Electronic Business: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and Applications (4-Volumes) P143 ppsx

1354
E-Supply Chain System at Valvex and Its Integration with ERP Systems
Figure 1. Main subsystems of the existing ERP system at Valvex
)LJXUH3URFHVVÀRZZLWKH[LVWLQJ(53V\VWHPDW9DOYH[
ERP system generates
manufacturing tasks
Prints request
for materials
Request for materials brought
to manufacturing supervisor
Documents can be
delayed or misplaced
Manufacturing
supervisor accumulates
materials request for
processing
Delays occur in waiting to
accumulate documents ,
which can be misplaced
Pick from
warehouse
May be unable to pick due
to inaccurate inventory or
vendor’s delay in shipping
Notify purchasing
and/or wait until
inventory is available
Generates and
delivers purchases to
vendors
Delays and/or errors

may occur in creation
of purchase orders
Vendors send materials
to warehouse
After quality assurance , materials
are put away to warehouse. It is
time consuming to find right
locations to put
Picked materials are
delivered to production line
Semi-finished products
are put into semi -
finished warehouse
Picked raw materials and
semi-finished products are
delivered to production line
for assembly
Finished products are
put away to finished
products warehouse
Finished products are picked , packed,
and shipped to customers
It is time-consuming to
look for correct
inventory in the
warehouse
When inventory is
available
Customers order
1355

E-Supply Chain System at Valvex and Its Integration with ERP Systems
Materials were then pulled from the warehouse
by the manufacturing department, and either
UHWXUQHGWRWKHVHPL¿QLVKHGJRRGVVWRFNURRP
awaiting orders/instructions for assembly opera-
WLRQVRUVHQWWRWKH¿QLVKHGJRRGVZDUHKRXVHIRU
customer shipment. The operational processes
improved substantially after the ERP system was
implemented. However, a number of problems
remained. Most handoff processes were through
paperwork, which caused delays and human er-
rors. Warehouse operation, one of the most critical
components in the overall process, was also not
managed well. In the next section we will discuss
these problems.
PROBLEMS WITH EXISTING
ERP SYSTEM AND BUSINESS
PRACTICES
Non-Value-Added Activities
Operations at Valvex required a lot of paperwork.
Printing and delivery of paper-based memos,
DQG¿OLQJDQGPDLQWDLQLQJWKHSDSHUZRUNZHUH
non-value-added activities that consumed a lot of
resources. Paperwork also caused delays in col-
lection and recording of information in the ERP
system. Lost or damaged documents as well as
reading or writing errors caused incorrect record-
ing. Hand-off delays in the operational process
was another critical problem. Hand-off delays
UHVXOWHGLQORQJF\FOHWLPHIRURUGHUIXO¿OOPHQW$V

inventory in the warehouse was not well arranged
and tracked, time was wasted in excessive travel
during picking or putting away operations.
Inaccurate and Outdated Inventory
in ERP System
There were various activities that would change
inventory levels in the raw material warehouse,
VHPL¿QLVKHG SURGXFW ZDUHKRXVH RU ¿QLVKHG
products warehouse. For instance, raw materials
RUVHPL¿QLVKHGSURGXFWVZHUHSLFNHGXSDQGVHQW
WRWKHSURGXFWLRQOLQHVHPL¿QLVKHGRU¿QLVKHG
products were delivered from the production line to
ZDUHKRXVHVDQG¿QLVKHGSURGXFWVZHUHSLFNHGXS
and shipped to customers. These activities would
change the levels of raw material inventories,
VHPL¿QLVKHGSURGXFWLQYHQWRULHVDQG¿QLVKHG
goods inventories. Earlier it was taking one to
two days for Valvex’s employees to record the
change in inventory levels on paper and input it
into the ERP system. Sometimes the paperwork
was misplaced or lost, and the information was not
entered into ERP system. This caused inaccuracies
in the inventories shown in the ERP system.
Also materials in the warehouse went miss-
ing or got damaged occasionally. However, these
events were not recorded in the ERP system on
time. This caused some of the manufacturing
orders, which had been released and were being
processed, to be sitting in an incomplete state for
DQLQGH¿QLWHSHULRGRIWLPHGXHWRODFNRIUDZ

PDWHULDOV(YHQWXDOO\WKHRUGHU¿OOUDWHZDVORZ
resulting in dissatisfaction among customers.
Due to inaccurate and outdated inventory,
safety stocks and purchase order quantities were
set at higher levels than the levels they should
be at if inventories were up to date. As a result,
inventory turnover rates were low and inventory
costs were higher than they should be. Sometimes
inaccurate and outdated inventory created confu-
sion, resulting in delayed supplies from vendors
and unreliable forecasts as well.
,QHI¿FLHQW:DUHKRXVH2SHUDWLRQDQG
Improper Material Tracking
Each raw material warehouse stored about 20,000
SKUs. It was very time consuming to pinpoint the
right locations in the warehouse to pick up or put
away materials, especially for the new employees.
One type of material was usually placed at vari-
ous locations within the same warehouse, which
DGGHGWRWKHGLI¿FXOW\RIWKHSLFNLQJMRE:RUNHUV
mostly relied on experience to pick up and put
1356
E-Supply Chain System at Valvex and Its Integration with ERP Systems
away materials. It used to take several weeks for
new workers to get accustomed to the workplace.
When the experienced workers were not on duty,
it was very time consuming for relatively newer
employees to do the job.
The pickers were not usually able to track
PDWHULDOVSURSHUO\DVWKH\GLGQRWKDYHVXI¿FLHQW

access to important information such as lot number
and expiration date. Also they could not ensure
proper rotation of inventory, such as ¿UVWLQ¿UVW
out (FIFO) and ODVWLQ¿UVWRXW/,)2
After raw materials were picked up and de-
livered to the production line, work-in-process
inventory in the production line was not recorded
and tracked in the ERP system. It was not possible
WRW UDFNI XO¿OO PHQWRIP D QXID FW XU LQJRUGHUVX QW LO
manufacturing was completed and associated
information was entered into the ERP system.
,QWKH¿QLVKHGSURGXFWVZDUHKRXVHZRUNHUV
encountered more problems. As many products
were made to order, products were put into the
warehouse with a label indicating which order
they belonged to. Sometimes these labels got
PLVSODFHG DQG ¿QLVKHG SURGXFWV EHORQJLQJ WR
different orders got mixed up as well.
,QVXI¿FLHQW3URGXFWLYLW\0HDVXUHV
and Low Employee Morale
As there was no accurate measurement of labor
performance, supervisors were not able to pro-
vide instant feedbacks or rewards as activities
were completed. As a result, employees are not
motivated enough to work hard. Due to lack of
visibility of operation, supervisors could not
properly identify bottlenecks. Therefore, on-time
corrective measures could not be undertaken.
,QHI¿FLHQW,QWHUDFWLRQZLWK&XVWRPHUV
In the day-to-day operation, Valvex needed to

interact well with its customers. These interac-
tions were in the form of quotations, pricing,
RUGHULQJ SURGXFW VSHFL¿FDWLRQ FRQ¿UPDWLRQ
VKLSSLQJRUGHUIXO¿OOPHQWLQTXLU\DQGFXVWRPHU
service. A large number of employees were dedi-
cated to dealing with customers. Such a system
ZDV WLPH FRQVXPLQJ LQHI¿FLHQW DQG SURQH WR
human error.
,QHI¿FLHQW,QWHUDFWLRQZLWK9HQGRUV
Valvex needed to coordinate various activities
such as pricing, ordering, shipping, and product
inspection with its vendors. There was much scope
WRLPSURYHFRRUGLQDWLRQDQGHQKDQFHHI¿FLHQF\
Also, Valvex did not have effective methods to
evaluate vendors and to add or drop vendors as
needed from time to time.
NEW E-SCM SYSTEM AT VALVEX
In order to address the above issues and improve
RSHUDWLRQDO HI¿FLHQF\ 9DOYH[ LPSOHPHQWHG D
supply chain execution information systeman
e-supply chain management system (e-SCM).
The system was obtained from a vendor named
Excelvision. This system not only coordinates
interactions with vendors and customers, but
also deals with internal activities involved in
warehousing and manufacturing operations.
Figure 3 provides a schematic representation of
the e-SCM system.
Through its interface with the ERP system,
the e-SCM system obtains up-to-date planning

information and generates various tasks based
on this planning information. According to
required durations of these tasks, the e-SCM
system allocates the tasks to workers and then
LQVWUXFWV WKH ZRUNHUV WR ¿QLVK DVVLJQHG WDVNV
through radio frequency handhelds which have
wireless connections to the local area network.
These devices measure the performance of each
worker with respect to their assigned tasks. As
VRRQDVWKHWDVNVDUH¿QLVKHGUHOHYDQWIHHGEDFN
information on worker performance is sent to the
ERP system as ;0/¿OHV8VLQJWKHKDQGKHOG
1357
E-Supply Chain System at Valvex and Its Integration with ERP Systems
devices, the workers collect accurate inventory and
other information in real time. This eliminates the
need for manual paperwork that caused numerous
human errors in the past. As soon as tasks are
¿QLVKHG UHOHYDQW IHHGEDFN LQIRUPDWLRQ LV VHQW
WRWKH(53V\VWHPDV;0/¿OHVWKURXJKV\VWHP
interface. The main functionalities of the e-SCM
system at Valvex, namely receiving and put away,
warehouse management, pickup and shipping, and
order management, are discussed below.
Receiving and Put Away
Receiving and put away operations take place in all
UDZPDWHULDOVZDUHKRXVHVVHPL¿QLVKHGSURGXFW
ZDUHKRXVHVDQG¿QLVKHGSURGXFWZDUHKRXVHVDW
Valvex. The ERP system sends receiving task-
related information to the e-SCM system through

the system interface in advance. All materials go
through a quality assurance process before they
are put to the warehouse. The materials that do
not meet the quality standards are re-sent by the
vendors. The system records these materials as
well to evaluate vendors’ performance. After
PDWHULDOVDUHUHFHLYHGWKHV\VWHP¿OOVUHOHYDQW
purchase orders and prints an inspection label
for each receiving activity. After materials are
L Q V S H FW H G D V TX DO L ¿ HG W KH V \V W H PVH D U FK H VIR U W K H
most advantageous locations and directs work-
ers to put away. Workers scan tracking barcode
labels, location-zone barcode labels, or location-
DGGUHVVEDUFRGHV WR FRQ¿UPWKHFRPSOHWLRQRI
HDFKVWHSRIWKHSURFHVV$IWHU¿QLVKLQJWKHSXW
away operation in the warehouse, the system
searches for shortage records. If there is any short-
age of materials, the system releases and assigns
picking tasks, and directs workers to pick. The
e-SCM system ensures visibility of inventory as
soon as materials are received and keeps track of
materials in various zones. In the receiving and
putting away process, materials are located in the
following zones:
•
Receiving yard and receiving zone: Ve ndors
send materials to the receiving yard of ware-
house, then receivers receive and put those
materials into the receiving zone. The system
prints an inspection label for each receiving

task to track associated materials.
Figure 3. The e-SCM system at Valvex
1358
E-Supply Chain System at Valvex and Its Integration with ERP Systems
• Quality assurance zone: The system di-
rects workers to pick and put the received
materials into the quality assurance zone.
As soon as the materials are put into the
quality assurance zone, the system gener-
ates inspection tasks. Quality inspectors
FDQLQTXLUHDERXWWKHXQ¿QLVKHGLQVSHFWLRQ
tasks using personal computers. Quality
inspectors inspect the materials and input
inspection results through system clients
installed on personal computers. Then the
system auto-prints inspection result labels,
and inspectors stick those labels onto as-
sociated packages of materials.
•
Return zone: The system generates put-
away-to-return-zone tasks for the materials
LQVSHFWHGDVXQTXDOL¿HGDQGGLUHFWVZRUNHUV
to put them into the return zone. Then the
V\VWHP QRWL¿HV YHQGRUV RI WKH LQVSHFWLRQ
results. Vendors make arrangements for
WDNLQJEDFNWKHXQTXDOL¿HGPDWHULDOVIURP
the return zone.
•
Put away area: The system generates put
away tasks for the materials inspected as

TXDOL¿HGDQGGLUHFWVZRUNHUVWRSXWWKHP
into the warehouse.
Warehouse Operation
Warehouse operation largely involves the follow-
ing operations:
•
Cycle count: Though the system can assure
a high degree of inventory accuracy, there
may be some missing or damaged invento-
ries due to human error. Cycle count is done
from time to time to overcome these errors.
All SKUs are categorized into A, B, and C
classes depending on annual dollar usage.
Each class has different requirements for
cycle count frequency. For instance, A class
of inventory is counted every 3 months, B
class of inventory is counted every 6 months,
and C class of inventory is counted every
12 months. According to the ABC classi-
¿FDWLRQWKHV\VWHPJHQHUDWHVF\FOHFRXQW
tasks for each SKU and assigns those tasks
to workers when they are free. Hence, it is
not necessary to close the warehouse during
cycle counting.
•
Inventory adjustment: Supervisors investi-
gate the inventory discrepancies found after
F\FOHFRXQWDQG¿JXUHRXWWKHURRWFDXVHV
for it. Then supervisors take corrective mea-
sures, adjust the discrepancy, and notify the

ERP system to ensure accurate inventory.
•
Inventory relocation: There are several
situations when inventories need to be re-
located. For instance, if supervisors want to
free up a large space, they relocate materials
to other locations. Sometimes, supervi-
sors need to combine materials from two
containers into one. In these situations, the
system has to track materials correctly after
relocation to ensure right pick up.
•
Freeze and purge management: Some-
times, inventory needs to be frozen for
quality issues. For instance, a vendor may
n o t if y Va l v e x t h a t c e r t a i n l o t s o f a c o m p o n e n t
are defective. Valvex can freeze these lots
of components using the lot numbers so that
they cannot be picked up during the frozen
period. Supervisors can freeze/unfreeze
inventories by SKUs, by locations, and/or
E\VSHFL¿FUHFHLYLQJ$OVRWKH\FDQSXUJH
defective inventories from the system if
needed.
Pickup and Shipping
Outbound process involves picking up and ship-
SLQJUDZPDWHULDOVRUVHPL¿QLVKHGSURGXFWVIURP
warehouse to production line, and picking up and
VKLSSLQJ ¿QLVKHG SURGXFWV IURP ZDUHKRXVH WR
customers. The system uses the following func-

tionalities to manage the outbound process:
1359
E-Supply Chain System at Valvex and Its Integration with ERP Systems
• Stock allocation: As soon as pick up orders
are released, the system allocates the right
amount of right materials to the orders based
on appropriate material rotation rules. The
stock allocation reserves the amount of
stock for the outbound orders and ensures
all picking tasks have enough materials to
pick. Also there is provision for supervisors
to free up already allocated inventory to
meet higher priority outbound orders.
•
Container planning: The system records
the volume of materials when they are re-
ceived. Using this information, the system
calculates the number and size of containers
needed for picking orders after the orders are
released. Finally, the pickers are instructed
to select the right containers.
•
Order consolidation: If manufacturing and
shipping schedules permit, supervisors may
want to consolidate several picking tasks to
LQFUHDVHHI¿FLHQF\7KHV\VWHPLQVWUXFWVWKH
pickers about the sequence in which orders
should be picked.
Order Management
Order management has the following compo-

nents:
•
Order entry: There are two types of orders
at Valvex: inbound orders and outbound or-
ders. The system generates inbound orders
based on purchase orders sent by the ERP
system. It also generates outbound orders
based on production orders or customer
orders transmitted by the ERP system. In
order to ensure order data accuracy, orders
are entered electronically into the system.
•
Order maintenance: As soon as there is
change (including addition, deletion, and
PRGL¿FDWLRQLQDQ\SXUFKDVHRUGHUVSUR-
duction orders, or customer orders, the ERP
V\VWHPQRWL¿HVWKHH6&0V\VWHPWKURXJK
system interface and the e-SCM system
undertakes corrective measures.
•
Priority management: Usually, the system
processes orders in a sequence that is created
LQWHUQDOO\EDVHGRQUHTXLUHG¿QLVKGDWHV
But sometimes due to change in produc-
tion schedule, these sequences need to be
adjusted. In such cases, the system generates
priorities for orders based on constraints
imposed by supervisors as well as required
¿QLVKGDWHV
•

Automatic order release: Inbound orders
and outbound orders are released automati-
cally. No human intervention is required.
•
Shortage management: The system does
not release outbound orders when there is a
shortage of materials to pick. However, there
may be exceptions. Due to inaccurate inven-
tory count or damaged inventory, sometimes
there may not be enough inventories to
pick for outbound orders that have been
released. In that case, shortage is recorded
and a new cycle count task is generated in
the system.
BENEFITS PROVIDED BY
THE E-SCM SYSTEM
Inventory Tracking
Inventory tracking is no longer a problem as before.
$VVRRQDVUDZPDWHULDOVVHPL¿QLVKHGSURGXFWV
RU ¿QLVKHG SURGXFWV DUH UHFHLYHG WKH V\VWHP
prints barcode labels that are stuck to the package
and they help in tracking the package. A unique
address is assigned to each location within the
warehouse, and this appears in the barcode label.
As soon as inventory is received and put away at
a location, the system tracks this inventory using
the barcode label of the inventory and the barcode
address of the location. Then the system instructs
the workers on where to pick the materials from
1360

E-Supply Chain System at Valvex and Its Integration with ERP Systems
and how much to pick at a particular location. The
V\VWHPHYHQXVHVRSWLPL]DWLRQDOJRULWKPVWR¿QG
out the ‘best’ putting away routes and picking
up routes when a worker needs to put and pick
multiple items in a single trip.
System-Directed Activities
The system directs all activities from incoming
materials processing to manufacturing and order
IXO¿OOPHQWDVVXULQJWKDWWKHFRUUHFWPDWHULDOVDUH
getting to the right place, at the right time, and in
appropriate quantities to satisfy production orders
or customer orders. This eliminates non-value-
DGGHGDFWLYLWLHVDQGLPSURYHVRYHUDOOHI¿FLHQF\
Labor also has become system directed through
radio frequency handheld devices. Activities
are recorded on a real-time basis to ensure that
inventory is accurate and current information is
always available in the form of reports and for
information sharing with other systems. The
system also optimizes picking and putting away
operations by interweaving the multiple tasks of
the workers, and optimizing picking and putting
routes. The system also determines the most
advantageous placement of SKUs to improve the
HI¿FLHQF\RISLFNLQJ
Paperless Environment
Paperwork is no longer required at the handoff
points. Data is captured at every ‘hand-off’ point
when materials either move from one location

to another or the material status changes. Data
entry captures critical information including, but
not limited to, SKU, time, user ID, from and to
locations, lot number, serial number, and so forth.
Electronic data displayed by handheld devices
replaces most of the paperwork. Information
can be updated almost instantaneously from the
handoff points to the e-SCM system database. The
paperless environment assures improved accuracy
(no reading or writing errors) and elimination of
lost or damaged documents. Figure 4 shows how
the e-SCM has revolutionized the data capturing
and data sharing activities at Valvex.
Figure 4. Data capture at various handoff points at Valvex
1361
E-Supply Chain System at Valvex and Its Integration with ERP Systems
Collaboration with Suppliers and
Customers
Based on information collected by the e-SCM
system, Valvex also provides a Web-based ap-
plication for its customers and suppliers. Now,
customers can do price quotations, ordering,
SURGXFWLQTXLU\DQGRUGHUIXO¿OOPHQWLQTXLU\
on the Internet. Most of the collaboration with
vendors is also achieved through the Web-based
application. The customer and vendor informa-
tion remains separated from each other because
Valvex’s customers and vendors have their own
unique login and password to use this Web-based
application.

IMPLEMENATION AND
INTEGRATION OF E-SCM SYSTEM
AT VALVEX
In this section the details of the project for
implementing the e-SCM system and integrat-
ing it with the existing ERP system at Valvex
are discussed.
Gathering Initial Information
for Project Scoping
%HIRUHVWDUWLQJWKHSURMHFWLWZDVFULWLFDOWRGH¿QH
its scope. In order to do this job, Valvex’s long-
term goals were reviewed, knowledge about the
existing practices was gathered, and the resource
commitments from top management was esti-
mated. As a part of the exercise, the following
information was gathered:
•
Affected parties: Valvex figured out
which departments and personnel would
be affected during implementation, and
who would use the e-SCM system. Also it
found out how they would be affected and
their degree of involvement during imple-
mentation. Affected parties were various
internal departments including accounting,
purchasing, manufacturing, logistics, and
customer service, as well as outside entities
like vendors and customers. Employees in
warehouse and logistics management would
be primary users of the system.

•
Legacy system: As Valvex had an exist-
ing ERP system, it became necessary to
investigate the relation between the e-SCM
system and the ERP system during imple-
mentation.
•
Hardware environment: As Valvex had
already implemented the ERP system, it was
LPSRUWDQWWR¿QGRXWLIDQ\KDUGZDUHFRXOG
be shared. If purchase of new hardware was
QHFHVVDU\LWZDVWREH¿JXUHGRXWDVZHOO
•
Facilities: It was crucial to know how
PDWHULDOVÀRZWKURXJKWKHUDZPDWHULDO
ZDUHKRXVHSURGXFWLRQOLQHVHPL¿QLVKHG
SURGXFW ZDUHKRXVH DQG ¿QLVKHG SURGXFW
warehouse. Also existing put away and pick
up operations were examined as well.
•
Operational processes: The operational
processes in Valvex’s supply chain including
SURGXFWLRQRUGHUIXO¿OOPHQWSXUFKDVHRUGHU
IXO¿OOPHQWDQGLQWHUQDOORJLVWLFVÀRZZHUH
LQYHVWLJDWHG$NQRZOHGJHEDVHRI¿QLVKHG
products, raw materials and components, and
production environment was prepared.
•
Root cause of customers’ problems: Find-
ing the root cause(s) of the problems faced

by the customers was not always trivial.
Hence, the project team worked with both
FXVWRPHUVDQG9DOYH[SHUVRQQHOWR¿JXUH
out where the real problems were and what
could be done to address the issues.
3URMHFW6SHFL¿FDWLRQV
After outlining the broad scope of the project and
FRPLQJWRDFRQVHQVXVDERXWLWGHWDLOHGVSHFL¿FD-
WLRQVZHUH¿QDOL]HG$SSURSULDWHVSHFL¿FDWLRQV
1362
E-Supply Chain System at Valvex and Its Integration with ERP Systems
were critical for successful implementation of
the project. It contained detailed information on
process reengineering, software and hardware
VSHFL¿FDWLRQVV\VWHPLQWHUIDFHSURMHFWSODQ
and value proposition, and was approved by the
project management team. Details of some of the
components are provided below:
•
Software customization: Customer re-
quirements were written clearly by R&D
engineers to customize some functionalities
of the software. Only a few people partici-
pated in this process to minimize informa-
tion distortion.
•
Installation and testing of hardware
environment:$VKDUGZDUHFRQ¿JXUDWLRQ
in the project was quite complicated, it was
inspected thoroughly to ensure smooth

functioning during the software testing
phase. The hardware included application
and database servers, TCP/IP network,
wireless network, radio frequency handheld
devices, barcode printers, and laser printers.
The hardware testing involved inspecting
individual components as well as ensuring
that they function well collectively.
•
Software testing: Software testing involved
individual features testing, integrated
system testing, and on-site testing. The
¿UVWWZRFRXOGEHGRQHLQWHUQDOO\E\5'
engineers and testing engineers. After the
¿UVWWZRWHVWVZHUH¿QLVKHGVRIWZDUHZDV
installed in a real hardware environment for
on-site testing that simulated the real work
environment. The bugs found during on-site
WHVWLQJZHUH¿[HGE\5'HQJLQHHUVDQG
the system was re-tested.
•
Initial data loading: After the software was
tested satisfactorily, clean and most updated
data were loaded into the system. The data-
sets included initial inventory information,
warehouse location information, purchase
orders, and so forth. Extra efforts were made
to ensure that accurate and high-quality
data were loaded. Another set of tests was
performed with these real-life datasets, and

after successful completion of these, test data
were reloaded and the old and new systems
were run in parallel for some periods before
switching to the new system.
•
Employee training: Training with differ-
ent degrees of details were conducted. For
example, supply chain concept training was
provided to senior managers and logistics
managers, software operation training was
provided to logistics managers, and training
on handheld devices was provided to work-
ers in the logistics department.
•
On-site assistance: At the initial stage of
running the system, on-site assistance from
the software vendor was necessary as the
users were not very comfortable with the new
environment even after training. Also few
EXJVZHUHQRWIRXQGWKDWZHUHQRWLGHQWL¿HG
during the testing phase. The on-site experts
DGGUHVVHGWKHVHLVVXHVHI¿FLHQWO\WRHQVXUH
smooth transition.
•
System backup and maintenance: System
backup is important to recover the data when
data got corrupted or lost due to various
unforeseen events including human error.
Storage disks with the RAID mechanism
were used to protect data. The system was

programmed to make incremental backups
every 30 minutes and a full backup at 1:00
a.m. every day automatically. The specialists
from the information technology department
of Valvex were trained to perform routine
system maintenance.
•
Service from software vendor: After the
e-SCM system was implemented, different
levels of service including 24×7 phone re-
sponse, remote assistance, on-site assistance,
data backup, and retrieval assistance were
provided to Valvex by the software vendor
based on the service contract agreement.
1363
E-Supply Chain System at Valvex and Its Integration with ERP Systems
Organization of Implementation
Team
The organization of team structure was important
for successful implementation of the project. The
implementation team was formed by drawing
personnel from three organizations: Valvex, ERP
system providerEntreplan, and e-SCM system
providerExcelvision. The degree and length of
engagement of different members varied during
the implementation cycle. The designations of
the different members in the team are provided
below.
Valvex
• Vice general manager: Helped in acquiring

resources as needed and ensured coordina-
tion among various departments.
•
Logistics manager: Managed the project
from the customer’s side and took major
decisions in the project.
•
Information technology specialist
Entreplan
• ERP system specialist: Participated in the
QHJRWLDWLRQDQG¿QDOL]DWLRQSURFHVVRIWKH
system interface design, and coordinated
with R&D engineer to develop interface for
the ERP system.
•
R&D engineer
Excelvision
• Project manager
•
Supply chain management consultant:
Played a major role in re-engineering of the
business processes
•
R&D engineer
•
System tester and trainer
Hardware Environment
The hardware used are listed below:
Network
• TCP/IP local area network: Used to con-

nect server, PCs, printers, and wireless
network.
•
Wireless network: Used to establish wire-
less connections needed for the operation of
radio frequency handheld devices.
Servers
• Memory: 2 GB, two processors with 2.8
GHz.
•
Storage: 100 GB.
Radio Frequency Handheld Devices
and Scanner
Handheld devices equipped with scanners are
XVHGIRULQVWUXFWLQJZRUNHUVWR¿QLVKWDVNVDQG
collect information during their job. Each of the
devices has a wireless network card to connect
to the local area network.
Barcode Printer and Laser Printer
$VDOOP DWHULDOVDUHW UD FNH GE\VSHFL¿Fbarcodes,
barcode printers are used quite often.
Project Management
The three major tasks of overall project man-
agement were initial project planning, progress
monitoring, and transition and maintenance
planning.