IFSM 310 – Stage 3 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

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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

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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

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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 –

o 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.

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• Wireless Access Point (WAP) –

o 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) -

o 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 -

o 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 -

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o 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

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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

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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.

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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/