1 surveying information systems of food industry companies in hungary’s southern great plain...

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Surveying information systems of foodindustry companies in Hungary’s Southern Great Plain Region

György Hampel

University of Szeged

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Contents

Introduction

Planning and decision making

Computer aided decision making

The Southern Great Plain Region

Conclusion

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Introduction

University of Szeged College Faculty of Food Engineering

Development of an information system with decision support capabilities and a data base related

For food industry education and contributing companies

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Introduction

Essential to know the opinion of food industry companies

Questionnaire to obtain information

information systems

corporate activities

subjects of decisions

data and data sources

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Proper decision requires planning

Planning – active forming of future, inevitable tool of competitiveness

Autonomy of market mechanisms may be misleading

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Intensifying requirements of planning (Wild, 1974):

growing dynamics of the environment

growing innovative pressure

growing complexity of problems

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Key to successful planning (Meinberg, 1966):

defining a clear objective

reliable planning data

taking facility connections into account

flexible planning

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Planning criteria (Häusler 1969, Siemens 1974):

aim at forming and enhancing future

problems are with a less known structure

problem solving require a complex decision process

sufficient and timely information

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Advantages:

thorough decision preparation, thus different fields coordinated

activity freedom, the earlier they plan, the more options

reduced response time, adopt faster

enhanced efficiency of decision making activities

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Disadvantages:

burdened by uncertainties

considerable investment

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"The main objective of the planning system

is: to make it real that the company can work

successfully in the future, achieve its

objectives on a high level and manage its

business effectively." Hanyecz (1995)

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Methods of planning:

target designation

situation analysis

elaborating plan versions

forecasting

evaluation

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Decision making is a process of selection,

with a scope of different action (or non-

action) possibilities

Decision making is deciding about an option

to act

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The gist of decision making is "to define if it

is necessary to act, and if it is, what should

be done, when, and in what order".

Hanyecz (1994)

Decision is objective and subjective

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Three stages of computer aided information systems: Electronic Data Processing (EDP) efficiency and automation of information management

Management Information System (MIS) enhancing executive information supply

Strategic Information System (SIS) improvement of competitiveness and activity development

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Groups of computer aided information systems (1):

office automation systems

production scheduling systems

enterprise asset management systems

enterprise management information systems

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Groups of computer aided information systems (2):

executive information systems

workflow systems

process simulation systems

expert systems

business intelligence systems

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Decision Support System (DSS) covers various systems and technologies:

On-Line Analytical Processing (OLAP)

knowledge based decision support systems

optimization and simulation

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DSS means multiple information systems, which are capable of supporting decision making (1)

help executives to access, summarize and analyse data necessary for decisions

based on data and models

cover the entire enterprise

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DSS means multiple information systems, which are capable of supporting decision making (2)

serving many executives via the network and connecting to an appropriate data warehouse in a client–server architecture

single user system running on a desktop computer

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Seven categories of DSS based on the operation performed (Alter, 1980):

data oriented file drawer systems

data analyzing systems

analysis information systems

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Seven categories of DSS systems based on the operation performed (Alter, 1980):

model orientedaccounting and financial models

representational models

optimization models

intelligence controlledsuggestion models

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Power’s (2000) classification:

dominant technology, guiding principledata-driven

model-driven

document-driven

knowledge-driven

communication-driven

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Power’s (2000) classification:

secondary dimensionsaccess (intra-organizational, inter-

organizational)

objectives (general, task/industry specific)

operational environment (mainframe, client-server, web based)

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Increasing pressure

Stiffening of the competition on the market

Liberalization of certain market sectors

Need to establish a new price structure

Strict conditions set by authorities, owners or investors

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South-eastern gate to the European Union

Among the less developed regions

GDP per capita hardly exceeds 70% of the national average, barely 40% of the average GDP of the EU members

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Proportion of agricultural production within the gross domestic product is the highest

Second largest research and development centre

One-fifth of territory

13.5% of population

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More than 700 food manufacturing companies

Stiff competition after EU accession

Prompt decision-making by the management is crucial

It is essential to have accurate and reliable data and information

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Companies can be more competitive,

managerial decision-making can be

improved by a decision support system

having the right database, analytic and

forecasting methods

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Distribution of food industry companies in the region

Csongrád20%

Bács-Kiskun60%

Békés20%

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Corporate forms

3,3% 1,6%

21,1%

69,5%

4,5%limited liabilitycompany

limited partnership

joint-stock company

cooperation

general partnership

21.1%

4.5%3.3% 1.6%

69.5%

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Field of activity %

Wine production 23

Bread and other bakery products 16

Other fruit and vegetable procession 8

Meat procession and conservation 8

Soft drink production 6

Production of animal fodder 5

Products of the milling industry 4

Production of sweets 4

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Field of activity %

Production of distillated alcoholic drinks 4

Poultry procession and conservation 3

Production of pastries 3

Dairy products 2

Production of meat and poultry preparations 2

Production of crude oil 2

Other 10

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Survey data obtained by questionnaire

size of the company

the computer aided information system of the company

data necessary for decision making

source of data

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250 companies via postal mail

limited number of answers returned

Visit executives personally

more effective

more wearisome, slow

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Equal numbers of small, medium and large enterprises

57% several local competitors

76% exclusively owned by Hungarians

Milling industry

14%

Bakery industry

14%

Other14%

Agricultural products

19%

Meat industry

25%

W inemaking14%

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Information systems in the enterprises %

integrated enterprise management system 52

single system for the entire company 29

one or more subsystem of various integrated systems 10

multiple systems without any links between them 10

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Use of computers for enterprise tasks %

office tasks 48

accounting 57

invoicing 57

warehouse stock control 48

supplier and client data management 57

resolving logistical tasks 14

resource planning 0

other tasks 5


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Standard and custom built systems %

standard system tuned to enterprise needs 47

custom built system 21

self-developed system 6

mixture of standard and own built system 26

Current situation and forecasting %

Support current situation on basis of data available 90

Forecast enabled 24


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The good thing:

all companies use computer system

The bad thing:

90% of the addressed executives disregarded the questionnaire

most of them failed to visit the website containing information and literature related to the research

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Conclusion

Need for computer aided decision support is more moderate than expected

Possible reasons:

executives do not consider computer systems as appropriate tools to tackle problems arising in a quickly changing environment

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Conclusion

Need for computer aided decision support is more moderate than expected

Possible reasons:

the lack of information technology awareness can be a problem

lack of confidence in the food industry higher education institution of the region

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Conclusion

In the future we should make efforts to

familiarize more and more company managers

with the advantages of the information systems

and decision support systems in order to make

them capable to use these systems efficiently.

1 surveying information systems of food industry companies in hungary’s southern great plain...

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