Management Information Systems

UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI

SCHOOL OF BUSINESS

DEPARTMENT OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

MASTERS IN BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

KISUMU CAMPUS

INFORMATION SYSTEMS

(DIS 511)

A

CASE STUDY

ON

Celanese Chemicals and Others: Wireless Business Applications

BY

DIANA OLGA KOUKO

D61/63679/2010

LECTURER: MR. AWOUR

1. (a) What is the business value of wireless technology in the chemicals and automotive manufacturing industries?

Increase in Productivity

The use of wireless technology has been able to increase productivity both in the chemicals and automotive manufacturing industries. The chemicals industry has adopted the technology of handheld devices and wireless LANs as a productivity tool for their sales people in the field. They have also been able to run continuous production units within a very short time.

By using the wireless handheld-size computers mounted on forklifts, the automotive manufacturing industry have managed to double the number of deliveries they were making before the wireless systems went live. By doubling their deliveries, they are increasing their productivity.

Save Time

Wireless technologies enable industries to save time. For example, in the chemicals industry, instead of maintenance workers going to the industry plants and back to the control rooms by foot or bicycles to inspect problems, they can use wireless technology to report problems and arrange for repair equipments to be taken to the site. This helps them save the time they could have used to go to the plants for inspection. The industry is also able to run continuous production units within a very short period of time.

Forklift operators in the automotive manufacturing industries can also receive work instructions and updates without leaving their vehicles hence saving time they could have used to go and get these instructions.

Cost Management

As these industries try to increase productivity using the wireless networks, they are also able reduce production,...