Question

How did PVF go about developing it's information system's? Why do you think the company chose this optiuon? What other options were available

Answer 1

PVF Company manufactures high-quality wood furniture and distributes it to retail stores within the United States. In the early 1980s, PVF’s founder, Alex Schuster, started to make and sell custom furniture in his garage. Alex managed invoices and kept track of customers by using file folders and a filing cabinet. PVF’s product line had multiplied, sales volume had doubled, and staff had increased to fifty employees. By 1990, PVF moved into its third and present location. Because of the added complexity of the company’s operations, Alex reorganized the company into the following functional areas:

• Manufacturing, which was further subdivided into three separate functions—fabrication, assembling, and finishing
• Sales
• Orders
• Accounting
• Purchasing

Alex and the heads of the functional areas established manual information systems, such as accounting ledgers and file folders, which worked well for a time. Eventually, however, PVF selected and installed a minicomputer to automate invoicing, accounts receivable, and inventory control applications. When the applications were first computerized, each separate application had its own individual data files tailored to the needs of each functional area. As is typical in such situations, the applications closely resembled the manual systems on which they were based. Three computer applications at PVF are depicted in Figure 3-2: order filling, invoicing, and payroll. In the late 1990s, PVF formed a task force to study the possibility of moving to a database approach. After a preliminary study, management decided to convert its information systems to such an approach. The company upgraded its minicomputer and implemented a database management system. By the time we caught up with PVF, it had successfully designed and populated a company-wide database, and had converted its applications to work with the database. However, PVF is continuing to grow at a rapid rate, putting pressure on its current application systems.

FIGURE 3-2 Orders Department Accounting Department Payroll Department Three computer applications at Pine Valley Furniture: order filling, invoicing, and payroll.