Lecture 2 Emerging and Future Information Systems II

Lecture 2Emerging and Future

Information Systems II

Objectives

• Describe enterprise resource planning System

• Describe the Characteristics of:oArtificial IntelligenceoExpert Systems

• Describe some business applications of:oEnterprise resource planning systemsoExpert systems

Enterprise Resource Planning

• ERP system is a set of integrated programs capable of managing a companies vital business operation for an entire multi-site, global organization.

• Major business functions of such a system includes production, distribution, sales, finance and human resource management.

• It is normally purchased as an off-the-shelf package.

Enterprise Resource Planning (Cont…)

• The benefits of ERP system includes:oReduce cost of buying from a single

supplier.oBetter transfer of information within the

organization since all modules of the system is compatible.

oSimplified support and maintenance through a single supplier.

oUse of ‘best-of-breed’ solutions applied by the companies.

Enterprise Resource Planning (Cont…)

• The main disadvantage of ERP systems includes:oThe high costs charged by suppliers. oThe system often has to change its

processes or way of working in order to fit the way the software operates.

oOnly large companies can afford the software and the consultants, which will often be a total cost of millions of pounds.

Traditional View of Information Systems• Large organization typically has many different

kinds of information systems that support different functions

• Most of these systems are built around different functions, business units and business processes that do not “talk” to each other, and managers might have a hard time assembling the data they need for a comprehensive, overall picture of the organization’s operations.

• For Example, sales personnel might not be able to tell at the time they place an order whether the items that were ordered were in inventory

Traditional View of Information Systems

Enterprise Systems

• Traditional IS have negative impact on organizational efficiency and business performance.

• Many organizations are now building ERP systems.

• ERP models and automates many business processes, with the goal of integrating information across the company and eliminating complex, expensive links between computer systems in different areas of the business.

Enterprise Systems

• Information will flow throughout the firm and can be shared in all business processes

• This have positive impact and overall efficiency of the organization will increase

Enterprise Systems

Business Process Support by ERP

• Manufacturing process, including inventory management, purchasing, shipping, production planning, material requirements planning, and plant and equipment maintenance.

• Financial and accounting processes, including accounts payable, accounts receivable, cash management, and forecasting, product-cost accounting, cost-center accounting, asset accounting, general ledger, and financial reporting.

Business Process Support by ERP

• Sales and marketing processes, including order processing, pricing, shipping, billing, sales management, and sales planning.

• Human resource processes, including personnel administration, payroll, personnel planning and development, applicant tracking, and travel expense reporting.

Some Business Applications of ERP• Sales and Marketing Systems

oThe sales and marketing function is responsible for selling the organization’s products or service.

oMarketing is concerned with:Identifying the customers for the firm’s products or services

Determining what they need or want

Some Business Applications of ERPoPlanning and developing products and

services to meet their needsoAdvertising and promoting these

products and services.

• Sales are concerned with contacting customers, selling the products and services, taking orders, and following up on sales.

Examples of Sales and Marketing IS

System Description Organizational Level

Order processing

Enter, process, and track orders

Operational

Market analysis

Identify customers and markets using data on demographics, markets, consumer behavior, and trends

Knowledge

Pricing analysis

Determine prices for production and services

Management

Sales trend forecasting

Prepare 5-year sales forecast Strategic

Some Business Applications of ERP

• Manufacturing and production Information SystemsoThe manufacturing and production

function is responsible for actually producing the firm’s goods and services.

oManufacturing and production systems deal with:

oPlanning oDevelopmentoMaintenance of production facilities


• Establishment of production goals• The acquisition• Storage• Availability of production materials• Scheduling of equipment, facilities,

material, and labor required to fashion finished products.

Examples of Manufacturing and Production Information Systems


Machine control Control the actions of machines and equipment

Operational

Computer-aided design (CAD)

Design new products using the computer

Knowledge

Production planning

Decide when and how many products should be produced

Management

Facilities location Decide where to locate new production facilities

Strategic


• Finance and Accounting Systemso The finance function is responsible for

managing the firm’s financial assets, such as cash, stocks, bonds, and other investments in order to maximize the return on these financial assets.

o The finance function is also in charge of managing the assets of the firm.

o In order to determine whether the firm is getting the best return on its investments, the finance function must obtain a considerable amount of information from sources external to the firm.

Examples of Finance and Accounting Information Systems


Accounts receivable

Track money owed to the firm

Operational

Portfolio analysis

Design the firms portfolio of investments

Knowledge

Budget Prepare short-term budgets

Management

Profit planning Plan long-term profits Strategic


• Human Resources Systemso The human resources function is

responsible for attracting, developing, and maintaining the firm’s work force.

o HRM Systems support activities such as identifying potential employees, maintaining complete records on existing employees, and creating programs to develop employees’ talent and skills.

Examples of Human Resources IS System Description Organizational Level

Training and development

Track employee training, skills, and performance appraisals

Operational

Career pathing Design career paths for employees

Knowledge

Compensation analysis

Monitoring the range and distribution of employee wages, salaries, and benefits

Management

Human resource planning

Plan the long-term labor force needs of the organization

Strategic

Artificial Intelligence

PeopleSoftware

Data

Knowledge Hardware

Procedures

AIS

Artificial Intelligence• Artificial Intelligence Systems Include:

o Peopleo Procedureso Hardwareo Softwareo Datao Knowledge

• The Objective of AI is not to replace human Decision making completely but to solve certain types of problems.

The Characteristics of AI

• Learn from experience and apply knowledge acquired from experience o Natural for Human beingso Must be programmed

• Handle Complex Situations o Even Human beings make mistakeso requires careful planning and elaborate

computer programming

The Characteristics of AI (Cont…)• Solve problems with important information

is missing.o Decision must be made even when we lack

information or have inaccurate information

• Determine what is important.o Everyday we are bombarded with facts and

must process large amounts of data, filtering out what is unnecessary

o Computers do not have this natural ability

The Characteristics of AI (Cont…)• React quickly and correctly to a new

situationo Human beings react quickly and correctly in a

new situationo Complex programming is required

• Understand visual images. o Being able to understand and correctly

interact visual images is an extremely complex process for computer systems.

• Process and manipulate symbolso Computers have difficulty handling symbolic

processing and reasoning

The characteristics of AI (Cont…)

• Be creative and imaginativeo Developing new and exiting products and

services from an exiting situation is a human characteristic

o Human beings are creating new technologies to make computer as an imaginative and creative thing

• Use heuristicso Human beings can guess and take decision

using general rules of thumb, without completely searching all alternatives and possibilities

Expert Systems

Components of an Expert Systems

Expert Systems • An ES is a special type of IS that uses

knowledge within some topic area to solve problems or provide advice.

• ES’s are used to mimic human expertise by manipulating knowledge rather than simply information.

• When you use an ES, the system asks you a series of questions, much as a human expert would.

Expert Systems (Cont…) • ES’s are used when expertise for a particular

problem is rare or expensive. • Examples of ES are:-

o Medical diagnosiso Machine configurationo Financial planning

• Computerized expert systems have been developed to diagnose problems, predict future events, and improve healthcare etc…

Characteristics of ES • Can explain their reasoning or suggested decisions

o This is the most valuable feature of a computerized expert system

• Can display “intelligent” behaviorso Can process new ideas or approaches to problem

solving • Can draw conclusions from complex relationships

o Can suggest ways to improve quality control procedure.

• Can provide portable knowledge. o Can be used to capture human expertise that

might otherwise be lost

Characteristics of ES (Cont…)• Can deal with uncertainty

o Use of probability & statistics.• Not widely used or tested• Difficult to use

o Some ES are difficult to control and use• Limited to relatively narrow problems

o Some ES can perform complex data analysiso Others are limited to simple problems

• Cannot readily deal with “mixed” knowledgeo Knowledge can be represented through defined

rules

Characteristics of ES (Cont…)

• Possibility of errors.o The primary source of knowledge is a human

expert. If this knowledge is incorrect or incomplete, it will affect the system negatively

• Cannot refine own knowledgebaseo programmer must provide instructions to the

system that determine how the system is to learn from experience

Characteristics of ES (Cont…)

• Difficult to maintaino Some are not responsive or adaptive to

changing conditions • May have high development cost

o It can be expensive to develop when using traditional programming languages and approaches

• Raise legal and ethical concernso People who make decisions and take action are

legally and ethically responsible for their behavior

Some Business Applications of ES• Information Management and Retrieval

o The explosive growth of information available to decision makers has created a demand for devices to help manage the information.

o Expert systems can aid this process through the use of bots.

o Business might use a bot to retrieve information from a large distributed databases or a vast network like the Internet.

o Expert system agents help managers find the right data and information while filtering out irrelevant facts that might impede timely decision-making.

Some Business Applications of ES• SHYSTER

o A case-based legal expert system which provides advice in areas of case law that have been defined by a legal expert using a unique specification language.

• CARGEXo Cargo Export System is used by

Lufthansa, a German airline, to help determine the best shipping routes.

Some Business Applications of ES• FLEXPERT

o Uses fuzzy logic to perform plant layout. The software helps determine the best placement for equipment and manufacturing facilities.

• MYCINo (used by Harvard Community Health Plan) A

software that helps patients by giving uncomplicated treatments for minor problems, & for serious problems it schedules appointments.

Some Business Applications of ES

• Employee Appraiser o Helps managers in employee performance

reviews and career development discussions.

• ACEo Used by AT&T to analyze the maintenance

of telephone networks.

• CoverStoryo Extracts marketing information from

database and automatically writes marketing reports.


24SevenOffice system for small and medium sized businesses delivered on demand through a Ajax-powered web-based interface

Includes modules for:• CRM • Accounting • Invoicing/Ordering • Procurement • Email • Calendar • Project Management, • Content management system • E-commerce


Components available to create a complete business solution integrating the front office with the back office applications:

• Sage Accpac CRM (Customer Relationship Management) • Accpac HR Series (Human Resources) • Sage Accpac WMS (Warehouse Management System) • Sage Accpac Exchange (Electronic Data Interchange) • Accpac eTransact (Online Webstore) • Sage Accpac ePOS (Retail Point of Sale) • Sage Accpac Insight (Business Intelligence & Analysis) • Accpac CFO (Financial Analysis) • Sage Accpac Hosted Services (Remote Hosting Facilities)

• Sage Accpac is an award-winning accounting system

• that integrates with a complete set of end-to-end business solutions, including CRM, HRMS, warehouse management …and more.


Apache Open For Business (Apache OFBiz) is Open Source automation software

Apache OFBiz aggregates functionalities like: ERP - planning CRM - customer management eCommerce SCM - supply chain management

MRP - manufacturing resource planning

CMMS/EAM - Computerized Maintenance Management System also known as Enterprise Asset Management.

Lecture 2 Emerging and Future Information Systems II

Documents

Transcript of Lecture 2 Emerging and Future Information Systems II