Riordan Riordan Manufacturing’s Mission and goals is
Riordan Manufacturing’s SR-rm-012 Service Request Riordan Industry’s is an international manufacturer of plastics generating success through superior products illustrated by current postings of annual revenues exceeding one billion dollars. Dr. Riordan began as a professor of chemistry and went on to develop high tensile strength plastic substrates.
Currently Riordan’s employs a staff of 550 people in five locations. Their goal is to produce quality products build long-term customer relationship and cultivate growth in sales for future business. The employee working environment inspires loyalty from his employees.
Riordan has commitments to four key milestones a) Manufacturing focus, b) Customer c) employees and d) manufacturing future. The Mission Riordan Manufacturing’s mission focuses on the following facets: maintaining leadership role in using polymer to aid customers with their challenges by offering solutions, to sustain the attitude and abilities of Riordan Manufacturing by preserving the leading edge Research and Development exceeding ISO 9000 standards remain the industry’s leader in identifying, and pioneering industry trends. Customer relationships are also a significant part of Riordan Manufacturing’s mission.
Riordan Manufacturing aims to provide solutions for customers, not to be a part of customer challenges, and strive to maintain long-term relationships by means of strict quality controls, modern solutions with responsive business attitude and cost-efficient pricing. Maintaining skilled employees is also an important mission for Riordan Manufacturing. Dedicated in upholding a superb team oriented type of working environment, Riordan’s ensuring proper training for their employees so they are well informed and properly supported, and provided a positive working atmosphere motivating employees to focus on long term viability of the company.
Lastly, Riordan Manufacturing’s Mission and goals is to identify, achieve, and maintain reasonable profitability, which include availability of financial and human capital to encourage continued success. The Legal System Riordan Manufacturing has several tiers of legal representation. Lowell Bradford is the chief legal counsel for the company and is responsible for overseeing the entire legal aspect of the business. Lowell Bradford contracted Litteral & Finkel who provides legal services, direction and suggests policy regarding legal issuers.Litteral & Finkel are an international organization who provides legal advice for all of Riordan’s division excluding the Chinese division.
Litteral & Finkel has the need to retain additional lawyers who practice and specialize in Chinese Law otherwise, Riordan will require additional Law counsel to fulfill the legal requirement in China. The organization currently has a working legal system that it inherited. Dr. Riordan’s cousin was a partner at the Litteral & Finkel firm but has since passed away. This may lead to an opportunity for change within the organization.The company should explore the possibility of hiring an internal Legal team who specialize in reducing the cost impact of litigation. Human Resources Riordan Manufacturing initiated their human resources system in 1922, and it has been in operation ever since.
This system works in conjunction with the financial system package and keeps track of employee records. The current operation software is outdated and unable to keep up with the daily employee demands and production that the daily company records.Arch Administrator PC Software Solutions LLC is a program that will work with Riordan’s human resources demands because Arch Administrator is powerful and intuitive relational database software designed specifically for design professionals (PS Software Solutions LLC, 2007). Human Resources System Recommendations The manager will schedule time to be trained how to use the new software. This will prove to be a benefit to the company’s goal and to the employee’s production. Employee records submitted through the new software electronically and copies are sent to both the employee managers and the payroll clerk.
The new software will also allow training and development records to be entered. As new job positions become available, the Human Resources (HR) department will be able to keep track of various applications filed for open positions. The new HR system will store applicant resumes with the application form and track the process through the interview and hiring process. Each manager would be responsible for his or her own employee files. At the same time, the new software will reduce the gaps that occurred in the previous software.
As in any company, each manager would be responsible for tracking any leave that employees may need, such as family medical leave. This would, however; exclude worker’s compensation records because they are currently tracked by on outside firm. The proposed Human Resources Information System (HRIS) for Riordan is designed for the company to store confidential information regarding employee pay rates personal exemption for tax purposes, and also for home addresses. The HR software currently used by Riordan is Microsoft Excel. FinanceRiordan Manufacturing has experienced consistent levels of sales during the current year; unfortunately a lower profit margin has been realized because of an increase in operating expense. Operation expenses increase from 5. 3 million in 2004 to 5.
7 million in 2005. The most significant change in operating expenses were general & administrative and quality assurance. The reduction of cost of goods sold in 2005 versus the same in 2004 shows that Riordan has purchased goods more efficiently but has reduced quality; thus, increasing the cost of quality assurance.
Sales training begins once the congruencies issues that reside within multiple computer systems have been resolved. Product knowledge will change because a item master will need to be developed from the multiple item name that reside currently. The Item master for all divisions of the company must decipher which parts shared among all four divisions and create a common Item number to supersede the four different part numbers that exist now.
Salesperson compensation will remain unchanged until a time where all division can create standards. Information Technology Security RecommendationsWith an emphasis on revenue growth and infrastructure streamlining, it is important that Riordan also has security measures in place. Hence, it is also important for the company to invest in a system that will not require too much maintenance, external support, or investment input. From a maintenance standpoint, the system security measures will have to adapt to changing demands. According to article by Joshua Corman of IBM, the security vendors out there that will take advantage of potential buyers, not in the interest of the buyer, but for their own interest (Brenner, 2009).
In addition, according to an article published by CSOonline. com, a security and risk assessment web site, Mr. Corman says that simple do-it-yourself software are often not enough; most botnets have surpassed what over the counter systems can provide protection for. Moreover, when there are outside vendors that have too much access into a firm’s security systems, compromise is often times inevitable and could go unnoticed. Therefore, in choosing a vendor for IT security, the company will have to seek out a well-established vendor, stick with it, and only give the vendor access to their own system.This will prevent the leak of trade and business secrets from getting into competitors’ hands. Without relying too much on outside vendors, the company will also have to have an Internet, computer, and network usage policy.
This policy will be readily available by HR to all employees and each employee that uses a computer system as part of their essential functions will have to agree to the policy. This policy will include measures such as the limited use of Internet during work hours and that Internet security will be at the discretion of Riordan, such as banning certain inappropriate web-sites from the system.This will essentially lock down web-sites that are deemed harmful and will also limit unproductive time employees will have using the Internet. Finally, without relying too much on outside vendors, the company would also have a full-time staff of system maintenance on site. These designated personnel will ensure security measures are in place to ensure employees are not only following computer use policies, and then the local systems remaining secure and safe for business use as well.
These full time personnel would be in charge of setting up encryption systems such as those provided by TrueCrypt, provides a free, open-source encryption (truecrypt. com, 2010). In addition to low-level security measures, the system maintenance staff will ensure that web browsers are locked, safe, and all e-mail transmissions are encrypted as they pass through the infrastructure. Another low-cost and low-maintenance for the IT personnel to use is Audit My PC, which offers a free firewall test to scan for open ports within a computer system (auditmypc. com, 2011).To summarize, a low-cost alternative to employing outside vendors at a much higher cost to the company is to hire full-time IT professionals who will oversee the daily operations of the system; from locking down browsers to ensuring other security measures are in place. These IT Professionals are readily available to troubleshoot and fix most technology-related issues.
This option will not only save money, but offer better security and efficiency than other free software available on the Internet. Riordan’s Business Systems The Riordan Industry’s currently operates independently at each location.Each location currently operates as a entity and adds extra data processing at the Headquarters location. The current business system is segmented and should be upgrades to capture streamline data , provide up-to-date inventory control system to decipher data in a centralize repository. Riordan has locations in San Jose, New Mexico, Albany, Georgia, Pontiac, Michigan, and Hangzhou, China. Each location has a separate responsibility than the other. The Headquarters location in San Jose is where research and development takes place.
Furthermore, the manufacturing of plastic beverage containers are made at the plant in Albany, Georgia thereafter these containers sold the major beverage makers and bottlers. Custom plastic parts manufactured at the plant in Pontiac, Michigan for aircraft and automobile manufactures, and plastic fan parts made at Hangzhou, China plant, installed at appliance manufacturers, and sold to Department of Defense. Distribution The objective of strategic capacity planning is an approach for determining capacity level of capital-intensive resources (Chase, Jacobs & Aquilano, 2006).Capacity plays an important role in a company’s competitive strategy. Their resources, including facilities, equipment, and labor affect strategic capacity planning. With many variables, strategic capacity planning is very malleable in fitting a specific need.
A poorly developed strategic capacity plan could lead to problems for a company. If a company has a large industrial warehouse and produced a generic, but time sensitive product, the company could maximize profits and customer service by purchasing raw materials in bulk and producing a large inventory of product.This particular plan would not be effective if there was a lack of space, or production is done far in advance. Strategic capacity planning in the supply chain manages the demand of new opportunities at a minimal cost (Chase, Jacobs & Aquilano, 2006).
Strategic capacity planning is critical to implementing long-term capacity needs to ensure that the company remains competitive within the industry. Poorly planned capacity needs can help the competition costing the business customers (Chase, Jacobs & Aquilano, 2006).A breakeven analysis can help Riordan Manufacturing determine the appropriate size of their business that influence the change of their product prices or services. The company builds the plastic parts required for the fans, purchases the electric motors for the fans from a supplier, and assembles the fans using the manufactured plastic parts and the fans.
The company currently purchases fans and raw material for the manufacture of the plastic parts as they require them. The process for the design and manufacture of electric fans at Riordan will improve by implementing lean production concepts.Lean production uses design activity to achieve the required production using minimal raw materials, work-in-process, and finished goods resulting in minimal waste in the production process (Chase, Jacobs, & Aquilano, 2006). The first step to achieve lean production would be to develop a strong relationship with the supplier of the electric motors and the plastic polymers. The electric motors come from a local Chinese company.
The company has an on-time delivery average of only 93%.The plastic polymers are also purchased from a Chinese company. Forging a strong relationship between the various entities will enable the companies to create a supply chain system that will facilitate just-in-time production. Just-in-time production will reduce production inventory to the minimal amount of raw material to meet production demands. Riordan would simultaneously receive new orders with the electrical motor company delivering motors and the plastic polymers suppliers delivering the raw material necessary to build the plastic parts.With a networked supply chain system, just-in-time cannot be a reality if the Riordan does not improve the internal processes including the time it takes them to build the electric fans. Currently, the company produces fans based on historical requirements and also build enough to support any warranty claims.
To change this process the company has to reduce the set-up time it takes to change from one model to another. With a reduced set-up time, the company can base their production numbers on yearly sales. Using yearly sales in addition to the average sales for the last three years will provide a more accurate forecast.Sharing these forecasts with the companies supplying the electric motors and the polymer plastics will provide coordination of production schedules.
The just-in-time approach would not work for any new customization jobs that the company receives. These products would need to be built using the current process until there has been a production pilot run and the design has been validated. Once this happens, any follow-on orders would use the just-in-time approach. Export from Riordan’s distribution facility consists of a hand written log where materials are received and reentered manually into a computer inventory tracking system.Marketing Majority of the Marketing data up to this point has been recorded using paper and pencil and does not reside on any computer system.
The company has made a massive effort the convert this hand-written data to electronic form, some fillable forms still remains. Currently there is no company sponsored marketing tools, but just what each individual salesperson uses to collect data themselves. The company is currently evaluating CRM (Customer relationship management) system to be rolled out at a future date.
A system to perform Cost analysis, track raw material forecast and create market trend analysis will become available when the new CRM system is adopted. Riordan’s market plan in the past has been contacting existing client, working trade shows, and increasing client bases. Marketing in the Future Riordan Manufacturing’s main marketing objective is to consolidate customer information into a CRM system that delivers better value to customers by building on past knowledge. Current and obsolete materials and Riordan’s marketing plans are stored in a file cabinet in the marketing department.In an attempt to commence the organization process, Riordan is considering hiring a college student who will scan the documents electronically to eliminate paper processes. A marketing budget has been established for marketing communications and marketing research, in collaboration of past and present marketing budgets.
Riordan marketing will attack more trade show venues in 2006, with an emphasis on value-added services for the client base. Riordan is will work to provide custom services to gain a larger client base; the company is also interested in adding value-added products to the current product line.Marketing Communications activities, according to Apollo Group (2004), include “Sales force promotions, Price/volume discounts to key accounts, public relations, brand development, tradeshows, events, and sponsorships, customer user group underwriting, and literature and other collateral material. ” In addition, Riordan’s marketing research expenditure consists of the following “Market size/opportunity studies, Customer focus groups, and brand development research” (Sales & Marketing, para.
9). Sales AnalysisRiordan Manufacturing sales team contracts with new clientele and existing customer to maintain current accounts. The company has 15-20 major accounts and 12 minor accounts that purchase, use, or distribute the Riordan products.
Riordan manufactures products that vary in diversity from plastic bottles, medical stents, heart valves, fans, and other custom plastic products. The company’s sales force sells all product lines and each sales person is in control of his or her client base. The sales staff consists of sales teams who have managers oversee the progress of each team.
Each team is responsible to contribute to the success of the annual sales budget, which is set at $50mil for 2006. Riordan’s sales staff uses three different methods to track sales data: manually with a pen and paper, ACT software program, and with a hybrid system. Riordan has a comprehensive compensation plan to motivate the salespeople, which are financial bonuses for management and team members who accomplish specific sales goals. The company also uses trade shows and client calling to obtain new clients and to sustain current business.Riordan has the right business systems in place; although there are opportunities the company could make changes with their sales team. Riordan has four distinct market bases, which require professional sales staff in each area.
Riordan should split the teams into each specialized market, training sales techniques, product knowledge, and direct marketing for each team. One team specialized in stents and heart valves, and the sales team should have knowledge of Riordan’s products and the competition.The stent and valve sales team can solely focus on clients in this market, reaching out to other countries and specific businesses in North America Additionally, Riordan requires a contact management system that can adapt to the current accounting, manufacturing, and marketing software programs. The benefit of this new system will help with tracking orders, billing for clients, and keep notes on specific conversations regarding orders, pricing, and discounts. The sales staff needs to have answers for client at their fingertips, so the client could feel confident that the company has their best interest in mind.Riordan’s staff must be trained on the database system so when a member of the team is off, the other members can help the client with any information.
Each team should sell and market as a team, which will help build unity among members. Most professionals who are members of a team like to succeed and not let other teammates down, changing the sales bonus program to benefit the team instead of individuals can create team unity. When the team is cohesive the company and client will benefit with service because the team will service clients together.
Clients wants to know that a group of people are looking out for their best interest, and could also call and get the same service and knowledge from other sales staff. Changes are necessary to increase sales and service existing clients at a higher level. Information systems must be upgraded if the company wants to increase the client base, the company needs to make the sales departments specialized to increase a client’s perspective of the staff. Increasing the chances for more members of the staff to receive bonuses will increase moral and increase performance levels.These small changes should make a large impact on the sales growth of Riordan Manufacturing, which will help the company meet or exceed current sales goals. Sales in the Future In an attempt to consolidate customer information, Riordan is in need of a new sales database.
Currently, the company is using multiple sales management software in various levels of management, stemming from ACT, to pencil ,and paper record keeping. If the company is to increase its sales goal to $50 million in revenue, the company will have to be more productive and get more done in a streamlined approach to records keeping.First, there will be a single database for sales and customer data to go through. This database will be stored on local servers but stored off-site for data redundancy and security. Furthermore, every firm and every factory will have the same database, and will be able to retrieve the same information from any location that has the terminals with installed software. On these reports, there will be records of sales by shifts, units produced by shift, and production planning for upcoming shifts. With a streamlined process in lace, there should be fewer guess work and therefore, fewer over- or under-production of products.
This will not only save money for the company, but also give a better customer service experience because more effort taken to producing the best product possible instead of spending time trying to calculate units required per shift. In addition to streamlining production with the new sales system, the company will also be able to see weekly, monthly, and yearly sales with the sales report accessible from within the database. These sales reports will show data on profit, loss, wages, and other business variables.These data will reflect what has been produced for whom, the amount in units and sales dollar amount from the following day, week, and month.
There will even be a comparison from last year’s numbers to show the amount of growth in the company. Ultimately, the goal is to increase revenue from the current amount to $50 million a year. The way to get there is to streamline processes, have a database that tracks sales and also records production. When implemented, the expectation is that this system will help increase sale to existing customers, and allows service through discounts and group services.There will also be growth to new customers because of increased productivity, allowing for time to attend trade shows, hold public relations activities, and increase brand development.
The anticipated marketing budget results for a two-year plan could reach up to $50 million revenue. This objective will be attained by means of increasing sales to existing customers and expanded sales to new customers by establishing public events such as trade shows and brand developments. Riordan Manufacturing has multiple business systems in operation related to sales department.Before the systems were in place, the sales department used manual record to file sales records data on paper. The operation system can track sales records that includes outside sales by customers, unit and dollar volume of product lines sold by Riordan, and capture dates by orders, delivery, and payments. Riordan must track this information by using different methods making difficult to obtain the data necessary from a sales point. As stated in the Riordan’s 2006 sales plan, the company objective is to consolidate their system into a Customer Relation Management (CRM) system.
A C. R. M is a system that manages customers and is a tool to capture everything the company does related to their customers.
Riordan has between 15 to 20 major clients and 12 minor clients each salesperson maintains their own record of customer sales either by writing the record on a sales form or by using sales management software like ACT. Some of the sales operation systems are conjoined with the marketing department with the support of finance and production department maintains profit and loss statements by items and by group.Some marketing communication system activities include the sales force promotions, public relations, brand development, tradeshows, and literature.
Riordan must stay competitive in this market by expanding sales to existing customers and new customers also by increasing sales force promotions, price discounts, and customer user group services. Riordan’s goal by implementing this sales strategy is to achieve a $50 million revenue mark within two years. The projected sales increase will be met by marketing to existing customers who account for 60 % of sales and new customers will account for 40 % of sales.To help Riordan to complete this goal, the marketing and production development department will play a key role by developing products and value added services. Conclusion In summary, there are challenges for all segments of Riordan’s business operations; with the major obstacle as the lack of a seamless integration of data, reporting, and financial data. Riordan must integrate an information system, which can unify their systems. When By doing so, Riordan will be able to track sales, marketing, finance, and production so that areas of the company are cohesive and are in better communication with one another.
The current effort requires the different entities to translate information from multiple systems, which has resulted in increased operation cost that is affecting the net profit margin. When the implementation of the suggested data system is in place, the projected net profits will increase due to efficiency. Reference Apollo Group, Inc. . (2004).
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