The role of information technology in business process reengineering

This paper discusses the role of information technology in business process reengineering (BPR). BPR was introduced in manufacturing/service industries with the objective of changing the management of the supply chain. In manufacturing, the nature of material flow determines the type of information and decision support systems required to achieve system integration and hence the overall effectiveness of the system. A conceptual model has been developed in this paper to illustrate the role of information systems in BPR and the type of information systems required to integrate functional areas in manufacturing. Hammer's (1990) message "Reengineering work: don't automate, obliterate" stresses a radical process simplification as the way to reduce time and cost, and to eliminate or at least simplify processes, not just speed them up. There has been tremendous interest on how to simplify the process and hence the information system required for effective management of material flow in manufacturing. The implementation of BPR using innovative application of information technology (IT) aims at flexible, team-oriented, and cross-functionally co-ordinated management. A framework has been presented in the paper to design a more effective BPR system with the help of advanced IT. Finally, a summary and conclusions are presented.