CHAPTER
ONE
1.0 Introduction
1.1 Background of the Study
It has been part of our history that
goods produced are not usually consumed by those that produced them or where
they are produced. They need to be moved and moved to the location they are
needed. These goods passed through a long chain and are usually handled by many
people, with each contributing to adding value to the product, from point of
extraction to the transformation, and eventually consumption (Anderson,
2012). This extraction’s; transformation;
consumption stage is what is referred to as supply function. History has also told us that at a point
those activities were undertaken crudely and primitively. No easy access to
information. In the organization, sometimes information are passed wrongly
between buyer and the supplier on what is to be supplied, where it should be
supplied and the time to supply it. But as time goes on man develop methods (Bock,
et. al., 2002), technique and technology that allow man make this activity
easier and more efficient, which is information technology. Information technology is considered as a
pre-requisite for effective control of today’s complex function, indeed a
recent study conducted by Forrester Research indicate that US manufacturers are
increasingly dependent on benefits brought by information technology to improve
supply function agility, reduce cycle time (Banjoko, 2000), achieve higher efficiency and
deliver products to customer in a timely manner. The implementation of
information technology in supply function has also enable firm organization to
develop and accumulate knowledge about stores, about its customers, supplier
and market demands, which in turn influence performance.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
Before the introduction of
information technology to supply function, the keeping of records (information)
manually often resulted in keeping copies of the same document in different
places. information is not easily accessible relating to supply function and
sometimes information don’t get to the buyer and supplier on time on what is to
be supplied and this will tied down activities and it will also affect the
organization. Keeping of stock record is
manually done which is time consuming, not cost effective, even the calculation
of stock level is very, very difficult and at times it causes delay in the
delivery of materials (Bendel Breweries Plc, 2006). Not only that before the advent of
the use of information technology in supply function stock checking and stock
taking becomes very difficult which at times lead to discovery of huge number
of items. Either going bad or becoming obsolete. Even the location of material
and identification becomes very difficult because identifying and location of
materials could be time consuming and this could lead to bottleneck. It is with
this in mind that researchers will attempt to see how the application of
information technology can impact on supply function of Nigeria
Breweries (NB) Plc.
1.3 Objectives of the Study
a. To identify the impact of enterprise
resource planning (ERP) on information technology
on supply function
b. To investigate the condition under which enterprise resource
planning (ERP) can be a critical
enabler or severe handicap for superior chain performance.
c. To
determine the basic concept which enterprise resource planning (ERP) have in
involving in the analysis, design and operation of information system in
relation to supply function
1.4 Scope of the Study
The scope of this study covers the
idea behind information. Nigeria Breweries (NB) Plc was chosen as a case study. This study is conducted in Nigeria
Breweries (NB) Plc,
located at Old Ife Road Gbagi, Ibadan. The main focus of the study is the
impact that information technology has on supply function of
Nigeria Breweries (NB) Plc.
The information obtained will be used for purchasing department, stores and
production department because the use of information technology will have a lot
of impact on supply function of Nigeria Breweries (NB)
Plc.
1.5 Research Question
a. What
impact does information technology has on supply in your organization?
b. Under
what conditions can enterprise resource planning (ERP) enhance performance of
supply function in the organization?
c. What
are the basic concepts that are involved in the analyzing information system in
relation to supply function in the organization?
1.6 Definition of Terms
a. Information:
Information is any thing that adds to our knowledge either consciously or
unconsciously positively or negatively.
b. Information
technology: Any computer-based tool that people use to work with information
and support the information and information; processing needs of an
c. Organization
system: A system is a whole with parts working together to achieve a goal.
d. Management:
this is the planning and control of the use of a of resource to achieve more
objectives
e. Management
information system (MIS); is the
function that plans for, develops, implement and maintains IT hardware,
software and applications that people use to support the goals of an
organization.
f. Procurement;
is a managerial process, aimed at ensuring continuous flow of materials,
projects and services into and within the organisation in order to meet with
its goals and objectives, profitably and efficiently in an ever-changing
business environment.
g. Procurement:
A simple and fast means of business transaction that requires telephone lines
and other communication equipment.
h. Supply:
Flow of materials within the firm, i.e. the stores function covering such
issues as consumption of raw materials, office items and other MRO items.
i. Supply
chain management (SCM); is the process of planning implementing, and
controlling the operation of the supply chain with the purpose to satisfy
customer requirements is efficiently as possible.
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