Example - Request for Proposal for Multi-plant ERP software
This writing example is an announcement from a company with two manufacturing plant operating under two diverse management programs. The purpose of this is to solicit request for proposals from manufacturing software companies to replace the programs in both plants with one program which operates in both plants. This writing shows I have the analytical skill to understand and explain complex business systems and processes.
Petroflex NA Ltd. and Advanced Pedestal Inc. are small plastic products plants located in Gainesville Texas. PNA has operated here for thirty years and API has been in production for seventeen years. Petroflex (PNA) is an extruder plant that makes a wide variety of extruded pipe products. Advanced Pedestal Inc. (API) is a mold plant using injection and rotary molds to produce a wide variety of molded products. API’s mainstay product is a variety of electrical pedestals, thus their name.
Both plants usually do not service walk-in customers and instead are primarily performing discrete manufacturing to customer order. Each of the plants has less than one-hundred manufacturing employees operating two or three shifts depending upon workload. When weekends are required to meet production needs then the shifts are changed from eight to twelve hours and staggered shifts provide coverage through the weekends. Front and Back office business staff counts are fifteen to twenty for PNA and five to ten for API.
Both plants ship primarily to customers and working sites in the Southeast US. Some products ship to all states and some products are picked up by the customer. A few orders are shipped by parcel carriers, but the bulk of shipping is done by cargo freight carriers.
Customer satisfaction is of great importance to PNA and API. I direct you here to their website, where you can read their “No-Bull” pledge and Mission Statement.
The No-Bull Pledge and the Mission Statement show that customer relations is regarded just as important as product’s outstanding quality and their good service. The software sought by this RFP should assist in this endeavor where possible.
Both plants have Order Processing (ERP) applications that have been in use for many years. PNA has integrated order processing in Visual Foxpro code and databases. API uses a lightly integrated application in Paradox databases and form management in Object Vision.
This RFP is to provide software for both plants. Both operations are much the same but there are differences. Please review the detailed specifications below. The similarities and differences between these plants will be described.