Assignment 2: Required Assignment 1—Business Case and Proposal for
Project Selection
You work for Centervale Apparel, a large clothing manufacturing firm.
Centervale Apparel has budgeted $9.7 million for new technology initiatives in
the coming year but the project requests currently in the queue for next year
total about $15 million. Your boss, the executive director of operations, has
asked you to put together a proposal for this project to replace legacy order
fulfillment technologies by implementing a supply chain management (SCM)
system. Your boss wants to ensure this project will be prioritized over other
projects on the list and will be implemented in the coming year. Use the
following data to prepare a proposal using a balanced scorecard approach to
demonstrate the project’s value to Centervale Apparel.
Here is your brief:
Business Problem: The order fulfillment team has been using several
legacy technology systems to manage inventory and distribution. The current
systems do not work together, requiring redundant information input and
processing. Because of the redundant processes, work is duplicated requiring
multiple data entry points and sometimes results in inaccurate and
irreconcilable data. There is a constant overage or shortage of supply due to
the time it takes for data to get from one point to another. This causes
unhappy customers and inventory carrying costs that could be avoided.
Project Description: Replace legacy order fulfillment technologies by
implementing a SCM system.
Project Cost: The project will cost approximately $1.2 million including
infrastructure and resources to complete the implementation and $250,000
annually to support and maintain the new system with a ten-year lifecycle for
the system.
Project Benefit: It is estimated that the implementation of a supply
chain management system will improve the order fulfillment processing time and
reduce inventory-carrying costs. Implementing the SCM system will also enable
the retirement of several legacy systems. Estimated annual cost savings are:
Data entry staff reduced from 10 FTE to 8 FTE = $100,000/yr savings
Reduction in inventory carrying costs = $300,000/yr savings
Improved order fulfillment = 10–20% decrease in order to delivery time.
This will improve customer satisfaction and retention
Improved data accuracy
Legacy system maintenance retirement savings = $100,000/yr
Using the information that details the primary business goals for the
coming year, you will need to demonstrate how implementing the SCM system will
help achieve the business objectives.
Note: Customers are retail companies who order from this clothing
manufacturer. Assume a ten-year lifecycle for the SCM system.
Using the module readings and the Argosy University online library
resources, research methods of developing proposals by applying the balanced
scorecard approach. Select two scholarly resources for use in this assignment.
You will use these resources to justify your recommendations.
The proposal should include the following:
Describe the measureable value. This should include a cost-benefit
analysis, such as payback period or ROI that relies on tangible measures of
organizational value through cost savings, revenue enhancements, or
improvements in the speed, quality, or efficiency of key processes that help
achieve competitive advantage (note the difference between tangible and
intangible measures in this proposal).
Evaluate and choose alternatives. Make sure to identify any alternatives
to the project implementation and provide a justification for each.
Complete a risk assessment of all risks associated with implementing the
project using an enterprise risk management (ERM) model.
Describe total cost of ownership and include descriptions of
implementation project and ongoing maintenance costs.
Explain the benefits of the project, which include tangible and
intangible benefits.
Fully justify a recommendation with a compelling proposal that aligns to
the business goals.
Write a 6–8-page paper in Word format. Apply APA standards to citation
of sources. Use the following file naming convention:
LastnameFirstInitial_M3_A2.doc.
By
Wednesday, October 15, 2014, deliver your assignment to the M3: Assignment 2
Dropbox.
