Discuss The Associationfor Operations Management(APICS)

 

Introduction

 

 

This isanindividual project.  Eachstudent mustcomplete aCase Studythatprovides therequirementsanalysis anda proposedsolution fora converged network solution. The targetaudiencewillbe the organization’sChiefInformation Officer (CIO).  The Case Studydeliverableis anMSWorddocument.

 

Thecompleted Case Study deliverableis dueby11:59PM EasternTimeonthedue dateshownintheCourseSchedule.  SeetheAdditional Informationsection ofthe syllabus for thepenaltyfor lateormissed assignmentsand projects.

 

TheCaseStudyis valuedat12% ofthecoursegrade.

 

 

 

 

CompanyOverview

Case Study

Universal Transport, Inc.(UTI)is a globallogistics provider that offers fullyintegrated freightandsupplychainservicesthroughmanagedwarehousingand domestic and internationalfreightforwarding.Services rangefromdoor-to-door domesticand internationaldeliveryservicesto total supplychainmanagement.With branchesacross theUnitedStates andEurope andpartners worldwide,UTIcontinues to expand,andit has experiencedrapid growth through acquisitions.

 

Note: Thetermsupplychainrefers to alltheelementsinvolvedin bringingan organization’s products from theraw-goods stage tothecustomer.

 

The Associationfor Operations Management(APICS) dictionary ((http://www.apics.org/Resources/APICSDictionary.htm)defines “supplychain management(SCM)” as thedesign,planning, execution,control,andmonitoring of supplychainactivitieswith the objectiveofcreatingnetvalue,buildingacompetitive infrastructure,leveragingworldwidelogistics,synchronizingsupply with demandand measuringperformanceglobally.

 

TheBusinessChallenge

UTIis competinginanenvironmentwherefreighttransport is asmuch aboutkeeping customers informed asitis abouton-timedelivery.Thecompanyhas adoptedweb- based technologiesfortracking freight, differentiatingitsservices,keepingcustomers informed,andensuringtheon-timedeliverythatis UTI’s hallmark.Asaresult,UTI enjoys averyhighlevel ofcustomer satisfaction.

 

Its mobileworkforcehas rapidlyincreased,with drivers usingPDAstoscan consignments,whichare thensyncedinreal timeviaGPRSlinksto headquarters applications thattracktheconsignments.CustomersuseUTI’swebservicestoviewthe progressoforders,fromdispatchtowarehousingtofinaldelivery.Customers alsouse UTI’s web-basedsystems tocreatefreightdocumentationandgeneratereports.With the EDIinterface,invoices andpaymentsaretransferreddirectlybetween the customers’systemsandUTI,savingbothtime andmoney.

 

As thecompanyhas expanded,thedata flowingin thesystemhaveincreasedas well. Now,withmore than5,000employees andthousands ofcustomersworldwide,UTIis sufferingfromtheeffectsof explosivegrowth.Demandsonitswidearea network (WAN)are exceedingcapacity.The maindatacenter has experiencedseveral network

outagesandunscheduleddowntime.The agingISDNtelephonesystem isfailing, as the companyhasavoidedthecostlyupgrades necessarytokeepitoperatingatoptimal performance.Telephone bills haveincreasedwithoutwarning, andthevoicemail

systemis overloaded.

 

 

TheOpportunity

UTIwantsto provideincreasedbandwidth between all47 ofitsUSofficesandthemain datacenterlocatedinChicago.Thereare threeregionalbusiness centers thathavefour to eightsatellitelocations thatneed toablecommunicateandexchange datadaily. Theseare locatedinChicago,Kansas City,andTampa.Thecompanydesires areliable andsecurenetwork toaccommodateitsplannedgrowthwithout exceeding 85%of capacity.

 

Thecompanydoesnot wanttospend anymore ontelephoneservices thanitdoes today,anditsgoal istoupgradetheserviceswhile protectingagainst escalatingcosts fromitsISDNserviceprovider