Upon acknowledging the problems that the DB Schenker maintenance department had identified in the department, the company decided to embark on a new IT based management control system to remedy and solve the problems that the department was facing. The project titled 'Workshop Management System' would solve the main problem of a paper based workshop by encompassing all activates in maintenance and allowing for them to be coordinated digitally. The thesis took it upon itself to investigate the strengths and weaknesses of the management control system in place and then use the findings in the WMS project to foster an improved management control system through the implementation of WMS. The goal of the thesis is therefore to aid the company in improving the current management control system for better use of key performance indicators and Business intelligence reporting: such that WMS will be able to efficiently and adequately measure the performance of the maintenance department after it has been implemented. In order to accomplish the goals set for the thesis, an analysis of the actual effectiveness of the management control system used by DB Schenker Rail maintenance was conducted according to Otley and Ferreira's 'Performance Management and Control Framework'. The results drawn from the framework were then taken and incorporated into the functional requirements of WMS. In addition to that the thesis then formed a Performance Management Tool (PMT), to be used in WMS to aid the management control system in tracking performance and fostering business intelligence. The PMT was formed by thoroughly investigating a particular department within maintenance to identify the main stages of importance in maintenance and their priority in measuring performance transparently and accurately. Following the formation of the PMT, the thesis also provided a blueprint to the functionality of the PMT within WMS and how it should be applied to other departments in order to ensure that both the management control system and the PMT are effective and efficient for the entire department. As a result of the thesis, DB Schenker Rail maintenance is able to solve the problems identified in the department as well as address the inefficiencies found in the management control system, which were partially responsible for the challenges the company had initially faced. In addition, the company is able to manage, measure and evaluate performance on a real time basis through the PMT which gathers and comprehensively presents the important information in maintenance. |