Sysco Case Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Sysco Case - Assignment Example se of business information systems is to predict certain patterns or trends that might otherwise escape the attention of management because of the difficulty of assessing such a big amount of raw data. This is where business information systems can provide their utility. The new term to designate this specific type of computer software is business analytics that is taking the world of business by storm. This new very potent tool has been called as the science of winning (Davenport & Harris, 3). Analytics has been used for a variety of ways to enhance a distinctive capability usually overlooked before due to the sheer mass of data and the difficulty of making sense out of it without the help of sophisticated quantitative analysis. In general, analytics (the newer term) goes a step further than old business information systems (BI) by producing quality data-driven insights that can be used by astute management in producing impressive performance not otherwise attainable before. The amazing power of analytics can be leveraged in a number of ways limited only by the imagination of the owner. Among these possibilities are identifying the most profitable customer segments and how to serve them best, introduce new products, improve the service or offer a better price. SYSCO was founded in Houston, Texas back in 1969 and today is the largest US food distributor. Its main customers are institutional clients such as hotels, restaurant chains, health care-related institutions, educational facilities and lodging establishments. As a measure of its size, company has 420,000 customers, 8,000 marketing associates and some 9,000 delivery associates. Overall, SYSCO has 45,000 employees as of December 2002. In a way, SYSCO is just sort of like any distributor that needs to manage its supplier relationships in a meaningful and tight way that ensures prompt deliveries at less cost. Due to its expertise and efficiency, it can unload a billion cases of product per year without major

Reading the paper and answer question Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Reading the paper and answer question - Essay Example Traditional methods and materials have been replaced by modern means of nail connections and light wood frames. He further sees today’s carpenters as finishers of houses, rather than builders of houses. He begins by telling the readers about Henry Mitchell, his neighbor who has lived in the same house for 85 years. Henry Mitchell watches the writer renovate his house often. Each renovation watched by his neighbor reminds the writer of the original builder of his house one and a half centuries ago (Invention & Technology, 1999). The writer notes that before the 19th century, frame houses were built using large timbers. The constructors believed that sawing was a waste of materials and labor, so, through experienced workers, they only squared off logs to facilitate connection. This gave rise to the balloon frame. They introduced nails and lumber in mass production, giving further advantage to the balloon frame. The results were savings in man hours, less requirements in skills a nd a complete change in ways of building. The writer also notes that balloon frames are structurally and materially more efficient. Since no joint is of more significance than another, then the connection between each wood is efficient. This exemplifies modification of building practices progressively. Although the practices called for less labor, simplified connections and used light weight materials, they were limited because construction of houses never reached a fully automated level. Therefore, in as much as it was an innovation, it has remained resistant to change, to the surprise of many (Invention & Technology, 1999). The writer also believes that the American style of construction of houses was influenced by the Midwest, made up of the French, Amerindians, Europeans and Spaniards (Invention & Technology, 1999). The 19th century saw new houses rise in demand, occasioned by a change in wood technologies, and American settlers around the Mississippi at that time found new cult ures in building. The settlers built sawmills as one of their new enterprises, contributing to the millions of feet of lumber produced in the region. This denotes a change towards the new culture, because if the settlers had been close to a river, they would have used saw planks instead. The writer also believes the invention of balloon frame lies with the Chicagoans. This is because the balloon frame is among the City’s founding myths. It has also been mentioned as a contributing factor to the 1872 Chicago fire. It is believed that in 1833 when Chicago was a year old, Augustine Taylor, a carpenter from Connecticut, was requested to build many houses but his response was to invent balloon frames (Invention & Technology, 1999). In that year, wood was of variable quality and dimension. In the structure of a balloon frame, one joint may collapse due to poor quality wood, but the main structure will remain stable because of many redundant joints. Nevertheless, the openings left b y the collapsed joints would let in cold in cold weather. It was, therefore, suggested by Taylor that dimension lumber, since it reacts in different ways than wood plunks and timber, be selected by experienced carpenters. It would then be assembled into a building leaving allowance for contraction and expansion. With all the displayed experience, observers noted that Taylor must have worked with balloon frames before his arrival in