個案資料

In April 2012, the founder and owner of Lesley Stowe Fine Foods was in the final stages of selecting an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system from a shortlist of proposed solutions. Founded in 1990 as a provider of premium catering services, cooking classes and specialty grocery products, the company had experienced such rapid growth after introducing a line of specialty crackers, called Raincoast Crisps, in the early 2000s that it decided to discontinue its food service operations in order to focus on production of the crisps. Their popularity across Canada meant that production volume necessitated a move from a small facility in midtown Vancouver to a large-scale manufacturing space located outside of the city. The new plant dramatically increased the company’s production capacity, but its legacy systems had not kept pace, especially its information system. The company was now positioned to enter the U.S. market with anticipated exponential growth. These conditions made the selection and implementation of the new ERP system critical to its continued success.

This case is well suited for a project management course as well as a course aimed at examining the process for identifying and selecting software vendors. Its objectives are to help students understand:<ul><li>Selecting a suitable vendor of information technology for a small to medium-sized company.</li><li>Writing a request for proposal.</li><li>Managing Information systems in a high growth environment.</li></ul>

• ERP
• systems implementation
• vendor selection
• project management
• Canada