Business requirements for a new cell phone manufacturing factory

Business Requirements for Planned Phone Factory

Introduction and Scope

This document details the broad requirements for the construction and implementation of a new phone manufacturing factory. The document shall be kept and made available at the home office for any parties with a legitimate interest in the venture, including officers of the company, current shareholders, and prospective shareholders and their representatives. Distribution will occur primarily electronically, and again will be limited to those with a vested or potential business interest in the enterprise, as enumerated above. Throughout the document, the planned manufacturing facility will be referred to as "the factory," and its corporate owners will be referred to as "the business." Other key terms used in this document will be generally self-explanatory, or will be more clearly defined when needed.

Conditions for Product Acceptance Sign-Off

To this end, the products manufactured at the factory must be capable of performing all of the functions that the latest generation of cell phones possesses, including the ability to take pictures, store large amounts of digital data including music and video, connect to wireless and "3G" networks and browse web pages at adequate speeds, and of course make and receive telephone calls (which has in all truth become a secondary function of cell phones). All of this must be accomplished at a competitive price and in an attractive and appealing design in order for the business to sign off on the first production line.

Functional Requirements

The basic functional requirements for the factory are that it is able to engage primarily in the manufacture of cell phone units, with some amount of research and development taking place on-site on a continuous basis. The factory must perform these and all related tasks in a way that ensures worker safety and minimizes impact on the local environment, while at the same time reducing costs insofar as possible. The factory must be capable of keeping up with demand; though precise numbers will be difficult to determine until prototypes have been delivered and sales forecasts can be projected, the production number should certainly be no lower than a modest (and cost-effective) several hundred units per day, with the capability to expand production at a later date should the need arise.

The factory must be constructed and made ready for use with sufficient time to encounter errors in the manufacturing process and correct them before product deliverables are expected by business users. During normal operations, regular testing of raw materials and cycles of training sessions for manufacturing personnel and overseers will also be implemented in order to ensure continued and consistent quality. Human error in manufacturing and materials deficiencies (including software) are the only two areas in which significant errors can occur, and error events will be handled with very low tolerance, as manufacturing personnel and materials providers can both be easily replaced if the quality of their work/product is found sufficiently and/or repeatedly lacking. Localization is, again, a non-issue; internationalization requires only an extensive shipping network, as marketing in international and domestic markets will be left primarily to retailers.

Non-Functional Requirements

In order to meet usability requirements, the factory must not be located in a country or geographical location that limits access to the factory for workers and visiting business officers via standard transportation equipment. Again, safety procedures must also be kept in place. Reliability requirements of the factory's manufacturing processes would ensure that less than one of every one thousand units shipped had any manufacturing error. This guideline is in keeping with standard practice. The factory's information will remain available at all times via computer interfacing, with staff on-site twenty hours a day, seven days a week.

The factory must be capable of producing at least three-hundred units per every twelve-hour (one day) manufacturing period. The factory must also retain the capability to increase hours of operation and employ additional staff in order to increase production. Scalability, then, is a major requirement that the factory must have incorporated into its design. The factory can also expect to experience fluctuations in production demand based on seasonal market changes and product redesign, and must remain flexible throughout its operational life. Throughput requirements per unit are stated above; the factory must also be able to undergo a complete product change at least once a year, and preferably more often. Response time in the industry is a matter of months, in some cases, and this factory should be an industry leader.

Interface requirements within the factory are fairly straightforward; equipment and work surfaces must be of a proper height to ensure safety and prevent injury from strain, as well as maximizing efficiency. Hardware at the factory will almost certainly include some amount of robotic equipment, sufficient number of manufacturing personnel at all times of operation must be familiarized through special training with the interfaces for these robotic components, as it is unlikely that they can be made intuitive and easily manipulated if they are to remain efficient at their tasks. There will also be extensive software interfaces with such machinery that again will require specialized training and supplier support. Communications will be standardized through regular teleconferences with business officers.

Internal Control Requirements

Adequate security and stringent controls regarding access to proprietary information is the primary concern of internal controls in the factory. Quality maintenance will be handled during the manufacturing process, and is described as part of the non-functional requirements. Theft or misuse of any materials or proprietary information will be cause for immediate termination and legal proceedings whenever applicable. As the factory will not have access to or influence over the larger business's finances or other business activities, such breaches in technology and information are truly the only worries that need to be considered in the realm of internal controls, and procedures for limiting the possibility and likelihood of such a breach are easily implemented and fairly foolproof if adequate vigilance and employment screening procedures are employed.

Application Controls Requirement

As with internal controls, application controls within the factory itself are rathr basic and straightforward. Compliance with all industry standards and legal requirements will be incorporated into the design of the factory, and taken into consideration during product design to ensure that manufacturing processes meet the same guidelines. The use of factory equipment, personnel, or processes for purposes other than that for which they were designed would be virtually impossible within the factory setting, and dual oversight of the factory foreperson and business officers will ensure that compliance with all regulations, whether governmental or inter-company, are being met. Specific application control of the product by the end user will be dependent on retailer software modifications.

Monitoring Requirements/Suppportability

The monitoring requirements for the manufacturing process and regarding the access and movement of proprietary technology and information will be quite high at this factory, though easily achievable. Daily teleconferences with business officers and frequent irregular visits by the same and other business officers will ensure compliance and efficiency standards are being met. Key stakeholders in the factory could eventually include certain business users and clients, and in this event procedures for their own monitoring and inspection of manufacturing processes and conditions can of course be developed and implemented, allowing for a broader range of monitoring goals and entities,

Architecture/Design Constraints

The architecture of the proposed factory must primarily focus on cost-effectiveness and efficiency. Minimizing environmental impact, both in real terms and in aesthetics, must also be taken into consideration. In this latter regard, location can drastically effect architecture and associated costs. Design constraints, also, must be geared towards maximizing efficiency. Clean rooms will be needed for some of the components used in manufacturing, and these areas should be both separate yet easily accessible from the other areas of the factory, including offices and other manufacturing rooms. Centralization of design is key to promoting intra-factory communication and coordination.

Purchased Components

All raw materials used for the construction of the factory and the manufacture of the cell phone units will need to be purchased from outside vendors. Where possible, exclusive contract from materials suppliers will be established to ensure security and competitive rates for both firms. The factory itself will only be engaged in the design and assembly of the cell phone units, and not in the procurement or the processing of the raw materials needed in the manufacturing process. Essentially every component of the factory and the manufacturing process, including equipment and raw materials, will need to be purchased.

Legal and Regulatory Requirements

Environmental and employment requirements represent the two primary areas of concern in this section. Depending on the location of the factory, the standards and commitments of the business might actually exceed those implemented by local governments and legislation. In this event, the business will maintain its standards regardless of the cost effectiveness of sacrificing such principles. In addition to the sense of shared responsibility and global citizenship by which these principles and standards are generated, there are pragmatic reasons for a continued commitment to environmental and employment standards. Marketing techniques, especially in the past several years, have begun to heavily emphasize social and environmental responsibility, and this business aims to be an industry leader in this regard.

Associated Document Requirements

Specific information that is location dependent will be added to this document as such information becomes available. Feasibility studies of various factory location options must be conducted before such specifics can be incorporated into existing projected requirements. Changes, additions, and eliminations to the itemized requirements in this document will result in appropriate numbering of document series and development.

Copyright and Other Notices

This document is protected by international copyright law, and the business is the sole owner of this document and the information contained herein. Any subsequent additions or alterations to the document will likewise remain protected by existing copyright laws, and the unauthorized use or reprinting of this document in whole or in part for any but a standard fair use shall be prosecuted both criminally and civilly to the full extent of the law.

Applicable Standards

The standards of accurate assessment and reporting for business requirements have been employed in the creation of this document. Any discrepancies or misinformation contained herein is entirely unintentional and is the sole responsibility fo the individual who prepared the document.

Metrics

Requirements Development

Requirements Management

Remarks

Measure

Total Number of Requirements

Date of first Baseline

Current Total Number of Requirements

Date of Last update

Requirements Stability Index (RSI)

27

10/25/09

Number of Changed Requirements

N/a

10/25/09

Number of Added Requirements

N/a

10/25/09

Number of Deleted Requirements

N/a