Order Fulfillment -1

The first research towards defining order fulfiment strategies was published by Mather (1988) and his discussion of the P:D ratio, whereby P is defined as the production lead-time, i.e. how long it takes to manufacture a product, and D is the demand lead-time, i.e. how long customers are willing to wait for the order to be completed. Based on comparing P and D, a firm has several basic strategic order fulfilment options:

• Engineer-to-Order (ETO) - (D>>P) Here, the product is designed and built to customer specifications; this approach is most common for large construction projects and one-off products, such as Formula 1 cars
• Build-to-Order (BTO); syn: Make-to-Order (MTO) - (D>P) Here, the product is based on a standard design, but component production and manufacture of the final product is linked to the order placed by the final customer's specifications; this strategy is typical for high-end motor vehicles and aircraft
• Assemble-to-Order (ATO) - Here, the product is built to customer specifications from a stock of existing components. This assumes a modular product architecture that allows for the final product to be configured in this way; a typical example for this appraoch is Dell's approach to customising its computers.
• Make-to-Stock (MTS); syn: Build-to-Forecast (BTF) - (D=0) Here, the product is built against a sales forecast, and sold to the customer from finished goods stock; this approach is common in the grocery and retail sectors.

In its broadest definition the possible steps in the process are :

• Product Inquiry - Initial inquiry about offerings, visit to the web-site, catalog request
  Sales Quote - Budgetary or availability quote
• Order Configuration - Where ordered items need selection of options or order lines need to be compatible with each other
• Order Booking - The formal order placement or closing of the deal (issuing by the customer of a Purchase Order)

we talk more steps in next post.

ref: agents web world, agency management system, wikipedia

Order Fulfillment

Order management System and Multi-channel order management we are talking here as part of insurance sfa software. The goal of a multi-channel order management system is to provide a uniform customer experience regardless of sales channel, and to enable customer-service and sales representatives to view and manage orders across sales channels. Insurance agency management software or insurance software with insurance crm software and insurance sfa software helps order management system to work properly.
Today we are going to talk about Order Fulfillment.
Order fulfillment (in BE also: order fulfillment) is in the most general sense the complete process from point of sales inquiry to delivery of a product to the customer. Sometimes Order fulfillment is used to describe the narrower act of distribution or the logistics function, however, in the broader sense however it refers to the way how firms respond to customer orders.

The first research towards defining order fulfillment strategies was published by Mather (1988) and his discussion of the P:D ratio, whereby P is defined as the production lead-time, i.e. how long it takes to manufacture a product, and D is the demand lead-time, i.e. how long customers are willing to wait for the order to be completed. Based on comparing P and D, a firm has several basic strategic order fulfillment options.
We continue our talk on Order Fuifillment in next post.

ref: Insurance Software, Insurance CRM, Wikipedia

Multi-channel order management - 1

Insurance SFA Software is part of Insurance CRM Software. Sales Force Automation we talked in the past with order management system which is part of agency management software. Today we continue our talk on Multi-channer order management.

Integration and coordination between supply chain partners is central to harnessing the benefits of a customer driven strategy. In addition to the challenge of integrating with partners outside the enterprise, integration within the enterprise is an equally daunting task. The unified order fulfillment challenge is compounded by organizations that have ageing legacy or divisional ERP applications with multiple instances that fail to provide a single view of inventory and customers orders.

In an increasingly competitive marketplace, organizations have realized that the existing legacy order management and fulfillment systems were designed to support a monolithic order fulfillment process within the four walls of the business and not the multi-party, multi-tiered fulfillment process that exists in most supply chains. Companies must align processes and measures and rethink the architecture and applications that link key functions and external parties in this extended and increasingly distributed order fulfillment process.

ref: agency management software, Insurance Software, wikipedia

Multi-channel order management

Order Management System and financial securities we talked in our last talked. Agency management system helps to manage crm software, sfa software and also order management system.
An Order Management System for businesses, such as retailers, that operate multiple sales channels, including:
Storefront sales
Web sales
Telephone/catalogue sales
Kiosks
The goal of a multi-channel order management system is to provide a uniform customer experience regardless of sales channel, and to enable customer-service and sales representatives to view and manage orders across sales channels.
From a demand management perspective, global organizations are focused on unifying the order process, enabling multi-tier distribution channels, extending product offerings with services, and dramatically improving customer response times.

From a supply management perspective, they continue to outsource more of the fulfillment process to partners and suppliers for the design, manufacturing, distribution, and installation of the product. The rapid adoption of the internet has accelerated the trend towards multi-channel shopping and reinforced the importance of the direct-to-consumer channel. The next big challenge facing retailers and CPG companies is to facilitate a uniform and consistent customer experience through integrated and synchronized execution across a complex and fragmented web of business partners.

we continue our talk on multi-channel order management in next post.

ref: agency management system, Insurance Software, wikipedia

Financial Securities - OMS

Sales Force Automation we are talking here as part of Agency Management System. we talked Insurance SFA and Order Management System in our last post. Today we are going to talk about Financial securities as part of our talk on Order management system.

Financial Securities
Another use is as a software-based platform that facilitates and manages the order execution of securities, typically through the FIX protocol.

First, it has to allow firms to input orders to the system for routing to the pre-established destinations. It also has to allow firms to change, cancel and update orders. When an order is executed, the OMS has to update its database and send an execution report to the order's originating firm. An OMS should also allow firms access information on orders entered into the system, including detail on all open orders and on previously completed orders.

Some management functions of an OMS might include: establishing and modifying order routing tables, entering and modifying dividend and stock split transactions, and processing and managing underwriting functionality. An OMS may offer direct market access (DMA). Typically only exchange members can connect directly to an exchange.

An OMS encompasses five components:

• Connectivity to a broker or market, typically using FIX messaging.
• trading blotter
• post-trade support
• compliance
• portfolio modeling

An example of a buy-side order management systems is Eze Castle Software.

We talk on Multi-channel order management in our next post.

ref: agency management system, insurance sfa software, wikipedia

Order Management System

Sales Force Automation we are talking here as part of Agency Management System. we talked Insurance SFA in our last post. Today we are going to talk about Order Management System.

An order management system, or OMS, is a software system used in a number of industries for order entry and processing.

eCommerce and Catalogers
A common use of order management software is by eCommerce and Catalog companies. This software facilitates entering of an order, whether via a web-site shopping cart or a data entry system (for orders received via phone and mail). It typically captures Customer Proprietary Information and Account Level information. Credit Verification or Payment processing is done to check for validity and/or availability of funds. Once entered, valid orders are processed for warehouse fulfillment, such picking/packing/shipping.

Orders can be received from businesses, consumers, or a mix of both, depending on the products. Offers and pricing may be done via catalogs or web sites or TV/newspaper/radio advertisements.
An integrated Order Management System may encompass these modules:

• Product Information (descriptions, attributes, locations, quantities)
• Vendors, Purchasing, and Receiving
• Marketing (Catalogs, promotions, pricing)
• Customers and Prospects
• Order Entry and Customer Service (including Returns and Refunds)
• Financial Processing (credit cards, billing, payment on account)
• Order Processing (selection, printing, picking, packing, shipping)
• Data Analysis and Reporting
• Financials (Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, General Ledger)

ref: agency management software, insurance sfa, wikipedia

Sales Force Automation System

Insrance SFA system we are talking here as part of agency management software in this blog. We talk Insurance sfa - leadorganizer introduction to that in last post, today we continue our talk.

SFA also includes a sales lead tracking system, which lists potential customers through paid phone lists, or customers of related products. Other elements of a SFA system can include, sales forecasting, order management and product knowledge. More developed SFA systems have features where customers can actually model the product to meet their required needs through online product building systems. This is becoming more and more popular in the automobile industry, where patrons can customize various features such as color and interior features such as leather vs. upholstered seats.

An integral part of any SFA system is company wide integration among different departments. If SFA systems aren’t adopted and properly integrated to all departments, there might be a lack of communication which could result in different departments contacting the same customer for the same purpose. In order to mitigate this risk, SFA must be fully integrated in all departments that deal with customer service management.

ref: insurance crm, Insurance sfa software, wikipedia, agency management software