CASE STUDY no.

1 (MIS)
Name:___________________________________ YR/SEC:______________________ DATE:_________________

Coors Ceramics Revamps Information Systems

Coors Ceramics was spun off from the Adolph Coors Company in December 1992 Today the company is one of the leading suppliers of ceramic
materials and components to the semi-conductor and laser industries and has developed a worldwide reputation for quality and precision.

Coors’s old information systems took as long as two days to process new orders. Because of delays and inaccuracies in processing, there was no
way a salesperson could track the exact status of a particular customer's order. With 1,500 orders coming in monthly, that was a huge problem. To
compensate for the processing delays, Coors would produce more orders than it received so that it could build up inventory to meet customers'
desired delivery dates. Although it did help meet customer demand, this approach raised inventory levels, production costs,
and overhead costs. Customer delivery was also a problem. The old system could only track shipments on a weekly basis. If a customer wanted an
order on Monday, and Coors shipped it by the following Saturday, the system logged that order as being on time. When customers called to
complain, the salesperson would get no valid data from the system other than an incorrect “shipped on time” report.

It was clear that improvements were needed; however, be fore investing in the development of new information systems, Coors
defined three key business goals that the new systems must achieve: First, they had to increase customer satisfaction. Sales people
were under tremendous pressure to get information for customers which in turn prevented them from developing new orders and selling
product. Second, Coors wanted to reduce lead times. If work-in-progress, inventory, and delivery schedules could be reduced, then Coors could
produce more customer orders. Third, Coors needed to reduce operating costs.

Coors’s approach to meeting these goals required redoing and streamlining many fundamental business work processes. In other words, the
project team focused first on how to meet the needs of the customers before they thought about how to update
their outdated information systems. This rethinking often required challenging fundamental assumptions about how the business should
operate. Once the work processes were redesigned, the project team implemented an integrated set of information systems. These new systems
automated the work processes associated with acquiring raw materials, transforming raw materials into top-quality products, and delivering them
to customers within the shortest possible time.

The project proved to be highly successful. Since the systems were installed, Coors’s product cycle has been cut from an average of 12 weeks to 8
weeks and on-time shipments have improved to over 95%. Coors salespeople can now be confident that “shipped on time” means the order was
delivered on time not just that it shipped within seven-day period.

The new information systems have also improved business decision making.Each morning, the general manager of sales and marketing meets with
key people from manufacturing, engineering, and sales. They review the previous day’s sales and requests for new products. They discuss how
things are going and can check on the current status because everything that happened as of that morning is already in Coors's information
systems, ready for decision making.

Discussion questions:

1. How has implementation of an integrated set of information systems enabled Coors to meet customer needs more effectively?

2. Did this system meet all three key business goals for new systems at Coors? Why or why not?

Critical Thinking Questions:

1. Identify three key decisions that must be made at the business review meeting each morning. Identify six questions that are likely to be
asked by the general manager at the morning business review meeting.

2. What additional features or benefits might you want this basic system to deliver?

Diagram

1. Illustrate the appropriate Fish Bone Diagram for this Case.