Question $4$

$25$ Marks

Study the scenario and complete the questions that follow:

FairPrice's Furniture Division

Barbra Brandon is the vice president of FairPrice's furniture division. FairPrice is a corporation with businesses in many different industries. The furniture division has always been profitable; however, many years have passed since any overhaul of systems, equipment, or processes has been done. Sammy Joe, chief executive officer of FairPrice, believed the time was right to give the furniture division a face lift. That was one reason he hired Barbra. Barbra has a reputation within the furniture industry of modernizing furniture companies.

As Barbra reviewed the current systems, equipment, and processes, she was shocked at how outdated things were. FairPrice was at least two decades behind the rest of the industry. Barbra was further amazed that it was a profitable division. Barbra wondered how much waste was going unnoticed because of antiquated systems. She was convinced that a lot of data were missing, and this made any analysis ineffective.

Barbra met with Sammy and explained that FairPrice needed an enterprise resource planning $($ERP$)$ system. She believed that the furniture division had continued to make a profit only because most of the workers had been there for years. However, as they retired, she was convinced that their knowledge could not be easily replaced by new employees. FairPrice needed better data collection and data management. Clearly, this would be a huge undertaking.

Once the ERP system was installed, operational, and the first reports began to flow, Barbra realized that there was a lot of excess inventory. It was more than just too many of a certain part, for example, wood spindles. It was a case of having inventory that was not used for any of their current product line. They had tens of thousands of dollars of obsolete inventory sitting in their warehouses.

Adjusted Source: Wisner et al$.2022.$ Principles of Supply Chain Management: A Balanced Approach. $6^{th}$ Ed$.$ Cengage.

$4\mathrm{.}1$ You work for Barbra Brandon. She directs you to determine what specific actions the furniture division needs to take to clean up the inventory system and to have the new system implemented effectively. Give an outline of your report.

$(10$ Marks$)$

$4\mathrm{.}1$ You work for Barbra Brandon. She directs you to determine what specific actions the furniture division needs to take to clean up the inventory system and to have the new system implemented effectively. Give an outline of your report.

$(10$ Marks$)$

$4\mathrm{.}2$ You are part of a team tasked by Barbra to anticipate what problems may occur in the planning and implementation of an ERP system. With reference to the scenario, identify specific problems they may encounter and recommend solutions.

$(10$ Marks$)$

$4\mathrm{.}3$ Do you agree with Barbra's plan to commit fully, concerning the ERP system? Explain your thoughts.

$(5$ Marks$)$

End of Question $4$