Scm And Crm Systems As Part Of One Overall Enterprise...

SCM and CRM systems as part of one overall Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system will take BLDR to a technology sophistication level that would more effectively service their national footprint. However today, rather than one ERP system, BLDR utilizes multiple operational systems due to multiple historical mergers and acquisitions. Because of BLDR’s multiple systems, information concerning purchasing, sales, inventory levels, and the like must be brought together for companywide reporting and analysis. A data warehouse is used for this purpose. Haas and Cumming (2013) explain that â€Å"a data warehouse is a logical collection of information gathered from many different operational databases used to create business intelligence that†¦show more content†¦If something looks amiss, decisions are made and actions are taken to avert negative trends. With its national footprint, and multiple operational systems, BLDR’s data warehouse and data-mining tools a re essential for leadership decision-making capability. While BLDR’s current data-mining tools support sound business decisions, if BLDR added artificial intelligence (AI) systems, such as agent-based technologies to its tool belt, it could perform deeper analysis to detect patterns indicating shifts in market conditions, which will allow quicker capitalization on opportunities, ultimately providing a competitive advantage. An agent-based technology, or a software agent, is an autonomous piece of software that can communicate with users, other software agents, or other software processes, and can perceive and respond to changes in its environment (Acronymics, Inc., 2011). For instance, autonomous agents, one of the five main agent-based technology types, can sense, decision make, and anticipate future states; therefore, as part of BLDR’s supply chain management program, McMahon (2105) asserts if assigned the specific task of maintaining an organized material flow, autonomous agents could perform material replenishment, inv entory movement, and fleet and personnel scheduling (para.3). Table 1 illustrates the five main