"Java is Everywhere..."

5 februari 2009 (Auditorium FTI UII) kedatangan tamu. Mereka adalah mas Alex dari SUN dan mas Deny dari JUG-Joglosemar. menurut saya lumayan banyak yang datang pesertanya, skitar 40an orang lah mengingat ini adalah hari libur semester yang mana kebanyankan anak2 UII adalah dari luar daerah dan pastinya mereka pada pulang kampung, namun hem...bisa dikata kehadiran 40 orang itu termasuk banyak juga..;)

ada 3 sesi dalam kuliah umum ini, sesi pertama adalah mas/pak Arwan dosen FTI UII yang menjelaskan tentang java yang ada dimana-mana. yang kedual adalah mas Deny, yang menjelaskan ttg Java FX. sesuatu yang baru dan wajib kita ikuti perkembangannya karena didalamnya banyak sekali hal2 yang menarik. sesi trakhir adalah mas Alex yang menjelaskan tentang komunitas, bagaimana sebuah komunitas itu berkembang, dan apa saja yang bisa kita dapatkan ketka kita bergabung dengan komunitas. Tentu saja komunitas yang baik-baik...;)

Sesi pertama, yaitu pak Arwan, menjelaskan ttg "Java is Everywhere". Loh emang nya java ada dimana aja sih?? Java itu compatibilitasnya tinggi sekali. dia mampu jalan di desktop (SE), mobile (ME), dan web (EE), dan lagi yang paling baru adalah Java FX. implementasi Java bnyak sekali digunakan dalam berbagai hal. contohnya Looking Glass project, ehm..smacam desktop effect gt ya..3D..kaya compiz lah...iDrive pada mobil BMW, eGAS pada prusahaan gas, scala enterprise ada Oracle....klo kita biasa pake EM nya oracle tuh...nah..EM dibikin pake Java... ERP sistem kaya SAP pun sudah bisa pake Java. selain itu untuk aplikasi di mobile. 70% lebih cell phone yang ada itu udah built in Java nya....dia support Java. banyakan anak2 pada maen game di di HP...itu pake java juga. g jauh2 lah...disekeliling kita ini banyak sekali aplikasi yang menggunakan Java.... mangkanya bisa dibilang klo Java is everywhere.

Belajar Java susah g sih? hem...gampang koq..asal kita niat dan mau berusaha. pak arwan memberi sedikit tips gmn belajar Java. Belajar dari contoh/example/latihan2 seperti hem...sistem informasi peminjaman buku di perpus, expert system diagnosis kerusakan mobil..dll. belajar dari contoh2 dan latian2 itu enak bgt untuk di kembangkan lebih jauh lagi. egk cuman blajar dari buku chapter by chapter. bgitu kelar chapter 3...eh ntar chapter 1 ato 2 nya udah lupa.... paling enak langsung praktek. apalagi udah ada netBeans, enak lagi tuh klo mau pake Java. bikin GUI di java gampang sekarang..:D klo udah latian2..coba deh latian2 itu dikembangakan..kmdian anda bikin sesuatu. misal analisis sbuah kasus di prushaan, pelajari business process nya, kmdia kita coba pecahkan kasus itu dengan kita menyediakan tools untuk kasus trsbt. tentu saja pake java ya... buat latian dan pengembangan kemampuan kita..;)

Sesi kedua ada mas Deny yang menjelaskan ttg Java FX. java FX ini apa sih? wah saya juga kurang tau....tapi menurut penuturan mas Deny siang tadi, java FX ini sesuatu yang baru ya..hem... RIA..Rich Internet Application. nah tuh.... web application yg mampu berjalan di desktop, mobile, web browser, tv dan sebagainya....klo g salah Blue Ray itu pake JavaFX juga ya... saya juga kurang banyak tau ttg java FX...mungkin mas Deny nanti bisa menambahkan dan membagi file presentasi yg tadi siang..hehehe...
yang jelas ada fitur menarik di java fx ini...kaya flash di web gt..swf dia bisa di pake didesktop dan di web kan... sama kaya javaFX bisa juga... tapi bedanya di java FX ini...ketika kita pake di web..kmdian kita tarik ke desktop..dia jadi aplikasi desktop..walaupun kita udah minimize browsernya... tetep aja dia masih ada...lah wong wes dadi aplikasi desktop koq..wes ora web-based maneh..:D

sesi 3 ada mas alex. komunitas. siapa sih yang gak hidup dalam lingkungan social? kita smua ada di lingkungan social kan? kita hidup didalam komunitas... nah komunitas seperti apa sih yang dibicarakan tadi? arisan? ronda? bukan...tapi sbuah komunitas dalam online..dalam bidang IT khususnya java itu sndiri... era web 2.0 sudah sangant umum sekali... fs, myspace, facebook... nah kek gitu contohnya..kita bisa saling berinteraksi, sharing tukar pikiran tukar info..dll.... ada bnyak komunitas salah satunya OSUM, JUG joglosemar, maupun JUG JUG yg laen, milis, forum..apa saja... coba deh kita ikutan kek gt...bnyk bgt ilmu yg bisa kita dapet, update2 terbaru..recent issue...dll...

selain ilmu dan informasi, keterlibatan kita dalam sbuah komunitas itu secara tidak langsung adalah membuat suatu network. network apa? apa saja...teman, partner, kesempatan kerja dll... network juga mempermudah kita mendapatkan pekrjaan loh ya... inget..ni bukan KKN,,smuanya juga nanti diri kita sendiri yg membuktikan bahwa kita memang bisa.... contoh obama dan facebook, sialkan googling artikelnya... pengalaman pribadi mas alex sendri dan apa yg dia dapatkan dari komunitas... macem2...dan menguntungkan... dengan kita aktif di omunitas..kita bisa lebih dikenal..komunitas online maupun off line...tapi tentunya komunitas yang baik-baik ya.. jangan yg egk2... silakan aja mulai skrg teman2 aktif dalam komunitas2..seperti java, mysql, opensolaris, linux, sap, oracle, php, apa saja... jangan sampe nyasar ke bb17..:P

ehm...keknya sgitu dulu deh ya summary dari acara ini...
buat yg pengen minta powerpointnya, nanti coba saya mintakan ke para pembicara, mas arwan, mas deny, dan mas alex...(Yogyakarta, 2009. - Adhib- OSUM Leader UII)

My Resume

Adhib Rakhmanto
Personal Details

Gender : Male
Age : 21
Date of Birth : 1-Sep-1987
Marital Status : Single
Nationality : Indonesia
Ethnicity : Javanese
Religion : Moslem
Country of Residence : Indonesia
Province : DI Yogyakarta
Contact Number : +62-ByEmail and +62-IsEnough
Email Address : a.rakhman1928[at]gmail.com

Career Interests

Fied: Production and Manufacturing, IT Functional Consultant (SAP/Oracle), Business Analyst, System Analyst

Executive Summary / Self Description

CAREER OBJECTIVE:
To seek a job in consultant/industrial engineering/IT field.

SUMMARY OF EDUCATION:
Universitas Islam Indonesia, Yogyakarta
2005 - present (pursuing my study and doing my thesis in manufacturing information system (material resource planning)
Majoring in Industrial Engineering (International Program), with overall GPA of 3.6/4.0

COURSES ATTENDED:
* Management Information System
* Database Management System
* Decision Support System
* Production System
* Production Planning and Inventory Control
* Supply Chain Management
* Management Information System and Design Analysis
* Oracle Workforce Development Program, Oracle Database 10g: Administration Workshop 1
* ERP SAP/R3 Fundamental (SAP UAP10/SAP01)
* ERP SAP/R3 Business Processes in Sales Order Management (SAP UAP20/SCM600)

ADDITIONAL SKILLS:
* php-mysql
* Oracle 10g Administration
* SAP ECC6.0
* Windows, Linux and Macintosh
* Fluent in English
* Communicative, Hard working, Responsible, Loyal, Trusted
* Able to work in team
* Highly motivated and self-driven
* Eager to learn

ACTIVITIES and ORGANIZATIONS:
* Undergraduate Research Project as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Engineering
* Universitas Islam Indonesia Open Source University Meetup (OSUM) as a leader (2008 - present), OSUM supported by SUN Microsystem
* Web developer and administrator for IP FIT UII (2008-present)
* Coordinator of Pres Department of Community of International Student (CIS) IP FIT UII (2007-2008)
* Liaison Officer of National English Debating Competition (NEDC) IP FIT UII (2005)

Education and Professional Qualification

2005-2009 International Program Industrial Engineering at Universitas Islam Indonesia (pursuing my study with GPA 3.61. 80% of Completion)
2009 ERP SAP/R3 Fundamental (SAP UAP10/SAP01)
2009 ERP SAP/R3 Business Processes in Sales Order Management (SAP UAP20/SCM600)
2008 Oracle Workforce Development Program, Oracle Database 10g: Administration Workshop 1

Summary of Skills

Language : Indonesia (Good, both active and passive); English (Good, both active and passive)
Computers: PHP, MySQL, Oracle 10g, SAP /R3, Linux, Macintosh OSX, Windows.

Material Requirement Planning (MRP)

Material Requirement Planning (MRP)

Material requirements planning (MRP) is computer-based information system that translates master schedule requirements for end items into time-phased requirements for subassemblies, components, and raw materials. MRP works backward from the due date using lead times and other information to determine what, when and how many materials should be purchased.

MRP inputs needed are Master Production Schedule, Bill of Material, and material master data. Here, MRP system requires accurate bill of material, accurate inventory status, and stable lead times. The master production schedule specifies which end items or finished products the company is to produce, how many are needed, and when they are needed. The numbers that are on the master production schedule represent production, not demand, may be a combination of customer orders and demand forecasts, and gives what needs to be produced .

MRP system also needs product structure file. Product structure file contains of Bill of Material (BOM) for each end item that the company produced. Bill of Material is a listing of all of the raw materials, parts, subassemblies, and assemblies needed to produce one unit of a product. While product structure is a visual depiction of the requirements in a bill of materials, where all components are listed by levels. The MRP system needs to gather the data from the product structure file to determine which component items need to be scheduled.

MRP can do many things to help the company. Probably the most important quality of MRP is the fact that it will help the company in handling the inventory problems. It plans production so that the right materials are at the right place at the right time.

Figure 1. MRP Structure

Figure 2. MRP Overview

There is a common format of MRP which is shown in table 1. In common, the Material Requirement Planning has the following attribute:
Lead Time: is a time needed from ordering the material until the material ready to be used.

On Hand: is an initial inventory that available in warehouse.

Lot Size: is a quantity of the material that should be purchase and what kind of lot sizing type that the company used.

Safety Stock: is an additional inventory which has the function for anticipating the fluctuations in sales forecasting and short-term customer order. It is a part of the firm’s policy.

Low Level Code: is level of item within the product structure.

Time Periods: also called Planning Horizon is a time which is included in the planning. Time Periods must at least as long as cumulative lead time.

Gross Requirements: is total expected demand of the material in a time period including forecasting and actual order. Gross requirements come from the MPS.

Scheduled Receipts: is Open orders scheduled to arrive from vendors or elsewhere in the pipeline by the beginning of a period.

Projected On-Hand: is a projected available balance (PAB) or expected inventory that will be available in the beginning of each time period which can be calculated by the formula:

Projected On-Hand= On Hand in previous period + Scheduled Receipts – Gross Requirements.

Net Requirements: is the actual amount that we need to procure in each time period. It can be calculated by the formula:

Net Requirements = Gross Requirements + Safety Stock – Projected On Hand.

Planned Order Receipts: is the quantity expected to be received in the beginning of time period as it in the time horizon.

Planned Order Releases: is a planned amount of material that should be purchased. Planned Order Releases offset by the lead time in order to be able to be used in the desire period.

Table 1. Material Requirement Planning

Lot Sizing Techniques

Lot sizing technique is used to determine the amount of the material that should be produced or bought with minimum cost. There are two kinds of cost which are considered in lot sizing. They are setup cost and holding cost.

There are several methods in lot sizing to minimize those cost above. They are:

Lot for Lot
Lot for Lot method is done by ordering (or producing) exactly the quantity required in each period to satisfy gross requirements and to maintain safety stock at its required level. It can minimize on-hand inventory, but maximize number of orders placed. So it can be expensive if setup costs are significant. It is used if the setup cost is lower that holding cost and also it can be used for continuous production with high production volume and expensive material.

Fixed Order Quantity
Fixed order quantity ordering or producing in a fixed quantity or a multiple of that fixed quantity.

Economic Order Quantity (EOQ)
Economic order quantity method is used when the demand is relatively constant. The optimum quantity can be achieved by using the formula:

Where:

Q* = optimum quantity (unit)

D = demand (unit)

s = setup cost

h = holding cost

Part Period Balancing
The idea of Part-period balancing is to balance the inventory-carrying cost and setup cost. Part-period balancing seeks to make the carrying cost as close to the setup cost as possible. Part-period balancing looks at the future orders to determine the most economic lot size. It used EPP (Economic Part Period) where the setup cost is divided by holding cost.

Wagner-Whitin Algorithm
Wagner-Whitin Algorithm (WW) probably is the most powerful lot sizing method. It determines when and how many materials should be purchased with the optimum cost. It is complex dynamic programming technique.


MRP Report

MRP has two kinds of report. They are primary report and secondary report.

Primary report includes:
- Planned Orders
Planned orders schedule indicates the amount and timing of future orders.

- Orders Release
Order release is an authorization in executing the planned orders

- Changes
Changes is revision of the due dates or order quantities.

While, secondary report includes:
- Exceptions Report
- Cancellation Report
- Inventory Status Report


Written by Adhib Rakhmanto
International Program of Industrial Engineering UII

References:
Gaspersz, Vincent. (2005). Production Planning and Inventory Control Berdasarkan Pendekatan Sistem Terintegrasi MRP II dan JIY Menuju Manfakturing 21. Gramedia Pustaka Utama, Jakarta.

Greene, James H., (1997). Production & Inventory Control Handbook. McGraw-Hill, New York.

Vollman, Thomas, E.; Berry, William, L.; Whybark, D., Clay; Jacobs, F., Robert, (2005). Manufacturing Planning and Control for Supply Chain Management. McGraw-Hill, New York.

Master Production Schedule (MPS)

Master Production Schedule

A Master Production Schedule (MPS) is a manufacturing plan that quantifies significant processes, parts, and other resources in order to optimize production, to identify bottlenecks, and to anticipate needs and completed goods.

The APICS Dictionary gives the following definition:

The anticipated build schedule for those items assigned to the master scheduler.

The result of the master scheduling process. The master schedule is a presentation of demand, forecast, backlog, the MPS, the projected on-hand inventory, and the available-to-promise quantity.

Figure 1. Production Planning Process

The Master Production Schedule is developed by disaggregating the Aggregate Planning. For instance, In Aggregate Planning is determined the production of bicycle which is 400 bicycle in period one and 300 bicycle in period two. By disaggregating the Aggregate Planning, the Master Production Schedule comes with the number of each model of bicycle in each period. The Master Production Schedule may has 150 bicycle of Model A, 100 bicycle of Model B, and 150 bicycle of Model C in period one. The Master Production Schedule will drive detailed material and production requirements in the Material Requirements Planning module.

There is a common format of MPS which is shown in table 2.1. The Time-phased plan specifying how many and when the firm plans to build each end item. In common, the Master Production Schedule has the following attribute:

Table 1. Master Production Schedule

Lead Time: is a time needed to produce or buy the items.

Lot Sizing: is the quantity of the product that will be produced or bought.

On Hand: is an initial inventory that available in warehouse.

Safety Stock: is an additional inventory which has the function for anticipating the fluctuations in sales forecasting and short-term customer order. It is a part of the firm’s policy.

Time Periods: is the number of periods which are shown in MPS format.

Sales Forecast: is a forecasting result for the sales in the period of time. It is uncertain.

Actual Order: is the order that received by the firm and it is certain.
Projected On-Hand Inventory: or it is called also Projected Available Balances, which shows the projected inventory status in the end of each period. There are two conditions when calculating the Projected On-Hand Inventory or Projected Available Balances. They are prior to demand time fence (DTF) and after demand time fence (DTF). The formula that is used to calculate:

PAB prior to DTF = prior-period PAB or On Hand Inventory + MPS – Actual Order

PAB after DTF = prior-period PAB + MPS – Greater value of sales forecast or actual orders

Available to Promise (ATP): is useful information which can give the answer to the question of “When the product will be delivered?” or “Can the firm deliver N quantity of product in T period?” Available to Promise (ATP) can be calculated by this formula:

ATP = (On Hand + MPS – Safety Stock) – Sum of actual order before the next MPS. On Hand inventory is included in the formula when calculating the first period of ATP only.

Master Production Schedule (MPS): is the production schedule for the related product.

According to Vincent Gaspersz in his book Production Planning and Inventory Control Berdasarkan Pendekatan Sistem Terintegrasi MRP II dan JIY Menuju Manfakturing 21 (2005), Master Production Schedule has the concept of Time Fence. When there is a change in Master Production Schedule around the completion time of producing the product, the adjustment in Master Production Schedule will be difficult, disruptive, and costly. To make the system stable, the policy is needed to determine the time zone whether the changes is allowed or not. The Master Production Schedule can respond to the changes when the changes still in cumulative lead time while it will be very difficult if the changes is in the time fence. In other words, time fence is an extension of freeze concept (Vollmann et. Al, 2005). It specify periods in which various types of change can be handled. The most popular time fence are demand time fence (DTF) and planning time fence (PTF).

Figure 2. MPS Time Fences

Demand Time Fence (DTF) can be defined as the next period of Master Production Schedule where the change in Master Production Schedule is not allowed. Demand Time Fence is placed in the end of final assembly period. While, the Planning Time Fence (PTF) is defined as the next period of Master Production Schedule where the change in Master Production Schedule is allowed to prevent the error in scheduling that will result in high cost. Planning Time Fence is placed in the cumulative lead time.

Based on those two type of time fence, there are three period of time in Master Production Schedule. They are firm (frozen), slushy period, and free (liquid period). In firm (frozen) period, the change is not allowed. Emergency changes in this period must have the approval from the top management level. In slushy period, the period between DTF and PTF, the change is allowed by considering the material availability. While in free period, the change is allowed without any boundaries.


Written by Adhib Rakhmanto
International Program of Industrial Engineering UII

References:
Gaspersz, Vincent. (2005). Production Planning and Inventory Control Berdasarkan Pendekatan Sistem Terintegrasi MRP II dan JIY Menuju Manfakturing 21. Gramedia Pustaka Utama, Jakarta.

Greene, James H., (1997). Production & Inventory Control Handbook. McGraw-Hill, New York.

Vollman, Thomas, E.; Berry, William, L.; Whybark, D., Clay; Jacobs, F., Robert, (2005). Manufacturing Planning and Control for Supply Chain Management. McGraw-Hill, New York.

Production Planning and Inventory Control: Forecasting

Forecasting

Forecasting is the process of estimating or predicting the future event. In managing the demand, it is necessary to have forecasting. Lead times require that decisions be made in advance of uncertain events. The longer lead times of the decision, the longer the forecast. Forecast also the production planning easier.

We only forecast independent demand, while dependent demand should not be forecast but it should be planned and/or calculated.

In manufacturing we know two type of demand. They are independent demand and dependent demand. Independent demand can bed defined as a demand for materials or parts which come from the Bill of Material (BOM). For example in producing 100 pens which consist of ink, tube, and 2 covers, the demand for cover should not be forecast but it must be calculated for 100 pens x 2 covers (200 covers).

The independent demand is a finished product that we produced. From the example above we may know that pen is the independent demand. So, the demand for pen should be forecast and cannot be calculated because it is uncertain.


Forecasting Method

There are several methods that we can use in forecasting. They are Simple average method, moving average, method and smoothing exponential method.

Simple average method is calculating the average of all of the past data.





Where:

D t : The present data

D t-1 : The previous data (one period ahead)

D t-(N-1) : The oldest data

N : Number of data /total period


Moving average method is calculating the average of the past data based on the period of moving. For example MA5, means that it is averaging the data from five periods becomes the forecast of the sixth period of the data selected.

Simple moving average:





Where:

F t = Forecast for the coming period

N = Number of periods to be averaged (period of moving)

D t-1 = Actual demand in the past period for up to “n” periods

Weighted moving average is calculated by giving weight (w) to time period of “t” where the sum of w equal to one.




Smoothing exponential

F t = F t-1 + α (D t-1 – F t-1)










Accuracy of the forecast is determined by the value of forecast error

Forecast error = |Dt – Ft| = Et

Where:

Dt = data at period

Ft = Forecast at period

There are several method in calculating the error. They are:

- Mean Square Error (MSE)





- Mean Absolute Percentage Error (MAPE)





- Mean Absolute Deviation (MAD)






- Cumulative Forecasting Error (CFE)

CFE = ∑ Et

- The Running Sum of Forecast Error (RSFE)





The Tracking Signal or TS is a measure of forecast accuracy that indicates whether the forecast average is keeping pace with any genuine upward or downward changes in demand.






Written by Adhib Rakhmanto
International Program of Industrial Engineering UII
Taken from various sources

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)

Written by Adhib Rakhmanto
International Program of Industrial Engineering UII



Enterprse Resource Planning

ERP is the acronym of Enterprise Resource Planning. ERP utilizes ERP software applications to improve the performance of organizations' resource planning, management control and operational control. ERP software is multi-module application software that integrates activities across functional departments, from product planning, parts purchasing, inventory control, product distribution, to order tracking. ERP software may include application modules for the finance, accounting and human resources aspects of a business (Monk and Wagner, 2006).

One may be under pressure to make a choice between making a high quality decision or a fast one. More information may give extra accuracy and confidence, but the response would be delayed if more input were needed. There is a right moment for most decisions. The right moment may be when one knows that one can lay hands on the expertise to get it right. It would be at such a time that tools like ERP come in handy.

Evolution of ERP

Manufacturing enterprises involved in manufacturing, sales and distribution activities have been using computers for 30 years to improve productivity, profitability and information flow across the enterprise. In the 1970s, the production oriented information systems were known by the name manufacturing resource planning (MRP). The MRP at its core is a time phased order release system that schedules and releases manufacturing work orders and purchase orders, so that items arrive at the assembly station just as they are required. Some of the benefits of MRP are reduction of inventories, improved customer service, enhanced efficiency and effectiveness. In the 1980s an enlarged version of MRP known as MRP II came into practice. MRP II has certain extensions like rough cut capacity planning and capacity requirements planning for production scheduling on shop floor as well as feedback from manufacturing shops on progress of fabrication. Further extensions like costing module make this closed loop MRP highly attractive to production managers. This extended MRP was labeled as MRP II. Since the 1980s, the number of MRP II installations has continued to increase, as MRP II applications became available on mini and microcomputers (Siriginidi, 2000).

ERP is the latest enhancement of MRP II with the added functionality of finance, distribution and human resources development, integrated to handle global business needs of an integrated and networked enterprise. The scope of ERP offerings expanded in the mid-1990s to include other ``back-office'' functions such as order management, financial management, warehousing, distribution production, quality control, asset management and human resources management. The range of functionality of ERP systems has further expanded in recent years to include more ``front-office'' functions, such as sales force and marketing automation, electronic commerce and supply chain systems. The scope of ERP implementation encompasses what is often referred to as the entire value chain of the enterprise, from prospect and customer management through order fulfillment and delivery. The world of the 1990s and beyond could be one of interconnected enterprises creating global information systems. An enterprise, to stay competitive, has to not only identify information needs, but also ensure that the information infrastructure provides the right support to serve the enterprise, its customers and suppliers. If it doesn't, it runs the risk of being disconnected and excluded from future opportunities (Siriginidi, 2000).

Business engineering (BE)/BPR

According to Morris ``Business engineering is the re-thinking of business processes to improve the speed, quality and output of materials or services''. BE revolves around IT and continuous change and constant refinement of an enterprise's changing needs. According to Hammer and Champy ``Business reengineering represents the radical transition that companies must make to keep pace with today's ever-changing global markets''. BE makes enterprises more customer-focused and responsive to changes in the market. It achieves these results by reshaping corporate structures around business processes and implements change not by the complete automation of a business but rather by the redefinition of enterprise tasks in holistic or process-oriented terms (Siriginidi, 2000).

In the majority of cases, IT powers BPR. Previously, IT was used to help enterprises automate existing business processes but recently, technology is being used to change those processes fundamentally. The recent developments in IT have made BPR possible on a radical, extensive scale and also more effective. The merger of the two concepts has resulted in the latest concept, BE. The entirety of BE lies in radical, process oriented business solutions that have been greatly enhanced by the IT of client/server computing. Most of the enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems developed are based on the client/server solution model and BE blue print that represent an advanced integration of BPR and IT. Before going ahead with BE, the management, users of IT and IT experts must chart out enterprise goals together and identify the key processes that affect its success. These processes have to be reengineered to improve their effectiveness. The financial benefits possible when IT is coupled with BE include increased revenues per sales call, decreased inventory, hardware, administrative and operating costs, recaptured market share, reduced or eliminated overtime, etc (Malhotra, 1998).

References:

Graham, Ben B., (2004). Business Process Improvement: The Devil’s in the Detail, The Ben Graham Corporation, New York.

Malhotra, Y. (1998), ``Business process redesign: an overview'', http://www.brint.com/papers/bpr.htm

Monk, Ellen F.; Wagner, Bret J., (2006). Concepts in Enterprise Resource Planning, Thomson Course Technology, Massachusetts.

Shehab, E.M., (2004). Enterprise resource planning: An integrative review. Business Process Management Journal, 10 No. 4, pp. 359-386.

Siriginidi, Subba Rao, (2000). Enterprise resource planning in reengineering business. Business Process Management Journal, 6 No. 5, pp. 376-391.

Siriginidi, Subba Rao, (2000). Enterprise resource planning: business needs and technologies. Industrial Management & Data Systems, 100 No. 2, pp. 81-88.

IT Helps the SME to Grow

Written by Adhib Rakhmanto
International Program of Industrial Engineering UII



Nowadays, we live in technological era which enables us to improve our business process. Technology allows us to gain information quickly. Most businesses today are computerized and paperless, different with 10 years ago. The winner of tomorrow will be those businesses that most effectively gather and act quickly upon crucial information. Making informed business decisions will enable enterprises to accomplish their business growth and enable them to utilize the information to competitive advantage. To make it possible for the enterprises to execute this vision, the need will be for an adequate infrastructure that provides information across the enterprise (Siriginidi, 2000). This information system, called Enterprise System or Enterprise Resource Planning, allows managers to make decisions based on information that truly reflects the current state of their business. Information Technology (IT) plays important role in this system to integrate the information within the entire company, integrate the front-office and the back-office.

Small-Medium Enterprises in manufacturing, SME, have the same opportunity to grow up and improve their business process. SMEs can implement this system to compete with others. There are many ERP vendors such as SAP and Oracle. The problems for SMEs in implementing this kind of system are the limited budget for IT improvement. As we know that the system produced by those vendor are not cheap. Those system, refer to the one which is produced by those vendor such as SAP and Oracle, sometimes do not fit to the company needs. Besides, maintaining and managing those systems needs special ability and skill. What company needs is a system with low maintenance cost, easy to be accessed, and suitable for their business process.

In manufacturing, company is required to be able to meet the promised delivery to the customer about the product that they produced. In production department, the company has to be able to answer the question about how much the product that will be produced and the material availability for the related product. The company also has to consider about the related to the effect of the question above such as forecasting, inventory level, material that needed to be purchased, quantity and lead time of material that will be purchased. In this case, the integration between each functional is needed. Each process always needs input and have output where the output becomes the input for the other process. Here, the data need to be shared within the entire company.

References:
Koh, S.,C., Lenny; Simpson, Mike, Change and uncertainty in SME manufacturing environments using ERP. Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management 16 No. 6, pp. 629-653.

Siriginidi, Subba Rao, (2000). Enterprise resource planning in reengineering business. Business Process Management Journal, 6 No. 5, pp. 376-391.

Siriginidi, Subba Rao, (2000). Enterprise resource planning: business needs and technologies. Industrial Management & Data Systems, 100 No. 2, pp. 81-88.