Riordan Manufacturing

Riordan Manufacturing is a global plastics manufacturer employing 550 people with projected annual earnings of $46 million. The company is wholly owned by Riordan Industries, a Fortune 1000 enterprise with revenues in excess of $1 billion.

Its products include plastic beverage containers produced at its plant in Albany, Georgia, custom plastic parts produced at its plant in Pontiac, Michigan, and plastic fan parts produced at its facilities in Hangzhou, China. The company's research and development is done at the corporate headquarters in San Jose. Riordan's major customers are automotive parts manufacturers, aircraft manufacturers, the Department of Defense, beverage makers and bottlers, and appliance manufacturers.

History

The company was founded by Dr. Riordan, a professor of chemistry, who had obtained several patents relative to processing polymers into high tensile strength plastic substrates. Sensing the commercial applications for his patents, Dr. Riordan started Riordan Plastics, Inc. in 1991.

Initially, the company's focus was on research and development and the licensing of its existing patents, but in 1992 Dr. Riordan obtained venture capital which he used to purchase a fan manufacturing plant in Pontiac, MI. At that time, the company's name was changed to "Riordan Manufacturing, Inc." In 1993, the company expanded into the production of plastic beverage containers when it acquired a manufacturing plant in Albany, GA.

The company's most recent expansion took place in 2000 when it opened its operations in China. At that time, the entire fan manufacturing operation was moved from Michigan to China and the Pontiac, MI facility was retooled for the manufacture of custom plastic parts.

Review the following scenario:

You are an employee of Riordan Manufacturing, which has just gone through a company reorganization. You have been reassigned to a different position and are now the information technology (IT) assistant project director. Your supervisor has informed you that the company is expanding and will open a new office in Seattle, Washington. You have been tasked with expanding the company's IT infrastructure by setting up the IT system in the new office.

Writea 1,050- to 1,400-word paper that identifies the organization's information systems and their functionalities. Select one of the organization's major systems, and describe its global interconnectivity and the potential result of a failure of a major component of this system. Include the reasons to protect this system and the consequences of inadequate security.