Computers in Supply Departments

Abstract

The increasing capability and reducing price of computers and their peripheral equipment (card punches, card readers, printers, etc.) are rapidly bringing them within reach of the smaller business. The extension across the country of computer service bureaux has enabled businesses which are too small to employ a computer fulltime, to employ one part-time by hiring time on service bureau machines. The economic use of computers is also facilitated by developments in ‘software’ — mainly the invention of higher level languages and the increasing availability of applications packages. Higher level programming languages such as Fortran or PL-i take much of the drudgery out of writing the programs which instruct computers what to do and how to do it. Applications packages are ready-made comprehensive programs for common applications, supplied by the machine manufacturer, which the machine user can either use as given, or can adapt to his individual requirements. They are available for stock control, capital expenditure appraisal calculations, network analysis, linear programming. Although they can certainly speed the process of preparing programs to suit the user’s needs, they cannot usually eliminate the important systems analysis stage. This last is unquestionably the key factor in the effective, efficient use of the computer: the thorough, careful and creative design and test of the system in which it is to be employed. At least three individuals are involved in the analysis and design of a system for computer processing of data. Firstly, there is the manager of the department directly affected — he is the expert in what is wanted from the system. Secondly, there is the programmer — he is the expert in what the machine can do, who will eventually write the program. Thirdly, there is the systems analyst. Intermediate between the other two, he needs to understand business systems, and he needs some knowledge of the capabilities and limitations of automatic data processing machines. His job is to define the input data, the output data, and the internal data transformations to be executed by the machine, for each stage in the system. The programmer then takes over to write the actual programs, and finally the systems analyst reappears to test them with realistic data (‘debug’ them, in computer jargon). The systems analyst is the expert in the basic logic of business systems and in their design to employ computers effectively. He is in very short supply.