Report to the management of Prices snacks reviewing working practices and identify any areas that could be improved or developed with the use of IT in order to maximise the efficiency of the company.
Prices snacks
Matt Densham
Monday 11th November 2001
Report to the management of Prices snacks reviewing working practices and identify any areas that could be improved or developed with the use of IT in order to maximise the efficiency of the company.
Input, output, and processing devices used in the modern food manufacturing industry.
Types of data that prices snack’s needs to store
Prices Snacks PLC need to store employee databases including things like medical records, salaries, holiday and sick leave and personal information such as age and address. Also we need to store productivity records, number of product sales, to keep the company running at maximum profit. Records of resent expenditures and R and D cost need to be stored so that the company doesn’t over or under spend on their budget.
Methods of storing this data
To store personal, business contacts and suppliers details you should use database programs like Microsoft Access. You should use Spreadsheets to store information like financial records, and can also be used to calculate finances and predict future loss or profit margins. An example of a spreadsheet program is Microsoft Excel. To store and create corporate documents and templates, such as letterheads, memos, in voices and publicity you should use Desktop publishing packages such as Microsoft Word.
Communicating information around the company
To get your computers to send data to other computers, peripherals and ...
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Methods of storing this data
To store personal, business contacts and suppliers details you should use database programs like Microsoft Access. You should use Spreadsheets to store information like financial records, and can also be used to calculate finances and predict future loss or profit margins. An example of a spreadsheet program is Microsoft Excel. To store and create corporate documents and templates, such as letterheads, memos, in voices and publicity you should use Desktop publishing packages such as Microsoft Word.
Communicating information around the company
To get your computers to send data to other computers, peripherals and control devices, you need to set up a Local Area Network (LAN). There are many advantages of using networks:
- Printers can be shared: individual stations do not need their own printer.
- Programs can be shared: software packages are stored on the file server and downloaded to stations as requested.
- Data can be shared: database files stored in the file server are available to users around the network.
- Users can communicate with others on the network, sending messages and sharing files.
The major disadvantages are that the cable and servers are very expensive to install and run.
New technological advances in the use of IT
There have been many new I.T. technology advances in recent years. For example in manufacturing, IT is used to control machines and the use of CAD CAM means that designing and making a product is a lot easier. One computer could control 50 machines, which would have before needed 50 employees. Technology in the office has also improved. Now you can have meetings with colleagues who are on the other side of the world thanks to web video conferencing. The Internet can be used as another form of advertising in the form of a web site. Technology can also be used more simply in the office. New computers and computer networks now mean that lots of information can be stored and accessed a lot easier and faster from any computer.
Validation of data
This is the name given to the checks a computer makes when data is input. Whatever form of input device is used, some form of check can be made on the data entering the computer. This can be important at prices snacks in many processes. For example when you come to calculate the pay for each employee at the end of each month. The hours worked by each employee is input to disk in preparation of running the payroll program. At the front of the data, in a batch header record, several extra pieces of information can be included. These enable the computer program to check the data being entered and report any errors. These checks help ensure that the program processes the payroll accurately and that none of your employees are left out or are paid incorrectly.
Security of data stored
Security of data is very important. The computer can make sure that the data is secure by saving the data onto a floppy disk or a compact disk. This means that if the computer is damaged in any way then the data hasn’t been lost. Big companies download all of their information onto disk and then take them to a secure location. For example in the world trade centre they didn’t lose any data because it had been saved outside the building. Data on a computer can be destroyed in the following ways:
- The breakdown of hardware
- Poor office practice e.g. not backing up files
- Hackers gaining access to the system
- Computer fraud. Where data is changed to benefit individuals
- The theft of equipment
- The physical damage to computer harware
Data Protection Act
The data protection act was passed in 1984. The act was passed so people could be sure that their personal details, such as sex, age and medical details would be kept confidentially.
If any person, organisation or company wishes to hold personal details about a person on a database, then this must be registered with the data protection registrars office. A fee must be paid and forms must be filled out showing:
- Name and address of company, person etc
- Details of the type of data you wish to keep and the reason you want to keep it for
- Details of the source of data
- Details of any people to whom you may disclose the data.
There are certain exemptions to the act and the rules governing the need to register a computer database. These include:
- Doctors, the police and the tax authorities
- Data can be withheld for reasons of national security
- Data relating to crime detection
- Data relating to immigration.
It is important to protect personal data. If a hacker was to gain access to personal records, he/she could find out information about people which could lead to discrimination or prejudice. If employees found out what fellow employee’s wages are, they could demand higher wages or could accuse the manager of favouritism or sexism. By protecting data this sort of data, these situations could be avoided.
The importance of accuracy in data records
Accuracy is very important in data records. If the correct information is even slightly incorrect, problems may soon arise. One example of this is child school records. They must be correct. If the records are slightly wrong, such as a digit in the home phone number, a sick child may not be able to get home because their parents wouldn’t be able to be contacted
Another example is when searching information on an employee, the manager may be searching for a person with no illness. However, if they are asthmatic etc and the records claim that the employee is healthy confusion could be caused.
Effects on social issues
The new introductions of IT have had a big impact on the social lives of the workers in the companies. For example if IT is introduced then there will be less jobs in the company because computers will be doing a lot of the work such as operating the machines. The effects of this would be local unemployment in the short term, but in the long term it would benefit the whole area, because the computers would make the company more efficient because computers can work 24 hours a day with very little supervision. Whereas as people are only prepared to work about 9 hours a day. Also a computer doesn’t cost much money once it has paid for its self. This will benefit the company as it will become more efficient and expand employing more people.
Economic issues
Discuss how these more recent introductions to the workplace have affected working practices, by considering ‘’ and then ‘. (Identify both good and bad points for each of these). Review if the introductions are therefore good or bad.
Produce a summary of each of the following issues, stressing exactly why and how they should be followed by Price’s Snacks plc:
7 Validity of data/information (Can we trust everything we read on the Internet? How do we know we can trust what we read?)
8 Accuracy of data/information (How can we ensure data typed into a database is correct – especially if it is being typed in a hurry ie what are Validation and Coding?)
9 Security of data/information. (How can we ensure data held on computers cannot be lost or destroyed? Include reference to hacking, passwords, back-ups etc).
10 What laws are there related to computers? (Data Protection Act, Computer Misuse Act (1990), The Copyright, Designs and Patents Act (1989)
11 As a ‘recap’, state what you understand to be the problem that Price’s Snacks plc is currently experiencing.
12 Give details of three things Price’s Snacks plc could be making better use of to make them more efficient and more productive, thus eliminating the problem you have identified.
13 Evaluate the three solutions discussing the advantages and disadvantages of each.
14 Select the most appropriate and recommend this to Price’s Snacks plc in the form of a conclusion.
- Input, output, and processing devices used in the modern food manufacturing industry.
- Identify how data and information is collected, stored, processed and communicated within such a company.
- Identify new technological advances in the use of IT and Information Systems (IS), including it’s effect on working practices. Explain how more recent technology has affected industrial practices, particularly social and economic issues.
- Research and demonstrate what you understand about the importance of validity, accuracy, and security of data when using IT.
- From the information in the introductory text above, identify and explain your understanding of the business problem that Price’s Snacks is experiencing.
- Recommend three different suitable ‘IT based’ courses of action to rectify the problem. Evaluate each, and select the most appropriate of these, giving reasons for your choice.