Riordan Manufacturing Recommendations Essay Example for Free

Riordan Manufacturing Recommendations Essay Riordan Manufacturer is a global producer of plastics. They operate in four locations, three in the United States and one plant in the People’s Republic of China. Riordan’s United States’ plastic products include beverage containers produced in Atlanta, Georgia, and custom plastic parts in Pontiac, Michigan. The Hangzhou, China plant produces plastic fan parts and corporate headquarters is in San Jose, California, (Apollo Group, 2006). Riordan Manufacturing is looking to update their human resources department with the newest and latest software recommendations. The following is a summary of the history, current set up of the department and a recommendation of the upgrade. Human Resources Information Systems Riordan’s HRIS system was set up in 1992, part of the financial systems that keep track of employee information, rate of pay, exemptions, date of hire, seniority based on date of hire, which is difficult and different from the hire date, manager’s name, department information, and non-exempt vacation time. Managers submit a form for changes to the employee information and then entered by the payroll clerk into the system. Microsoft Excel is used to keep records on training and development. Recruiters maintain information for each open position within Riordan. All resumes filed in a central location and Excel is used to track application status. A third-party manages the Worker’s compensation and keeps records at that location, not Riordan. Each manager keeps employee information for that department, which there is no central location for keeping these files. Managers are responsible for tracking all FMLA absences and any ADA recommendations. Excel spreadsheets are used for the compensation manager for job analysis, surveys on salary, and compensation decisions on individuals. Specialists in the employee relation department keep track of complaints, harassment complaints, grievances, all other employee relation information, and are then filed and locked in the employee relation department. Recommendations for Human Resources Information Systems Riordan has a diverse set of needs over four locations, one of which is an international factory located in China. This will require the software to be flexible to handle different culture and regulatory environments. Also the system will capture information form a diverse set of archival media. This is not limited to digital information but vast amounts of paper files will need to be integrated into the system. Systems complex will have specialized technical skills to deploy, customize, and maintain its operations as well as experts to provide training for personal. Ultimately careful consideration must be given to the existing processes and the results of the project. Because services are provided company-wide careful consideration about the capabilities of the program to adapt to different culture mores and holidays is a must. Also the services provided to employees need to be available in the local languages of the countries they reside. To accomplish this provider of the software must be fluent in both countries of operation. They should also have an established presence in both countries to provide service in and by local professionals. Riordan has a long history of data for its operations many of the records are stored in paper files and legacy office products rapidly nearing their production life. As such to pull historical data for strategic planning the system will need to collect data form a wide range of active and archival sources. Providers, who have a long history, will often have experience with these both with their own products and that of their competitors. As a manufacturing company of plastic parts and bottles there is a fair chance that the company will not have the skills required for such an undertaking. So the provider must be established in the market to have spawned a large pool of expert professionals using this solution. This will help in negotiating service and training contracts. The current project proposal The current HRIS project is projected to 180 days from start to the implementation of the project. The initial project will begin with a meeting with Hugh McCauley, . Questions specified to gathering information from human resources, about the current system, what he expects from the new developed system, and expectations will be of the meeting. A follow-up e-mail will also ask the same questions to aid in the answers and also give a general idea of the project guidelines, requirements, and expectations. The next step is meeting with Yvonne McMillan, Director of Human Resources. She will also have some of the same questions for the project as Mr. McCauley did during his meeting. Yvonne will be part of the initial team composed of other managers within the company and from other locations. A follow-up e-mail will also have the questions for general idea purposes. Therefore, we recommend a team comprised of management from Yvonne McMillan, Maria Trihn, Dale Edgel, Donald Bryson, Mari Carillo, Patricia Miller, Dirk Kort, Stacey Jones, and the Chinese National. Each member is from a different location within the company, from human resources, training and development, the IT department from each location including the Chinese location, finance department, and accounting and finance/controller department. Most of the initial meetings will be over an Internet setting to keep the initial cost down for the project and within the constraints inside the budget. This team will recover information from the current human resources department at Riordan to help developers to a system. This system will can be used in each location. During this stage weekly meetings will be held to discuss progress, ideas, problems, and budget matters. After information is gathered and the next step can move forward, the team will meet with developers with their presentation. Once the developers have gathered the initial information, developed a preliminary design, and prepared a presentation, they will meet with McCauley to present the general idea for the system. The development team will work on this project for the next 110 days. Once a month meetings will be scheduled between developers and the team members to discuss progress, problems, budget constraints, and hours to date. During this time, developers will check in with Yvonne with issues, concerns, and suggestions not discussed in the monthly meetings. Developers set up a trial run on Riordan’s current system. The developers will have 14 days to set up and check for compatibility issues. At which time, suggestions can be made for updates or upgrades to the current system. Once this phase of the project is successfully completed, the implementation phase will begin. Managers in the IT department will then begin the implementation phase of the project for their location. This phase should take 14 days to complete. Each location will have four days to complete and implement changes, upgrades, and updates to the system before training and in-service meetings will begin. Members of the training and development department will schedule and hold training and in-service for all departments in each location. This final stage will take eight days to complete. Each IT department for each location will be ready and available for any glitches or problems, which may arise.