Please Solve This Case

10. The production and inventory managers of a ast growing manufacturer of outdoor clothing recognize that they need a better system for tracking orders and maintaining raw materials inventory. The manual job or- der and inventory cards currently in use were adequate when the firm was smaller. However, now many orders are not completed by their promised dates, partially fin- ished batches often wait several weeks for back-ordered raw materials, and substantial amounts of raw materials are often left over after production runs. These excess materials cannot be used and are eventually written off. Job order and raw material inventory cards are up- dated only once a week and the updating process takes a week. When customers inquire about their orders, pro- duction expediting clerks estimate the percent of com- pletion and a shipping date. These estimates are almost always wrong. Customers like the manufacturer's cloth- ing but many of them are beginning to hint they will be reluctant to place further orders because the manufac- turer can no longer provide reliable delivery dates. Operating managers have unsuccessfully tried to con- vince the president and vice-president of the need to improve the timeliness of information flow between in- ventory and production. The president and vice-presi- dent are convinced that the key factor in their success is the creative design of the product line. They believe that customers will wait for the clothing because it is what individual consumers want to buy. As proof, the presi- dent notes that last year other manufacturers began Imitating their designs. In fact, the president has com- mented that they ought to sue the "copycat" manufac- turers for infringement. The president was concerned that automating inven- tory and production control would simply cost too much and be too troublesome to convert. Required The production and inventory managers have asked you to help them prepare a last attempt to convince the pres- ident and vice-president that a new information system is essential to the continued success of the firm. Specif- ically you are to a. Identify five problems associated with the existing system. b. Identify the specific items of information that an im- proved and computerized system should provide, in- cluding nonfinancial as well as financial measures of performance. c. Identify the relevant information that should be gathered in this case to support the decision of whether or not to automate. (CIA adapted) Scanned with CamScanner