Overview

A customer placing an order sees the business primarily through the order management process. It is therefore essential that the order management system is able to facilitate timely and complete order fulfilment. The elements of an integrated order management system are broadly outlined as:

• defining customers, options, end items, pricing and taxes

• status tracking

• picking

• packing and shipping

• invoicing and accounting

• after-sales technical support.

The order management system in today's time-sensitive marketplace should consider the implications of shortened product life cycles and reductions in lead times, with JIT assembly and deliveries. For example, order quantities does the system have the flexibility to cope with the range of customers demands placed on it? Delivery frequency is the system able to respond quickly within closely specified time-windows and frequent deliveries?

Carl Sewell in his book Customers for Life (cited in Christopher, 1994) says: 'Being nice to people is just 20 per cent of providing good customer service. The important part is designing systems that allow you to do the job right the first time.' Consistent product and service delivery creates the possibility for a continued relationship.

Order management is an interface with the customer. Therefore, it is important that efficiency and fail-safes are part of the integrity of the order management system. An example of a fail-safe is being asked by a utilities company to have with you certain information ready before calling, e.g. your reference number, post code and so on. This is a measure of efficiency...