Healthy Snacks - Assignment Example

?Healthy Snacks Case Study Table of Contents Question 3 Problem With Healthy Snack’s Current Ways Of Taking And Filling Of Orders By The Sales Force And Need to Improve the Existing System 3 Question 2 5 Procedures to Re-organise Sales Division to be More Efficient 5 Question 3 7 Steps That Are Needed To Be Taken For Pulling Companywide Analysis 7 Question 4 9 Steps Needed To Be Taken For Proper Analysis of ERP in the Company 9 Question 5 11 Memo 11 Question 6 13 ERP Simplification Process like SAP 13 References 15 Question 1 Problem With Healthy Snack’s Current Ways Of Taking And Filling Of Orders By The Sales Force And Need to Improve the Existing System According to the case study, one of the main problems that can be identified about the way the sales force belonging to Healthy Snacks currently takes as well as fills an order is the problem of integration in the information system. It has been apparently observed in this similar context that sales and marketing information system of Healthy Snacks were not integrated with the company’s information systems. Apart from this, there were other problems that can also be identified resulting in unfavourably affecting the company in terms of acquiring low profits. These problems can be related with the following: Pricing of the products, Unwanted calls to the customers from the part of the sales persons, Delays in Order Processing and Miss outs on delivery dates. It can be affirmed from a broader perspective that all the errors or the difficulties seemed to occur because of the problems attached with the operations along with the management of the company. Many of the errors are man-made and can be easily ignored if initiated. Apart from the above mentioned factors, another reason that led to the generation of problems is improper information sharing system which possess by the company while performing its different operational functions. In accordance with the case study, it can be viewed that information was getting shared electronically from the sales order system to the accounting system, but information was also getting shared manually through printouts by the accounting department to the sales team. In this regard, it can be stated that more the numbers of manual transactions were taking place, more were the changes generated of further errors related to data entry. Apart from that, the information that was stored in the systems was not available on timely basis which resulted in incorrect information about faulty credit prices. Another problem that can be identified in the sales process of Healthy Snacks was that it was following a very long sales process that eventually created certain errors. The sales team of the company delivered handwritten quotation to the customers and was indulged in making faxes of the duplicate copy of the quotation to the sales office. This process was found to be quite lengthy and was bound to create a lot of confusion. While filling of orders, the procedure has also been found to be very complex as there were tendencies of mishandling the products at the time of order filing from the warehouses. After acquiring a brief idea about the problems that have been observed about the way the sales force of Healthy Snacks currently takes and fills an order, it can be affirmed that it is quite essential to improve the overall information sharing system of the company as there laid several problems associated with the existing information system. The existing information system which was currently being prevailing within the company tends to affect the overall sales of the company by a considerable level. The top management team of the company can either simplify the information process by creating a single information system that can be connected with all the department of HS or adopt as well as execute the approach of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) in place of the existing system for boosting its sales and thus earn significant profits. It is highly recommendable to the top management of the company to implement ERP as it is regarded as one of the most efficient software programs that most of the company uses. And unlike other software programs, ERP is often been viewed to be the far more superior in technology performing all corrective functions wherein information are collected, stored as well as shared in a very efficient manner (Idea Group Inc, 2002). Question 2 Procedures to Re-organise Sales Division to be More Efficient With the installation of ERP, the sales division could be re-organized in an efficient manner.ERP can help in better functioning between the sales divisions and it will lead towards increasing organisational effectiveness at large. However, there lay certain important aspects through which HS can recognise its sales division to become more effective. The aspects have been portrayed hereunder (Lee & Lee, 2010). Better Functioning Not only the performance of the sales division, but the performance of all the divisions in the company will improve because sales comprises itself with all the major functions in the organization i.e. management, accounting, administration etc. Through ERP approach, exact sales figures can be obtained and with that, the functions of all other department will become simplified and more efficient. Minimization Errors With the use of ERP, a minimization in the errors will be possible as ERP is build in such a way that it can provide exact data, facts and figures which eliminates lots of perplexity. This will ultimately lead towards generating more efficiency in the work process. Co-ordination among Departments If all the departments in the company are provided with exact data and figures, then the work procedure will become much simple and hence it will enable the company to build an effectual co-ordination amid each other. Along with, transparency can be maintained which will lead to better performance through the execution of ERP. Proper and Safe Storage of Data With the help of ERP, all the data related to the information about the customers as well as the sales transactions can be stored adequately which are very important and are needed to be recorded for further processing. Also, the stored data remains safe without the risk of any kind of data loss. Availability of Data The stored data should be readily available whenever required. Thus, with the use of ERP, this can be possible, unlike other software which cannot be relied upon and used efficiently. Information Flow With the help of ERP, the information flow of information can become much clear, precise and efficient which will eliminate a lot of confusion in the workplace. Updated Knowledge All the members in the company will be able to remain updated about the sales transactions with the help of ERP. The information that is stored can be accessed in any time which can provide factual information for further processing and generating records. Competitive Advantage All the above benefits that can be ascertained from the utilization of ERP will lead to overall competitive advantage that will boost the company’s performance in the ever demanding business world in today’s economic scenario. However, all the above factors combined can help the company in maintaining transparency between the sales departments with the accounts department which is very much essential for maintaining proper transaction records that helps companies to derive into actual figures and facts that are used for obtaining at company’s total profit and loss. Since, the divisions will be entitled to work in a more productive manner with the use of ERP, the overall sales division can re-organized efficiently to perform their duties and also it will also help the company towards building effective coordination with its various other departments (Klauss & et. al., 2000). Question 3 Steps That Are Needed To Be Taken For Pulling Companywide Analysis Relating to the case study, the steps that needed to be taken to pull the companywide analysis together will be determined based upon the current transaction procedures that have been taken place taking between Healthy Snacks and Yummy Foods Company. Along with this, the analysis will also include proper examination of scopes and opportunities that can be obtained if there is a tie up between HS and Yummy Foods Company. In order to analyse these parameters, the following steps could be taken. Firstly, the analysis should cover all those activities that were related with the sales process followed by Yummy Foods. A deep analysis concerning all the activities related to sales and its channels should be examined. In contrast, HS should identify various channels through which Yummy Foods can raise the sale of its products in the market. Most importantly, HS must gather a fair idea about the sales volume of Yummy Foods which is very much necessary to expand its interrelation with Yummy. HS can perform proper market research activities and can also conduct market research in the form of performing surveys. The company i.e. HS can acquire valuable useful data from those wholesalers, retailers and shopkeepers who deal with the products belonging to Yummy Foods. Secondly, after getting a fair idea about the type of transactions of Yummy Foods, HS can establish an idea about the profitability and market standing of Yummy Foods. As HS was already been engaged into trading with Yummy Foods, it may have an idea about the profitability of the company, but better understanding about the company’s market standing must be carried out. Apart from this, another step could be taken is measuring the rate and volume of transactions that took place between HS and Yummy Foods. Best step would be to meet the sales force personally and thereby taking valuable feedback. Marketing manager tends to remain updated about the sales data at all the time. With little co-operation with the sales division, all relevant data can easily be gathered. So, these are the steps that would be needed to pull companywide analysis together effectively. In order to determine that a sales manager will be enthusiastic about sharing all data with his or her counterpart in the other division, it can be affirmed from a broader perspective that HS possess two particular divisions that performs the function of sales. In this regard, wholesale division caters to large sales volumes through distributors and the other one is direct sales division that drives sales through grocery stores and other retail outlets. Both these divisions perform their functions separately. If the two different sales units of HS i.e. wholesale division and direct sales division continue to work separately, then there would possibilities of reluctance that may arise from the part of the Sales Division Managers of both the divisions. In this particular case, a sales division manager of any of the company might become enthusiastic about sharing data with his or her counterpart in the other division by a greater level. Reluctance may occur as different targets were set for both the divisions. If the information concerning sales volume gets shared between the two divisions, then it may result in causing conflicts ultimately obstructing the companies to attain their predetermined targets from its respective divisions. Question 4 Steps Needed To Be Taken For Proper Analysis of ERP in the Company For conducting proper analysis of SAP ERP system assuming that HS has implemented, certain steps needs to be taken into concern. In this regard, for proper implementation of ERP in HS, each of its advantages needs to be carefully pinned to all the divisions of the company i.e. sales and division, accounting and finance division as well as the supply chain management division. Moreover, proper theoretical as well as practical training are needed to be imparted to the members of the company highlighting the best features of ERP (Leon, 2008). They should be understood that with the use of SAP ERP system, a lot of errors that generally emerges while performing different operational functions can be minimised by a greater level. With the use of ERP made by SAP, it will certainly facilitate the company to access useful data that can be stored safely and can be utilized further whenever required. Not only that, it should also be notified that with the use of SAP ERP system, the flow of information could be improved to a great deal and it will ultimately lead to updated knowledge which collectively will help the company to maintain co-ordination among departments effectually. If the SAP ERP is accepted after realizing its effectiveness, then there will be all round activities that will constitute the use of SAP ERP in a whole new level. But for this, a lot of training is needed to be initiated regarding the utilisation of SAP ERP. The whole of the management needs to be made compatible with the use SAP ERP and the divisions needs to be made accustomed with the working practices of SAP ERP (Seddon, Calvert & et.al, 2010). It is expected to generate both enthusiasm and reluctance from the part of the divisions while incorporating the use of SAP ERP in the company. The enthusiasm is bound to arise because the features of SAP ERP can make the overall operational processes of the company much productive. The components of SAP ERP comprises all the latest features with are bound to deliver accurate results resulting in generating an ample level of enthusiasm within the company by a greater level (Chen, 2001). With enthusiasm, an amount of reluctance is also expected to arise as the division may find the usage of SAP ERP much complex. This might be owing to the reason that it is a viewed to be completely new software for them and they may need time to adopt themselves with its usage. Another problem that may arise is that the division may become adapted to work with their old software and may not find the SAP ERP suitable to work with. Question 5 Memo To: Chief Information Officer (CIO) From: XYZ Date: 5/21/2013 Re: My memo to all I have gone for a deep research about the operations of the company and based on my research, I was able to identify that that the main problem of HS which the company faced relating to the integration of the information system in the company. Information generated from the Sales and marketing system of Healthy Snacks was not integrated with the company’s information systems. All the problems were occurring because of issues that were linked with the overall operations of the management. Apart from these factors, another reason that led to the above problems was owing to the reason that the existing system of information sharing was done with the help of three software’s instead of one and also the information were shared manually from the sales order system to the accounting system. Due to manual information sharing with the help of print outs, all kinds of man-made errors occurred. Also, I noticed that using three software’s at the same time created all the confusion. And above all, the manually collected information was taken into consideration and data entry was done based on manually collected facts. If there were large number of transactions taken place in Healthy Snacks, the chances of errors would have become more prominent I also noticed that the information storing system was not better and the information that was stored was not available when it was required the most. Delay in information gathering resulted in incorrect information that reflected major faults relating to monetary figures. All the three divisions i.e. sales and marketing division along with accounting and finance division and supply chain management was relying on the same process of information sharing which needed to be avoided. I deeply felt that the system of information sharing of HS needed a change that could lead to operational balance in the organization. I have noticed that apart from other divisions, especially the marketing and sales division of the company was getting affected by a greater degree as compared to other divisions of the company. Proper sales records are needed to be maintained at all levels and are of primary importance. If a company cannot produce its sales records, then measurement of the profitability of the company at month ends would be a big issue. Such type of activities where there lay lack of accurate information about sales figures can lead to adverse effects in the overall marketing and sales division and can result in causing low profits. There were many chances of occurring misinterpretations in the company which could have resulted in miscalculations of sales figures resulting in adversely affecting the company’s overall performance by a considerable level (Rice, 2003). Question 6 ERP Simplification Process like SAP Alike SAP, ERP system helps in maintaining a lot of simplification in work which tends to improve the workflow and information sharing with reference to master data. In the terms of SAP, master data refers to the process of collection of the products that are sold in the market, the materials that are utilized to manufacture those products and the bills of materials (BOMs) of the products that were purchased. It has been apparently observed that SAP transactions utilise the information that is contained in the master data and apply those to produce an outcome. Thus, master data serves the basic purpose of simplifying the work process (SlideShare Inc, 2013). The SAP ERP system uses various inputs i.e. quantities of products, dates, materials numbers as well as customer number. These types of inputs are used for deriving proper data related to sales and other operational divisions of a particular company. All the activities related to the storage of information regarding e sales are stored with the help of SAP ERP. Apart from that, the efficiency of master data is continually created and maintained in a simplified manner assuring proper quality and control of the processing as well as recording of data. Moreover, master data is also used in validating of data, recording the data, checking and validating it as well as releasing it and creating final files in SAP ERP (Rangadass, 2007). However, there are other benefits that can be derived with the help of SAP ERF. This tool helps in creating quotations that provide to be very useful in providing true information about the transactions and help to provide a lot transparency. The type of quotation that is created with the help of SAP ERP is shown below with the help of a diagram. Source: (SAP Partner, n.d.). In the above diagram, it shown that all details are maintained about the transactions. In the organizational data part, the specific information about the client, the company code and sales area is clearly mentioned along with that the pricing conditions are also been portrayed. Apart from that, in the customer master part, the details about the customer’s contact information as well as the number have been mentioned. Besides, the customer’s material information records are also recorded. Also other useful information can also be derived while framing quotations. A separate column provides all the information regarding the materials and products that are going to be sold to the customer ands in another column called User Input information referring customer number, material number, quantity of material to be sold and date of sale are mentioned (Castedo & Chudy, 2008). Thus, it can be affirmed from a broader perspective that an ERP system like SAP can shorten the procedure concerning looking up the numbers of the customers, determining a delivery time period and also in charging a unique price to a given customer including the aspect of master data by a considerable level. References Castedo, L. & Chudy, M., 2008. Sales and Distribution in SAP ERP. Contents at a glance. [Online] Available at:http://www.sap-press.de/download/dateien/2321/sappress_sales_and_distribution_in_sap_pracitcal_guide.pdf [Accessed May 23, 2013]. Chen, I. J., 2001. Planning for ERP systems: analysis and future trend. Business Process Management Journal, Vol. 7, No. 5, pp. 374 – 386. Idea Group Inc., 2002. Enterprise Resource Planning Solutions and Management. Idea Group Inc. Klauss, H, & et. al., 2000. What is an ERP?. Information System Frontier, Vol. 2, No. 2, pp. 141-162. Leon, A., 2008. Enterprise Resource Planning. Tata McGraw-Hill Education. Lee, Z. & Lee. J., 2010. An ERP Implementation Case Study From A Knowledge Transfer Perspective. Journal of Information Technology, Vol.15, No. 4. Rice, F.C., 2003. Microsoft Office Word 2003 XML: Memo Styles Sample. Office 2003. [Online] Available at: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/office/aa537168(v=office.11).aspx. [Accessed May 23, 2013]. Rangadass, V., 2007. Master Data Management System For Centrally Managing Cached Data. United States Patent. [Online] Available at: http://www.google.co.in/patents?hl=en&lr=&vid=USPAT7213037&id=2td_AAAAEBAJ&oi=fnd&dq=BENEFITS+OF++master+data+&printsec=abstract#v=onepage&q=BENEFITS%20OF%20%20master%20data&f=false [Accessed May 23, 2013]. SlideShare Inc, 2013. ERP and Web Based Supply Chain Mangement. Slideshare. [Online] Available at: http://www.slideshare.net/WelingkarDLP/introduction2-erp [Accessed May 23, 2013]. Seddon., P. B. & et. al., 2010. A Multi-Project Model Of Key Factors Affecting Organizational Benefits From Enterprise Systems. ACM Digital Library, Vol. 34, No.2, pp. 305-328. SAP Partner, No Date. Master Data Maintenance for SAP ERP. Master Data Workflow. [Online] Available at: http://www.sapmasterdata.net/doc/EN_Master_Data_Workflow_ORSOFT.pdf [Accessed May 23, 2013]. Read More