Improving Decision Making: Using a Spreadsheet to Select Suppliers 12 Software skills: Spreadsheet date functions, data filtering, DAVERAGE function Business skills: Analyzing supplier performance and pricing ACTIVITY OBJECTIVES: 1. Student will learn how to use spreadsheet software to improve management decisions about selecting suppliers. 2. Student will filter transactional data on suppliers based on several different criteria to select the best suppliers for your company. You run a company that manufactures aircraft components. You have many competitors who are trying to offer lower prices and better service to customers, and you are trying to determine whether you can benefit from better supply chain management. In a separate folder, you will find a spreadsheet file (MISch02_questionfile.als) that contains a list of all of the items that your firm has ordered from its suppliers during the past three months. The fields in the spreadsheet file include vendor name, vendor identification number, purchaser's order number, item identification number and item description (for each item ordered from the vendor), cost per item, number of units of the item ordered (quantity), total cost of each order, vendor's accounts payable terms, order date, and actual arrival date for each order. (Laudon & Laudon; 2014; p.71). INSTRUCTIONS Prepare a recommendation of how you can use the data in this spreadsheet database to improve your decisions about selecting suppliers. Some criteria to consider for identifying preferred suppliers include: A. Supplier's track record for on-time deliveries B. Suppliers offering the best accounts payable terms C. Suppliers offering lower pricing when the same item can be provided by multiple suppliers. Use your spreadsheet software to prepare the following reports to support your recommendations: Report 1: Most On-time Suppliers Report 2: Best Accounts Payable Terms Report 3: Best Supplier's Price per Item Laudon, K.C. & Laudon J. P. (2014). Global E-Business and Collaboration. Management of Information Systems (13 ed.]. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education Inc. *Modified for educational purposes.Improving Decision Making: Using a Spreadsheet to Select Suppliers 12 Software skills: Spreadsheet date functions, data filtering, DAVERAGE function Business skills: Analyzing supplier performance and pricing ACTIVITY OBJECTIVES: 1. Student will learn how to use spreadsheet software to improve management decisions about selecting suppliers. 2. Student will filter transactional data on suppliers based on several different criteria to select the best suppliers for your company. You run a company that manufactures aircraft components. You have many competitors who are trying to offer lower prices and better service to customers, and you are trying to determine whether you can benefit from better supply chain management. In a separate folder, you will find a spreadsheet file (MISch02_questionfile.als) that contains a list of all of the items that your firm has ordered from its suppliers during the past three months. The fields in the spreadsheet file include vendor name, vendor identification number, purchaser's order number, item identification number and item description (for each item ordered from the vendor), cost per item, number of units of the item ordered (quantity), total cost of each order, vendor's accounts payable terms, order date, and actual arrival date for each order. (Laudon & Laudon; 2014; p.71). INSTRUCTIONS Prepare a recommendation of how you can use the data in this spreadsheet database to improve your decisions about selecting suppliers. Some criteria to consider for identifying preferred suppliers include: A. Supplier's track record for on-time deliveries B. Suppliers offering the best accounts payable terms C. Suppliers offering lower pricing when the same item can be provided by multiple suppliers. Use your spreadsheet software to prepare the following reports to support your recommendations: Report 1: Most On-time Suppliers Report 2: Best Accounts Payable Terms Report 3: Best Supplier's Price per Item Laudon, K.C. & Laudon J. P. (2014). Global E-Business and Collaboration. Management of Information Systems (13 ed.]. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education Inc. *Modified for educational purposes