| The Challenge: |
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1) Manual order entry was taking up valuable time and resources, and leading to a high level of human error.
2) It was not possible to view a load or track its progress. This was leading to problems with over-load on some occasions.
3) Manual (paper) document filing (i.e. Order/Process/Delivery/Invoices etc) was inefficient. Members of staff were spending a long time searching for files, particularly when they had been inactive for more than four weeks. However this situation occurred frequently because in many cases, original documents were needed for reference purposes.
4) Staff had to search through long lists of suppliers’ prices in paper form, in order to compare pricing structures.
5) It was difficult to track delivery dates, because the system relied on manual inventory counts carried out on a monthly basis. This was leading to customer service issues, as staff had no way of knowing whether a particular item was in stock at the time of taking an order. Therefore customers were experiencing delivery delays, while the firm was waiting for stock to arrive.
6) There was a lack of transparency in monitoring missing or incorrect deliveries of stock, both to and from the site. This was resulting in a high level of customer complaints, because incomplete units were being sent out without the company’s knowledge.
7) The company was unable to keep track of stillages left on customer sites, a situation which meant the firm had more investment tied up in stillages than was strictly necessary, because of a lack of availability.
8) Customers who telephoned for the status of their orders could not be given an instant answer to their enquiry. The length of time it was taking for the information to be located meant the customer had to be asked to wait for a return call. |
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| The MSBC Bespoke Solution? |
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MSBC installed a system to convert email orders to EDI format, so they can be imported directly into the software. |
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A module was set up and sent out to regular customers, to simplify the ordering process. |
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A ‘Status On Demand’ module was created, giving an instant appraisal in graph format of factory load on a specified date. |
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A management system using barcode technology was developed for the storage of virtually all on-site documents. |
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| A ‘Purchase Order & Inventory Management’ set-up was devised to provide: |
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Supplier contact details and pricelists. |
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Price comparisons and a lead time for all suppliers offering the same item. |
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An option to send purchase orders by fax/email. |
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A digital signature on each PO document |
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Reminders for current, overdue and future deliveries. |
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An inventory management system, so staff can check instantly whether a particular item is available. |
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The ability to set a minimum stock level, with an automated stock ordering reminder facility. |
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