Royal Technologies Case Study

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The main risks involved in purchasing a system out of the box is trying to roll it out too quickly across too many departments would be that the potential success of the system is drowned by user inexperience and inevitable issues. This happened to plastics supplier Sabic who tried to rush a new ERP system into use, causing massive scheduling conflicts and leaving their customers short on raw materials and scrambling to find other suppliers (Esposito 2016). To avoid this I, suggest Royal begins slowly moving from one department to another starting at the Grand Rapids location where the IT team would be on site versus implementing out of state first where all help is remote. Also, a small class of the managers of staff who will be using the software most would be beneficial to answer questions and point out where common mistakes can be made. After moving from one department to another implementing the MRP system Royal will be able to manage resources company wide in a much more efficient manner, they could consider upgrading to a full ERP system assuming the MRP supplier has one available and it would not require any retraining. By keeping the MRP software up to date on at least an annual basis Royal will avoid being left behind by their competition.

Although there would be some advantages to rewriting the current system to function on a new platform Royal does not have the manpower to do this without hiring new staff which would be costly. By slowing shifting to a new out of the box MRP system and keeping it up to date Royal will enjoy having added 3rd party support taking some work from a small IT department. It would also expand the talent pool for future employees of Royal and allow the system to keep up with hopefully continued growth over the decades to come.

Esposito, F. (2016, November 4). New computer system causes delivery problems for Sabic. Retrieved February 13, 2017, from http://www.plasticsnews.com/article/20161104/NEWS/161109910/new-computer-system-causes-delivery-problems-for-sabic

Williams, F., Mr. (Writer). (2017, January 30). The case for change The current and future state of our MRP system. Live performance in Grand Valley State University, Grand Rapids, Michigan .