IMPACT OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ON THE SUPPLY FUNCTION OF AN ORGANIZATION (A CASE STUDY OF NIGERIA BREWERIES (NB) PLC)

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1    Background of the Study

This research work focuses on the impact of information technology on the supply function of an organization, a case study of the Nigeria Breweries (NB) Plc. This research work is carried out in order to know the benefit or role information technology has impacted in the modern day business operation and in the entire human life as a whole.

Information technology is the application of computers and telecommunication equipment to store, retrieve, transmit and manipulate data. Information technology, as defined by the Information Technology Association of America (ITAA) is “the study, design, development, implementation, support or management of computer-based information systems, particularly software application and computer hardware. Information technology deals with the use of electronic computer and computer software to convert, store, protect, process, transmit and securely retrieve information. Information technology has introduced modern ways of working in many organization which Nigeria Breweries Plc is not an exemption, because the primary reason for the increase in popularity and utilization of information technology especially in large manufacturing industry like Nigeria Breweries (NB) is efficiency, speed, low procurement cost and accuracy in handling of multiple task simultaneously than using the manual system of keeping record because it is very difficult to consider running a business today without information technology.

1.2    Historical Background of Nigeria Breweries Plc

Nigeria Breweries Plc, the pioneer and largest brewery company in Nigeria, was incorporated in 1946. In June 1949, the company recorded a landmark when the first bottle of Star lager beer rolled off its Lagos brewery bottling lines. This first brewery in Lagos has undergone several optimization process and as today boasts of the most modern brew house in the country.

In 1957, the company commissions its second brewery in Aba. Kaduna brewery was commissioned in 1963 while Ibadan brewery came on stream in 1982. In 1993, the company acquired its fifth brewery in Enugu. In October 2003, a sixth brewery, sited at Ameke, in Enugu State was commissioned and christened Ama Brewery. Ama brewery is today, the biggest and most modern brewery in Nigeria, operations in the old Enugu brewery were however discontinued in 2004, while the company acquired a malting plant in Aba in 2008.

In October 2011, Nigeria Breweries acquired majority equity interest in Sona System Associates Business Management Limited (Sona System) and life breweries limited from Heineken N.V. This followed Heineken’s acquisition of controlling interests in five breweries in Nigeria from Sona group in January 2011.

Sona systems two breweries in Ota and Kaduna and life breweries in Onitsha have now become part of Nigeria Breweries Plc, together with the three brands: Goldberg lager, Malta gold and Life continental larger.

Thus, from the humble beginning in 1946, the Nigeria Breweries now has eight operational breweries from which its high quality products are distributed to all parts of Nigeria in addition to the ultra modern malting plant in Aba and Kaduna.

Products

Alcoholic Drinks

• Star lager, launched in 1949
• Gulder larger, launched in 1970
• Legend extra stout, launched in June 1998.

Non-Alcoholic Drinks

• Maltina, launched in 1976 the grouped into Strawberry and Maltina pineapple.
• Amstel Malta, launched in 1994
• Maltina sip-it launched in 2005.
• Fayrouz in pear and pineapple.

The company has a total of 2,240 employees with Kola B. Jamodu as the Chairman and M.J. Herkeniyi as the C.E.O. Its total net profit is N30,332,118,000 while its total revenue is N186,122,212,000.

Organizational Chart of Nigeria Breweries Plc                

The company being large and widespread is divided into department to create an avenue for diversification, division of labour, professionalism and efficiency. The company is subdivided basically into eight (8) departments whose areas of specialization are very unique to each department, these are:

• The brewing department;
• The packaging department’
• The engineering department;
• The human resources department;
• The finance department;
• The brewery control department;
• The logistics department;
• The information and communication.

• The Brewing Department: Is directly involved in the brewing of the beverage roper. Here, the grains and all other condiments are taken in and processed in their respective manners to produce the various brews. The grains are ground, the wort extracted, additives put in and finished product is sent to the packaging department through overhead insulated pipes.
• The Packaging Department: Takes delivery of the brews and goes ahead to put them in bottles, cork them and pasteurize them. The filled, corked, inspected and pasteurized bottle are then palletized. This stage, they are moved with the aid of tractor pulled trolley to the finished products store.
• The Engineering Department: Ensures that every mechanical aspect of the brewing process runs smoothly, all boilers, pasteurizers, palletizer, pumps, valves, millers etc are all working perfectly. They also ensure that the availability of power to runt the business. The company runs solely on generators, routine maintenances and repairs are also taken care by the engineering team. Other areas of work here are the deep wells and the water plants (production and purification).
• The Human Resource Department: Takes of all staff issues, from recruitment, training, selection and welfare packages. They do the planning of leave roasters, calculate clocked work hours (including overtime) and deduce wages. Another important aspect of their work is taking care of the pensioner’s allowances.
• The Finance Department: Is in charge of all issue relating to funds, assets and account belonging to the company. They also verify and make payouts to winners of various promotions the company does. Vouchers for fuel and cheques, for contracts being carried out or finished, are issued in the department. The finances department is in control of all the finances and provision of necessary funds as required for the implementation of projects. They accept the cheques and ensure that all the staff get their salaries at the end of the month.
• The Brewery Control Department: Is established to work alongside the finance department. Its duties are to serve as in-house auditors, reconcile accounts, justify spending and keep an eye on the packaging department.
• The Logistics Department and Engineering Department: It is a department committed to clarify (of the company’s accounts – inflow and outflow). They are expected to present all these accounts to the brewery manager at the right time.
• The Information and Communication Department: This provide necessary information to both staff in various department and also to the consumers of their product in general. They also provide information to their various consumers on new products, prices and also crate an efficient, flexible online/offline platform for doing business with customers supplier and partners.

1.3    Aims/Objectives of the Study

The aim and objective of this research work is to examine the impact of information technology on the supply function of an organization.

1. To identify the impact of information technology on the supply function of organization.
2. To identify the basic concept involving in the design and operation of information system in relation to supply function.
3. To identify the innovative approaches that has been recently developed in relation to supply function of an organization.
4. To determine whether the process is reliable enough in ensuring efficiency and effectiveness in increasing organizational performances.