BCIS Ch 9

Which supply chain planning function determines how much product is needed to satisfy all customer demands?

Demand planning

Which of the following provides a suite of integrated software modules for finance and accounting, human resources, manufacturing and production, and sales and marketing that allows data to be used by multiple functions and business processes?

ERP systems

Which of the following is not true about enterprise systems?

Enterprise software is expressly built to allow companies to mimic their unique business practices.

From your reading of the chapter's opening case, ACH Food Companies implemented new information systems in order to achieve which of the following objectives?

Operational excellence

Total supply chain costs in some industries approach 75 percent of the total operating budget.

True

According to the case study on Unilever, over a ten-year period, Unilever reduced the number of ERP systems it had from ________ to ________.

250; 4

The upstream portion of the supply chain consists of the organizations and processes for distributing and delivering products to the final customers.

False

To model its existing supply chain and develop optimal manufacturing plans, a firm should implement a supply chain execution system.

False

According to the chapter case study, which of the following software vendors has enabled Scotts Miracle-Gro to develop consumer-driven demand planning?

JDA Software

Which of the following traditional solutions enables manufacturers to deal with uncertainties in the supply chain?

Safety stock

Concurrent supply chains are made possible by which technology?

The Internet

A distortion of information about the demand for a product as it passes from one entity to the next across the supply chain is called the ________ effect.

bullwhip

Enterprise application vendors are now including ________ features such as tools for data visualization, flexible reporting, and ad hoc analysis as part of the application.

business intelligence

Supply chain execution systems provide all of the following functions except:

generating demand forecasts for products.

The bullwhip effect can be countered by:

reducing information uncertainty.

Which of the following enables a firm to generate demand forecasts for a product, and to develop sourcing and manufacturing plans for that product?

Supply chain planning system

Manufacturing and production processes include all of the following except:

product configuration.

A supply chain driven by actual customer orders or purchases follows a ________ model.

pull-based

Identify and describe three major enterprise applications.

Enterprise systems, customer relationship management, and supply chain management are three enterprise applications. Enterprise systems are based on a suite of integrated software modules and a common central database. Enterprise systems utilize enterprise software to support financial and accounting, human resources, manufacturing and production, and sales and marketing processes. Enterprise systems provide many benefits including an enterprise-enabled organization, improved management reporting and decision making, a unified information systems technology platform, and more efficient operations and customer-driven business processes. Supply-chain management systems help an organization better manage its supply chain, including planning, sourcing, making, delivering, and returning items. Supply-chain management software can be categorized as a supply-chain planning system or as a supply-chain execution system. A supply-chain planning system enables a firm to generate demand forecasts for a product and to develop sourcing and manufacturing plans for that product. A supply-chain execution system manages the flow of products through distribution centers and warehouses to ensure that products are delivered to the right locations in the most efficient manner. Supply-chain management benefits include improved customer service and responsiveness, cost reduction, and cash utilization. Customer-relationship management systems help firms maximize the benefits of their customer assets. These systems capture and consolidate data from all over the organization and then distribute the results to various systems and customer touch points across the enterprise. Customer-relationship management systems can be classified as operational or as analytical. Operational CRM refers to customer-facing applications, such as sales force automation, call center and customer service support, and marketing automation. Analytical CRM refers to customer-relationship management applications dealing with the analysis of customer data to provide information for improving business performance. Benefits include increased customer satisfaction, reduced direct marketing costs, more effective marketing, and lower costs for customer acquisition and retention.

Enterprise systems include analytical tools.

True

Enterprise systems require fundamental changes in the way the business operates.

True

Inefficiencies in a supply chain are primarily caused by inaccurate or untimely information.

True

The downstream portion of the supply chain includes retailers and customers.

True

Safety stock acts as an inexpensive buffer for the lack of flexibility in the supply chain.

False

Supply chain execution systems enable the firm to generate demand forecasts for a product and to develop sourcing and manufacturing plans for that product.

False

What business processes are supported by enterprise systems? Give specific examples.

The four major business processes supported by enterprise systems are: • Financial and accounting processes, including general ledger, accounts payable, accounts receivable, fixed assets, cash management and forecasting, product-cost accounting, cost-center accounting, asset accounting, tax accounting, credit management, and financial reporting. • Human resources processes, including personnel administration, time accounting, payroll, personnel planning and development, benefits accounting, applicant tracking, time management, compensation, workforce planning, performance management, and travel expense reporting. • Manufacturing and production processes, including procurement, inventory management, purchasing, shipping, production planning, production scheduling, material requirements planning, quality control, distribution, transportation execution, and plant and equipment maintenance. • Sales and marketing processes, including order processing, quotations, contracts, product configuration, pricing, billing, credit checking, incentive and commission management, and sales planning.