The required tasks:
You are employed by Scanning and Mobility Company Ltd as a Business Systems Requirements Analysts. You have had extensive experience with project managing software implementations in manufacturing organisations, you have been asked by the Board to establish a project team to work on the Enterprise System implementation.
Your team is directed to evaluate the current state of their existing enterprise systems. The current enterprise systems have been used by the organisation now for over 7 years. The systems as they stand are unable to support the new strategic direction of the organisation. You and your team have to help answering the following:
1- introduction
2-The CEO has heard that SAP, to help companies drive their digital transformation, has delivered the next wave of SAP S/4HANA which covers end to end digitized operations across key business functions. He thinks SAP refers to it as the next-Generation business Suite but may have misheard. He asks you to find out more about SAP in general and whether the company should now move to this new ERP system. So, explain the role of the software and its functions for the company.
Background Scanning and Mobility Company Ltd is an Australian manufacturer of Scanners and mobile computers that are sold for use in warehouse and retail outlets. They are a growing company with approx 10,000 staff worldwide; this includes 20 top level managers, 35 middle managers and 25 operational managers and a large variety of contractors. As well as 8,250 users of the system from a variety of departments, such as, warehouse, production and manufacturing, research and development, call centre sales and service personnel, sales and distribution and HR staff to name a few. End users can be broken down into four main groups with various levels of computer literacy: experienced enterprise system users, inexperienced enterprise system core users, inexperienced casual users, and users requiring simple system awareness. These stakeholders will be impacted by the implementation in various ways. The current IT systems lack the flexibility and scalability to support the case company's growth into new markets over the next decade. Furthermore, the current IT systems do not provide the data needed for analysing the costs and profitability of different products, by sales regions and customers. Scanning and Mobility Company Ltd is yet to develop a healthcare mobile hand-held computer which can be used in third world countries but again their systems need to be upgraded to allow for this strategic direction. Another key strategy for Scanning and Mobility Company Ltd is its commitment to a customer satisfaction by delivering the product(s) at the right time, right place, and at the right price. This may require make to order as well as make to stock products. Scanning and Mobility Company Ltd is organized around processes that are focused on the value add to customers. Their home office is in Melbourne, which is also the headquarters for the main sales office. A sales office is also located in Sale, NSW. The company operates two manufacturing plants in Australia: one in Melbourne, and another one in Sale, NSW. Distribution centres are also located at each of the current manufacturing plants. The company recently added a China sales force in Beijing which The company has realised the significant value of global collaboration. The company is dealing more than ever before with new vendors who are distributed around the world. The company wants to invest in supplier collaboration networks for creating a sustainable, yet competitive business environment. As such, the management team seeks technologies that can help them to discover opportunities for creating a global network of partners with whom they can collaborate on their new projects. Hyper connected customer centric business models are causing the company to fall behind in its interactions with its customers. Customers are driving change. The company is very slow to respond and adapt to changing circumstances. The company needs to generate new revenue streams. This will influence how the company operates Workforce engagement is an important priority. With the increasing mobility of managers, staff, clients, and competitors, this has created a huge network of people and expertise. The company seeks an effective and efficient way of supporting, managing, and taking advantage of the networking opportunities that such a network of mobile workforce and clients offer. Strategic direction: The key strategy for Scanning and Mobility Company is its commitment to customer satisfaction by delivering the product(s) at the right time, right place, and at the right price. However, this cannot be achieved unless the company looks at their long term business strategy. Scanning and Mobility Company is organized around processes that are focused on the value add to customers. Some additional high-level requirements are as follows: Scanning and Mobility Company wants to track profitability and manufacturing costs of each of its products and accessories. The marketing department needs important marketing information such as, sales reports for each region, by product, by customers and by distribution method. Marketing wants to know in which country the mobile hand-held computer would best be distributed based on market research and future trends The research and development (R&D) arm of Scanning and Mobility Company wants to know whether it would be profitable to develop and market an extended range of parts and products online using an extended supply chain similar to that provided by Amazon, AliBaba and eBay. To support the corporate structure, Scanning and Mobility Company product strategy and strategic initiatives requires a progressive enterprise system that will enable it to support its growth over the next decade while improving the decision-making capabilities. The company has realised the significant value of global collaboration. The company is dealing more than ever before with new vendors who are distributed around the world. The company wants to invest in supplier collaboration networks for creating a sustainable, yet competitive business environment. As such, the management team seeks technologies that can help them to discover opportunities for creating a global network of partners with whom they can collaborate on their new projects. Hyper connected customer centric business models are causing the company to fall behind in its interactions with its customers. Customers are driving change. The company is very slow to respond and adapt to changing circumstances. The company needs to generate new revenue streams. This will influence how the company operates Workforce engagement is an important priority. With the increasing mobility of managers, staff, clients, and competitors, this has created a huge network of people and expertise. The company seeks an effective and efficient way of supporting, managing, and taking advantage of the networking opportunities that such a network of mobile workforce and clients offer. Strategic direction: The key strategy for Scanning and Mobility Company is its commitment to customer satisfaction by delivering the product(s) at the right time, right place, and at the right price. However, this cannot be achieved unless the company looks at their long term business strategy. Scanning and Mobility Company is organized around processes that are focused on the value add to customers. Some additional high-level requirements are as follows: Scanning and Mobility Company wants to track profitability and manufacturing costs of each of its products and accessories. The marketing department needs important marketing information such as, sales reports for each region, by product, by customers and by distribution method. Marketing wants to know in which country the mobile hand-held computer would best be distributed based on market research and future trends The research and development (R&D) arm of Scanning and Mobility Company wants to know whether it would be profitable to develop and market an extended range of parts and products online using an extended supply chain similar to that provided by Amazon, AliBaba and eBay. To support the corporate structure, Scanning and Mobility Company product strategy and strategic initiatives requires a progressive enterprise system that will enable it to support its growth over the next decade while improving the decision-making capabilities
