Business Modelling - Car Servicing at Jinx Autos - Essay Example

Business Modelling Customer Inserts His/Her Name Customer Inserts Grade Course Customer Inserts Tutor’s Name 1st May, 2014. Business OE/S Process In the process of analysis certain business activities, we should consider some business processes that build on this business activity. As a result, we make use of the OE/S business modelling which factors in people, equipments, systems and controls in achieving these business activities. In the analysis of the business processes we look at an automotive company that deals in servicing of vehicles for different clients (Tennent, 2011). This analysis looks into the process roles, activities and documents used within the company. 1. Target Business Process 1.1 Business Process Description Car Servicing at Jinx Autos commences when a client takes in his/her car to the Jinx service centre, and there it is received by the clerk who receives all customer service requests. All requests are taken to the mechanic for scheduling and costing before they are taken back to the customer through the clerk. For the process to continue the client needs to give out a service card. Once the requests have been scheduled and cost, the customer is given back the complete service card schedule. Then the customer decides to undertake the service at the specified schedule. Once the customer agrees for the vehicle to be serviced, the clerk will then input the schedule information into the Auto Management System. This information will then update the customer data and or alternatively, if it is a new customer then the clerk will create a new customer profile. The vehicle service will then be undertaken and the mechanic will fill out the completed service documents which will be produced in double to be forwarded to the customer and clerk. The clerk will then forward the completed service card to the accountant for the production of an invoice for the completed service. The invoice is a document that is produced from the Auto Management System by the accountant which is produced in double for the filing and forward transmission to the customer. The customer then issues payment to the accountant for the release of his/her vehicle. A receipt is issued with which the system in updated and the record goes to the customer master data record. The customer is then issued with a receipt upon which the vehicle is released and the record stored in the customer master file. The whole process of vehicle service usually takes at least 3 hours and in case of any issues, the service centre manager will be notified. 1.2 Business Process Diagram Diagram: The BPMN model 2. The business process created above by use of the BPMN patterns show how activities, documents, events, messages and data interact easily to form a BPMN diagram that is properly structured. The business processes are defined into four main distinct sections which include data entry, scheduling & cost, invoice preparation and receipting. These four main events as seen in the BPMN diagram control all the activities and flow of messages and data within the program. Every activity and person within the Jinx service centre has different access and control levels. Information from the customer and the three service centre employees who interact with the system generate information that is stored in the Auto Management System’s database (Nilsson, 2009). The hierarchy of management and flow of decisions is shown by the BPMN diagrams which is divided into four sectors; customer, data clerk, mechanic, accountant and manager. They interact with the system in a unique way that ensures the flows of documents and information is orderly as seen. Having a BPMN model as shown above is suitable and flexible for analysis since it focuses on the flow of information and documents. Tracking any process or progress of the process is quite easy and in case of changes to the system can easily be noticed (Fettke, 2007). The issue with the BPMN model above is that in case of absence of the data clerk or the mechanic would lead to a breakdown of information and capturing of data. However, the action of servicing the vehicle and other processes will go ahead. Moreover, the model could have ignored some processes and actions such the actions and documents handled by the customer (Nilsson, 2009). This is because the customer initiates most of the activities but he/she is not an active participant in the process of undertaking these activities and processes. These assumptions cannot render the processes or activities undertaken in the process of mapping or coming up with the BPMN model. 3. In the process of undertaking of business processes outlined above, we shall make several considerations including integration into the current IT systems. All the information and documents used in the process of undertaking vehicle servicing processes shall be updated and input into the system through use of a management system. The Auto Management System will be deployed and used in the process of storing master customer data and other information relating to customers in relation to servicing their vehicles. The processes that will be utilized into the system will include service request which will include the activities such as inputting the vehicle and customer details (Ranyard, 2008). This process will be captured by the system and will trigger other processes such as scheduling and customer service requisition that looks into the costing of the vehicle service (Oakshott, 2007). The Jinx IT system should cover and take all system tasks into the database either for storage or processing. For instance, the customer request form will be noted by the system whereby it will be processed and then transmitted to the technical department for scheduling. Having a proper IT system allows for processes and documents to be utilized properly within the system. IT systems are suited for analysis within the OE/S analysis since it contains superior processing capabilities that allow for flexibility (Tennent, 2011). IT systems allow for the creation of records or documents such as invoices and receipts which establish the existence of processes and activities undertaken within the OE/S process. For instance, the in the above BPMN model, we witness the use of the Auto Management System which has been used in creation of documents and records. Moreover, systems have databases which could be used in storing data on activities, processes and documents and thus they must be incorporated within the organizational structure. Therefore, it is imperative for organizations to incorporate systems within these organizations for the process of OE/S analysis and BPMN modelling (Ranyard, 2008). References Fettke, P. & ‎ Loos P. (2007). Reference Modelling for Business Systems Analysis. London: Ladybird Publishing. Nilsson, A. Tolis, C. & Nellborn, C. (2009). Perspectives on Business Modelling: Understanding and Applying Business Knowledge. New York, NY: Routledge. Oakshott, L. (2007). Business Modelling and Simulation. Boston, MA: John Wiley and Sons. Ranyard, R. Crozier, R. & Svenson, O. (2008). Decision Making: Cognitive Models and Explanations. Sydney: McGraw Hill. Tennent, ‎J. & Friend, G. (2011). Guide to Business Modelling. Chicago, IL: Pelshiver. Read More