BSc (Hons) Business Information Systems

Cohort: BIS/02/PT - BIS/03/FT

Examinations for 2005 - 2006 / Semester 2

MODULE: ENTERPRISE RESOURCE PLANNING

MODULE CODE: BISE123

Duration: 2 Hours
Reading Time: 10 Minutes

Instructions to Candidates:

1. This paper consists of Sections A and B.

2. Section A is compulsory.
3. Answer any two questions from Section B.
4. Always start a new question on a fresh page.
5. Questions may be answered in any order but your answers must
show the question number clearly.
6. Total marks 70.

This question paper contains 4 questions and 5 pages.

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 SARA ERP CASE STUDY HAWKINS COOKERS LTD

Hawkins Cookers Ltd. manufactures pressure cookers and cookware at its plant in
Mumbai, Hoshiarpur (Punjab) and Jaunpur (UP). Hawkins is the biggest
manufacturer of cookware in India and exports its products to more that 60 countries
including the Middle East, Europe, USA, and South-East Asia.
The manufacturing process is discrete manufacturing. A pressure cooker passes
through more than 15 shops during which aluminium sheets are converted into
pressure cookers. A large number of operations are carried out at subcontractors.
Hawkins has multiple product brands, comprising products of various sizes, shapes
and models of pressure cookers and kitchenware. It is a household name in India
because of its quality products, excellent dealer and service network, and easy
availability of spares.

Hawkins has a legacy system in UNIX and DOS for purchase, store, and accounts.
Hawkins wants an integrated system comprising of:
Purchase management
Subcontracting management
Inventory control
Accounts payable
Scrap accounting
Fixed assets management
Production management (Discreet manufacturing)
Material Requirement Planning (MRP)

Since Hawkins has more than 50 subcontractors, it was very important to have a
good subcontractor material reconciliation system and precise scrap accounting
system. Hawkins main raw material is aluminium sheets and about 10% scrap is
generated from the raw material. This scrap can be sold at about 60% of raw
material price.

Hawkins selected Sara-ERP because it trusted that Sara Infotech would customize
and implement its system as per their requirement. Implementation started in June
1999 and took around 12 months. It was carried out module by module as per their
requirement. The most difficult module to implement at Hawkins was the
manufacturing module. It took around six months to create data for operations,
norms, and bill of material. The bill of material file itself has approximately 100,000
records in the database. There were different norms for individual, teamwork and
group shop for efficiency calculation of workers.

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 SECTION A: COMPULSORY

QUESTION 1: (30 MARKS)

Companies that make and sell products have business processes that involve four
basic functional area i.e., Marketing and Sales, Supply Chain Management,
Accounting and Finance, and Human Resource Management.

(a) Distinguish between a business function and a business process. Provide an

example for Hawkins Cookers Ltd to illustrate your points. Why do managers
today try to think in terms of business processes rather than business
functions?

(6 marks)

(b) Assume you are the marketing manager of Hawkins Cookers Ltd. What data
do you need from Accounting and Finance and Supply Chain Management to
do your job properly?

(8 marks)

(c) Assume you are the chief financial officer of Hawkins Cookers Ltd. you need
detailed records to report your financial status to the government. What
functional areas provide that information? What information might you need to
complete your report?

(8 marks)

(d) Assume you are the Human Resource Manager of Hawkins Cookers Ltd. your
job is vital because your employees are the main asset to your firm. What
information do you need from each functional area to ensure proper staffing of
the production line?

(8 marks)

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 SECTION B: ANSWER ANY TWO QUESTIONS

QUESTION 2: (20 MARKS)

Marketing and Sales (M/S) is the focal point of many of Hawkins Cookers Ltd,
because they are responsible for selling the companys product

(a) Assume you are the Chief Information Officer (CIO) of Hawkins Cookers Ltd
that is thinking a CRM package, but there is resistance from the CEO. Do you
think implementing CRM is a good idea? How can you convince the CEO that
CRM will make improvements?

(8 marks)

(b) Assume you are the marketing manager of Hawkins Cookers Ltd. You need to
launch a new marketing campaign. How can you convince your company of
the value of using CRM to help with this campaign?

(6 marks)

(c) Do ERP systems strengthen or weaken a corporate managers control over

operations? State your point of view and justify it with appropriate example
from the above case study.

(6 marks)

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QUESTION 3: (20 MARKS)

(a) Compare Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Supply Chain

Management (SCM). How are they similar? How are they different? Your
answer should show the different kinds of technologies used.

(10 marks)

(b) Assume you were recently hired in an IT role at Hawkins Cookers Ltd. Your
first job is to convince the manufacturing manager that the implementation of
an SCM system is feasible. Write a memo to that manager highlighting advice
on how to ensure the smooth implementation of such system.

(5 marks)

(c) Outline the potential pitfalls that Hawkins Cookers Ltd may encounter when
implementing SCM.

(5 marks)

QUESTION 4: (20 MARKS)

(a) What are the main characteristics of an ERP system? List the benefits and
disadvantages of implementing an ERP system at Hawkins Cookers Ltd.

(10 marks)

(b) Describe the differences between Financial and Management Accounting.

How can ERP system benefits workers in both?

(5 marks)

(c) Suppose you are the Sales manager of Hawkins Cookers Ltd, what Human
Resources information do you think you would need to manage your sales
force?

(5 marks)

***END OF QUESTION PAPER***

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