Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Information Systems in the Global Economy
Systems Development South of the Border
GRUMA is a global business based in Monterrey, Nuevo Leòn, Mexico. GRUMA is the
world leader in corn flour and tortilla production. It runs operations in the United States,
Mexico, Central America, Venezuela, Europe, and China. About 19,000 employees work for
GRUMA, and the company earns $3.2 billion in annual revenue.
GRUMA has only recently expanded its operation to Europe and China. One factor that
allowed the expansion is a complete redesign of GRUMA's core information systems. The
systems development process contributes to the success of the new systems.
GRUMA began operations in Mexico in 1949 based on progressive ideas. The company
set goals to revolutionize the corn flour and tortilla industry through modern industrial-
ization that was ecologically sound and efficient. Before long, the company grew to be the
largest in the country and planned to expand beyond its borders. After establishing
branches in the United States and South America, GRUMA faced challenges to further
growth.
The company's information systems were designed to handle only one country's cur-
rency, taxes, and regulations. Different systems were designed for different countries—
GRUMA in Mexico used one system, another system in the United States, and others in
South American countries. To expand further, GRUMA needed a flexible centralized sys-
tem that adapted to the economic requirements of many countries. Information systems
are designed and implemented to meet the primary goals and strategic plans of a business.
During the systems investigation phase, GRUMA discovered that its current system could
not support its goal of becoming a global business. The company decided to conduct re-
search into developing a new system that could help to achieve its goals.
Through a process called systems analysis, GRUMA studied their existing systems to
discover what changes they needed. GRUMA's information systems team interviewed in-
ternal stakeholders—employees who interacted with the system and others who were
otherwise impacted by the system. Through the interviews, the information systems team
learned how the current system was used, what operations were effective, and what oper-
ations needed an overhaul. Realizing that significant changes were necessary, GRUMA
decided to contract with an information systems firm to design the new system. It devel-
oped a request for proposals (RFP) to find a company to provide assistance at a reasonable
cost.
After negotiations with several companies, GRUMA selected the information systems
company SAP to develop an ERP system for the company. SAP dedicated systems analysts
to work with GRUMA's information systems team to design a new system on which to base
its operations. At this point, the systems development process progressed from investiga-
tion to analysis and then to design. Together, the two companies designed a system that
accommodated “country-specific variances for taxes, product requirements, and curren-
cies, languages, and cultural differences,” according to SAP.
The team designed a template that GRUMA could distribute to international companies
it acquired to standardize operations in all corporate facilities. The template would mini-
mize work to be done setting up new facilities. The system also supported a variety of
character sets so it could work with international languages, including Chinese.
During the systems implementation stage, members of the project team at GRUMA
tested several prototypes before rolling out the new system for use. The team decided to
use a phase-in approach to implement the system gradually. If problems occurred, business
