IFSM 310 – Stage 2 Assignment – Due Sunday

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3D Printing – Stage 1 Assignment

Kyami Clarke

IFSM 310 6980 Software and Hardware Infrastructure Concepts

University of Maryland Global Campus

Timothy Robinson

Summer 2021

3D Printing – Stage 1 Assignment

1. Background

Six years ago, Mark Peterson unknowingly took a hobby and began his journey into the 3D printing business. It all started with a purchase of a 3D printer for $500 and creating an umbrella holder. A seedling of an idea germinated and subsequently grew to a whole business. As the company began to produce a steady profit, Mark realized it was time to expand to incorporate more employees, space, and equipment (i.e., software, hardware, applications). Due to the increased business, he must monitor and facilitate operations (3D Printing Case Study, n.d.).

The new infrastructure will revolve around Mark's 3D printing firm and building upon his current setup. One 3D heavy-duty printer, two 3D wireless printing machines, one PC, and Verizon FIOS with modem and wireless router. Mark will grow his firm and provide an additional seven 3D printers. Together with his two present part-time staff, Mark will hire five additional full-time staff. The company needs a 3D scanner and a document scanner. For Marks training videos and 3D designs, and production data, cloud storage will be introduced together with local storage. To keep track of orders, an ERP system is implemented. More systems will be installed, and the access of all printers must be flexible. All staff must have mobile admittance to the ERP and all 3D printers and enterprise files (3D Printing Case Study, n.d.).

The business expansion plan must include a stable infrastructure that meets his requirements. The project needs to ensure that processes, procedures, and tools are necessary, efficient, and the overhead for these expenses does not overshadow the profit. Mark's new IT infrastructure should provide his organization with a way to manage his workforce and operations locally and remotely. One of the critical elements is simplicity and consistency. This will lead to consistency in your employee training and your product delivery. As a result, your customer satisfaction will increase and provide cost savings as the business grows.

2. Current IT Infrastructure

Mark Peterson’s current IT infrastructure includes the following:

· Social Media

· One Wireless Heavy-Duty Printer

· Two Wireless 3D Printers

· Personal Computer

· Verizon FiOS Internet

· Verizon FiOS Modem with Built-in Wireless Router

· Google Gmail Account

· Microsoft Excel

· 3D Printing Design Software

3. Requirements

At some point, every successful small company beginning will have to deal with the challenge of dealing with business expansion or growth. When a firm is growing, it is entering a new phase of its existence ripe with both possibilities and risks. While business expansion frequently results in a rise in financial fortunes for both owners and employees, on the other hand, business development is not always accompanied by an increase in economic means (Sadrzadehrafiei, Gholamzadeh Chofreh, Karimi Hosseini, & Sulaiman, 2013).

Implementing a sustainable and forward-thinking plan for scaling IT during a growth phase may reduce stress in other departments while also saving the business money in the long term. However, it is not easy to set aside time to deliberately prepare for the future of your information technology systems when there are so many other variables that require your attention right now.

The following five IT infrastructure requirements have been identified to support Mark’s plans to expand his business:

1. Small Business Enterprise Resource Management (ERP)

2. Local Network Server Storage

3. Mobile Access - remote access to ERP, printers, and software (i.e., VPN)

4. Cloud Storage

5. Additional Equipment - Seven 3D Printers and One Multifunction Printer.

4. How are Requirements Met

Now that the necessary requirements have been identified, it is critical to establish how Mark will implement these requirements. The essential requirement is the ERP, which will address customer orders, payroll, invoicing, financial reporting, and data tracking. Mark will need the correct network server to assist with the utilization of his ERP. As part of his expansion plan, he will need the following items to meet the five requirements mentioned above.

· ERP Software –

· Oracle + NetSuite is a cost-effective and effective software solution for his organization (Sadrzadehrafiei, Gholamzadeh Chofreh, Karimi Hosseini, & Sulaiman, 2013). It provides business operation assistance and cloud-based options, which would address three requirements simultaneously. It is important not to overwhelm with too many varying software or applications, leading to confusion and user error. It essential to keep the process clean, efficient, and straightforward.

· Wireless Access Point (WAP) –

· Setting up a WAP network will ensure Mark and his team have wireless access to his local network (LAN – Local Area Network). This means that the IT infrastructure is interconnected locally and remotely and provides Mark's mobility and flexibility to operate wherever needed. This is especially important when an organization has multiple locations that need to be connected or your customer service team is separate from your manufacturing department.

· Multifunctional Printer (MFP) -

· The MFP will address scanning, faxing, and printing requirements. However, the MFP needs to have remote access capabilities. Most MFP's can be connected to the network server and can be used offsite if required. Using an MFP will provide cost savings since you do not need to buy separate scanners and printers since it will be all-in-one.

· Computer/Tablet -

· Employees who need to access ERP and 3D printing files and 3D printers located across the facility would benefit from using Windows Surface tablets and laptops. Mark had the option of selecting either the Surface 3 or the Surface Pro 4. According to Mark, these gadgets will allow personnel to access relevant documentation and assist clients while remaining mobile (Weill, Subramani, & Broadbent, 2002).

· Cloud Storage -

· Mark's 3D production files and business management information can be saved locally on his existing PC, and he also has the option of adding an external hard drive. It is recommended that in addition to storing backups locally and on an external drive, Mark also keeps backups on the Cloud. Microsoft Cloud storage is available for purchase by Mark. As a Cloud storage solution, Microsoft OneDrive may be used, and any work done on Surfaces can be stored to OneDrive and retrieved from there (OneDrive QuickStart guide for small businesses, 2021).

5. Data Representation and Storage

The other component of his expansion is data and storage. This is a critical component because the IT infrastructure must support and house multiple types of data. In addition, all the equipment and software must be able to speak to each other. The following three data types necessitate specific storage and computer requirements due to their varying formats and data size.

a) Digital and Numerical Data - ERP

i. Binary coding is used to enter digital and numerical information into computers. Binary code is a system of 1s and 0s that are used in computer programming. Each of the numbers 1 or 0 represents a bit, and bits are the smallest unit of data that a binary computer can understand (Severance, 2015). The computer's interpretation of data is represented as digital data representation. Instead of the letters or sentences that the computer user sees, the computer understands the used coding systems. Consequently, Mark will be able to see the letters he is saving, while the data stored on the computer is binary code.

b) Audio Data – PC, Tablet, Cloud

i. Audio data is comprehended in segments, not in its entirety. With the use of an input device such as a microphone, audio data can be recorded. Samples are used in audio data. Examples are taken from the recording hundreds of times per second, and when they are played back in the same sequence that they were recorded, they will produce the original audio file captured. Files are frequently compressed into formats such as MP3 to take up less space on a computer's hard drive. This also makes songs easy to download or transfer and save on an MP3 player or other portable media player (Introduction to Computer Information Systems, 2016).

c) Video and Graphics Data – PC, Tablet, Cloud

i. Frames are used to record video data throughout the recording process. Video is created by playing a series of frames, which are still shot several times each second and then played back in succession. Video data contains a great deal of information, and the files can be compressed to save storage space. It is possible to store full-length movies, including thousands of frames on optical discs, after being compressed using this method (Weill, Subramani, & Broadbent, 2002).

ii. Graphics are multimedia data; these forms of data are images, and they can be kept in the form of a bitmap image file, which is a bitmap image file is a bitmap image file. A bitmap image is made up of pixels or a picture element organized in a grid-like arrangement on a computer screen (Introduction to Computer Information Systems, 2016). Color and intensity are represented by specific groups of numbers in each pixel, and each pixel is made up of a particular group of integers. Pixels are critical in determining the overall quality of an image. An image with a large number of pixels will almost certainly be of higher quality.

References 3D Printing Case Study. (n.d.). Retrieved June 20, 2021, from University of Maryland Global Campus: https://learn.umgc.edu/d2l/le/content/581305/viewContent/21821578/View Introduction to Computer Information Systems. (2016). Wikibooks. Retrieved June 28, 2021, from https://learn.umgc.edu/d2l/le/content/581305/viewContent/21821575/View OneDrive QuickStart guide for small businesses. (2021, April 22). Retrieved June 29, 2021, from Microsoft: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/onedrive/one-drive-quickstart-small-business Sadrzadehrafiei, S., Gholamzadeh Chofreh, A., Karimi Hosseini, N., & Sulaiman, R. (2013). The Benefits of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) System Implementation in Dry Food Packaging Industry. Procedia Technology, 11, 220-226. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.protcy.2013.12.184 Severance, C. (2015). Introduction to Networking. (S. Blumenberg, Ed.) CreateSpace. Retrieved June 28, 2021, from http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0 Weill, P., Subramani, M., & Broadbent, M. (2002, October 15). Building IT Infrastructure for Strategic Agility. Retrieved June 29, 2021, from MIT Sloan Management Review: https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/building-it-infrastructure-for-strategic-agility/