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Process development in customer order information systems to gain

competitive advantage: A SME case study

Article  in  International Journal of Logistics Systems and Management · January 2016

DOI: 10.1504/IJLSM.2016.073968

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Int. J. Logistics Systems and Management, Vol. 23, No. 2, 2016 209

Process development in customer order information

systems to gain competitive advantage: a SME case
study

Batuhan Kocaoglu*
Department of Logistics,
Okan University,
Istanbul, Turkey
Email: batuhan.kocaoglu@gmail.com
*Corresponding author

A. Zafer Acar
International Logistics and Transportation Department,
Piri Reis University,
Istanbul, Turkey
Email: azacar@pirireis.edu.tr

Abstract: In today’s intensely competitive business environment improvement

in sales order cycle time is vital for the company’s success. Controlling credits
and measuring payment, especially crucial for a SME to manage its cash
flow more efficiently, and to gain customer satisfaction, as well. So, the
order management process should be robustly designed and optimally
controlled. Thus, to gain superior performance firms must initiate new process
development activities using information systems in order to find new methods
of improving sales order cycle time. The purpose of this study is to develop a
more efficient order management process for a SME also that can be
generalised for the others. This process development aims to strike an
appropriate balance between measuring lost times and managing customer
credit limits. In this study, after analysing the pre-sales process of a focal SME,
a framework is developed that is compatible with the current ERP system and
can measure required metrics.

Keywords: sales order cycle; order to cash; management information systems;

MIS; enterprise resource planning; ERP; customer order; SME; process
development; PD; logistics system; system management.

Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Kocaoglu, B. and

Acar, A.Z. (2016) ‘Process development in customer order information systems
to gain competitive advantage: a SME case study’, Int. J. Logistics Systems and
Management, Vol. 23, No. 2, pp.209–230.

Biographical notes: Batuhan Kocaoglu graduated with a BSc (2001), MSc,

then PhD (2009) respectively in Industrial Engineering (examined SCM
performance and SCOR) from Yildiz Technical University. He has worked in a
container freight forwarder agency as an Operations Specialist, then in Siemens
as a Project Consultant of SCOR project, finally, in a manufacturing company
as an ERP Manager. He has more than ten years experience in ERP tools,
production planning and supply chain management environments. His main

Copyright © 2016 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.

210 B. Kocaoglu and A.Z. Acar

areas of research and lecturing are MIS, production planning, SCM, ERP and
logistics information systems in SMEs. He has many articles in international
conferences and journals.

A. Zafer Acar graduated with a BS in Mechanical Engineering in 1987.

He holds two MBA degrees in Business Administration and Logistics.
He received his PhD in Business Management from Gebze Institute of
Technology. Previously, he has worked in the Turkish Army as a Military
Officer of Logistics for 21 years. Since 2008, he has been pursuing his
academic career. His research and lecturing areas are mainly focused on supply
chain management, logistics, strategic management and competitiveness. He
has published two books, many local and international papers and presented
several papers at national and international conferences.

1 Introduction

The term, ‘supply chain management’ (SCM), has risen to a reputable place over the last
ten years. According to Christopher (2011), a supply chain is “a network of organizations
that are involved, through upstream and downstream linkages, in the different processes
and activities that produce value in the form of products and services in the hands of the
ultimate customer”. The use of supply chain as a management concept has matured over
a period of time and several researchers gave their insights to make the SCM system
more robust, flexible and adaptable to each kind of organisation (Singh and Acharya,
2014). In recent years, because of the effects of new competitive global environment
created by economic, demographic and political developments, good management of
supply chains became increasingly important. SCM is an integrative philosophy to
manage the process which raw material is manufactured into final products and then
through distribution to ultimate customers, delivered by retail or both (Horvath, 2001;
Monczka and Morgan, 1997; Srinivas, 2002). Today, supply chain (SC) applications
being effective solutions to gain competitive advantage, and also firms benefit from them
to create cost advantage and customer satisfaction. SCM has become very important
technology management concept to attain the quality consciousness (Charkha and Jaju,
2014). As a result of the globalisation of the world economy, competition between
companies has risen rapidly and has become overwhelming. In such a harsh environment,
companies that need to survive have to increase quality and productivity (Şimşek, 2000).
So, businesses must adapt the environment where increased international competition,
differentiation of the customer needs and the advent of a global market insight.
By understanding, shaping and implementation of best management practices to the
business processes, they can be reached lower costs and higher responsiveness and
competitiveness.
Because of these global circumstances, today, competition is not between companies,
they are among SCs. According to Christopher (2011), “leading edge companies have
realized that the real competition is not company against company, but rather supply
chain against supply chain”. The goal of SC has become a common goal of every
 Process development in customer order information systems 211

company. Cost and service improvements which cannot be achieved by individual firms
can be achieved by firms which are in cooperation with others (Lancioni, 2000).
Operation of the communication channels fast and accurate by the members of the SC,
effects on the competitiveness. To create a competitive strategy of a firm is so crucial in
order to survive. A firm, to increase its market share, has to recognise the activities of the
other firms very well and should draw a road map accordingly.
Responding customer need and requirement are vital, as well, to sustain competitive
advantage and to hold current market share. Customer service requirements are essential
as they deal with providing reliable and on-time replies, where the customers are
interested in the length of time they will have to wait to receive their quotation. Often,
customers have an upper time limit for their desired quotation, if the time exceeds that, a
customer will either go elsewhere for his requirements, or even cancel his inquiry (or
order) entirely (Rushton et al., 2006).
On the other hand, in practice, SC needs to be flexible for both internally and
externally integration and changing customer needs. Ragatz et al. (1997) claimed that
effective integration of suppliers into product value/supply chains will be a key factor for
some manufacturers in achieving the improvements necessary to remain competitive.
Today, beyond the integration of suppliers, integration through the whole supply chain is
a key strategic priority for firms striving to achieve efficiency and responsiveness in their
supply chain (Hong et al., 2008). In this context, SC practices should be flexible in order
to changing external environment, and be integrated into the corporate systems through
process development (PD) efforts. Information technologies (IT) as a key tool which
maintain coordination between SC participants and provide solutions may offer strategic
supports through removing widespread waste of resources (Güleş et al., 2005).
Additionally, those inter organisational information systems provide the technology
infrastructure to facilitate the horizontal flow of information along strategic business
partners and vertical flow of information and goods along shippers and consignees (Lai,
2008).
So, the performance of a SC participant firm affects both itself and SC performance.
Thus to improve its performance firms need to measure their SC performance. Of course,
firms can use many techniques to measure the performance of the SC, but one of the most
important performance criteria is known to be performance metrics based on time.
In theory, an integrated enterprise resource planning (ERP) system that allows
information to transparently flow inside and outside an enterprise would benefit a firm’s
supply chain efficiency (Hsu, 2013). Therefore the main purpose of this study is to
develop a more efficient order management strategy for a SMEs through IT-based
PD activities in order gain competitive advantage by increasing time-based performance
in order cycle time. Thus, this study aims to check inquiries in a way that fulfils financial
risks and customer service requirements for a more effective order management. Most
importantly, this study also takes into account the consequences a pre-sales
implementation can have on sales cycle performance. To this extend this paper is divided
in five parts. After this section a comprehensive literature review on sales order process is
replaced. Third chapter consists of order processing by using information systems. In the
fourth chapter a case study is elaborated and an order processing model was developed.
Results and conclusion are given in the last section with some implications to the
managers and researchers.
212 B. Kocaoglu and A.Z. Acar

2 Traditional order processing and information systems

2.1 Order management

There are few sources in the literature discussing the details of order management
explicitly. Order management is however implied in the work of a number of authors.
According to Shapiro et al. (1992), order management is one of the core processes in
SCM which deals with ten basic activities which are
1 order planning
2 order generation
3 cost estimation and pricing
4 order receipt and entry
5 order selection and prioritisation
6 scheduling
7 fulfilment
8 billing
9 returns and claims
10 post sales service.
Murphy and Wood (2004) described order management as more of a phase which deals
with how firm handle incoming orders. This involves the set of activities that are
considered in the period between the time a firm receives an order and the time
warehouse is notified to ship the goods to fulfil that order (Murphy and Wood, 2004).
More importantly, Coyle et al. (2003) state that those dealing with order management in
outbound logistics require timely and accurate information related to each individual
order. This is necessary since order management is one of the keys to operational
efficiency and customer satisfaction in a SC (Khan, 2011).

2.2 Order processing and order cycle time

Order processing is strictly related to information flows in the system and includes a
number of operations. A sales order process normally consists of internal document
generation within a firm with the aim to manage sales transaction. Customers may have
to request the products by filling out an order form. These orders are transmitted and
checked. The availability of the requested items and customer’s credit status are then
verified. Later on, items are retrieved from the stock (or produced), packed and delivered
along with their shipping documentation. Finally, customers have to be kept informed
about the status of their orders.
Traditionally, order processing has been a very time-consuming activity (up to 70%
of the total order-cycle time). Thus, most of the time it has been negative effects on time
based performance of SCs. However, in recent years it has benefited greatly from
advances in electronics and IT. Bar code scanning allows retailers to rapidly identify the
required products and update inventory level records. Laptop computers and modems
 Process development in customer order information systems 213

allow salespeople to check in real time whether a product is available in stock and to
enter orders instantaneously. Electronic data interchange (EDI) allows companies to enter
orders for industrial goods directly on the seller’s computer without any paperwork
(Ghiani et al., 2004).
‘Order cycle time’ term defined as the time between when a customer order, or
service request is placed and when the product or service is received by the customer
(Ballou, 2004). According to Handfield and Nichols (2002), ‘cycle time’ is the time
required to complete a business process. Here, the ‘real work’ performed during a
business process only corresponds to a small percentage (e.g., three to five percent) of the
total elapsed time. The rest of the time is typically employed to other counterproductive,
time-consuming activities and events. It is therefore possible to improve cycle time by
eliminating and or minimising these time-consuming activities that exist (Khan, 2011).
This shows the importance that organisations are competing on the basis of time and
performance. It does not only depend on superior cost, quality, delivery and technological
performance. However, reducing the time needed to provide the end customer with
products or services results in better customer satisfaction. Therefore, companies should
find ways to improve their cycle time performance by finding common causes that exist
behind it (Handfield and Nichols, 2002; Khan, 2011).

2.3 Components of typical customer order cycle

The customer order cycle includes all of the elapsed time from the customer’s placement
of the order to the receipt of the production an acceptable condition and its placement in
the customer’s inventory. The typical order cycle consists of five main steps. Those
components of the order processing which is explained below can be seen in Figure 1.

Figure 1 Typical elements of order processing (see online version for colours)

Source: Lambert et al. (1998)

Step 1 Order preparation and transmission: ‘order preparation’ consists of these
activities; determining products and services information, filling out an order
form, determining stock availability, communicating order information (Ballou,
2004). ‘Order transmission’ is the series of events that occur between the times.
214 B. Kocaoglu and A.Z. Acar

A customer places or sends an order and the time the seller receives the order
(Ballou, 2004). Order transmission can be done in two ways.
a Manual transmission: Mailing of orders or physical carrying by the sales
staff to the order entry point. This option is slow but inexpensive.
b Electronic transmission: Using telephone, EDI, satellite communication.
This method is fast, reliable and accurate, but it allows trade-off analysis.
Step 2 Order processing (order receipt and order entry): Order processing refers to the
time from when the seller receives an order until an appropriate location (i.e.
warehouse) is authorised to fill the order (Ballou, 2004). First, orders for
completeness and accuracy must be checked. Once the order enters into the
order processing system, various checks are made to determine if
a the customer’s credit is satisfactory to accept the order
b the desired product is available in inventory in the quantities ordered, and
the product is scheduled for production if not currently in inventory.
Order form data are utilised for sales records, such as credit status reports,
billing schedules, and manufacturing/purchasing schedules. These have to be
routed to all departments. The sequence must be so determined that the flow of
information is expedited and it is ensured that documentation takes place in all
relevant departments. Customers place orders with a customer service
representative. After checking credit status, preparing back order or order
cancelling documentation must be done (Ballou, 2004). If these activities are
performed manually, a great amount of time may be required, which can
slowdown (i.e., lengthen) the order cycle. Also customer in placing an order
would need an acknowledgement and expected date of delivery. This can be
traced by ‘status reporting’.
Step 3 Order filling (order picking and packing): Generally, this step includes dispatch
of goods, invoicing, shipping and, documentation). After checking credit, prices
and etc, the order must to be transmitted to warehouse for execution. The longer
is the delay in executing the order, the larger is the possibility that customer will
cancel\amend the order. Explicit dispatch instructions to be issued to warehouse
and customer should be informed about the status of the order (Lambert et al.,
1998).
After receipt of order, the warehouse manager have to order for transport,
simultaneously preparing the documents for dispatch for the purpose of
accountant of stocks, billing and advice to the customer, billing of transportation
and intimation to all concerned including marketing, production, finance,
purchase etc. to fulfil the requirements of an integrated system. An expeditious
order processing is required. Often represents the best opportunity to improve
the effectiveness and efficiency of an order cycle (Ballou, 2004).
Step 4 Order delivery (shipment): Order delivery is the time from when a carrier
picks up the shipment until it is received by the customer (Ballou, 2004).
As just-in-time delivery has become increasingly commonplace and
customer demands continue to tighten, the importance of fast, reliable delivery
performance cannot be overstated. This is particularly true for organisations
 Process development in customer order information systems 215

competing internationally, where the complexity of the supply chain must be

managed within a global network (Milgate, 2001). The delivery performance is
a key indicator for the level of performance a company is able to provide correct
and in-time deliveries to its customers. It is a quantitative measure to benchmark
an organisation against, when it comes to translate customer-relationship related
thinking into operational context within logistics and supply-chain related
thinking. Depending on business requirements several companies (à industry
dependence) need to calculate and monitor the quantity which is delivered
in-time at different dates (SAP, online).
Step 5 Order status reporting: This step mainly considers tracing and tracking the
order throughout the entire order cycle. This step consists of communication
with the customer as to where the order may be in the order cycle and when it
may be delivered (Lambert et al., 1998).

3 Order processing by using information systems

3.1 Advantages of automated order processing and potential improvement

However, a change in the method of order placement and order entry may have the
potential for the most significant reduction in order cycle time. Reducing order cycle time
gives cost benefit to the firm while strengthening customer relationship. Beyond cost
savings, companies converting to an automated order processing system can realise
efficiencies throughout the order-to-cash cycle.
Reducing operational costs help companies to gain more free time for staff. So using
these resources, companies can spend more time to improve their customer service
processes. One way to improve is automation of order processing. This improvement
gives companies more control and insight into what is happening on a daily basis. These
factors help companies to manage customer and supplier relationships, inventory and
production, to comply with regulatory requirements, control finances and sales
forecasting better. Also it enables to bring visibility to business processes and improve
overall profitability (Esker, online).
An advanced order processing system could reduce the total order cycle time and
cost. In addition, the improved information flows could enable management to execute
the warehousing and transportation more efficiently, reduce the order cycle. Also
management can manage the financial risks more efficiently. Automated order processing
enables accuracy/reliability of the processing system is enhanced. Manual system is
normally expensive considering manual labour, lower efficiency etc. (Welingkar Institute
of Management, online). The cost of providing timely and accurate information has
dropped dramatically. The cost of labour and materials has risen. So, efforts to replace
resources with information are increasing (Lambert et al., 1998).

3.2 ERP systems

Kumar and Hillegersberg (2000) defined ERP systems as “configurable information
systems packages that integrate information and information-based processes within and
cross-functional areas in an organization”. The ERP system is a fully-integrated system
216 B. Kocaoglu and A.Z. Acar

where activities in one area generate activities in another area. The system provides
online, real-time information and one place for input of data. When a transaction is
executed in any module, ERP automatically updates data in all application modules that
are affected. Firms have recently faced the two fold challenges of the abrupt deterioration
of the global economy and continual rise in customer demands and expectations. ERP
benefits a firm in cost minimisation and service level enhancement (Chan et al., 2012).
Integrated information systems enable simplified business processes, standard data
definition, and a common business language. Simplified business processes enhance
productivity to allow focus on value-added activities. Integration eliminates need for
redundant analysis and reconciliation (Tarrant County, online).
ERP systems are designed to capture almost any business activity, and if the standard
functionality is not available, it allows you to create custom solutions to close the gap
between the pre-packaged application and the desired state. They cover most of the
standard business functions that are universal for most industries (Chudy and Castedo,
2010).
ERP solutions empower companies to automate many business processes formerly
done by hand. But to achieve a full return on investment in ERP solutions, businesses
need to automate the documents that drive business processes. Some companies have also
implemented technologies to automate document exchange, but often only to a limited
degree. Entering orders into ERP applications reduces the time it takes to turn an order
into money in the bank offers strategic benefits to the company while strengths customer
relationships. Beyond cost savings, companies converting to an automated order
processing system can realise efficiencies throughout the order-to-cash cycle (Esker,
online).
ERP systems include many modules. When only one business process takes into
consider such as ‘customer order management’, several modules will be required, as well.
We cannot think those systems simply in terms of independent modules. The ERP
application modules that support most of ‘customer order management’ processes are
sales and distribution, materials management, financial accounting, controlling and,
production planning (Peebles, 2010).

Figure 2 Simple fulfilment process

Source: Derived from Magal and Word (2010)

The figure shown above also identifies some of the documents commonly found in a
fulfilment process. The documents associated with the fulfilment process at companies
are shown in Figure 2 (Magal and Word, 2010). These documents and the key data in
each are discussed below. Following is a description of how people use an enterprise
system to complete each of the steps in the fulfilment process.
 Process development in customer order information systems 217

3.2.1 Pre-sales process

Step 1 Receive customer inquiry: In this step ‘customer inquiry’ is the main
document that utilised. An inquiry is simply a statement of prices, with no
guarantee implied. In either case, the event is recorded in the central database
(Monk and Wagner, 2012). A customer inquiry is a request for information
about the availability and prices of the products specified in the inquiry. It
includes data such as the customer, the products the customer is interested in and
the quantities desired, and the individual who actually sent the inquiry (Magal
and Word, 2010).
Step 2 Create and send quotation: In this step ‘quotation’ is the main document that
utilised. After the sales department receives the inquiry from customer, it
prepares a quotation in response. A quotation spells out the ‘availability’ and
‘prices’ of the materials specified in the inquiry. A quotation is a written,
binding document; the seller guarantees the buyer that, for some specified period
of time, he can buy the product at the quoted price (Monk and Wagner, 2012).
The quotation also includes terms of ‘payment’ and ‘delivery’.
When a company receives an inquiry from customer, firstly operator must create
a quotation. If any of the master data-material, customer or pricing-are not in the
system, then she/he must create them before she/he can proceed (Magal and
Word, 2010). Information is pulled from master data on customers and materials
to minimise data entry errors (Lambert et al., 1998). Operator will then enter the
‘products’ and ‘quantities’ from the inquiry into the system. Then, some of the
checks are executed.
a Credit check: During sales order processing, the ERP system checks the
accounts receivable tables in the ERP database to confirm the customer’s
available credit. ERP adds the value of the quotation/order to the customer’s
credit balance, and then compares the result to the customer’s credit limit
(also available in the database). If the customer has sufficient credit
available, the quotation/order is completed. If not, the ERP system prompts
sales personnel to reject the order, call the customer to check on recent
payments, or contact Accounting to discuss any extenuating circumstances
(Monk and Wagner, 2012).
b Inventory sourcing check (goods availability): When recording an
quotation/order, the ERP system checks the company’s inventory records
and the production planning records to see whether the requested material is
available and can be delivered on the date the customer desires (Monk and
Wagner, 2012). The product that will be supplied can be determined from
1 stocks on hand
2 production
3 purchase orders
that should be available (Lambert et al., 1998). Data such as the delivery
date is suggested by the system automatically based on business rules, such
as the earliest possible delivery date. Sales personnel can either accept these
suggestions or override them based on customer requests or for other
reasons.
218 B. Kocaoglu and A.Z. Acar

At the end of the Step 2, sales personnel now have the option to print the quotation and
send it to the customer by fax or mail or to have the system e-mail the quotation directly.
All the data associated with the quotation are now stored in the common database in the
enterprise system and are easily accessible to support subsequent steps in the process
(Magal and Word, 2010).

3.2.2 Sales process

Step 3 Receive customer purchase order: In this step ‘customer purchase order’ is
the main document that utilised. After receiving the quotation, the customer
must decide if the pricing and other terms offered are satisfactory. If they are,
then the customer communicates a desire to purchase the materials in the
form of a customer purchase order (PO). A purchase order is an agreement to
purchase the stated material, for the stated price, under the stated terms (Magal
and Word, 2010).
Step 4 Create sales order: In this step ‘sales order’ is the main document that utilised.
When the company receives the customer PO, it creates an internal document
called a ‘sales order’. The PO is based on the company’s original quotation, it
should contain the same information regarding the products, quantities, pricing,
and delivery date that were on the quotation.
A sales order serves two primary purposes. First, it standardises data across
all customer POs. It is easier to deal with a document (the sales order) that
always looks the same and has the same data in the same place than to deal with
customer purchase orders that vary in format and content. A second purpose of a
sales order is to create an internal record of the customer’s order that can be
used to ‘track’ progress.
In a manual environment, sales orders are multipart documents, and the data are
filled in by hand. In contrast, an enterprise system automatically captures and
stores this data. The data are then used to track the status of the order and to
calculate the time required to complete various steps in fulfilling the order.
If quotation exists, sales personnel create order referenced by related quotation.
If no quotation exists, sales personnel will have to manually enter all the data
that would have been in an order to create the sales order. And the same checks
will be executed. He then sends the sales order to the warehouse for further
processing (Magal and Word, 2010).
All of the data associated with the sales order are now stored in the common
database. Warehouse personnel can log into the system periodically to see if
there are any sales orders that require their attention. Alternatively, the system
can be configured to automatically notify persons in the Warehouse, via e-mail,
that shipments are ready to be picked and packed (Magal and Word, 2010).

3.2.3 Warehousing process

Step 5 Prepare shipment, pick and pack: In this step ‘picking document’ is the main
document that utilised. On the shipping due date, the ‘delivery documents’ are
created. The process of picking, packing, staging, and loading, (if all of these
 Process development in customer order information systems 219

steps are using in business process) can be started. ‘Transfer orders’ are used to
initiate picking. The transfer order includes data copied from the delivery
document. The confirmation of the transfer order completes the picking
activities. Delivery packing list and bill of lading output are usually triggered at
the completion of these steps.
Step 6 Send shipment, ship: In this step ‘packing list’ is the main document that
utilised. The posting of goods completes the process and results in stock
movement or a confirmation of service that changes on-hand inventory balance,
reducing it and updating the balance sheet accounts in financial accounting
(Chudy and Castedo, 2010).

3.2.4 Accounting process

Step 7 Create and send invoice: In this step ‘customer invoice’ is the main document
that utilised. Data is copied from sales or delivery document. After creating
invoice, appropriate GL account posting are executed that debit the customer’s
receivables and credit the revenues account.
Step 8 Receive payment: In this last step ‘customer payment’ is the main document that
utilised. Incoming payment from the customer is posted against the invoice
submitted earlier.

4 Case study and developed model

As outlined in the objectives, the purpose of this paper is to improve the ERP enabled
order processing technology to understand the role emphasised in the literature with
regard to a successful corporate performance. We also have developed a framework to
identify the critical points and to determine the solutions based on the case study. The
definition of problem and developed model in a case study is given below.

4.1 Problem definition: problems with case company’s pre-sales and sales
process
The entire sales process involves a series of steps that require coordination between sales,
warehouse, accounting, and receiving (Monk and Wagner, 2012). In this study we have
focused on pre-sales and sales stages, and aimed to identify the problems and solutions in
the case SME with information system support. A number of problems occur with this
process, including the following:
As a SME, case company has problems with receiving payments from his customers.
Because of customer’s financial problems and economic environment, the company
started to get problems in his cash flow. Sales personnel must confirm quotations or
orders that are over the acceptable credit risk level and be responsible. So a more serious
credit check system must be implemented. Figure 3 demonstrates the basic information
flow till creating a sales order.
The company requires to follow ‘planned-due date’ and the realised ‘receiving
payment date’ of the invoices. Plans to link the payment received performance with the
220 B. Kocaoglu and A.Z. Acar

related sales personnel. By using this strategy, sales personnel will not take into risk
himself and his company for the risky customers.

Figure 3 Pre-sales and sales process information flow

Source: Derived from Magal and Word (2010)

It takes a long time from receiving the customer inquiry to sending the quotation, and the
company misses lots of potential orders. On the other hand, preparing the master data and
collecting critical data for a new record takes long time, and sales personnel naturally
claims about this. Many possible orders have been missing because of long process cycle
time.
The company is interested in the following questions: On average, how much time
does company take to process a customer order? What is the average time to complete
each step in the process? Which customers pay promptly? Which are habitually late?
Management wants to monitor the related cycle times to start improvement projects. At
first, the following metrics are chosen:
• T1: time from receiving the inquiry-to-sending the quotation
• T2: time from sending feasibility declaration mail-to-creating a confirmed material
master data (MMD)
• T3: time from sending feasibility declaration mail-to-creating a confirmed customer
master data (CMD)
• T4: time from stock sourcing request-to-getting new date
• T5: time from creating the quotation-to-sending the quotation
 Process development in customer order information systems 221

• T6: time from creating the customer invoice-to-receiving the customer payment
(other general metrics like shipping performance, lead time etc. are not included in
this study).
So a model is needed to solve these problems and serve as a map for implementation.

4.2 Research method

Within the MIS discipline, case study methodology has been used as a means to study
information systems from a variety of different perspectives. Benbasat et al. (1987)
argued that noting that the case study methodology is an appropriate research tool when
little is known concerning a given topic or organisational phenomenon, comment that
some MIS studies, such as an implementation study, tend to happen over an extended
period of time. In these instances, the case study methodology is an excellent tool for
tracking, and recording, events that happen throughout all stages of implementation.
Benbasat et al. (1987) list three reasons why case study research is appropriate for
studying information systems. Number one in the list is the ability of case study research
to permit the researcher to study information systems in a natural setting (one goal from
this may be to generate theory based upon observations of practice). A second strategy
for case study research is its ability to assist the researcher in understanding the processes
which are happening within the organisation. Finally, the third of these reasons is that “a
case approach is an appropriate way to research an area in which few previous studies
have been carried out” (Benbasat et al., 1987).
Case study approach lends itself a good candidate to explore a multitude of factors
and dimensions that constitute a complex ERP exercise (Verville and Halingten, 2003).
Hence, we adopt the case study approach in this research. Our research also involves a
flexible design process, with the intention to facilitate reflective practice, which
encourages the analysis of a person’s (or a group of persons’) own actions as they happen
(Schön, 1983). Reflective practice facilitates one to:
a query and explore the what, why, and how of one’s actions
b brainstorm the various options and possibilities
c compare and contrast results
d understand underlying rationales (Roth, 1989).
In this study, case study method which is one of the qualitative research methods was
used. The reasons why this method was chosen are the demand to examine the topic of
the study in its living environment and the method’s giving a chance to collect
information in depth, having here search centre with unique features and having no
studies done so far. An additional reason is this method allows developing new theories
by giving opportunity to get detailed information about any topic, entity and region.

4.3 Case company profile

Case company is a SME with 150 employees and has experience of more than seven
years in ERP use. Sells products and develops new products regarding on customer
demands. Amount of sale is EUR 30 million, which %80 of export. And there are
30 concurrent users.
222 B. Kocaoglu and A.Z. Acar

Company uses many ERP modules including sales, inventory and accounting.
Company implemented big bang approach but after a period of time use, some postponed
concepts needed to rethink again.

4.4 Data collection

The pilot study based on the interviews with case company’s sales and ERP team. The
study employs a qualitative case study methodology.
The data was gathered from the case company in a series of steps. First, documents
relating to the ERP project were reviewed. This was followed by five formal interviews
with project team members; the first was with ERP project manager who provided an
overview of the system and the implementation steps, and the other four interviews
involved vendor consultant, key users involved in sales and finance modules. All
interviews were conducted face-to-face at the companies’ location. Every interview was
conducted by two or more interviewers (to achieve observer triangulation (Runeson and
Höst, 2009).
The case material was further supplemented by documents provided by the
organisations, company presentations, company web pages, and web pages of the
vendors, project plans, meeting reports, project reports, memos, and minutes of team
meetings. These activities have provided supplementary information and allowed us to
triangulate the data obtained through interviews. These interviews provided the
perspective of business users and those most affected by the system. Finally, a number of
other informal discussions were held with the following: a senior manager, the sales
manager, and IT staff members on the project team.

4.5 Developing a framework in a SME

In this section, developing a pre-sales workflow, based on information system, is
explained. This developed framework can be used in improving the current ERP system’s
functions regarding business changes.
Company agreed the following prerequisites (Ng et al., 1999): expertise in ERP,
understand the business operations and project management skills. The midsize business
environment (with its limitations) is an important governing aspect of research that is
associated with ERP adoption and needs to be part of a conceptual working model.
After listening the AS-IS state from key project personnel, we worked on to figure
out the desired TO-BE state, considering the core ERP structure. We modified and
detailed AS-IS state, added possible functions and controls. So a more clear and meeting
the needs state developed. Developed framework can be seen in Figure 4. Explanations of
some key points are below:
1 Customer inquiry: Sales personnel receive the inquiry from customer by e-mail, or
call.
2 Feasible-1?: This steps is executed manually and depends on personal experience.
Personnel checks the feasibility of the inquiry based on quantity and material type.
3 New material?: If the inquired material is standard (not new), there has already been
necessary master data.
 Process development in customer order information systems 223

4 Feasible-2?: If the inquired material is new, a second feasibility check is executed.

This step is executed manually, but helps to filter irrelevant demands that cause time
loss.
5 Declaration mail: If the inquiry and the material are feasible, a declaration mail is
sent to the necessary departments. This mail triggers the process of creation of
master data for material and customer records.
6 Create MMD: When creating a MMD, following two data consume most of the time;
6.1 Pricing: This is one of the time consuming process for new products.
6.2 Lead time: This is one of the important data for planning.
7 Confirm MMD: After entering and completing the necessary MMD, the confirmation
is sent to the sales department.
8 New customer?: If the customer is new, necessary information must be gathered.
9 Create CMD: If the customer is new, following necessary information must be
gathered;
9.1 Terms of payment: This is one of the most important data in CMD. It affects the
credit check process.
9.2 Credit limit: This is another important data in customer master. Limits are
determined by finance department and this value affects the credit check
process.
10 Confirm CMD: After entering and completing the necessary CMD, the confirmation
is sent to the sales department.
11 Create quotation: Sales personnel record the inquiry details using customer and
material master, to use information system’s functions.
12 Cash?: If the payment type is ‘cash’, there is no need to check the credit limit, then
the step goes to stock availability check process.
13 Exceeds credit?: If the customers risk exceeds the credit limit, system rejects the
inquiry and closes the record. Also updates the closing status of the inquiry with
‘exceeds credit limit’ reason. Then, sales personnel inform the customer.
14 Rejected by company: System interrupts the process with a warning message. Then,
company is informed.
15 Stock available?: If inventory is available, then status of confirmed quotation is
updated and mailed.
16 Get date: If inventory is not available, sales personnel asks planning supervisor for
an available shipping date.
17 Send quotation to customer: Confirmed quotation is sent to customer via mail from
information system.
18 Customer confirm?: If customer confirms the quotation, sends purchase order (PO)
to the case company’s sales department. Else rejects.
224 B. Kocaoglu and A.Z. Acar

19 Rejected by customer: Sales personnel updates the status of the inquiry and specifies
the reason of rejection like ‘high price’, ‘late response’, ‘late delivery date’.
20 Customer PO: Customer transmits his order to the case company’s sales department.
21 Sales order: Sales personnel create the sales order easily, referenced by the related
quotation record.
22 Picking document.
23 Packing list.
24 Customer invoice.
25 Customer payment.
The required metrics (T1, T2,…) measurable by the information system are shown in the
process (Figure 4).

Figure 4 Developed framework

1. Customer inquiry

N Y (N: No, Y: Yes)

2.
Feasible-1?

Y N
3. New
material?

N 4. Y
Feasible-2?
5. Declaration mail

N 8. New Y
T1 customer?
6. Create material
9. Create customer T3

6.1 Pricing 6.2 Lead time 9.1 Terms payment 9.2 Credit limit
T2

7. Confirm MMD 10. Confirm CMD

11. Create quotation

N Y
12. Cash?

Y T5
13. Exceed N
credit?

14. Rejected by N
company Y 15. Stock
available?

16. Get newdate T4

17. Send quotation

19. Rejected by Y
customer N 20. Customer PO
18. Customer
confirm?
21. Sales order
T6
23. Packing list 22. Picking document
25. Customer payment 24. Customer invoice
 Process development in customer order information systems 225

5 Summary of findings and conclusions

Modern ERP systems are embedded by the promise of integration that standardises
operations and thereby enables their centralised management. They promise to solve the
most urgent management problems, to mould the organisation into the desired form, and,
as a result, achieve a high level of performance. All this will be achieved by adopting an
ERP system (Granlund, 2011; Teittinen et al., 2013).
Many of the company’s sales order processes have some sort of problems, such as
incorrect pricing, excessive calls to the customer for information, order-processing
delays, missed delivery dates, and so on. Information from each system is shared either
electronically through periodic file transfers (sales order system to accounting system) or
manually by paper printout (credit status from the accounting department to sales clerks).
The high number of manual transactions creates many opportunities for data entry errors.
Further, not all the information stored in the system is available in real time, resulting in
incorrect prices and credit information.
Order cycle (replenishment cycle or lead time) refers to the time from when a
customer places an order to when goods are received. Some organisations include
‘order-to-cash’ cycle in their order management model. In this study we have expanded
order cycle to ‘order-to-cash’ cycle. Accordingly, given the authors’ interest in this issue
and to address the lack of related literature, the research problem for this study is to
develop a new pre-sales order management strategy for SMEs that will strike an
appropriate balance between customer service and financial risks.
According to this prescience in current study we aimed to develop a more efficient
order management process for a SME also that can be generalised for the others. This
process development aims to strike an appropriate balance between measuring lost times
and managing customer credit limits.

5.1 Summary of findings

With packaged software solutions like ERP systems, it is difficult to completely mould
the system to fit the existing business processes as the requirements for its development
are collected from multiple sources. As a result, inmost ERP implementations, some
degree of customisation of both ERP systems and business processes is required
(Parthasarathy and Sharma, 2014).
It is commonly known that many of companies’ sales order process have some
problems, such as incorrect pricing, excessive calls to the customer for information,
order-processing delays, missed delivery dates, and so on. Obtaining, storing, and sharing
the accurate information errors are laying at the base of those problems. Traditionally,
information obtained from customers is shared either electronically through periodic file
transfers (sales order system to accounting system) or manually by paper printout (credit
status from the accounting department to sales clerks). The high number of manual
transactions creates many opportunities for data entry errors. Further, not all the
information stored in the system is available in real time, resulting in incorrect prices and
credit information.
Advantages of the proposed system: ‘quotation’ document implemented as a ‘sales
order’ in ERP system. So checking stock automatically and credit limit became available.
This document can help to determine important sales-related data that can be accessed for
reporting purposes, to evaluate sales activities and finally to convert to sales orders (just
226 B. Kocaoglu and A.Z. Acar

copying it from related quotation), giving you a full trace of the sales activities from
establishing the contact with the customer to collecting the payment. This type of system
allows the customer service representative to determine if the ordered products are
available in inventory, and to deduct orders automatically from inventory so that items
are not promised to another customer. Quotations below the accepted credit risk level can
easily be denied. Furthermore, it became possible to calculate requested metrics. For
example T5 represents the time between processes (11–17) in Figure 4. This can easily be
calculated by the information system. This system can also integrate with ‘customer
relationship management’ (CRM) system. In addition to all of these, manual feasibility
checks, speed up the process.

5.2 Conclusions and discussions

ERP systems do not only enable end users to execute the regular transactional processes
efficiently in all functional areas, but also have the potential to be applied to facilitate
executives’ work in various ways: to manager sources effectively (Shih, 2006), support
rapid decision-making (Wu and Wang, 2007), and leverage competitive advantages (Shao
et al., 2012; Chou et al., 2014).
In this study, an attempt has been made to study order processing in order to manage
the system more efficiently. The purpose of the study is to explore the application of an
existing case process and develop a framework through empirical data collection and
analysis. The sales order processing in ERP systems seemed interesting at the beginning
of ERP implementation, but advanced developments occurring over the past decade, that
it is not entirely suited to the current EIS environment. There is a need to clearly integrate
customer order parameters and variables into any ERP framework. The results then
would provide a more appropriate process for enhancing supply chain competitiveness.
Though the empirical study helped identify more specific attributes of sales order
processing in ERP, a case study with detailed data collection based on the developed
framework would help to further develop a more precise framework not only for
developing process, but also for its implementation.
Due to complex, uncertain and asymmetric business conditions, the flow of
information among SC linkages is essential for competitiveness (Pujara and Kant, 2013).
This linkage starts from companies’ internal process. There is a need to examine a
company and determine what truly makes it better than the competition? Not in terms of
product or service offerings – but the internal focus of the organisation (Dubey and Ali,,
2013).
We think that the results are not specific to case company and we assume they could
apply to other companies, especially are SMEs. Additional studies may validate this
assumption. However, there are not many studies concerned with the internal sales order
process. At first the process seems simple, but small points can cause big troubles. By
using a case study method, we analysed the process and real life problems.
The mentioned improvements support customer services, these services are often
perceived as very convenient or novel by customers, and tend to improve the firm’s
competitive position. A firm can introduce more innovative service processes than
competitors by ensuring that customer needs and wants are satisfied and manifested in
the service operations routines particularly when service process innovation is coupled
 Process development in customer order information systems 227

with another capability such as customer problem solving, customer information

acquisition and utilisation, and/or the coordination of actions among the salesforce.

5.3 For future directions

It is clear that this study assists in identifying the pre-sales process in the development of
an order management system. The following are some potential research directions based
on the limitations of the current research.
In current study some issues still remain open and must be improved. For instance, all
coming inquiries are not recorded in this study. Because the focal firm thinks that
irrelevant requests must be declined, before they enter the system. But this disables to get
the process start time of the confirmed inquiries. It is hard to calculate a clear T1 (1–17).
On the other hand, in Step 5, declaration mails are sent via external mail software.
This information must be sent by an enterprise information system and the data will be
more accurate and traceable. This will also enable to calculate metrics T2 (5–11) and
T3 (5–11). Step 16 is executed manually and must be improved. When customers place
an order, they usually inquire about the delivery date. In current situation, to get a
shipping date, the sales clerk must contact the planning supervisor and ask whether the
customer’s order can be immediately shipped from inventory, or whether shipping will be
delayed until a future production run is delivered to the warehouse. However, because the
planning supervisor is generally too busy to get an updated inventory count, total all the
orders waiting to be filled, and find out how many other orders are in process in the sales
office, she can only estimate the shipping date. It requires the implementation and
integration of capacity scheduling module (APS – advanced planning and scheduling)
with sales module and quotation records. Additionally, how the credit limit will be
calculated for new customer is still a question. Besides, manual feasibility checks speed
up the process but, they are personnel dependent and may cause trouble in some
situations. So a more clear definition must be defined an implemented, based on business
rules. But the key point is, not to waste much time in these control processes. Step 12
seems logical for the focal firm. Company does not execute a credit check for the
quotations that have terms with for ‘cash’ payment. Accordingly, these processes require
the integration of sales, accountant, inventory modules. Also integration of APS and
CRM modules can help to achieve more satisfactory results.
Also integrating hardware technologies can help to achieve more successful results.
For example: FedEX and UPS use Laser-beam bar coding, a worldwide computer
network. Software system must be designed for tracing and tracking systems (Lambert
et al., 1998).
In order to expand this research, this framework could be applied to different scaled
(small) companies, and those of different industries. Additionally critical point mentioned
above must be analysed and be improved within the other industries, as well. The
improvements should be effected for better order improvements, thereby improving
overall order processing. Although there are some limitations and further research issues
remaining, the authors believe that the study can help many companies successfully
improve the performance of business processes.
228 B. Kocaoglu and A.Z. Acar

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