G041: Lecture 07

Business ICT Systems

Mr C JohnstonICT Teacher

www.computechedu.co.uk

Session Objectives

Know key ICT systems used by organisations and the support they offer,

Understand how key ICT systems used by organisations are utilised to process and communicate information.

Core Business Systems

Basic business systems Serve the most elementary day-to-day activities of an

organisation e.g. used to write a letter to a customer, Support all operations of the business e.g. control the levels

of stock in a store room, Supply data for higher-level management decisions

(Management Information Systems -MIS).

ICT Use Within Departments

ICT can be used within a department to make operations easier,

ICT often can replace manual procedures saving both time and money as staff can be doing more productive things,

ICT can process data much quicker and will work 24hours a day 7 days a week,

ICT will produce the required outputs faster then writing by hand,

There is a lower risk to the security of data stored on a computer due to standard security procedures,

If computers are connected together then data can be shared between departments.

Human Resources Systems that deal with recruitment, placement,

performance evaluation, compensation, and career development of the firm’s employees.

Examples: Personnel – details of each employee, salary grade,

performance, disciplinary, Training – records training given to employees and any

particular skills they have – useful in an emergency, Payroll – system which links HR with the accounts and

finances system. Calculates how much each person to be paid – amount of tax to be deducted. Using batch processing. Payments often made by BACS.

Design and Manufacturing Systems

Systems that supply data to design, operate, monitor and control the production process,

In the past design was done on paper by skilled draftsmen or building and testing scale models,

CAD, CAM, robotics, A system will also exist to record new products and changes to

existing ones. A database could be used to store precise details of sizes, materials, components and provide a link to the CAD drawings.

Purchasing System used to track orders purchased for either

manufacturing / resale or admin purposes, Will create purchase orders for goods and services

required these will then be passed onto suppliers via: Post, Email, EDI,

A copy will be kept by the company so they can check back when the ordered goods are invoiced,

There will be a link to the accounts system so suppliers can be paid, and the stock control system so stock can be adjusted.

Sales Used to keep track of customer orders, Will generate a total amount (handle VAT), and further

paper required (invoice, picking lists, delivery notes, packing manifests),

The order processing system will link to the stock system so that sold items can be removed,

Often real time processing so items cant be sold twice,

Will link with the accounts system so debtors can be chased.

Other sales system features: EPOS, EFTPOS, Sales Support,

Research Keeps detailed notes about products being developed

or investigated, Will be used to assist directors in making a decision to

whether an idea should be made a reality, Spreadsheet models may be created to see if an idea

is viable.

Accounts and Finance The purpose of this system is to keep track of money

going into and out of the company, Many of the other systems need to integrate with this, Could be off the shelf (sage) or bespoke, Software creates balance sheets and income

statements, showing money coming in and money gone out, assets and cash flow. Can also be used to track debtors,

Will keep a history of transactions for legal reasons and so future cash flow can be predicted.

Stock Control or Inventory System

Keeps track of the stock which is being held by an organisation,

Will record the quantity, cost, location, supplier, Needs to be constantly updated to keep it correct –

real-time best often though batch processing, Barcodes are popular for stock – barcode just primary

key data comes by querying a database, Reorder levels are often included which may flag up a

warning when stock falls below, or may reorder by self,

Can be used to program a robot to automatically pick items required from their location – this will save employing warehouse pickers / packers.

Example of an ICT system used in administration

Example of an ICT system used to control a conveyer belt

Example of an ICT system used to control Whitbread's Warehouse

Example of an ICT system used to control DHL’s Warehouse

Exercise

Read the following pages from the online text books to find out more about Key ICT Systems used by businesses:

Doyle pp27-30 Heinemann pp24-28

Download and complete this topics exercise from my website.