Business process re-engineering
Case 7-19. Martin Shoes, Inc. (Planning a Database Using REA and E-R Methodology)
Martin Shoes, Inc. manufactures and distributes orthopedic footwear. To sell its products, the marketing department requires sales personnel to call on the shoe retailers within their assigned geographic territories. Each salesperson has a laptop computer, which he or she uses to record sales orders during the day and to send these sales orders to Martin's network nightly for updating the company's sales order file.
Each day, warehouse personnel review the current sales orders in its file, and where possible, pick the goods and ready them for shipment. (Martin ships goods via common carrier, and shipping terms are generally FOB from the shipping point.)
When the shipping department completes a shipment, it also notifies the billing department, which then prepares an invoice for the customer. Payment terms vary by customer, but most are "net 30."When the billing department receives a payment, the billing clerk credits the customer's account and records the cash received.
Describe how the principles of business process re-engineering should be applied in this case.