The Need For Implementing An ERP And BPR Essay For Supreme Dry Cleaners.

Identification of the current business processes and issues faced by the same

Richard owns and operates Supreme Dry Cleaners (SDC), which is a family run business operated by Richard’s family for over 40 years.  Richard started this business 40 years ago with 20 employees.  It provides cleaning and laundry services across six locations in Sydney.  His stores are located in Ashfield, Drummoyne, Earlwood, Parramatta, Rose Bay and Surrey Hills.  SDC offers a full range of services in all their stores including garment preservation, free 24/7 free pick-up and delivery service, carpet and rug cleaning and quality business shirt service.  Currently SDC staff record all their customers’ details and relevant transactions manually into a register.  Although, this manual system is working fine, recording data in the manual system is laborious and time consuming.  

SDC offers free pick-up and delivery service involving SDC staff collecting clothes from the customer location.  The collection process at SDC starts when a customer contacts one of the SDC stores by phone and provides them with their details (First Name, Last Name, Number, Street, Suburb, Contact number, preferred date and time for pick-up, type of clothes, customer preferences, Quantity, preferred date and time for delivery).  Upon receiving the details, SDC staff check their workloads and advises the customer total cost for cleaning clothes and approximate date and time of delivery.  If the customer is happy with the quote, then SDC staff will record customer’s credit card details (credit card type, number, name on the card, expiry date and 3 or 4 digit code) and deduct payment prior to collection service.

Once the clothes are collected, these will be washed or dry cleaned as per customer’s preferences and delivered to the customer.  At the time of delivery, customers are provided with a hard copy receipt and a pamphlet detailing current offers at SDC stores.

Walk-in customers leave their clothes with SDC staff at the front counter and prepay for the services by cash or credit card.  SDC staff records all the customers details at their first visit and provide each customer with a customer ID.  Each time a customer needs to quote their ID to leave clothes for washing or dry cleaning and at the time of collection.    Unfortunately, during rush times, not all of the data is entered, and there are many null values in the phone, firstname and last name.  In some cases, all three are null, in other cases one or two are null.  Order number, date in, date out and total are never null.  Also occasionally during a rush, phone number and name data have been entered incorrectly. 

Moreover, SDC is unable to provide quick answers to several questions including:

(1) Total number of customers at each location

(2) Number of repeat customers and their frequency of visits

(3) Busy periods

(4) Total expenses and the amount generated by each store

(5)  High/Low margin services and so on. 

Richard makes his business stand out from the competition by providing excellent customer service.  He has noticed significant growth in customer numbers in the last couple of years.   As a result, his staff at SDC stores were unable to manage customer data and provide the same level of service.

Richard attended a workshop about the benefits ERP systems offer to businesses such as his.  He believes that an ERP system will not only help his staff to record the transactions easily but also help them to generate reports to understand the total number of customers at each location, peak times, payments received/outstanding, total revenue generated, etc.  In addition to this, they believe that an ERP system would be helpful in minimising inconsistencies with data and be able to manage cash flows effectively. Richard is keen to use the technology and implement an ERP system with the help of an expert (you) to manage their operations. 

For this assessment, you will develop a report for SDC, which includes:

• An argument to persuade management that an ERP is required,
• An abridged feasibility analysis,
• Issues that may arise due to incomplete elicitation of requirements and misalignment between the business processes and organisational strategy
• Risks associated  with BPR and ERP customisation
• Current business processes
• Proposed changes to the business processes

• The reason for organisational change,
• Alignment of an ERP with the organisation's goals.
• Benefits and limitations of cloud based ERPs in the context of this organisation, and
• The organisational commitment, especially from management, for this organisation.

Change in the organizational; structure and functioning leads to sustainability of the businesses while operating in the diverse international markets. Proper planning and allocation of resources as per the analysis of the market conditions helps businesses in maintaining the efficacy of the functions in the competitive scenarios. Advancement of organizations are based on the implementation of information technology (IT) systems in the business processes. The implementation of the IT systems helps organizations in understanding the different preferences of the customers and thereby positions their product and service offerings to gain a competitive edge. As per the case of Supreme Dry Cleaners, lack of IT’s involvement in the processes of recordkeeping has affected the organizational understanding of the client base. On the other hand, the misstatement of information and false recording has affected the goodwill of the business through human related errors (Tax,  McCutcheon  and Wilkinson  2013).

Therefore, the purpose of the report is to convince the management of the organization to undertake different strategies in order to implement the ERP and BPR activities in order to maintain the efficacy of the functions. On the other hand, the report aims at making the management aware of the different issues that might be faced by the same while implementing the IT tools in the organizational context. It will be helping the management to prevent uncertainties that might affect the productivity of the business operations.  The change in the organizational operations will be helping the same in undertaking the smooth functioning of the systems. Therefore, the report aims at persuading the organizational management to undertake the change through a discussion on the advantages and disadvantages of implementing the IT systems in the business context. 

The organization, Supreme Dry Cleaners (SDC) is a family owned business enterprise. It has been operating across six different locations in Sydney for over forty years.  The organization provided a free pickup and drop service, which included collecting clothes from the customer location, washing -dry cleaning the same and dropping them by the favorable customer locations. The organization has a reputation of providing better customer service, which has helped the business in increasing its customer base while operating in the diverse markets in Sydney. However, the lack of integration of suitable IT technologies has affected the functioning of the business, as human related errors related to customer data recording has affected the goodwill of the firm and thereby diminished the customer service propositions that are made by the business. Zeynep Ata  and Toker (2012) stated that information related to customer preferences assists the businesses in maintaining the efficacy of the operations in the business scenario. The different modifications that are brought about by the organization are based on the analysis of changing needs of the customers. Therefore, lack of understanding the customer demands affects the value that is proposed by the businesses through the development of its products and services.  

Advantages of implementing an ERP system

Feedback from the customers and the record of the customer details assists the businesses in undertaking the smooth functioning of the systems through the identification of the customer base and the preferences. Trainor et al. (2014) stated that the identification of the customer base and the preferences of the same helps organization in undertaking different decisions in order to enhance the functioning of the business. The understanding of the needs of the customers supports changes in the organizational context. Therefore, the implementation of different relevant technologies for implementing an automated recordkeeping function assists the businesses in preventing different human related errors in the recordkeeping. It will also help he organizational understanding of the modification that are required to be undertaken for the smooth functioning of the systems (Norton  and Pine  2013).  The concerned organization lacks an automated technology for recordkeeping, which has affected the organizational understanding of the client base through inadequate data and false recordkeeping elements. It has affected the organizational understanding of the resources that are required to be allocated in order to cope up with the changing demands of the consumers.

Modifications that are undertaken by businesses while operating in the diverse markets are dependent on the assessment of the needs of the same while operating in the international markets. The concerned organization faced issues relating to the lack of proper recordkeeping of consumer information of the business (Alias et al.  2014). It has affected the business through the lack of understanding of the targeted customers.  On the other hand, the lack of knowledge of the client base has affected the capability of expansion of the business operations as per the needs of the customers.  Jyoti and Sharma (2012) stated that the implementation of different IT tools like the ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) and BPR (Business Process Re-engineering) assists ventures in undertaking the smooth functioning of the business processes while operating in the diverse market scenarios. Therefore, the organization is required to implement different IT technologies in order to undertake efficient communication with the customers for identifying their concerns. The identification of the concerns of the customers will be helping the organization in upholding the efficacy of the business functions (Beringer,   Jonas  and Georg Gemünden  2012). It will also assist the organization in preventing different human related errors in recordkeeping in the rush hours and thereby ensure the proper functioning of the organization in providing client specific services.  Mir  and Pinnington (2014) stated that the continuous innovation in the business processes is supported through the feedbacks that are received the organization from the customers. Therefore, the concerned organization must take steps to collect data on the preferences of the customers while operating as per the client demands.

Disadvantages of implementing an ERP system

As per the research of DIEG (Department of Business and Managerial Engineering) and SSC (Shared Service Center), the feasibility of the implementation of the ERP and BPR in the organizational context is dependent on the costs that will be incurred and the longer time that will be required for the process implementation. Higher cost of the project implementation in the business and assessment of financial capabilities of the organization helps in identifying the different concerns. On the other hand, the identification of the needs of the customers will be helping the organization in enhancing the efficacy of operations.  Ward  and Daniel (2013) stated that the technical feasibility of implementing the ERP and BPR in the organizational structure is again an important phenomenon that is required to be considered while undertaking the initiation of the projects. The understanding of the complex nature of the ERP and BPR projects and thereby the formulation of different contingency plans will be helping the organbi8zatiosn in enhancing the chances of success in the projects.

The Supreme Dry Cleaners (SDC) must take steps to analyze the capabilities and competencies of the organization in order to implement the complex systems. The systems will be helping the organization in understanding the preferences of the customers and will also assist the business in identifying the target customers. However, the complex nature of the projects and the huge costs that are required to be incurred by the organization for the safe implementation of the project is again a concern for SDC. The costs relating to the inventories, human resource and implementation of the systems might affect the organizational profitability in the initial years. However, the clear understanding of the preferences of the customers will be helping the organization in inducing innovation in the services in order to uphold the competitive advantage of the same. Moreover, the identification of the customer base of the organization will be helping the business in positioning their services as per the needs of the target customers (Teller,   Kock  and Gemünden  2014). It will be helping the organization in enhancing the productivity of the same while operating in the diverse market conditions. Modifications in the business operations are stimulated through the implementation of relevant IS technologies. On the other hand, the feasibility of the project is dependent on the capabilities of the organization and proper planning and testing of the project. It will be assisting SDC in undertaking the safe implementation of the project as per the needs of the business (Patanakul,  Shenhar  and Milosevic  2012).

BPR activities for Supreme Dry Cleaners

Poor project planning

Poor project planning in the organizational context affects the outcomes drastically. Hanisch  and Wald (2012) stated that the planning of the projects are dependent on the objectives that are being created by the organizations. The lucidity of the plan helps in upholding the efficacy of the functions as per the objectives of the business operations. The planning of the project includes the estimation of costs that might be incurred by the organization and the time frame required while implementing the project in the organizational context. Daniel,   Ward and Franken (2014) stated that the identification of the costs and the estimation of the schedule helps in inducing the different aspects of change in the organizational context. Therefore, lack of proper planning affects the safe implementation of the project in the organizational context.

Lack of suitable communication between the different stakeholders of the business affects the functioning of the project management mechanisms that are required to be induced in order to support the safe implementation of the project. Sánchez (2015) stated that the lack of communication affects the collaborative functioning of the stakeholders towards the common goal of the organization to implement the project safely in the organizational model. on the other hand, Wells (2012) stated that lack of communication results to deficiency in the delineation of the respective roles of the stakeholders. Therefore lack of communication among the different departments and relevant stakeholders of the business will be affecting the safe implementation of the IS project.

Besner  and Hobbs (2013) stated that data security is one of the primary concerns of organizations implementing the IS projects in the systems due to data theft and mutilation. The information that is stored in the data base of the organization might be compromised, which might hamper the customer loyalty as their interests are affected through the breach. The lack of suitable security options in the project lineup might affect the functioning of the business systems while operating in the diverse markets. Morris (2013) stated that the lack of proper security systems affects the IS projects that are implemented by the organizations.   Therefore, the most crucial issue that is faced by the organization is related to the identification of the security concerns that might be faced by the same while implementing an IS project in the firm’s model.

IS projects are mostly complex in nature which affects the different tasks that re devised by the project manager of the organization. Martinsuo  and Killen (2014) stated that the key idea of the IS project that is undertaken by organizations is related to the enhancement of the performance. Complexity of the project tasks affects the understanding of the operations that are required to taken by the project management team for facilitating the smooth implementation of the IS project.

Conclusion

Vague methodology of projects affects the parameters resulting to disorientation in the outcome. Tax,  McCutcheon  and Wilkinson (2013) stated that the lack of suitable objective framing in the organization while launching a project affects the outcome. On the other hand, Bogers,  Hadar  and Bilberg (2016) opined that the radical change process that is planned by the organization while implementing the project is affected through the lack of suitable implementation of methodology in the organizational context. Therefore, most of the organizations face issues due to lack of proper proposition of methodology that leads to ill- defined tasks.  The ill- defined tasks of an organization affect the indulgence of the chief stakeholders of the project. 

Lack of proper training to the employees affects the smooth functioning of the IS project as per the objectives of the business. Spiesset al. (2014) stated that lack of proper training of the employees affects the smooth functioning of the  processes. The project initiation, testing and implementation are the major phases that assist the project management team in maximizing the factors that supports sustainability of the project.  The implementation of the project and its success depends on the smooth functioning of the workforce through training and empowerment.

The recommended actions that might be undertaken by the concerned organization are:

The concerned organization must take steps to undertake proper planning and methodology for the project in order to enhance the chances of success. Setting a clear objective for the project will be helping the organization in devising the most appropriate methodology. The different tasks and the allocation of the same will be enhanced through the suitable planning of the project parameters before initiating the project. Market research and analysis of costs and time frame that will be required for the project will be helping the management in correlating to the capabilities of the organization. Proper planning of the actions will be assisting the organization in upholding the safe implementation of the project.

Proper communication will be helping the organization in enhancing the collaborative functioning of the stakeholders. Lack of collaborative and coordinative functioning of the stakeholders affects the project outcomes through disorientation. On the other hand, the4 lack of proper communication might affect the delineation of the job responsibilities of the chief stakeholders of the project. Therefore, proper communication with the stakeholders through the utilization of diverse communicational medium affected the proper functioning of the systems of the business while operating in the diverse markets. Continuous communication with the stakeholders will be helping the organization in following up with the progress of the project. Therefore, the organization must undertake steps to devise suitable communicational mediums in order to integrate the different stakeholders.

References

Establishment of sound security systems will be helping the organization in reducing data breach that affects the brand name of the organization. On the other hand, the implementation of suitable security systems in the project will be helping the organization in preventing from breaching of personal data like location and contacts of the customers. The sound security systems in the IS project will be helping the organization in gaining over the trust of the people.

Conclusion  

Therefore, from the above analysis it can be stated that the concerned organization, SDC, faced different issues relating to lack of customer information and understanding of the target customer base due to the lack of proper IS technologies in the business model. However, the implementation of the ERP and BPR technologies in the organizational structure will be helping the same in maintaining the efficacy of the functions as per the identification of the needs of the customers. The research focuses on persuading the management of the organization to implement the IS technologies through an analysis of the needs for the organizational change, feasibility of implementing the IS technologies and the risks that might be faced by the organization while implementing the project. On the other hand, the report also enumerates the different recommended actions that might be undertaken by the concerned organization in order to prevent the issues that might be faced by the business while implementing the ERP and BPR. Therefore, the report clearly enumerates the different factors relating to the implementation of the ERP and BPR systems in the organizational model for enhancing the operations.

References

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