Essay: Analysis of information flow system

Introduction
Along with the technological advancement of recent years and due to the electronic environment of transmitting, storing and managing information in the present century, a century of speed and globalization, the issue of the security of the organization’s information system is becoming more and more common. In order to maintain the highest level of security, as hardware and software products evolve constantly but with certain vulnerabilities that can be exploited by some people by counter-engineering or reverse engineering, a growing amount of data and information requires adequate protection and a higher level of security in terms of access to information.
Permanent adaptation of the user training process as a whole to the particularities of the information and production systems within the company is conducive to the achievement of the operational capabilities of the forces involved in the production process and, implicitly, to an efficient production system with the right management, complete and protected information and information systems or different storage media, transport, collection and distribution facilities used in the production process.
Information flow. Method of transmitting information
Information entering the organization can be recorded, processed, and stored in a database. Employees, regardless of their workplace or job, need to have access to that information, so they need to be planned, organized, managed or otherwise called a management information system (MIS) is needed. The organization produces subassemblies for the finished bearing product. They can be divided into three distinct categories: bearing rings (bearing shirts), cages and rollers.
For a more in-depth study of an informational flow, we will look at the Production department and the QS department.
In order to have an accurate picture of the flow of information between the two chosen departments, we start from the fact that the information system in the organization was very well established by realizing the SAP system as an informational base. The SAP command includes all the elements needed to make a landmark, starting with the type, size and quantity of the raw material and ending with the technical documentation (execution drawing or stage). The structure of the SAP system allows access to any type of information by calling different system functions, even if the name of the entity (SAS command) is unknown, but elements of the command structure are known. We must keep in mind that both departments (production and QS) have access to SAP. The information flow between the two departments in terms of the frequency of information transmission is a permanent flow because information is transmitted via computer systems several times a day. From the point of view of the direction of the information flow, the information flow is horizontal.
Information circuits between departments in terms of organizational characteristics of departments are internal because the two departments are part of the same organization, but in terms of information traffic, the information circuits are oblique because there is no relationship between the two departments of subordination. Within these departments there also is another type of information flow and informational circuit established between the production department and the line control, flow that is permanent and horizontal, and between the line control and the Laboratory of measuring technique with the same characteristics. The informational circuit between the line control and the production department is internal from the organizational point of view with a horizontal trajectory and in the relation with the Laboratory of measuring technique is of the same type (internal, horizontal).
Figure 1. Equipment chart Laboratory of measurement technique
All activity represented by information flows and circuits is based on procedures and working instructions developed by the quality assurance department. The information transmitted between the Production Department and the Laboratory of measurement technique is expressed in written form being horizontal and, from the point of view of their usefulness, they are of control and regulation. Between the line control and the Laboratory, the information can be orally or written, being horizontally, and is used for evaluation and reporting. Inside the Laboratory, orders are received with information to evaluate some features of the product with the help of the equipment. The result of these assessments is sent to the Production Department and Line Control. All these evaluations are done in the Laboratory, stored in an archive consisting of an electronic database to which other departments have access, such as accounting, production tracking, etc.
The periodic provision of such predetermined reports in the form of syntheses in the database is the component of the information system, which is also called the “management alert system”, as it is intended to specifically warn managers about the existence or possibility of existence of problems or opportunities. Management of the information system can be represented graphically as in the figure below:
Manager
Figure 2. The role of information system management
Information system deficiencies
Even though the informational system between the two departments appears to be well established, this has shortcomings, primarily in distorting the information generated by the difference in professional training between operators in the Laboratory of measurement technique and other employees or line controllers.
By chance, this information may also be distorted by other factors such as illegible writing, malfunction of copy machines (not seeing paper information correctly), and loss of information on computer magnetic supports due to wear, viruses, or mechanical defects. Filtration deficiencies often occur that change the content of the information, intentionally or not. Within the information system the description of the information system sequences must be accompanied by graphic representations either in the form of horizontal representation of the information system or vertically. For the material reception activity the horizontal graphic representation is shown in the figure below:
Figure 3. Horizontal graphic representation of the material reception information system.
As a result of studies conducted within organizations on the information system, it has been found that there are some typical, relatively frequent deficiencies due to errors in its design and / or operation. These typical deficiencies are:
Distortion – consists in the partial or total unintentional modification of the content of some information during collection and transmission from the transmitter to the receiver.
Filtering – consists in partial or total intentional modification of the content of information during the collection, recording, processing and transmission from the transmitter to the receiver
Redundancy – consists of the collection, recording, processing and re-transmission of data and information
Overloading communication channels – consists of collecting, processing and transmitting unnecessary data and / or information by means of communications. Causes of occurrence are: redundancy; not applying exception management; poor design of the information system; the tendency of the performers to overestimate the achievements, to make known their actions; short-circuiting – consists of deliberately removing organizational persons or subdivisions from the circuits and information flows
Identification of criteria for optimization of information flows
Optimizing information flows as a process or as a product is subject to the same rules based on value and cost. Designing or improving an information system for the benefit of management starts from the need to find out that whatever the benefits of this operation, the related costs are justified. In this regard, many authors link the value of information to four main factors, namely: quality, speed, quantity and relevance in managerial ability in decision-making.
a. Information quality. To assess the quality of a specific information, managers need to be able to compare the given facts with reality.
b. Deadline for delivery of information. For a control to be effective, corrective measures are needed before a deviation from the standard plan takes place.
c. Quantitative information sufficiency. A message cannot be considered either of a proper quality or opportune as long as it does not contain enough information.
d. Relevance of information. At the same time, the information that the manager receives must be relevant to the responsibility and work tasks.
Compared to the foregoing, it should be noted that there are technical indicators on which one can appreciate the benefits of an information system. Among these include: accuracy, complexity, opportunity, frequency of elaboration, appropriate content, appropriate presentation, integrating capacity in the information system, utility.
Accuracy. It can be appreciated by two indicators:
the ratio (number of fair answers) / (total number of responses) given to that specific event; is a useful indicator for expert systems;
the precision of the data at one’s disposal, as measured by the relationship:
Kp=IEF/Imax
where:
– Kp – the precision coefficient;
– Ief – the amount of actual information;
– Imax – the maximum amount of information possible under the given conditions (which corresponds to the highest degree of detail possible during the available time).
Complexity. It is about the quality of containing elements of knowledge that allow for a more complete picture of the event. An information system that ensures a degree of completeness of 7% is considered appropriate.
Opportunity. It can be regarded as the rate of information that fell within the available disposal time relative to the total amount of information transferred.
An empirical evaluation of the usefulness of the information can be done on the basis of the ratio between the number of useful and unnecessary information. The following steps are set: > 0.5: essentially information; interval 0,1 – 0,5: normal weight of useful information; and < 0,1: Informational void.
The “usefulness ratio coefficient” (Kan) can provide a qualitative appreciation of the information
KAN=(Ie*λe)/(Ii*λi)
where:
I i, I e amounts of information that come in or out of a compartment;
λ i, λ e – the corresponding value in the money terms of the information unit.
For evolved information systems, specific performance indicators can be used, including:
The access rate of databases (rA)
rA=(The amount of accessed records)/(The amount of the records in the database)
The rA rate is determined for predetermined time intervals and is performed with a pre-set periodicity. In the case of periodic registrations, the rA rate trend provides indications on the qualities of the database.
Automatic data transfer rate rTA
rTA=(The amount of data transferred automatically)/(The amount of data stored in the database)
Rate of automation of database exploitation (rEA)
rEA=(The number of standard reports)/(The number of reports completed)
These are evaluated over a predetermined time period. At a downward trend, a renewed supply of standard reports is needed.
As regards the itineraries of data and information from the place where the data are collected to the recipients of the information, the circuits must be considered as having the following characteristics: to be as short as possible, to be rational, economical and the intermediate processing volume unknown by the end-user is minimal.
The optimization of information flows is achieved by bringing the indicators or parameters of the mentioned evaluation models to levels that provide maximum efficiency to the information system.
Critical analysis of the existing situation by determining weaknesses, strengths and their evaluation according to the quality criteria of the information system
All these situations call for an analysis of the information system for rationalization.
The process of analysing and improving the information system involves completion of the following stages:
1. The initiation of the study – as mentioned above, it occurs when there are major system failures or major changes within the organisation.
2. The identification of the components of the information system involves the establishment of the data, information, circuits, information flows, means and procedures for handling the information used by the current informational system, as well as their main characteristics.
3. The stage of critical analysis of the components and the functionality of the system to be rationalized involves analysing the information components identified in the previous stage and the functionality of the system, with the objective of identifying the positive aspects and the deficiencies.
4. The stage of identification of the informational needs generated by the situations that generated the study (other than system deficiencies) involves the establishment of the necessary data and information, the way to present them, the establishment of the procedures and means of information processing, the identification of the circuits and the information flows, depending on the tasks, competencies and responsibilities of each post.
5. The design of the new information system involves, based on the information obtained in stages 2 and 4, to realise the overall configuration of the information system, to prepare the necessary documentation for the implementation, the preparation of the system implementation, through the endorsement and the training of the personnel.
6. Implementation implies the practical application of the new system and the permanent monitoring of its functioning.
7. The evaluation of the results is carried out after a certain period of time when the information system undergoes a new analysis in order to ascertain the deficiencies and the positive aspects, the causes that produce them and the way they influence the activity and the performance of the company.
Table 1. Critical analysis of the existing situation
Weaknesses and strengths Assessment level Coefficient of importance Weighted Coefficient
Sources of information are not rigorously controlled 1 0.1 0.1
Degradation of information during traffic 3 0.05 0.15
Sometimes insufficient equipment for processing primary information 1 0.1 0.1
Insufficiently trained information managers 2 0.2 0.4
Sometimes incomplete or erroneous information 1 0.05 0.05
Decisions on wage policy are sometimes wrong 2 0.05 0.1
Outdated methods for storing information 1 0.05 0.05
There are concerns about designing and structuring databases where computerization is in some areas or perspectives towards computerization 4 0.1 0.4
There is an orientation towards a young person with computer literacy 3 0.2 0.6
Growth of performance decisions 3 0.1 0.3
Beneficiaries of the information are well-defined, their access to information being limited 2 0.1 0.2
Total 23 1.1 2.45
1-very poor 3-good
2-weak 4-very good
Based on the calculations above, I obtained 2.45 score, which is a high information power. For this, it is only suggested to improve the existing information system.
Conclusions
We can conclude:
There is an independent strategy decision-making information
The information system allows managers to timely identify the chances and risks due to the company’s strategy
The manager knows and gives consideration to the fair processing of information for the decision making
Employees of the enterprise are not involved in the improvement of the information system.
Information does not reach employees in a timely manner
Upgrading all computers in terms of hardware and software given the fact that some equipment is obsolete and information base (SAP) is bushy requiring advanced knowledge of operating and also advanced knowledge of English or German, since it is not completely translated into Romanian.
Improving the information system means restoring the order of information flow within the organization’s information processing system.
The step-by-step approach to improving the information system will bring you the best results.