unit and dollar volume of each product, and sales by customer to include price paid, cost, margin, and discount given. Past marketing plans and results are kept in a marketing cabinet file cabinet while a front lobby showcase displays the various design awards the company has earned. Each member of the sales force maintains his/her own set of customer records in different ways. Some use paper records, some use management software, while others use a combination of both tools. The production department maintains electronic records of the number of units produced of each item by shift which eventually rolls up to the product group and year. The marketing department maintains profit and loss statements by item and by group. The finance and production departments send supporting documentation to the marketing department. The company also maintains historical and current annual budget allocations for marketing communications and marketing research. The records-keeping of each individual department at Riordan Manufacturing are comprehensive and useful. However, if the process improvement plan of transferring data from one database to another is supported, many positive results can be yielded for the company. These results can include a better understanding and anticipation of customer needs which will eventually translate into higher economic performance (increased sales). Integrated information will also help to reduce the frequency of customer complaints, excessive rework, time-wasting firefighting, and employee discontent and turnover. This process improvement plan can also shorten overall production time scales and increase flexibility to cope with varying demands.

Improved Process The improved processes suggested for Riordan Manufacturing would be the uses of office automation software and group collaboration software. Riordan will benefit from the use of these programs to help streamline the process of each department and help communication. Authors Burrill and Ledolter describe process improvement as “making incremental changes in a process in order to bring about continual improvement in the quality of the process products”, (Achieving Quality Through Continual Improvement, 1999). They further stress, “This means all processes: improving the requirements process to get a better understanding of what the customer requires, the design and build processes to better satisfy customer requirements, and the examine process to ensure that the product has no defects”, (1999).
Microsoft Outlook will be used for office automation by using public folders along with email communication. The public folders will be set up for each department with subfolders for different types of requests and tasks. For instance, if a customer calls to request a change in the production of a product and email will be sent to the production subfolder, changerequest@riordan.com. A production assistant will monitor this folder to help expedite communication to the department of any changes that are required.

Riordan will also utilize a new group collaboration program called Scope. This database will be set up using Microsoft Access. The users from each department will enter information into pre-set forms that are then linked to the company’s intranet site. From the company’s intranet site, www.myriordan.com, users will be able to run a variety of reports. For example, the production department will be able to enter pertinent information into Scope regarding a product and then run report schedule from the intranet to see how production is running.

Budget It has been decided that changes to Riordan Manufacturing’s technology system are needed, and plans to implement these changes is already in process. Riordan needs to consider the costs of the new technology versus the projected advantages. The economic advantages have to be greater than the equipment cost and the costs associated with operating the equipment. As mentioned before, Riordan has projected annual earnings of $46 million. Out of the $46 million, about $6 million are Total Operating Expenses. IT operating expenses are close to $2 Million. Riordan is currently trying to improve communications which would improve production, the financial reporting system, and manufacturing equipment. These improvements are projected to cost Riordan approximately $2.5 million. The total proposed investment will be $3.7 million, including manufacturing equipment. The improved process will include Group Collaboration Software, Microsoft Outlook, and Microsoft Access. The new software will eliminate the need for a financial reporting system. The investment will pay for itself in two years, and the operating costs will be significantly reduced.
Conclusion
The integration of database information supports Riordan’s overall strategic plan of remaining the industry leader as a global plastics manufacturer. The project will help to maintain the current rigorous quality controls, encourage innovative solutions, and maintain reasonable pricing. This process improvement can also help to develop long-term relationships with customers and provide solutions for them rather than additional challenges. By providing proper support for Riordan employees, the integration of database information also contributes to the company’s strategic plan of providing a climate focused on the long term viability of the company. Ultimately, enhancing Riordan’s communication system will make it more useful in achieving user and organizational goals.

References
Burrill, C.W., Ledolter, J., (1999). Achieving Quality through Continual
Improvement. Retrieved on July 4, 2007 from https://mycampus.phoenix.edu/secure/resource/resource.asp
Riordan Manufacturing, Retrieved on July 4, 2007 from
https://ecampus.phoenix.edu/secure/aapd/CIST/VOP/Business/Huffman/InterSite1/Company.htm