Reengineering helps improve materials procurement in Indian oil refinery

The materials management function is always a major concern to the management of any organisation as high inventory and inefficient procurement processes have a significant effect on profitability. The problems multiply in the face of a very dynamic business environment, as is the present case in India. Hence, the existing system of materials planning, procurement processes and inventory management require reviewing with respect to the changed business environment. This study shows a radical improvement in materials procurement function of an Indian petroleum refinery through Business Process Reengineering (BPR) by analysing current process, identifying key issues, deriving paradigm shifts and developing reengineered processes through customer value analysis. BPR has been carried out on existing processes of 'material planning and procurement' and 'warehousing and surplus disposal'. The reengineered processes for the materials management function triggered several improvement projects that were identified by the group of executives who took part in the reengineering exercise. Those projects were implemented in an integrated framework, with the application of state of the art information technology tools and building partnership alliance among all stakeholders. Considerable improvements in overall functions of the organisation are observed, along with financial benefits. Copyright © 2006 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.

Re-engineering materials management: a case study on an Indian refinery

Materials management function is always a major concern to the management of any industrial organisation as high inventory and an inefficient procurement process affect the profitability to a great extent. Problems multiply due to a very current business environment in India. Hence, existing materials planning and procurement processes and inventory management systems require a re-look with respect to a changing business environment. This study shows a radical improvement in materials management function of an Indian petroleum refinery through business process re-engineering (BPR) by analysing current processes, identifying key issues, deriving paradigm shifts and developing re-engineered processes through customer value analysis. BPR has been carried out on existing processes of “materials planning and procurement” and “warehousing and surplus disposal”. The re-engineered processes for materials management function trigger a few improvement projects that were identified by the group of executives who took part in the re-engineering exercise. Those projects were implemented in an integrated framework with the application of the state of art information technology tools.

Simulation modelling for business

Simulation modelling has been used for many years in the manufacturing sector but has now become a mainstream tool in business situations. This is partly because of the popularity of business process re-engineering (BPR) and other process based improvement methods that use simulation to help analyse changes in process design. This textbook includes case studies in both manufacturing and service situations to demonstrate the usefulness of the approach. A further reason for the increasing popularity of the technique is the development of business orientated and user-friendly Windows-based software. This text provides a guide to the use of ARENA, SIMUL8 and WITNESS simulation software systems that are widely used in industry and available to students. Overall this text provides a practical guide to building and implementing the results from a simulation model. All the steps in a typical simulation study are covered including data collection, input data modelling and experimentation.

Systemic analysis of concurrent engineering practice

This paper discusses three major areas of knowledge; business process reengineering (BPR), soft systems methodology (SSM) and concurrent engineering (CE) to demonstrate that their philosophies are complementary. An example is given depicting how a manufacturing resource planning system is set up and how improvements can be achieved by applying CE best practice.

The evolving role of information specialists:change agents in process redesign

The research investigates the past, present and potential future role of Information Specialists (ISps) in process oriented companies. It tests the proposition that ISps in companies that have undertaken formal process reengineering exercises are likely to become more proactive and more business oriented (as opposed to technically oriented) than they had previously been when their organisations were organised along traditional, functional lines. A review of existing literature in the area of Business Process Reengineering and Information Management reveals a lack of consensus amongst researchers concerning the appropriate role for ISps during and after BPR. Opinion is divided as to whether IS professionals should reactively support BPR or whether IT/IS developments should be driving these initiatives. A questionnaire based ‘Descriptive Survey’ with 60 respondents is used as a first stage of primary data gathering. This is followed by follow-up interviews with 20 of the participating organisations to gather further information on their experiences. The final stage of data collection consists of further in-depth interview with four case study companies to provide an even richer picture of their experiences. The results of the questionnaire are analysed and displayed in the form of simple means, frequencies and bar graphs. The ‘NU-DIST’ computer based discourse analysis package was tried in relation to summarising the interview findings, but this proved cumbersome and a visual collation method is preferred. Overall, the researcher contends that the supposition outlined above is proven, and she concludes the research by suggesting the implications of these findings. In particular she offers a ‘Framework for Understanding and Action’ which is deemed to be relevant to both practitioners and future researchers.

Integrated approach to materials management:a case study

The materials management function is always a major concern to management of any industrial organization, since high inventory and an inefficient procurement process significantly affect profitability. Problems multiply due to the current dynamic business environment in many countries. Hence, existing materials planning and procurement process and inventory management systems require a review. This article shows a radical improvement in the materials management function for an Indian petroleum refinery through business process re-engineering (BPR) by analyzing the current process, identifying key issues, deriving paradigm shifts and developing re-engineered processes through customer value analysis. BPR has been carried out on the existing processes of "material planning and procurement" and "warehousing and surplus disposal.

Process re-engineering for effective implementation of projects

Time, cost and quality are the prime objectives of any project. Unfortunately, today’s project management does not always ensure the realisation of these objectives. The main reasons of project non-achievement are changes in scope and design, changes in Government policies and regulations, unforeseen inflation, under-estimation and mis-estimation. An overall organisational approach with the application of appropriate management philosophies, tools and techniques can only solve the problem. The present study establishes a methodology for achieving success in implementing projects using a business process re-engineering (BPR) framework. Internal performance characteristics are introspected through condition diagnosis that identifies and prioritises areas of concern requiring attention. Process re-engineering emerges as a most critical area for immediate attention. Project process re-engineering is carried out by eliminating non-value added activities, taking up activities concurrently by applying information systems rigorously and applying risk management techniques throughout the project life cycle. The overall methodology is demonstrated through applications to cross country petroleum pipeline project organisation in an Indian scenario.