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TOMAS - INTELLIGENT
MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM
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Intelligence built into TOMAS is one of
its major characteristics and one of unique advantages, that make TOMAS
superior to all other systems on the market.
On the intelligence of information systems
Intelligence is defined as capability
to solve problems. For decades, there are intelligent computer systems
for various purposes - medical diagnostic, chess playing etc.
TOMAS is a single intelligent business
management information system on the market. Even in theory, there are
no widely accepted categories, concepts etc. Therefore, we have developed
our own approach to intelligence in business management systems. Short
description of this approach follows.
Intelligence in business management
information systems is ability:
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to find optimal solutions
to complex problems, e.g. finding optimal production program
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to initiate actions
according to established business policies, e.g. automatic release
of production work order and/or purchasing order
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to find deviations
from established rules, e.g. showing materials with turnaround
coefficient smaller than target value
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to analyse the consequences
of hypothetical business decisions, e.g. what would be the consequence
of pay rates increase for 10%
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to accept external
expert knowledge and to use that knowledge for problem analysis
and decision support.
The purpose of business information
systems is:
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support of work processes in the organization,
e.g. book keeping and
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support of business management, i.e. control
of activities, estimation of results and decision making support.
For the support of work processes,
intelligence of information system is needed:
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for accommodation
to variations in procedures in various organizations, e.g. various
ways for work lists recording
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for automatic operations
management, e.g. generating work orders, depending on inventory
level and open sales orders
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to solve complex
operations management problems, e.g. network planning, job scheduling
etc.
For business management support, intelligence
of information system is needed:
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To get answers to
ad hoc questions, so that various:
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type of report (detailed, summarized etc.),
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data selection from the database,
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sorting of data and
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levels of summarizing might be needed.
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To get answers
to "why ...", "what is needed to ..." and "what if ..." questions.
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As support for solving
strategic business problems, e.g. optimization of product mix.
For these requirements, two types of information
system intelligence are needed:
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Internal intelligence,
i.e. capability to apply advanced algorithms, to solve complex problems,
e.g. finding optimum for some mathematical models.
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External intelligence,
i.e. use of various algorithms from the environment, to be included in
information system. Hence, information system should be capable to accept
knowledge from the environment and to use it.
INTERNAL INTELLIGENCE
Internal intelligence in TOMAS consists
out of a number of advanced algorithms to solve various complex business
problems, such as:
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so called group technology approach to analysis
of product bills of materials and routings
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linear programming for optimization of production
program
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network planning (CPM and PERT)
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production work operations scheduling, based
on various priority criteria
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automatic control of inventory level, work
orders and purchasing orders release
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stochastic simulations of various inventory
management policies
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"exception to the rules" lists, for ad hoc
chosen rules
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various ABC analysis
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generating proposals for payments to vendors
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automatic navigation through options of TOMAS
etc.
EXTERNAL INTELLIGENCE
External intelligence could be stored
in TOMAS in following ways:
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Expert financial
knowledge, based on which:
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one gets expert opinion on actual business
results
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one can answers to following questions:
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why some business indicator has changed value
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what is required to increase or decrease some
business indicator, for a given %
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what are going to be the consequences of some
hypothetical changes.
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Rules for refinement
of primary data in the database,
i.e. the ones that are entered in the database, by the user. In that way
are solved modalities for:
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product price calculations
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sales invoice calculations
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various valorizations of material transactions
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reporting requirements.
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Templates for more
efficient and simpler data entry, defined by the user.
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Templates for printing
various documents, that could be adjusted by the user.
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Templates for execution
of options, with complex parameters.
All these properties make TOMAS:
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a comprehensive integrated business management
information system ...
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... and a Decision Support System ...
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... and an Expert System, all in one.