IRFAN ALI (7994)

NAME: ID: Course:

IRFAN ALI 7994

Computer Application In Business II

Assignment: 2nd Course Facilitator: Sir Muhammad Kamran

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CHAPTER 6
Welch Packaging and Gorman Uniform Broadband Internet Access Alternatives

Service:

Evaluating

Back in 1999, Jim Williams, IT Manager at Welch Packaging, found that a speedy, cost effective, wired connection to the internet wasnt available. He elected to use a local internet service provider that offers wireless access from cellular antenna towers using 11M bit/sec. William says Wireless was cheaper and it gave us more bandwidth than leasing a partial T1 line. Reliability was at first a little problematic because the 2.4 GHz signal must have a clear line of sight. Welchs fixed wireless setup uses an unlicensed spectrum, which is a little risky because there are no regulations against interference from other devices. Distance from the telecom service providers antenna is less of an issue for wireless users like Todd Gorman, operations manager at Gorman Uniform. Gorman contracted Sprint Corp. to provide MMDS (Multichannel Multipoint Distribution System) broadband wireless to his business. A central MMDS antenna like the one Sprint has placed on top of the Sears Tower in Chicago can reach customers within a radius of 35 miles. Gorman chose MMDS wireless even though he had access to DSL and T1 services Why? Because Sprint wireless service was the cheapest for the speeds we got. Wireless access was an even better deal than wired DSL, according to Gorman.

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Bob Evans Farms: The Business Case for Communications Satellite Networks
The network connecting the Bob Evans Farms, Inc, 459 restaurants and six food production plants to each other and the internet runs via satellite, a technology choice that came as something of a surprise to company executives. VSAT communications satellite network was the only technology that supported Bob Evans goals, was available at all sites and was cost effective. Five years ago there was no internet service provider for satellite companies; today 11% of ISPs are using satellite to extend their reach. Until last year the computers at Bob Evans restaurants dialed in daily over ordinary phone lines to the Ohio, Head Quarters to report sales, payroll and other data. Satellite would give the restaurants the connection and sufficient bandwidth. They first ran tests for 2 months, first in lab, then in one restaurant, on a Skystar Advantage system from Spacenet Inc. a subsidiary of Israel based Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd. Average time to do a credit card authorization is about 3 seconds now, including getting your printed receipt. To use its VSAT network to collect sales data from its 459 restaurants, Bob Evans headquarters initiates a request that travels via a T1 line to te master Earth station at a Spacenet hub. The benefits and savings justify the costs of the satellite network. Also important for Bob Evans was the ability to easily add stores and applications. New applications planned for this year include online inventory management, with XML based electronic ordering to follow.

Beema, Inc. and Ignition State: Evaluating Internet Telephony for Small Business
Beema, Inc. has just eight employees but those staffers are spread out among four offices: three in California and one in Cincinnati, where their IT guy David Lenmink resides. The companys phone bills would be $2000 to $3000 a month were it not for Lenminks technical wizardry. Setting up thin mini internet telephone network cost Beema a $10,000 in modifications. Several Web Based services now offer an alternative to buying and installing your own telephony equipment and software on your PC. With Internet telephony, also called Voice Over Internet Protocol or VOIP, calls that start at your office jump onto the internet and then reconnect with the phone system at the very last stop. The first VOIP calls were computer to computer, with the callers speaking into microphones on their PCs. Later callers that used their computers to connect could speak to one another on the telephone. The latest advances are Internet phone, appliances that plug into a phone jack.

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Adding to their offering of cheap calls, Internet telephony providers are courting small businesses with services like unified messaging and live calling software for consumer websites. Sheri Harris, a business strategist at Ignition State, a Chicago based Internet consulting firm, became interested in VOIP because of the cheap international calls. Despite the lure of cheap calls and new business focused services, small companies are hardly flocking to VOIP web sites. One reason: the internet telephony websites cant handle inbound toll free calls. Nor can they route calls around the office. Most of these providers are not business class yet.

CHAPTER 7
Netro Corp. and Lightwave Microsystems: The Business Value of Web Based Manufacturing Systems
Once upon a time, manufacturers operated on a simple build to stock model. But now things have changed. Netro Corp. a manufacturer of Broadband wireless access systems copes with the need to incorporate that kind of flexibility into its manufacturing process by using a Web Based Manufacturing Execution System (MES) from Data sweep Inc. The move from build to stock to build to order placed attention on the other end of the manufacturing equation, driving the broad adoption of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems. Companies could now accept orders, coordinate supply chain logistics and communicate with customers like never before. MES has evolved from an inflexible, monolithic offering for the elite few into web enabled e-business tool that reaches beyond the walls of a single factory. Without MES, companies like Netro dont have the ability to respond at the pace demanded by todays customers. But MES isnt just attractive to virtual manufacturers with widely dispersed operations. Lightwave Microsystems uses InSite, a modular Web based MES application from Camstar Systems for manufacturing process data collection, traceability, process control, yield management and work in process tracking.

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Lightwave previously used a homegrown engineering database application with simple tracking capabilities. Using MES has resulted in a 15% increase in line yield, 20% better chip yield and doubling on time delivery. Now we can make better business decisions by looking directly at our work in process inventory status, increase yields by identifying and classifying failure mechanisms and detect bottlenecks that may have been preventing us from achieving maximum manufacturing throughout.

Charles Schwab and Others: The Business Value of Web Based Human resource Systems
Web based human resource management can free HR professionals from time consuming tasks like running weekly reports, drafting employee handbooks, orienting new hires, and even tracking vacation time. Charles Schwab & Co. receives 1.3 million page views per day. Its an intranet that enables Schwabs 23,000 employees to access detailed HR information about benefits, training, computer support and scads of company information. The Schweb provides managers with online access to accurate information about employees. The other benefit is that it helps employees find the information they need faster and serve customers faster, more effectively. The productivity benefits alone from the use of the Schweb are huge. While in small business the number of businesses using web based human resources systems is still relatively small, some companies such as One Workplace, an office space design firm and furniture retailer in Milpitas, California are catching on to their benefits. Whats more, when an employee leaves the company, an HR System can expedite the paper intensive process, including issuing final paychecks and tallying vacation compensation. Web based HR solutions offer more advanced options by transferring tedious paperwork online. Web based tools also update managers on key employee development milestones. Now its much more click and go because theres just one place to input and manage all your HR information- its like having an extra efficient employee.

Harrahs, DuPont, and Otis: Initiatives in Challenging Times

Capitalizing

on

e-Business

As the USA stood still in the wake of the September 11 attacks of 2001, casino and hotel operator, Harrahs Entertainment Inc. faced a sharp downturn in business. So. On September 14, they launched a small counter offensive and sent out targeted e-mails to thousands of customers it thought might want to take a trip to the tables and slots.

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That summer the company linked its databases of 24 million gamblers to its website and e-mail marketing system. With its innovative e-business marketing Harrahs rebounded more quickly after September 11 than other big casinos in Vegas. Companies in sales squeeze are looking to the Net as a tool for cutting costs, generating new revenue streams, trimming inventories, and serving customers and employees more efficiently. At DuPont, for example, purchasing on the Web has cut the cost of buying supplies by $200 million, a 4 % reduction in the first year of the $15 million e-business project. Otis Elevator Co. more than doubled its e-business budget and expects a 50% increase in 2002. Otis also is tapping the Net to slash repair bills. The payoff is huge. Elevators with remote tracking require only one third the numbers of visits as those without the system.

Cardinal Glass, hunt Corp., and K&G: The Business Case for Supply Chain Event Management
Two and a half years ago, Cardinal Glasss legacy systems were making it a weak link in one of its key customers supply chain. Luckily, Cardinal found that by installing supply chain event management (SCEM) applications from Minneapolis based HighJump software, it could deliver products at nearly 100% accuracy. SCEM applications let companies see in realtime or as close as possible- if their existing supply chain management (SCM) systems are working. Cardinal did contemplate replacing its legacy enterprise resource planning (ERP) system but Cardinal officials decided that they needed software that would address errors in the system on the fly. The new system cut by about two-thirds the amount of manpower needed to compensate for errors such as inventory erroneously being marked in when it wasnt there, or shipments being sent incorrectly. The cost of SCEM software will probably make you choke before you finish. But firms with unpredictability in their supply chain find SCEM products especially worth the price. One company thats relying on supply chain vigilance is Hunt Corp, North Carolina based maker and distributor of office supplies and graphic products. Without the capability to monitor critical supply chain processes they could never achieve objectives to improve productivity, lower costs and improve service. Such a responsive system is key at K&G Mens Center Inc a high volume clothing retailer.

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By flagging problems right from the store floor, the company has saved about $100,000 by not having to do emergency drop shipments. K&G can resolve almost 100% of problems on the spot.