2/13/2011

INFORMATION SYSTEMS ENGINEERING IENG 452 MOTIVATION

1

Dr. Sayed A. H. El-Sayed Spring 2011

INVESTMENTS ON IT AND

ITS IMPACT

Implementation of the microprocessor in computers and industrial controllers began in the 1970s and early 1980s. The resulting productivity gains occurred with a time lag of two decades.
In the 1990s, the number of companies investing in enterprise-

wide IT software had quadrupled - compared to the mid 1980s.

These investments have had a significant impact on:

The efficiency of resource use within companies, The relationship between companies and their suppliers and customers, The business strategies adopted by companies that use IT as a competitive tool.
2

For all these reasons, IT has become an important subject in the

academic training of engineers and industrial managers.

2/13/2011

A LITTLE HISTORY
Thirty years ago, IT was looked upon as just another labor saving tool, like any other form of mechanization. Information Systems (IS) were used in the bookkeeping and payroll functions, where computers were substituted for accountants in maintaining and summarizing financial records. In production operations, automatic control of processes based on analog electronics was being replaced by digital controllers, such as programmable logic controllers.

A LITTLE HISTORY - THE 1980S:

Integration of operations first took place by expanding business applications to include order entry, purchasing, production planning and inventory control. Managers began to focus on company processes as interrelated groups of activities across which information could be shared. On the manufacturing shop floor, developments in LANs provided the technology for gathering data from digital controllers and sensors and transmitting it to factory databases for analysis of factory operations.
4

2/13/2011

A LITTLE HISTORY - DURING THE 1990S:

Industrial managers began to view Info. Systems as a tool to improve their processes and eliminate functions that did not add value to the enterprise.

The emphasis was placed on organizational redesign. Several companies emerged with software solutions for managing industrial enterprises. These products crossed the boundaries between management functions, shop floor functions, and warehousing and distribution functions, such as supply chain management systems. Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software industry was born.
5

A LITTLE HISTORY - SINCE THE MID 1990S:

Software became more Internet-enabled, giving industrial firms the ability to easily integrate customer relations and supplier relations with the overall enterprise database.

Example : Some packaged food manufacturers monitor their customers inventory positions in real-time:
Checkout counters debit inventory using bar code scanning, Inventory levels can be monitored by suppliers, Suppliers can then anticipate the need for a new shipment of

product to their customer.

The use of IT motivated a strategy of flexible manufacturing operations a change in enterprise organization: e.g.
Make-to-order environment, such as that of Dell Computer, where

the Internet allows the customer to tailor the product to his or her own specification on-line.