Monday, March 9, 2015 @ 11:43 PM INTRODUCTION- This chapter introduces students to the activities of the order cycle. A carefully planned & managed order cycle will enhance the level of customer service provided. Level of customer service is reflected through short & consistentt order time cycle. The logistics information system is aids in designing and controlling the logistics system. The focus is where the data is obtained, how the system manipulates the data and in what form the information is most useful to the logistician 7.1 ORDER PROCESSING - Represented by a number of the activities included in the customer order cycle. They include order preparation. order transmittal, order entry, order filling and order status reporting 7.1.1 Order Preparation - Refers to the activities of gathering the information needed about the products or services desired and formally requesting the products to be purchased. The information needed are such as determining an appropriate order, the filling out of an order form by customer/sales person, determining stack availability, voice communication of order information by telephone to a sales clerk or making selections from a computer menu.  - Refers to the transferring of the order transferring of the order request from its point of origin to the place where the order entry can be handled. It can be carried out manually/electronically. Manual transmission includes the mailing or orders or the physical carrying f orders by the sales staff to the point of order entry. While using electronic transmission, the information of the request order is transmitted using various electronic devices. These devices are such as toll-free telephone numbers, data phones, facsimile machines and satellite communications. Whatever method is used the importance of the reliability and accuracy of the request data that is being transmitted is fundamental. Another aspect that should also be looked upon is the speed time used for the information to reach point of order entry. The shorter the time, the more reliable and accurate the information the less cost will be incured. Nowadays, the electronic methods are being used widely compared to the manual method. 7.1.3 Order Entry - Refers to a variety of tasks that take place prior to the actual filling of an order. The activities involved are:
7.1.4 Order Filling
- Order filling could be carried out parallel with order entry above, which could save time
The activities of order filling are:
a) Acquire the items through stock retrieval, production/purchasing.
b) Pack the items for shipment.
c) Schedule the shipment for delivery. d) Prepare the shipping documentation. The priority of the type of processing order may affect the speed all orders are processed or the speed with which the more important orders are handled. Selection of a particular rue depends on criteria such as fairness to all customers, the differentiated importance among orders and the overall speed of processing that can be achieved. Among the priority rules available and are being used are :
7.1.5 Order Status Reporting
This final activity is to keep the customer informed of any delays in order processing/delivery of the order. This includes tracing and tracking the order throughout the entire order cycle and communicating with the customer as to where the order may be in the order cycle.
7.2 OTHER FACTORS AFFECTING ORDER PROCESSING
There are other factors to be onsidered as it affects the order processing process. Thse factors are as follows.
7.2.1 Processing Priorities
Implementing priority can take place if firm have limited resources to be distributed among its customers. Firm wants the most appropriate time, capacity and effort to be allocated to the more profitable orders. Firm can use the high priority & low priority systems. Customers gven the high priority list will be attended with the least time of order proessing time.
7.2.2 Parallel Sequential Processing
Various methods can be implemented whether to carry out several request order in a parallel or in sequential process. In the parallel process a few copies of the request order are distributed among ke functions, for example the sales manager and the credit controller, to speed up the process of several orders in one go.
7.2.3 Order-filling Accuracy
The accuracy of the information in the request order will indefinitely speed up the time of the order processing cycle. Any occurence of error in the request order information should should be carefully controlled especially if minimizing the time is a prime importance to the firm
7.2.4 Order Batching
Firm could accumulate several request orders and treat is as batch to be procesed. This will also contribute to minimizing time of order processing process. This would be practical for firm with heavy request orders. However, if the number of order is frequent, the batching of orders would be impractical as it would lengthen the time for order processing period.
7.2.5 Shipment Consolidation
Similar to order batching, it would also be economically to consolidate several small orders to build a larger shipping size. This would reduce the transportation costs and increase processing time.
7.3 LOGISTICS INFORMATION SYSTEM (LIS) The management information system refers to all the equipment, procedures & people that create an information flow useful to the daily operations of an organization, as well as o the overall planning & control of the organization's activities. The LIS should be comprehensive & capable enough to allow for communication not only between the functional areas of the firm (marketing, production, finance, logistics) but also between the members of the supply chain (vendors and customers). Within the LIS, the major subsystem are (1) an order management system (OMS), (2) a warehouse management system (WMS), and (3) a transportation management system (TMS). Each contains information for transactional purposes but also decision support tools that assist in planning & particular activity. Information flows between them as well as between the LIS & the firm's othe information system to creatse an integrated system. The information system are typically expressed in the form of computer software pakages.  There are four levels of logistical needs that are operative level supervisory level, middle management level and top management level. (1) Operative Level The lowest level refers to transactions and inquiries. Activity are such as order inquiries, order processing, stock-status checks, bill-of-lading preparation and transportation-rate. Interactions with the system occur as frequently as many times each hour and speed of the information flow is highly important. The users at this level are usually the operative personnel. (b) Supervisory Level The next higher level use of information system involves first line supervisor. They are such as warehouse supervisor. Warehouse supervisors must exerise control over space utilization, inventory and labor productivity in order filling operations. Meanwhile the truck fleet manager must have the necessary people, equipment and spare parts to accomplish the transportation mission and schedule deliveries. The need for information is in the form of status and planning reports that are generated as frequently as on daily basis. (c) Middle Management Level The tactical planning and control is the concern at the middle management level . The planning activities are often repeated in less than one year but not as often as daily. Activities are such as evaluation of inventory-control limits, supplier evaluation, carrier selection, planning warehouse layout planning for seasonal space and transportation needs. The middle management such as manager of physical distribution or transport manager is frequently involved in these tasks. (d) Top Management Level The strategic or long term planning involves setting the goals, policies and objectives, deciding on the overall logistical structure and determining the resources needed for the supply distribution task. Speed of information availability is rarely critical and the information system is interrogated infrequently. Manual procedures and off line computer storage of the necessary information usually prove satisfactory for this level of planning. Thankyou
|