Vermont Teddy Bear (VTB) was founded in 1981. Over the years the company went through various changes and currently offers three products to their customers: Teddy Bears, PajamsGrams, and Calyx Flowers. The company experiences an increase in sales for peaks seasons such as, Christmas, Valentine’s Day, and Mother’s Day. It is noted that the company has a lot of complicated middleware and incompatible applications. The main goal of any business, especially a company like VTB, is not only to make profit but also to retain customers. During peak season, there are many instances where the current IT programs could not handle the influx of incoming orders. Even though the IT personnel fixed the issues, the company needs to develop a system where …show more content…
They need to get an ERP system the coincides with VTB overall corporate strategy. Having an integrated ERP system supports the entire process of the company (Magal & Word, 2009). If an ERP system is introduced it can significantly reduce troubleshooting time when an issue occurs and would reduce costs to the company. With the ERP system, the company can focus on both the short term and long-term goals of the organization. The current IT infrastructure comprises of various applications from vendors and inhouse together with middleware. Most of the employees within the IT department were versed in their fields but spent a vast amount of time troubleshooting. The various departments within the company, such as, accounting, purchasing, sales, and marketing can co-ordinate work across functions. According to our text, work across functions reduces delays, avoids excess inventory, increase visibility and explicitly increase communication among functions (Magal & Word, …show more content…
Each department would effectively communicate with each other. Customers’ orders would be fulfilled on a timely basis and there would be little or no room for errors. The new ERP would be able to handle the influx of data coming in from customers during peak seasons. With the SCM system implemented, the company would be to source materials from their suppliers on short notice to complete the orders placed. One of the main objective for VTB implementing the ERP system is to increase the effectiveness of the business and ultimately profits (Saunders, Galletta, & Pearlson,