Chapter 1
Introduction
Thomson Page Interconnections ( TPI ) is a UK based maker for Printed Circuit Board. The company is one of the largest industries in surface-mount assembly along with fast-track prototyping and box physique services. It employs over 100 people at its two sites in Walton and Andover with Walton being the chief site. The turnover of the company is about $ 10 million every twelvemonth. To get by with increasing competition and market influences both globally and locally and to increase the efficiency in footings of quality, dependability, productiveness and optimal resource use a strategic program to develop and better information system for proactive determination devising of the direction is a must.
Purposes
The Aims of the study are to suggest a five twelvemonth program for the company to better its deliverables and services for the consumers and to suggest an information system tool which will command, proctor and record the inside informations of merchandises, its constituents, operational clip of the merchandise and its cost to better the company ‘s tendering processs by analysing the clip and cost fluctuation throughout the production.
Aim
* To strategically analyze and look into TPI based on SWOT and PEST analysis with regard to its possible rivals, its environment and the likely loopholes in the market and the several services provided by the company.
* To understand the methods and tools for promotion of suited systems to transport out work up to the grade of adept criterions.
* To suggest a concern scheme while understanding the importance of efficient communicating in an organisation. Besides, to recognize and value the broad assortment of services that information systems can supply as a agency of communicating.
* With the assistance of Case Diagram, category diagram and activity diagram, analyze the bing construction of the company and based on the survey, suggest a new system for informations aggregation to treat clip and cost expeditiously to percolate up its tendering procedure.
Chapter 2
STRATEGIC ANALYSIS TECHNIQUES
Strategic planning in merely footings is a procedure to transport out the concern from its present province to where it wants to be. It ‘s difficult to believe strategically into a obscure hereafter so strategic analysis helps to expect what may go on and it helps in being prepared for it. Strategic planning is carried out by first analysing the company ‘s end and nonsubjective followed by uncovering the chances, analysing company ‘s chief resources and foregrounding the menaces. Second to develop a scheme and taking the right scheme from several available alternate by analysing it ‘s cost and benefits.
In this instance, we would utilize SWOT and PEST analysis techniques.
& A ; Acirc ; · SWOT ANAYLSIS
It is a powerful strategic planning tool for summarizing the cardinal issues originating from an appraisal of a concern ‘s “ internal ” place and “ external ” environmental influences. ( www.corporatestrategiesintl.com )
The internal analysis consists of the strengths and failings of the company whereas the chances and the menaces combine together to organize the external analysis. With the aid of the internal and external analysis the SWOT Profile is formed.
& A ; Acirc ; · PEST ANALYSIS
“ Plague analysis is a utile strategic tool for understanding market growing or diminution, concern place, possible and way for operations. “ ( Kotler,1998 ) .
Plague factors are normally considered as menaces or as chances for an organisation as they are beyond the control of an organisation.
A SWOT analysis measures a concern unit whereas a PEST analysis measures a market. ( www.businessballs.com )
2.1 SWOT ANALYSIS FOR THOMSON PAGE INTERCONNECTIONS
The chief grounds for taking this technique by TPI is to analyse and capitalise on its strengths, turn to its failings, take advantage of the chances and extenuate the menaces environing them. The technique of change overing failings into strengths and menaces into chances will assist in optimising the potency of the company. The analysis pointed out that TPI has a strong market presence and enjoys a good good will and repute in the industry. The turnover of the company besides reflects its leading and client satisfaction. They besides need to develop some nucleus competences out of one of their strengths mentioned below. The scheme analysis besides guards the company against the of all time altering environment. The analysis besides points out the demand for a better research and development section.
SWOT PROFILE
Strength
* Begin one of the oldest company of its sort it enjoys a repute of being a good and dependable company in UK.
* Now yearss the company is one of the largest surface-mount industries in the UK.
* It besides introduced fast-track prototyping and box physique services.
* The company operates from two sites in Walton and Andover with good dedicated employees.
* Mainly stresses on quality and client services.
* Carries out research for new merchandises.
* Continuously analyzing market tendencies and keeps a cheque on the advancement of its rivals.
Failing
* No strategic program for future.
* Small research and development section.
* No CNC machine at the Andover site so the site concentrates chiefly on the specializer PCB assemblies.
* Assigning production costs accurately to single occupations.
* Production troubles related to specific batches.
Opportunity
* A good thought strategic program, to understand where the company is really heading.
* Bing one of the oldest houses it enjoys dependable and trusty clients which ever add to the company ‘s good will.
* A better and bigger research and development section.
* A better tendering process with accurate information on the cost and clip of piecing merchandises.
* Bettering its place in the fabrication market by selling good and high quality merchandises in a executable monetary value.
* Activity Based Costing System keeps a cheque on the merchandises, constituents, employees, cost and timings of different merchandises.
Menace
* Overseas competition from India and China.
* Declining net income borders for the past four old ages.
* Changing market and clients demands.
* Processing many different contracts of varying degrees, complexness and value.
* System dislocation can do a large job.
2.2 PEST ANALYSIS FOR THOMSON PAGE INTERCONNECTIONS
As TPI is soon runing within United Kingdom the analysis of the economic factors would assist us in expecting the current and future economic growing of the organisation as economic factors helps us to find the alterations in the economic environment along with the involvement and rising prices rates.
Analysis of factors such as revenue enhancement policies, trade limitations and duty control must be carried out really expeditiously. There is definite demand to study the present political scenario therefore political relations factor can non be ignored as it helps in analysing any possible alterations in the hereafter.
Assorted socio-cultural elements such as employment, mobility should be thought decently as TPI has two sites to run from. It would assist the company to analysing the liabilities and carelessness in the safety demands.
PEST analysis reveals another of import factor which should be considered by TPI which is technological environment. As the procedure is dependent on engineering, technological analysis will assist TPI in set uping the usage of effectual communications and customised package that would assist in decrease of costs.
IDENTIFICATION OF FACTORS FOR PEST
POLITICAL
* Political Stability and likely alterations.
* Tax Policies.
* Trade limitations and Tariff controls.
* Environmental Regulations
* Employment Laws
ECONOMIC
* Current and project Economic Growth
* Interest Ratess
* Inflation Ratess
* Labor Costss
* Likely impact of technological alterations on the economic system
* Likely alterations in the whole economic environment.
SOCIO-CULTURAL
* Population growing rate
* Social mobility
* Employment forms, occupation market attitudes, calling attitudes
* Emphasis on Safety
TECHNOLOGICAL Environment
* Impact of emerging technologies-use of latest equipments
* Impact of Internet and decreased communicating costs.
* Research and Development Activity
* Rate of technological alterations.
Chapter 3
In conformity with the analysis in chapter 2, the company needs a strategic program which will non merely assist to better their concern but besides measure by measure take them out of the diminution net income border. A concern strategic non merely helps in direction to clear up, concentrate and research their undertaking ‘s development or concern chances but besides offers a benchmark against which existent public presentation can be measured and reviewed.
A proper strategic non merely helps in avoiding errors but sometimes it may besides take up to happening some concealed chances. To organize a strategic the vision, aims, ends and plans must be every bit clear as possible.
The mission out here is to do the house ego sustainable in any sort of competitory environment by presenting information system tools to adhere the house as one and to increase the productiveness and gross revenues of the house.
As identified from the SWOT and PERT analysis in Chapter 2, the schemes for a five twelvemonth program are
Approach: Improving Relationss with the Clients
One of the major strengths of TPI is their strong history of service and good relationship with their Clients. There should be a batch of focal point on keeping client, high client service and committedness and quality. “ It is about acknowledging that the organisation ‘s bing client base is its most of import plus, which has to be protected. “ ( Winter and Preece, 2002 ) . There should be equal focal point on acquiring new clients as the company has an chance to sell high quality goods at sensible monetary value.
Approach: Larger Research and Development Department
As the company surveies market tendencies and the rival ‘s advancement really closely, there should hold a bigger and more efficient research and development section. This is to do certain that the company is non left behind owing to the alterations in the market trends. Changes in the demands of the clients should besides be taken good attention of, to provide the client with the best merchandise at a sensible monetary value from its rival should be the slogan of the research and development section.
Approach: Knowledge Management
In making so, the best patterns will be stored in a cognition bank so that there is no reinvention of things and any frequent questions or activity procedure can be addressed by the informations already stored. This will besides enable the employees to larn from experient directors experience. Online package ‘s ( connected to the waiter ) shall be used by the employees for clip sheets and entering informations.
Approach: EDMS – Electronic Document Management Systems for Communication
EDMS is one of the most convenient and efficient systems to command and back up as it individual handled, easy manages system disposal, document constellation and versioning. The system is clear, precise, unlittered and easy to pull off interfaces and hence the efficiency offered is great. Multiple paperss can be made available to all the members who are associated with the undertaking. Some papers types can be made on manus to merely disposal, while other paperss are available for sing merely by certain users, and let other official users to redact them. EDMS has besides proved to present all its maps with a well low cost of operation and ownership. It can really good fulfill the demands of any graduated table of undertakings, from multi-nationals to individual section undertakings.
Benefits of EDMS
* Cost effectual information retrieval
* Cost effectual storage of information
* Web based bringing of information
* Secure distribution and control of information
* Low care
* Highly scalable application
Approach: Core Competence
“ Core competences are what give house one or more competitory advantages, in making and presenting value to its clients in its chosen field. ”
( www.businessdictionary.com/definition/core-competencies.html )
As analysed from the PEST analysis of the macro environment that TPI is runing within demands uninterrupted betterments in the Fieldss of engineering. This would assist taking the organisation to another degree where no 1 else can fit their proficient knowhow in this peculiar country they have to introduce new and more efficient methods of fabrication.
Schemes are nil but a realistic position of the outlooks and long-run aims for an constituted concern. It provides the model within which the company must run so that to vouch success non merely in financess raising but besides in the ultimate challenge of Success.
Chapter 4
ARCHITECTURE OF THE NEW SYSTEM
The development of new systems should be made in a more cohesive manner with greater integrating and communicating throughout the organisation. A clearly defined procedure for stipulating waiter, edifice, commissioning and back uping should be developed to guarantee consistence in hardware platforms, runing systems and package. A standard set of supported hardware and runing systems should be defined to guarantee that support continues but besides that in the event of failure hardware could be resourced far more easy to enable the Restoration of services far more rapidly.
There are presently 6 computing machines in usage by the administration out of which 4 are at Walton office and 2 at the Andover office. All the computing machines would be linked to the cardinal waiter residing at the caput office. The full web would be protected by firewall to supervise entrance and surpassing security qui vives and track down any invasion or detect viruses, menaces, or procuring the database from a clang down.
All computing machines would necessitate a common operating system such as Windows Vista or Windows 7 with nucleus applications ( Including Microsoft Office 2007 ) . This is to guarantee that the similarity is maintained throughout the two subdivisions. Applications such as Microsoft Outlook would be used as the standard electronic mail and Internet Explorer as the default web browser. The computing machines must be equipped with an anti-virus so as to protect it from viruses, menaces, and interrupt down and protect files and company paperss.
NETWORK SECURITY
Further certain security steps should be considered for the waiter substructure. Potential entree points have to be identified as “ the security can be merely every bit good as the security on these entree nodes ” .
There have to be safety steps at the terminuss of the web to accomplish equal web security. In the architecture of the system designed for TPI, firewalls could be used to concentrate web security into one point. This firewall would supervise and log traffic through the web. As the cardinal waiter would hive away all the information of the administration, a hardware firewall would be used to do it more secure and configurable.
The systems at the regional offices would be farther protected by supplying package firewalls so that all messages come ining or go forthing through them pass through the firewall, which would analyze each message and block those that do non run into the specified security standards. Such steps may include the usage of user Idaho ‘s and password security, antivirus security to battle against the assorted virus eruptions.
Referee: Anonymous, 2009. [ on-line ] . : hypertext transfer protocol: //www.fortunaps.net/fortudoc/images/FortuDoc2.gif
Decision
Planing non merely includes identifying strengths, failing, chances and menaces but includes set uping ends, aims and budgeting foe both long and short footings. Right and accurate information is the key for planning. The better the information, the clearer the image directors has of the present and past ; the clearer the image of the present and past, the better prepared directors are to be after for the hereafter.
Resources like information, stuffs, work force, equipments and methods should be allocated decently so as to optimise the direction system. To put up criterions such as undertaking clip agenda, control budgets and productiveness criterions Information Systems is the key and the most necessary portion. It besides helps in mensurating and comparing advancement and costs of a peculiar merchandise.
Based on the above analysis, TPI may therefore develop a more concentrated and systematic attack with new and improved information direction system to get by with competitory environment and improved consciousness in the industry. Thereafter, in order to present the information on clip for decision-making or any remedial disciplinary action, it is desired that the information system be so updated that much clip can be devoted to the existent executing of the necessary action instead than on the accretion of information prior to it. Timely accomplishment of marks and agendas in footings of overall net income and decrease in clip and cost is the most of import precedence of a company. Therefore to stay as a leader, it is of import that the company is ever in the procedure of planning, modifying, and redesigning its information system at its assorted degrees and therefore guarantee a complete information flow throughout the company.
