You are to prepare a submission to satisfy your client’s requirements as outlined below. You are required to investigate the issues at Pressure Hydraulics and provide a feasibility study into the...

Executive summary
Accounting information systems (AIS) refer to a set of software for the collection of
accounting data. They are used not only for data collection, organization and storage but also
for processing the data to generate meaningful output which can be used for giving actionable
insights to the management. The AIS automates the processes of recording transactions
which were prepared traditionally on a manual basis by various companies. The information
that serves as an input here will be generated by the organizational processes and operations.
The output in the form of reports, financial statements and other information can be used for
oth internal as well as external references. Our discussion revolves around a company names
Pressure Hydraulics, which is having trouble with their accounting and payroll processes.
We propose that this problem can be solved only using an automated transaction processing
system, which will help the company in all the financial functions such as storage, collection,
etrieval and modification of all transaction related information within the organization. On
conducting studies to understand the feasibility of the accounting information system, it can
e strongly suggested that computerized systems will enable the company in being more
efficient in their work and will reduce their dependence on manual processes thereby reduce
inaccuracy. This will support the company’s expansion plans and will help it as it transforms
into a global player.
Introduction
Pressure Hydraulics business involves mainly manufacturing of products used by all types of
automobiles ranging from heavy vehicles such as earth moving equipment to relatively less
heavy vehicles such as trucks, and light vehicles like cars . In general, the Hydraulic systems
are an amalgamation of different types of components which are put together to function as
one single unit. The company is cu
ently located in three areas Newcastle, Maitland and
Toronto where it offers its services to the local customers. The service centres are the ones
accountable for providing maintenance and specialised services for hydraulics which are
further used in cars; earth moving equipment’s and trucks.
The company is offering its services through the Maitland to the companies operating in the
mining industry. The company has been successfully amassing massive profits in the recent
times. Allan Taylor heads the operations of Pressure Hydraulics operations, has big plans for
expansion of business of the company. Allan wants to open service centres at Coffs Ha
our
and Gosford. As per the plans, Allan is deciding to open other service centres in addition to
the existing ones specially one at the east coast of NSW. These plans were very ambitious
and would need many complicated operations to be taken to the next level. It can only be
accomplished with a more advanced operational system especially with respect to the cu
ent
accounting systems. Allan believes it is the appropriate moment for him to initiate, refashion
and revise his conventional style with the aid of information technology (IT). He has a string
elief that with the implementation of IT systems, the company’s existing business as well as
future capabilities will be affected positively. He can see that the cu
ent system is full if
shortcomings and limitations which will prove to be a hindrances in the growth of the
company. Therefore, they need to be addressed, before further expansion plans can be taken
off.
Since Allan has the responsibility for the overall management and has also taken up the plans
for expansion of the company, he has personally been monitoring the service centres. This is
probably why he has a tight schedule and falls short of contributing enough time for building
the plan to put information technology into action and new service centres that are to be
unveiled in Gosfor and Coffs ha
our in near future.
The company offers many services to its customers. Allan is the head of the company and is
good at expanding and sustaining business and client relationships. The technicians from
his company go to transport companies when it’s needed and tune the hydraulics on cars,
trucks and any other transport conducted by them. The transportation companies have a
special van equipped with essential gears necessary for a basic workshop. The van has a
complete a
ay of components required by the client plumped for servicing. There is disparity
in the time taken for completion of jobs and is considered e
atic in most cases.
Workshops have a dedicated foreman, who is accountable for keeping track of the work as
there is lack of information technology to automate the record keeping and maintenance. The
timelines set for the completion of work is handed over to an office assistant, who is then
authorized to generate invoices in the name of the transport company. The prints of these
invoices are utilized in marking the effectiveness of the employees.
Maitland service centre also provides services to the mining industry. It is quite observable
that same mistakes are being repeatedly committed and there is a miscommunication leading
to components and instruments wrongfully being taken to the site for servicing the machines.
This causes effort to go waste as a lot of time goes into coming back and collecting the
equired co
ect instruments. This means loss in terms of cost and travel time. The clients
who belong to the mining company will not take these delays positively since they have
limited time allotment for Pressure Hydraulics. They have very tight maintenance schedules.
The problem description
The problem can be looked at from two perspectives. The first one was the management
perspective and the other is the customer perspective. In both cases, they add to the
inefficiencies in the firm. The service centres each one of them, is managed autonomously
and has eight employees together with the office assistant and workshop foreman. These
companies are run manually and that too in a conventional approach. Work Orders were
eceived telephonically and those who were looking for quotes co
esponding to work were
then given an oral quote which was in agreement with the price book.
Therefore, we can clearly point out that the traditional way of doing business by the service
centres is the main problem faced by the company. All the work is done manually by the
office assistant. His duties include maintaining workbooks, invoices, registers etc. Loaded
with all this work, the office assistant gets extremely busy and ove
urdened by updating the
details. This kind of fatigue ought to
ing about e
ors such as miscalculation. Because of
the limitation in their capacity and the busy schedule, time gap comes in between the two
tasks in certain cases which...