Manufacturing, Distribution, and Warehouse Management

Workflow Automation

Case Study

Business Case...

Hamilton Products, a mid-size manufacturing and distribution company, produces and sells a variety of electronic equipment both through reseller channels and directly to customers. They were continually receiving orders via numerous sources, and were finding it difficult to consolidate, fulfill, and invoice orders consistently, accurately, and on a timely basis. Their ordering process involved manual paper forms, faxing information, and sharing documents between remote locations.

They needed a business automation program that would let them:

· Fully automate their entire sales order process—from initial order entry to order fulfillment 

· Implement and run the system without requiring a sufficient IT staff or large budget

· Ensure their business procedures were followed consistently

· Document their order processes

· Enforce business rules and track deadlines

Implementing GBMS’ Workflow Automation module...

With GBMS, the company could create an integrated centralized web-based automation process.

First, they would define any information or documents associated with the sales order process. These documents could include, for example, quotations, customer billing details, sales orders, purchase orders, work orders, pick lists, shipments, etc.

The next step would be to lay out (or diagram) the workflow of the sales order procedures, such as specifying users and their associated roles, as well as the business rules that will move the order through various statuses.

The following is a simple example (in Visio format) of their sales order workflow process:

 

The company could either upload the Visio format of their workflow process; or they could create the structure in GBMS (see image 2), setting up different user-defined states (e.g., ‘Data Verify,’ ‘Credit Check’) for the sales order stage as well as transitions between those states and permissions.

 

 

They could then use GBMS’ export feature to quickly generate the workflow layout in Microsoft® Excel and/or Visio formats, providing an alternate visual representation of the workflow structure. They can also print or distribute this documentation for outside input.

After they enable the workflow functionality for the sales order document, the company could dictate exactly which user roles can perform certain workflow tasks. For example, only an authorized manager can release an order on hold. The system’s Document Types option lets them define the user roles (see Image 3).

 

 

After the WFA structure is defined, the company can track their orders’ progression and related history.

For example, an order entry clerk creates a new sales order. She clicks on the order’s Workflow tab, which includes all the function buttons, text, hyperlinks, etc. that were previously defined in the workflow structure. (See image 4)

 

She reads the notes on the tab pertaining to the workflow task. Using this example, she needs to confirm that the customer’s information and requested items are entered. She then clicks the Submit Order button. Because the company’s administrator had tied this button to the Submit Order business rule during WFA setup, the order automatically progresses from ‘New’ status to ‘Entered’ status, and the order then awaits approval. The company’s planner logs in, locates the order, adds related notes, and then approves the order.

 

Later that day, the company’s credit manager logs onto GBMS and immediately sees which orders are on hold pending credit approval, and then accesses this order directly from his homepage. (Note that GBMS’ main browser-based user interface lets users drive desired information into the homepage.)  He then verifies the customer’s credit and records notes. (See Image 5)

 

As the order continues through the stages, GBMS will continue to track all workflow history. At any time, for example, the company’s authorized personnel can click the ‘Workflow History’ hyperlink on the Workflow tab to track the date/time, the logged-in user, event task and description, and related notes. (See Image 6)

 

 

By using GBMS’ WFA functionality, the company’s personnel can generate reports on any aspect of the sales order process. For example, they can quickly identify how long a customer’s order has been on hold pending credit approval. Or, if a customer called wanting to know the status of an order, the sales rep could find out the order’s status and instantly identify the user who last “touched” the document. This type of information lets Hamilton Products make better management decisions as well as improve customer service. The end result is that they cut their project completion time by 50% or more.

 

Note: The previous sales order scenario is an example of how a fictional company could implement a simple WFA process. Users can customize the WFA functionality to easily handle complex processes and also automate everything from pop-up data entry and electronic documents to notifying users of specific tasks.

Image 1: Visio representation of a sample sales order process

Image 2: A sample sales order WFA structure defined in GBMS using the Workflow Maintenance option

Image 3: The sales order document’s Workflow tab

Image 4: The sales order’s Workflow tab (Waiting for data to be entered)

Image 5: The sales order’s Workflow tab (Waiting for credit verification)

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Image 6: The order’s workflow history