Stoney Boots: ERP Implementation Recommendation Stoney Boots has reported a decline in its gross margins for the fiscal year 2012 and this decline is attributed to manufacturing inefficiencies. Upon further investigation, it was discovered that Stoney Boots’ IT infrastructure is outdated and the company could benefit from implementing an ERP system. Implementing an ERP will help the company integrate all of its fragmented divisions, which will allow it to concentrate on selling its trademarked footwear and making profits (Stoney’s Annual Report). To help the company get back on track, the following three ERP modules are recommended as a start for the company. These modules will help the company integrate data across its plant sites, generate …show more content…
These two systems are required to be synchronized twice daily, because the Distribution System needs the data generated by the Sales System, which is received from the data entry interface. In addition, at the end of the day, the Sales System needs to be updated with the latest inventory data via the custom interfaces. This process will allow the sales personnel to know the current inventory (Stoney IT Audit). This process is prone to error and can cause the company to lose a substantial amount of money if there are inaccuracies of inventory data. For example, if an employee forgets to synchronize the system for a couple of days due to an unknown reason, this will give false information about the current inventory causing the sales personnel to assume that there are enough inventories in the warehouse to make a future sale. To avoid this from happening, the company could purchase the ERP Operation Module add-on option. The operation module will allow the company to have control over its order entry, order management, and inventory management, thus reducing the amount of data input, minimizing the potential for errors or inaccuracies, and saving valuable company time and money (Operations Module - Pulse Mining …show more content…
The customer care department handles all customer inquiries, complaints, problems, etc. This department is divided into teams that range in size from two to four people depending on the expected phone traffic. They work Monday through Friday from 9am to 5pm (Stoney IT Audit) The goal of a customer service department is provide exceptional services to the customers in order to gain their trust so that they return to Stoney for future purchases. By utilizing the Customer Care Module, Stoney will get a handle on its order tracking, account tracking, and customer support. Additionally, Stoney will be able to offload some of the customer service teams and retrain them to perform additional tasks that might help the company make profits
Being presented with the problems in the implementation of the SAP ERP system, it is evident that Novartis Pharmaceuticals requires a comprehensive action plan that resolves key issues and the underlying problem. Refer to Exhibit A for a graphical representation of the action plan.
ERP stands for Enterprise Resources Planning. ERP is a term used for software that controls whole organizations different departments. SAP is the world leader in ERP systems followed by Oracle.
Without good customer service and keeping your promises, your company would have loyal customers. According to 5 Focusing Steps, “If you’re not yet sold on the idea, consider that a 2 percent increase in customer retention has the same effect as decreasing costs by 10 percent. Not only that, but it costs over six times more to get a new customer than it does to keep one.” Customer satisfaction should be a golden rule of all companies.
1. Is the international market arena in which your athletic footwear company competes characterized by multicountry competition or global competition? Explain why.
In 1996, Hershey’s goal was to upgrade its legacy IT systems into an integrated ERP environment. Hershey’s implemented the following “three new software applications at the same time:
Inaccurate inventory record can cause a shortage in inventory. The level of drugs could be either understated or overstated.
Motiwalla, L., Thompson, J. (2011). Enterprise Systems for Management 2nd Edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
This department deals all of the other customer requests that the Tellers do not have access to. Problem solving, and critical thinking are two key characteristics that employees in this department must have. Customers generally do not have a great depth of banking knowledge, and they rely on the customer service employees to help them resolve issues. It is our duty to provide sound financial advice to our customers, because this is the best way to attract and retain them. However, solving customer issues is not the only thing that this department handles. They are also in charge of opening new accounts for customers, and I participated in opening both checking and saving accounts. Furthermore, Customer Service employees, can help customers with Certificate of Deposits and Individual Retirement Accounts. All of these processes require competent computer skills, to avoid any unwanted actions. Customer Service employees, at South Georgia Banking Company, must provide top of the line service, because whether it is resolving customer issues, or welcoming a new customer to the bank; this department must be willing and able to handle
“An Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems are software systems for business management, supporting areas such as planning, manufacturing, sales, marketing, distribution, accounting, finance, human resource management, project management, inventory management, service and maintenance, transportation, and e-business”.( Haag, Cummings, Phillips, S, M, A (2007). Mangement Information Systems. New Yory, NY: The McGraw-Hill Company Inc..)
Also it tracks the businesses resources such as (cash, raw materials, the production capacity, and the status of business commitments: orders, purchase orders, and payroll. This system is made by applications that share data across the various and different departments in the company.
According to Srinidhi and Tayi (2004), companies that are flexible enough and are able to change from a JIT system to a traditional inventory system will have a competitive advantage over other firms who do not switch. In such uncontrollable environments, the major benefit of JIT becomes a handicap with the increase in delivery times and the added data handling and coordination required in such times. This leads to a decrease in quick response time, which ultimately leads to increase in costs to the firm.
Starting in the late 1980s and the beginning of the 1990s new software systems known as enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems have surfaced in the market, targeting mainly large complex business organizations.
A few decades ago, businesses considered customer service as an unnecessary expense. Now, companies view it as a competitive advantage in the marketplace.
Customer service is important in all areas of a business, upstream to the suppliers of the raw materials and downstream to the end users. Customer service can be viewed in three standard ways: as an activity, as a performance measure, and as a philosophy (Coyle 96).
Customer service has been around for many years. When customer service first came into place in the business world, it was in stores. In society today customer service is with any job with any company. “Customer service is not a department, it’s everyone’s job. -Anonymous”. (Walter). Customer service is taking care of your customers. Every customer needs to be treated the same with excellent customer service no matter the business or the age of the customer. All employees need to adapt to each customers’ needs in order to provide the best experience possible.