The screen the owner checks at nine
Oakfield Bikes is made up. At nine each morning the owner opens one screen. It shows sales so far, how many customers were served, how many bikes are in stock, and where the delivery van is.
Nobody typed those numbers into a report. Digital systems collected them as they happened. Today you see how systems help run a firm.
Key words
| Word | What it means | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Operations | the daily running of the firm | |
| Automation | a machine or program doing a job with no person | |
| Intranet | a private website only staff can use | |
| KPI | a key number that shows how well a firm is doing | orders per day |
| Logistics | getting goods to the right place at the right time | |
| Stock control | keeping count of the goods a firm holds | |
| Asset | something of value the firm owns | a van or a laptop |
| Remote working | working away from the office, often at home |
The cells students fill in are left blank in this preview.
By the end of this lesson
Note
I can describe how a digital system helps operations, management, logistics and finance.
Starter: last lesson
Have a go
Starter: last lesson
3 questionsYour answers are marked here and are not kept. A college account keeps every student’s marks.
Operations: how the work gets done
Email and chat give better internal communication. Automation does steady jobs, such as sending invoices, with no person. Machines can make goods with little help, which is automated manufacturing.
Staff can work from home. An intranet and shared workspaces let people share and edit the same document in online shared storage.
Management, logistics and finance
Management sees key numbers (KPIs) as they happen: sales, customers served, units made, and the real-time location of assets such as vans.
Logistics: automated stock control counts items as they sell and orders more.
Finance: digital systems cut costs, raise income and give better reports from up-to-date information.
A live KPI in SQL
-- Orders and takings for each day
SELECT day, COUNT(*) AS orders, SUM(total) AS takings
FROM orders
GROUP BY day
ORDER BY day;Stock control in SQL
-- Which items must be reordered?
SELECT item, in_stock, reorder_at
FROM stock
WHERE in_stock < reorder_at;Worked example: Oakfield Bikes, area by area
| Area | Digital system at Oakfield Bikes | What it gives |
|---|---|---|
| Operations | Shared storage and an intranet | Staff at home and in the shop use the same files |
| Operations | Automated invoices | A steady job done without a person |
| Management | A screen of live KPIs | The owner sees sales, customers served, units and van positions now |
| Logistics | Automatic stock control | No empty shelves, no wasted space |
| Finance | Online accounts | Costs are lower, income is up and reports are always up to date |
The cells students fill in are left blank in this preview.