HNC Research

Project Unit 8
Miss Rachel
Brereton
How does the manufacturing industry business software systems differ from my own
company and which software based on these companies is most suitable for the
manufacturing industry as a whole, if any?


9 June 2009

Word Count: 5055

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
would like to say thank you to all who has helped me in achieving the completion of the
project.
To Louise Callaghan, for giving me continual guidance throughout the process.
To an McCrone, Chairman of the Ass ociation of Tank and Cistern Manufacturers for giving
me a short editorial in the monthly newsletter.
To all manufacturing companies for filling out my questionnaire/survey and special thanks to
those who took the time to be interviewed.
To software representatives for allowing me to discuss the available products on the market.
Finally to my friends, family and work colleagues for their constant support and patience.


CONTENTS PAGE
Chapter Content Page
1 List of Tables, Figures and llustrations 4
2 Abstract 5
3 ntroduction 6
4 Literature Review 7-8
5 Methodology 9-10
6 Findings 11-18
7 Discussion 19
8 Summary 20
9 Conclusion 21
10 List of Appendices 22
11 Bibliography 23




1.0. LIST OF TABLES, FIGURES & ILLUSTRATIONS

Figure Content Page
1 Software Systems in Place by Tank Manufacturers


2 Usage of Software within Tank Manufacturing Companies


3 Most mportant Factors nfluencing a Purchase Tank
Manufacturers

4 Software Systems in place throughout general Manufacturing
Companies

5 Usage of Software within general Manufacturing Companies


6 Most mportant Factors nfluencing a Purchase General
Manufacturers

7 Advantages & Disadvantages Software Systems





2.0. ABSTRACT
As part of the HNC Business Studies course, to complete Unit 8 Research Project, have
researched the business software market for manufacturing companies. have looked at
software systems companies already have in place and products available on the market to
find out if there is a general product that covers e verybody's needs
have discussed with manufacturers of all different products throughout the UK and across
tank manufacturers with regard to the software systems they use, whether it was purpose
made or bought off the shelf and if it satisfies all their n eeds. have also spoken with
software representatives who have given me a good insight into the market and the best
products they recommend for manufacturing . have analysed various literature to help me
understand the topic better.
One of the key resul ts found that was there isn't a general single product that covers
everyone's needs, each company has different quality systems etc to adhere to and many
people spoke to were not keen to change there software regardless as they would also
have to re evaluate there quality system. There is however a good range of software that
covers all departments well, sales, accounts and payroll being the main necessities.
Although it was an importance more with tank manufacturing companies that stock control
was needed, other companies purely just used excel spreadsheets. also found with a lot of
companies that price was one of the less important factors within reason.




3.0. INTRODUCTION
have compiled this research project with the aim to find out about manufacturing software
systems, how other companies systems differ to the company work for, if there are
similarities and if can find a product that is best suited for all over manufacturing operations.

chose this subject because wanted to learn about the different software systems, in a bid
to have more influence and decision making for the T in my company.

think my company as well as other manufacturing companies, particularly tank
manufacturers would benefit from this research when making decisions about software
within their organisations.

This research has given me the expertise to advise and publish my findings to companies
who would like advice in the future.

Throughout the report, there is information to justify my conclusions and findings. My
findings are my mini objectives achieved and these are analysed further on within the report.


4.0. LITERATURE REVIEW
Throughout the process of this project, have found it difficult to source literature relevant to
my research. However as shown below, there is a book and some articles / information
found on the internet.

did find the following book useful as a general all round insight into the importance of
software for a business in manufacturing.

Starinsky, Robert W. (2002) Maximizing Busines s Performance Through Software
Packages: Best Practices For Justification, SeIection, And ImpIementation. CRC
Press

The author of this book explores the need for software within businesses and how to
maximise performance by utilising the software. The b ook sets out how software and
computers have evolved in business life and details the features and design over the years.
The chapter found to be informative with regard to my research was Chapter 2, The
software Package Marketplace which focuses on ERP and MRP Systems for manufacturing
and how the systems have now moved into other industry sectors.

The author states
"ERP Systems originated to satisfy the information processing requirements in a
manufacturing operation. These systems largely grew out of initiatives to support MRP and
MRP-II planning and control concepts that were difficult to carry out prior to the commercial
availability of computer systems"
Starinsky, Robert W. (2002) Maximizing Business Performance Through Software
Packages: Best Practices For Justification, Selection, And mplementation. CRC
Press

Storr, AIfred, Jarvis, D.H. (1996) Software Engineering for Manufacturing Systems:
Methods and Case-TooIs. KIuwer Academic PubIishers

This book thought may have been useful to establis h what manufacturers need in software,
however when came to analysing the book, found it wasn't really relevant to my research.
The book was more about discussing ways to reduce costs and raise quality in the
development of control software, it didn't explain software needed.


I struggIed to find any further books reIevant but found some internet articIes usefuI.


http://www.moneyinstructor.com/art/bussoftware.asp

This website gives pointers on choosing the correct type of software for a small business.
found this to be helpful in understanding the types of things people look for in a software
package.
The full article can be found in Appendix E.

t states
"Many small business owners walk into an office supply or computer specialty store and buy
the first thing they see on the shelf. They spend more money than they should on the
package, and a lot of time and effort entering data into the system, and then they are locked
into a software program they do not like, but cannot afford to replace."
Money nstructor, Choosing Small Business Software, Available from
http://www.moneyinstructor.com/art/bussoftware.asp [Accessed 6 May 2009]


http://www.2020software.com/compare -software/category/32/Manufacturing -Software/

This website shows the top Manufacturing Software Solutions and allows you to compare
them. This website seemed initially useful but then noticed that pricing was in US Dollars so
many of the products may well not be available in the UK. T here was also no date as to
when the information was published so it could well be out of date and figured it was
probably for larger organisations as the introduction stated:

"Manufacturing software (also MRP, MRP II, manufacturing systems, enterprise resource
planning software (ERP), barcode software, bill of materials, quality assurance software,
distribution software) is used in the produ ction planning, inventory control and efficient
management of manufacturing processes within a business. Manufacturing software can
stand alone or act as a component of a larger, modular ERP system"

n the industry am targeting with regard to manufactur ing, products are not mass produced
and are more made specifically to certain requirements, therefore for example 'Bar Codes'
are not necessary.

TechTarget, the T Media RO Experts , Top Manufacturing/ERP Softwar e Solutions
Available from http://www.2020software.com/compare -software/category/32/Manufacturing -
Software/ [Accessed 6 May 2009]


http://ezinearticIes.com/?SmaII -Business-Manufacturing-Software&id=269229

Morris, Eric. Ezine Articles. Small Business Manufacturing Software Available from
http://ezinearticles.com/?Small -Business-Manufacturing-Software&id=269229 [Accessed 6
May 2009]

This article explains software for smaller sized businesses, which found useful because my
primary data will be from smaller sized companies rather than global organisations.
The article identifies who the stakeholders of the companies would be and there needs and
how software can assist with this.

The author states:
"Small business manufacturing software systems should ideally connect sales, support,
manufacturing, distribution and finance sections with customers, suppliers and partners. This
will enable better customer relations, and thereby encourage repeat sales."

He also states:
"The best small business manufacturing software has the features of controlling the five
main manufacturing processes, namely inventory control, sales and purchase orders, bill of
materials, RFQs, and material requirements planning. "

This was interesting as it gave me a good understanding of what should be included within
software designed for manufacturing.

5.0. METHODOLOGY

5.1. Data CoIIection
The information sourced throughout this project has been collected by a variety of
methods and are both qualitative and quan titative data.

5.1.1. Primary Data
To collect a range of primary data have used various different methods as
set out below. The data collected is a mixture of qualitative and quantitative.

Questionnaire
originally set out in my proposal that wa s going to hand deliver my questionnaires,
however when the time came found it more cost effective to email them. had a
very good response rate from doing it this way, out of 50 emails sent, received 28
back. think this was because had phoned bef orehand and asked for the direct
email address of the person who deals with T, also left it a week and sent out a
follow up email to those who hadn't already replied. Having chosen this method
extended my range of manufacturing companies throughout t he UK, rather than just
the local area.

Survey
The survey was in an online format and included the same questions as in the paper
questionnaire. An email link was sent out to tank manufacturers that are members of
the ATCM. Out of the 15 companies sent to, received a fantastic amount of replies,
14 in total. This took an amount of time, originally only received 5 replies but after
placing a small editorial in the associations monthly newsletter, received emails
asking for the link.

Interviews
Within my questionnaires and surveys sent, companies were asked if they would
mind being interviewed, found this to be a good way of getting to speak to the
correct person immediately as they left contact details. About a of the replies were
happy to be interviewed. picked at random two people from tank manufacturing and
two people from general manufacturing as felt this would give me sufficient
information.

5.1.2. Secondary

Statistics from software companies.
Unfortunately when came to approaching so ftware companies such as PC World
they wouldn't give me any hard figures to work with. Another problem found
This secondary data was quantitative.

As to the best of my knowledge couldn't find that this kind of research had been
published before, ther efore struggled a little finding suitable secondary data but
feel the information founded in my literature review and my primary data was that
companies in the industry only specialised in one product such as Sage and didn't
offer the others. found these companies to be 'Partners' of the software
manufacturer and this seemed to be the norm throughout the industry.

did also take a general view to see if any products were on the Amazon website for
their best selling software, although this wasn't specific as it included all software
such as Driving Test CD ROMs and nternet Security, it was interesting to see over
such a wide variety that Sage nstant Accounts v15, arrived at Number 18 and
QuickBooks Pro arrived at Number 32 out of the top 100 soft ware.

This information was taken at 7pm 6 June 2009 The information is updated hourly.

Amazon (2009) ' Bestsellers in Software' Available from
http://www.amazon. co.uk/gp/bestsellers/software/ref=pd_ts_pg_1?ie=UTF8&pg=1
[Accessed 6 June 2009, 7pm]


5.2. StatisticaI anaIysis

When analysing my data, transferred also information into an excel spreadsheet so this
was then laid out in an easy format to produce graphs and charts with.

5.3. TimescaIe

laid out in my original proposal set dates to have different aspects of my project
completed by. However due to unforeseen professional and personal commitments
found this hard to adhere to. would have preferred to have met with interviewees on a
one to one basis, but all bar one were completed over the telephone due to lack of time
available for travelling etc within typical working hours. did complete background
reading throughout but didn't allow to seek out the most important aspects over a period
of time and thus this was completed in one go. also left certain aspects until a later
stage. f was to complete this project again would definitely be stricter on myself when
meeting mini deadlines and if had a prior commitment, would be sure to complete that
stage at the next available opportunity.

5.4. PIagiarism

Whilst collecting data for this research project have recorded where information was
sourced from, including interviews and website addr esses.



6.0. Findings

This section shows my findings throughout the project, this will be related back to my original
objectives in my proposal.

6.1. Identifying the different types of manufacturing companies to anaIyse and then
making sure these are comparabIe to my own company.

6.1.2. Other Tank Manufacturers
targeted other tank manufacturers who are members of the Association,
Tank and Cistern Manufacturers as knew that they all work in a similar way
to my company from attending the annual general meetings.

6.1.3. GeneraI Manufacturers
When seeking out other manufacturing companies, made sure these
companies made a product not necessarily similar to tanks but on the same
kind of scale. chose people who manufactured wrought iron gates for
example, the size, distribution and length of projects to analyse. didn't target
manufacturing production lines for smaller items such as packaging as didn't
feel they would be easily comparable with minimal man effort.

6.2. Identifying the different sof tware systems on the market and if there are any
that are specificaIIy for the manufacturing industry.

The business software market is huge. There are many different kinds of software
for all different companies and users; have identified the most rele vant products to
this research project.

6.2.1 Sage
Sage is one of the leading software companies on the market. With a range of
products to suit every business needs.

Sage Manufacturing
This software can be purchased in three different versions each with d ifferent
components within depending on the business needs.
N Sage 50 Manufacturing for smaller businesses
N Sage 200 Manufacturing for medium businesses
N Sage 1000 Manufacturing for larger businesses.

This software overall covers all areas of manufacturing and incorporates
areas for estimating, order and job processing, reviewing of costs and
invoicing. t does however stop at this stage and doesn't allow for areas of
purchasing raw materials, payroll or managing the sales and purchase ledger.
Therefore other software would be needed to cover these areas of the
business.

Sage Line 50
This software is a product for all over general business management, covering
sales, accounts, purchasing and stock lists.
t does not allow for detail within stocks however and you can only say how
many for instance 'tanks' are in stock, you cannot allocate serial numbers or
similar tracking methods. Unfortunately this product isn't designed to work
with other Sage products and 'Manufacturing' is supposed to cover other

aspects. This is the product we have at my company but we had a bespoke
system made to track and allocate stock

6.2.2. Pegasus
Pegasus, like Sage are also market leaders having a wide range of products.
The specific software they have for manufacturing is Oper ations , this
software is similar to Sage 50 in which it "process data from sales orders,
through material requirements planning (MRP), purchasing, production,
quality control and finally to delivery and invoicing: a complete production
control system
This software however is different from Sage 50 as it is specifically designed
to work with Microsoft software such as Word, Excel etc. t also is typically
supposed to be purchased with Opera ii which covers the accounting side of
a business. When used together this should provide a total solution.

6.2.3. SAP
SAP is a well known Global brand, whose products felt are mostly suited to
the larger organisations with an organised production line.

There is a product 'SAP Manufacturing' which covers areas o f planning,
execution, quality and maintenance, and environment, health, and safety.
There is also a further 5 products, that this is designed to work with to provide
overall manufacturing solutions. This is without even looking at the needs of
any other departments and thus further products would be needed to cover
areas such as Sales/Purchase ledger control.

6.2.4. QuickBooks
QuickBooks seems to be a smaller organisation than there competitors with
less products available and mainly for finance and payr oll purposes.
The three they offer is :

QuickBooks SimpIe Start
This software is a simple package which can be set up in as little as 30
minutes, it offers features to reports sales and expenses and customise
paperwork to look more professional.

QuickBooks Pro
This software is a more advanced version of the 'Simple Start' with additional
features where you can track stock and create customer and supplier
accounts for relationship management.

QuickBooks Premier
This software again offers all the featur es of the above two systems, but has
features for remote access, forecasting and more advanced reporting
features.

This software would be best suited think to someone starting out in
business, someone with a low budget and possibly someone after a syst em
not too technical that covers the basic business needs.
wouldn't automatically associate this software with manufacturing but it
could be a useful system if there was another product to look after production
and stock.




6.2.5. ERP Systems
These software systems 'Enterprise Resource Planning' are generally tailored
to the business requirements and implement and manage areas of planning,
raw materials, production and all other resources in manufacturing.
These are also implemented in other industrie s such as government and no
longer solely manufacturing.
t was difficult to find suitable information on these systems due to the very
vast range available and how they are specifically tailored to the customers
requirements.
These systems extend upon MRP Systems (Material Requirements Planning )

Wikipedia States that " To be considered an ERP system, a software package
must provide the function of at least two systems. For exampl e, a software
package that provides both payroll and accounting functions could technically
be considered an ERP software package
Wikipedia (June 2009). Enterprise resource planning. Available from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enterprise_resource_planning [Accessed 5 June
2009]


6.3. To estabIish which software systems other companies use and what they use
the software for by sending out a questionnaire/onIine survey.

From the survey the tank manufacturers completed, received 14 out of 15 returns
which was fantastic.
found the results a little surprising. My earlier research of the software systems on
the market showed that Sage very was limited when covering all ground for a
company however this turned out to be the most popular option .
This was further investigated with interviews for which the results can be found
further on.


Figure 1: Software Systems in PIace by Tank Manufacturers

The results shown in the Bar Chart below identify tank manufacturing companies
needs within a software package, with all companies who took the survey needing
there software to support sales, followed closely by accounts and stock takes.
This may explain why Sage is the most popular produc t as standard Sage Line 50
Business software covers Sales and Accounts.




Figure 2: Usage of Software within Tank Manufacturing Companies

The results shown in the graph below show the factors that influence a purchase
and the order of importance as pe r the votes from companies who completed my
survey.
n tank manufacturing, Aftersales Technical Support was the least important factor
whereas Price was the most important factor with some companies also having
Suitability for all departments and training Staff to use product as the most important
factors. There is a trend that most companies have the same views on importance.

Most Important Factors - Tank Manufacturers
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
No1 No2 No3 No4 No5
Most Important Factors
N
o

o
f

P
e
o
p
I
e
Aftersales Technical
Support
Price
Training staff to use
product
Simplicity of product
Suitability for all
departments

Figure 3: Most Important Factors InfIuencing a Purchase - Tank
Manufacturers


Below are the results taken from general manufa cturing companies throughout the
UK.
Compared to Tank Manufacturing, again Sage is still the most popular form of
software.


Software Systems in PIace
throughout the generaI
manufacturing industry
SAP
Quickbooks
Sage
Pegasus
ERP System
Other

Figure 4: Software Systems in pIace throughout generaI Manufacturing
Companies

The results below show a difference in the impor tant of certain areas of the software
needs with purchasing taking a more prominent position and stock takes not being
so important. There was also a company that said drawing/design was a big part of
their software. This wouldn't really be so important in tank manufacturing as
products have been designed over a number of years and each company works
generally to those specifications, tanks that are specially manufactured are as per
the customers design and drawing.


Figure 5: Usage of Software within GeneraI Manufacturing Companies

The results shown in the graph below show the factors that influence a purchase
and the order of importance as per the votes from companies who returned my
questionnaire
Similar to tank manufacturing, Aftersales Technical Sup port was the least important
factor for most however a couple of people said price was the least important which
was a strange turnaround. Price was the most important factor for the majority
though with some companies also having all others as most important factors. There
is a trend that most companies hav e the same views on importance but slight
differences when compared to tank manufacturing.


Most Important Factors - GeneraI Manufacturers
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
No1 No2 No3 No4 No5
No of PeopIe
M
o
s
t

I
m
p
o
r
t
a
n
t

F
a
c
t
o
r
s
Aftersales Technical
Support
Price
Training staff to use
product
Simplicity of product
Suitability for all
departments

Figure 6: Most Important Factors InfIuencing a Purchase - GeneraI
Manufacturers


6.4. To evaIuate the advantages and disadvantages of each software system by
interviewing/discussing with the peopIe who aIready use the systems.

After receiving back my questionnaire / survey replies, sorted out the companies
that wouldn't mind being interviewed and picked a t random companies from general
and tank manufacturing.
S Out of the four people spoke to, only one person felt that there software fully
covered all the needs of the business departments. This was Pegasus Opera
and Operations working in conjunction together, this person also informed me
the company had paid over what they had wanted to but hadn't regretted it.
S Two of the companies spoke to had Sage as their main software, and the main
reason was that many people are trained in Sage software so if one member of
staff leaves, chances are they will have minimal amounts of training to give the
new employee.
S 3 out of the 4 people interviewed stated that accounts was more important than
stock control, one person stated that they used excel spreadsheets alone for all
aspects of their stock.
S asked other people if they had considered any other software before making
their decision, all of the other 3 people looked at Pegasus but informed me it was
just too expensive as they had to buy 2 packages. SAP als o was considered but
wasn't much different from others, was more expensive and a large amount of
staff training would have been needed.
S Purchasing wasn't a prominent need for most as hand written orders were sent
the majority of the time on purchase order printed paper.












Advantages / Disadvantages

SOFTWARE ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES
SAGE S Minimal training needed
as many people have
used Sage beforehand in
other jobs.
S Less Expensive
S Specific Software for
manufacturing

S Wasn't flexible when errors
were made in correcting them
S Often other products were
needed alongside
S Sage 50 Manufacturing didn't
incorporate other areas of the
business.
SAP S Reliable
S Wouldn't need replacing
often
S Good for Multinational
Companies
S ntensive staff training needed
S Complex
S Takes lots of time to
implement
QUCKBOOKS S Basic and simple to use
S Minimal training needed
S Too basic only covering
financial
S Not suitable for most
manufacturing
PEGASUS S When Opera and
Operations ii are used
together, covers all
business needs
S Easily Accessible from a
number of retailers
S Designed to work with
Microsoft
S Expensive and out of most
people's budget
S Have to buy two packages
S Would have to train staff
S No good if running MAC PC's
Figure 7: Advantages & Disadvantages Software Systems


Key Quotations from Interviews

Question 2

"We couldn't find any software that covered all our needs, so we had Sage
Line 50 Financial installed and had a bespoke system made for stock control"

"We upgraded to Sage from ACT as most staff had already used it , it really
was a matter of installing it, moving data over and away, this proved very cost
effective"

"Pegasus was just too expensive to justify in our company, it would be great
in a larger organisation"

Question 7

"we like that we can type a letter t o a customer or do some costings in excel
and save them actually on the system without having various folders located
all over the server"





Question 8

"We don't like to change our software often as that means changing our
quality procedures"

"We would love a system that incorporates CAD drawings"



6.5. I wiII anaIyse aII data received back from my research and compare this to my
own company.

From the above results, it seems there is definitely a software system on the market
that covers all aspect s, this using Pegasus Opera and Operations together. This
would have been perfect for Precolor's needs although like another company said,
'm not sure my company would be willing to pay the price of Pegasus.

My own company like Brimar Plastics runs Sage and has a bespoke system; find
this interesting being in the same industry and some of the things Claire Lockley was
saying related with my company. Mainly about her saying that the software was
dated but it was fine for there needs which is gener ally the same as us. However
Sarena had Pegasus Opera and Operations , which also tied in with my
company's needs. t shows that my company and other tank manufacturing
companies operate in a similar way, having similar software requirements and views
on importance.

found most of the companies questioned and interviewed were comparable as they
seemed to be of similar size to my company. could relate to and understand when
companies were saying that software isn't the most important factor in ther e business
and it doesn't have a particularly big budget.

7.0. Discussion

As stated in my project proposal, there were various reasons why chose this subject to
research for my project. Mainly because would like to be able to contribute more in the T
decision making in my company, this project has allowed me to have a broad insight into the
industry so when/if my company decides to have a new system put in place will certainly be
able to point them in the right direction. also wanted to see if there were any similarities
between the software we use and other companies requirements.

Having gained some information from software suppliers and discussing with manufacturing
companies who use the software, was able to find out the things that influence a purchase
and what people want in a software system.

Although was unable to gain any statistics which proved the 'Best Selling' software
products, believe this information would be hard to gather couldn't find any companies
that sold a range of b rands, SAP, Pegasus, Sage - each were separate partners of one. For
example our software Supplier Smith Cooper T is a Sage Partner and they do not sell or
support any other types of software, this was generally the norm throughout the industry.

As targeted similar sized companies to my own, price was a major factor for most, being
relatively small, there wasn't the budget available for the more advanced systems.
did gain feedback from a few of the larger companies who used SAP, this generally see ms
to be a system for the larger company with more of a production line as such rather than
similar to my company where products are all different and hand made.

My findings have to say agree with but was surprised to not find a product suitable fo r all
business needs in manufacturing, however after doing research feel a product that did this
would be impractical because many features within certain companies would not be needed
and would go to waste. Also because of the how many features would be needed, am sure
this would push the price of the product right up and many explained Pegasus was
expensive and that only covered 'tank manufacturing' as such and probably wouldn't be
suitable for a fast moving production line.

8.0. Summary

From my research can say that there is software out there for all business needs. haven't
found however one complete system that does everything. The closest found was Pegasus
that had two programs designed to run simultaneously together, although from interviewing
various companies, people found that this, compared to other alternatives, was an expensive
option.

Software was easily comparable to my own company however wouldn't say one persons
software is better as such than another because if it satisfies the n eeds of that business then
that is perfectly suited, another company may use the same software and not be happy with
it for various reasons from staff training to changing there quality procedures.

Out of the companies questioned the majority us ed Sage as there main software and from
general feedback, this was an easy off the shelf purchase that many people are familiar with
so less staff training would be needed. Payroll was often on a separate system and not
needed to be on the main system. Accounts and Sales were the main departments that the
software was necessary for.

The major factors that influence a purchase were equally price and suitability for all
departments. nterestingly after sales care was the least important factor, in our company
with having a bespoke system, this is one of the most important factors because if a
discrepancy occurs, nobody except the developers would know how to correct it.



9.0. ConcIusion

think from the research have undertaken , that to answer my question don't believe there
is a package on the market that it suitable for every single manufacturing company, think a
lot of it depends on what type of manufacturing the company is involved in, whether this be a
production line for packaging or like my company, hand made tanks.

The software other general manufacturing companies use in comparison to my own
company differs for various reasons with a variety of factors from qual ity control procedures
to price.

There are a variety of suitable products on the market ava ilable dependant on a businesses
needs but certainly wouldn't say to use one directly for manufacturing as a whole.

think a system using Pegasus Opera and Operations would be ideal for my company,
another tank manufacturing company although lar ger also had this system in place. will
certainly be recommending this product to my manager when the time comes to change our
system. However the expense of the product may not be justifiable when the system we
have in place is perfectly suited to our n eeds even if a bespoke system, again another tank
manufacturing company had this system similar to ours, this shows there are definite
similarities in the way Precolor and other tank manufacturing companies operations work.




10.0. APPENDICES

Appendix Content Page
A Sample emailed questionnaire sent out to general
manufacturing companies in the UK

A1

Sample Email 24
A2

Sample Questionnaire 25+ 1 Attached
Page

B Sample emailed survey sent to tank manufacturing
companies

B1

Sample Email 26
B2

Sample Survey 27

C

Editorial in the ATCM Monthly Newsletter 28 + 2 Attached
Pages

D

nterviews with Manufacturing Companies
D1

Sample nterview Questions 29
D2 nterview Between Suzanne at Sarena MFG and Rachel
Brereton
30
D3 nterview Bet ween Claire Lockley at Brimar Plastics Ltd
and Rachel Brereton
31
D4 nterview Between John at Acorn Steel Fabrications Ltd
and Rachel Brereton
32
D5 nterview Between Andrew at Torton Bodies Limited and
Rachel Brereton
33

E Details of pointers for businesses when choosing
software for their company
34-35

F Summary of results from emailed Questionnaire &
Survey

F1 Summary of results from Questionnaire 36-37
F2 Summary of results from Survey 38-39











11.0. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Starinsky, Robert W. (2002) Maximizing Business Performance Through Software
Packages: Best Practices For Justification, Selection, And mplementation. CRC
Press

Amazon (2009) ' Bestsellers in Software' Available from
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/bestsellers/software/ref=pd_ts_pg_1?ie=UTF8&pg=1
[Accessed 6 June 2009, 7pm]

Money nstructor, Choosing Small Business Software, Available from
http://www.moneyinstructor.com/art/bussoftware.asp [Accessed 6 May 2009]

TechTarget, the T Media RO Experts, Top Manufacturing/ERP Software Solutions
Available from http://www.2020software.com/compare-
software/category/32/Manufacturing -Software/ [Accessed 6 May 2009]

Wikipedia (June 2009). Enterprise resource planning. Available from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enterprise_resource_planning [Accessed 5 June 2009]

Morris, Eric. Ezine Articles. Small Business Manufacturing Software Available from
http://ezinearticles.com/?Small -Business-Manufacturing-Software&id=269229
[Accessed 6 May 2009]