Question: What is your recommendation to these two Alternative course of action.

ACA 1. Implement Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) programming in the division

One of the advantages of implementing an ERP is that it streamlines the workflow of a business, speeding up the internal process of every department in a business. The ERP system can be implemented in the division as the central location to have better access to information in the four departments: sales, manufacturing, finance, and purchasing. The system has modules for forecasting and reporting over a wide variety of data, which could help the division make better decisions and financial planning. Furthermore, it allows for easier transactions with their clients and managing their inventories. The disadvantage of this system is that it can be expensive to start and continue given that the division has been losing money for the past three years. A new ERP system can also take time to implement into the business as well as train its employees so they can utilize this new type of system.

ACA 3. Implement a barcode system for inventory management

Since the inventory control system was one of the main reasons why the division has been losing money for the past three years, they would need a reliable and cost-effective new system to address this problem. The advantages of a barcode system are that it is less expensive and less complicated to implement in the business. It reduces the potential human error for bookkeeping and saves time as it is faster to record the inventory into the system by scanning. It is overall more efficient than recording manually. The disadvantages of other systems such as a barcode system lies in the fact that in order to access a code it needs to be in line-of-sight and one barcode can be scanned at a time.