Assessment task details and instructionsAlphaCo is a medium$-$sized company that produces high$-$quality handmade furniture forcustomers in their own country. Most of these customers are small boutique furniture retailerswho have used AlphaCo for a number of years, normally placing orders by telephone and payingby cash on delivery. There is little visibility of future orders, which means that the lead time fordelivery can be over four weeks, and this means that some orders are cancelled at short noticedue to changes in customer demand. Although AlphaCo has a strong brand image, it has seenthe market for its products reduced by nearly $30\%$ over the last year, as consumers react to theincreasing rate of inflation and the consequences of the Covid$-19$ pandemic. Currently, AlphaCorelies on a small number of local suppliers for their raw materials $($woods$,$ plastics, etc$)$ and

Assessment Information$/$Brief$2$struggles to maintain effective relationships due to their difficulty in managing the supply anddemand of their own products.AlphaCo has recently appointed a new Chief Executive Officer $($CEO$)$ who can see futureopportunities in competing in global, more price$-$sensitive markets. This will require a change instrategy to one that focuses on the efficiency of production and the development of strongerand more professional customer and supplier relationships. A new focus will be needed toimprove AlphaCo$$s manufacturing, marketing, and supply chain capabilities and capacity. TheCEO is prepared to invest significantly in making these changes, particularly through digitaltransformation, as its initial market research shows that there is a sizeable market for qualityproducts, but costs need to be managed effectively and efficiently.Your taskYou are a technical consultant and have been appointed by the CEO to review AlphaCo$$soperations and information management processes and ways of working. This review takes theform of a report that includes the different tasks shown below with mark weightings againsteach one$\mathrm{.}1.$ Develop a SWOT analysis of the current situation at AlphaCo $(10$ marks$)\mathrm{.}2.$ Based on your SWOT analysis, discuss how a more effective and efficient management ofcapacity, quality and both suppliers and customers could help AlphaCo meet its newperformance objectives $(40$ marks$)\mathrm{.}3.$ Select one of the process areas from part $2($e$.$g$.$ capacity, quality, supplier or customermanagement$)$ and, using Business Process Model $($BPM$)$ techniques, develop andpresent two BPM models that show how these could be improved by capturingthe existing and the proposed business processes $(20$ marks$)\mathrm{.}4.$ Conduct research into a suitable Enterprise Resource Planning $($ERP$)$ software solutionand develop an evaluation table, which shows a set of evaluation characteristics and theanalysis of two commercial$/$off$-$the$-$shelf products and two Open SourceSoftware alternatives $(20$ marks$)\mathrm{.}5.$ Select one Industry $4\mathrm{.}0$ technology and discuss the benefits of implementing this intoAlphaCo $(10$ marks$)$