1. Summarize U.S. Steel’s current competitive situation.
The USS current competitive situation is impacted by the company’s current location. USS to compete with the top two company’s Arcelor a Steel European company and POSCO a Steel South Korean company USS needs to be relocated closer to a seaport to cut expenses. The USS is unable to complete with Arcelor or POSCO due to high cost of health benefits, pension and employees salary. As mentioned by “Frank Voelker, CEO of Alstom Power Conversion, who has worked on botha POSCO, and USS systems, says USS’s are every bit as good as POSCO’s and better than most of its competitors. But USS cannot do anything about its lack of a seaside location because of the high cost of moving its facilities”.
2. How are information systems related to the way U.S. Steel runs it business? What role is played by supply chain management systems?
The relationship in USS to information systems helped the business to achieve an organized inventory count and an effective communication with the different locations as well as with customers. These new software allow the company to manage their suppliers; help companies set up an extranet for customers to place orders, check status, exchange electronic contract documents, provide shipping information, keep inventory of raw materials and other equipment needed in the company to run.
3. What management, organization, and technology factors were responsible for USS’s inability to compete with other steel manufacturers?
USS had 120 processors and each one them used an information systems which did not communicate with each other to learn when a process was completed. USS is challenged by POSCO and Arcelor two steel making companies that have access to a seaport. USS was not sponsored by the U.S. government when the company requested a seaport near USS Company. This is costly to the company as the company has to transport equipment to a seaport at a higher cost than POSCO and Arcelor. Both POSCO and Arcelor have access to a seaport to import and export.
4. Describe how USS has responded to its global and American competition.
USS was able to upgrade their system information to have effective and immediate information available for customers when inquiring for their orders. The company also reduces the amount of man labor needed with the new technology from 9,300 employees to 2,100. This new technology also allowed USS to boost the amount of steel output from 270 tons per hour to 335 tons per hour. These new technology helped USS become efficient by having very little room for errors.
5. How helpful were information systems in addressing USS problems?
The information systems were efficient, faster, with precise information to provide customer of their order status. This also help the company from within to inventory all equipment as well the precise information from one machine to the next. The information systems also decrease the cost of labor by the thousands and produced more steel. Customers or employees are able to place order in the system through internet.
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