Operations and logistics are the fundamental dimensions that an operations existence is anchored on. Riordan manufacturing is committed to ensuring that the operations and logistics are streamlined and that laid down procedures that guide the process of receiving materials, tracking, manufacturing and dispatch are adhered to. The company is aware of the fact that operations and logistics are the main pillars of any business. Instituting proper processes and standards will help Riordan to streamline its operations and logistics process thus increasing efficiency and profit margins for the organization (Russell, 2007).
Current Operations and Logistics Systems in Place
Currently, the company’s operations and logistics process is composed of three general stages namely:
Receiving raw materials
Manufacturing with inventory
Final product shipping
In the first stage, raw materials needed to manufacture the company’s products are received. The shipping supervisor is mandated with the task of receiving the delivered raw materials and confirming that the delivery is what was ordered for. Once the goods have been confirmed, the paper-based inventory log is sent to the inventory clerk who enters the details in the inventory system.
In the second phase, the raw materials are converted into finished products. As the product development continues, an inventory usage document is sent to the clerk to manually update the system with the information.
In the last phase, the finished products are delivered to the customer. The sales orders are manually keyed into the customer shipping and billing system. Based on the shipping documents from the customer shipping and billing system, the shipping team assembles the inventory to be shipped. Truck details are entered into the system for tracking purposes.
Proposed System
The manual inventory management system should be replaced with Apriso’s FlexNet production and FlexNet Warehouse systems. These two systems will streamline the operations and logistics process by increasing flexibility, efficiency and cut costs (Apriso Success Stories, 2010). These systems will introduce biometric technology such as bar code technology to automate the whole supply chain process from receiving of raw materials, to manufacturing, and shipping. Moreover, the systems will automatically update the inventory database in real-time to eliminate the errors associated with the manual process.
References
Russell, S. (2007). Supply Chain Management: More Than Integrated Logistics. (Cover story). Air Force Journal Of Logistics, 31(2), 56-63.
Apriso Success Stories. (2010, June. 24). Amcor Injects Performance into Warehousing. Retrieved December 8, 2012, from http://www.apriso.com/library/success_stories/Apriso-AmcorSS.pdf
