As depicted in the above systems flowchart and from the case, FreezeTime’s purchase and payment procedure comprises of several stages. The first stage is order needs assessment.
This stage is triggered when the employees within FreezeTime, Inc make Carly and Nancy aware of the need for certain suppliers and materials. This stage is very significant for Carly or Nancy because it highlights any supplies and materials needed in the business.
Once the need to make an order for supplies and materials has been ascertained, the next stage is purchase order generation. The office manager or the company accountant feeds in the order details into the accounting system eventually generating a purchase order which is then faxed to the suppliers.
The next stage in the systems flowchart for FreezeTimes’s purchase and payment process is the receipt of the faxed purchase order by the supplier. At this stage, the supplier begins the processing of the purchase order placed.
As depicted in the case, the company accountant occasionally makes calls to the supplier just to ensure that the purchase orders have been received on the other end of the supply chain.
This is very critical for FreezeTime, Inc especially in the event that the orders that have been placed are special in nature. This stage usually culminates into the shipment and final receipt of the supplies at FreezeTime’s factory.
This stage is regarded as the order fulfillment stage because the new inventory is received at the company. The order fulfillment stage basically involves the verification of the new inventory. This is a very critical stage because it ascertains whether the goods that have been shipped conform to the purchase order that had earlier been sent to the suppliers.
The rationale is that the supplier is expected to have delivered only the goods that had been specified in the purchase order in terms of their right quantities and qualities and at the agreed prices. If this objective has not been achieved, then FreezeTime, Inc can return the inventory back to the suppliers.
Once the inventories have well been received, they are documented. This is another value adding stage within FreezeTimes’s purchase and payment process given that the records have to be well kept.
It is important that FreezeTime, Inc keep an updated record of the goods that have received in terms of the right quantities, prices, quality and other important parameters.
The case mentions clearly that this documentation is done by either Carly or Nancy themselves in comparison with the initial purchase. It is only then that the records are well documented in the computer system. The need for documentation cannot be overemphasized since it would further assist Carly or Nancy in monitoring and controlling the movement of stock.
The final stage in the systems flowchart is the payment of bills. This is yet another critical and value adding procedure within FreezeTimes’s purchase and payment process. It is indicated in the case that bills are paid on the first and fifteenth days of the month.
Bills are paid only after the orders have been received, verified and well documented. During this process, any outstanding invoices are examined along with any information that could be vital for purposes of check printing.
The printed checks are then mailed together with other necessary documents to the suppliers marking the end of the purchase process.
This implies that once the payment has been made, it is only then that Carly or Nancy can rest assured that the purchase and payment process has been accomplished. This would also imply that they do not owe any suppliers any money, and that their goods have been delivered appropriately.
The value that the above systems flowchart describing FreezeTimes’s purchase and payment process would bring to Carly or Nancy would be enormous.
First, it represents the various activities and how they follow one another from the time the need for an order is established to the time the order is finally delivered and paid for. This sequential flow of events would help Carly or Nancy to easily monitor how far a particular order has gone and make necessary adjustments until they finally receive the order.
The above systems flowchart describing FreezeTimes’s purchase and payment process also represents how the various processes are related to one another. This interrelationship between the various processes can help Carly or Nancy to make significant improvements within the purchase and payment process.
By analyzing these relationships, Carly or Nancy can easily acquire information on the various elements within each process which they can then use to make sound decisions to improve the business. Carly or Nancy would be in a position to evaluate how each of the processes within the purchase and payment process is performing thereby being able to take corrective measures.
The above systems flowchart for FreezeTimes’s purchase and payment process would also help not only Carly or Nancy but also every employee within the organization to better understand how the various processes are related. In this manner Carly or Nancy would be able to pinpoint those operations which are not beneficial within the business.
The systems flowchart would also go a long way in enhancing the communication and team spirit of the employees within the firm. This would be brought about because every employee would be aware of the various process flows within the businesses.
As such, every employee would operate at the same level within the firm. By being aware of what happens at each stage of the purchase and payment process, which will have arisen from the enhanced communication, every employee of FreezeTime, Inc would feel part and parcel of the organizational and business processes. This would lead to increased employee motivation and consequently improved productivity of the organizational human resources.