Implementing Intranet Support for BPR in a Small Manufacturing Company

This paper describes the practical manner in which an intranet was applied to a small manufacturing company to support its BPR programme. The company is involved in the design and manufacture of speciality knitting machines. Its market share and turnover have been improving rapidly over recent years and as a consequence the increase in workload has resulted in an increasing focus on short-term operational problems. It was recognised that if the business were to retain a competitive edge in its markets, organisational and strategic issues would have to be considered further. The company therefore embarked on a long-term development programme to define key business and manufacturing strategies, their associated business processes and the supporting organisational and information technology systems. A BPA (Business Process Analysis) exercise and strategic re-alignment has been under¬taken and a change methodology defined. A BPR (Business Process Re-engineering) implementation is currently in progress, driven by the above methodology and underpinned by the implementation of a pilot company intranet.