Purchase Order System at ABC Company

Gap Analysis of Purchase order system at ABC Company

As Is System

To Be System

Manual Control Register

Control Register details maintained in a Database of a system

Uncontrolled Purchase order numbering

Centralized automated Purchase order numbering system

Manual Triplication of Bill

Shooting E mails attaching the Bills to Supplier, Project Manager and Account Department Downloadable file option for Pos maintained on the portal

Hard Copies lost when removed from file for discussions/clarification

Changes in PO are communicated to supplier over Phone hence improper recording

Ticket to be raised before any changes and Communication of changes to the supplier given after the changes are recorded in the system Maintenance of Master Price List and Supplier List

Different prices for same item ordered

No systematic monitoring of Cash flows

Consolidated report detailing site wise POs and collection made

Requirement Analysis

1) List Requirements I. II. III. IV. V. VI. VII. VIII. System generated PO number with User and location component coded. PO can be viewed/saved in PDF form from the application. Same can then be printed Every PO raised for a particular project is routed to that projects PM for approval. He can also consolidate orders for the same supplier before forwarding them. Every change to a PO(by PM/supplier) raised as a separate ticket and needs to be approved as well. Master list of prices and suppliers. Bill generation against an order. PO closed upon payment receipt Tracking of payment cycle from client to ABC company to supplier. Report generation w.r.t. supplier payments and open/close Pos.

2) Prioritize requirements

Requirement System generated PO number PO in PDF form Approval Change ticket Master List Bill generation Payment report PO report

Business Value High

Business Risk High

Implementation Likelihood of Priority difficulty success Low High 1

High High Medium Medium High

Medium High Medium Low Medium

Low Low Medium High Low Medium

High High High Low High High

4 2 3 8 5 6

High(cash Low flow management) High Low

Medium

High

Flowchart
1. Proposed Process Flow

2. Cash Flow

3. Interactions

Use Cases:

1. Use Case for ABC Project Manager

Login

Approve PO

Update PO Status

Cancel PO

Close PO

Approve Ticket

2. Use case for Supplier

Login

Request for cancellation

Edit PO

3. Use Case for ABC Site Employee

Login

Place PO

Request for cancellation

Raise ticket for PO change

External Condition Considerations:

1. Data Migration

Data migration is a key element to consider when adopting any new system. One would think that any two systems that maintain the same sort of data must have performed similar tasks. Therefore, information from one system should map to the other with ease. However, this is rarely the case. With the stop-gap solution proposed, there lays an inherent question regarding the migration of legacy data to the database of the web portal. The legacy data migration may involve entering the data manually, moving disk files from one folder (or computer) to another, database insert queries, developing custom software, or other methods. The specific method used for any particular system depends entirely on the systems involved and the nature and state of the data being migrated. Our existing system records the data manually hence; any migration that has to be done should be manually entered to the database. With the time consuming pattern of manual data entry we decide to enter only selective data and not all legacy data (As the new system would have a complete data migration and the proposed solution is just a 12 month operating stop-gap solution.) Our Data selection would be based on creation date (last 2 months), based on status of case open or closed (open status). Adding proper validations for the field would ensure that the duplicate PO numbers are eliminated. Data Migration Criteria 1. Only those data that were created in the past two months 2. All the POs that are in open status should be migrated to the new database 3. Migration Duration: The Migration should take 10 days of manual entry 2. Disaster Management and Disaster Risk Reduction

Web portal are under a constant threat of attacks through various injections patterns. It is important to maintain a disaster management plan for such attacks. Web portals also involve downtimes and power outage issues. To avoid downtime issues and provide users with a seam less service it is important to have a alternate server locations and database maintenance. It would incur extra cost but is imperative to have as it provides insurance against future disasters.

1. Alternate locations of servers for seamless and downtime free website 2. Databases at multiple location to prevent any data overload or delay 3. A Disaster Management system must be in place in case of a natural calamity 3. Training and Coaching

With the new technology and new mode of data entry it is also important to have training of the employees to use the new system. This would also help in clearing some of the apprehensions of the new web portal technology. The employees responsible must also be educated the importance of entering data in the web system, that would provide clarity to the earlier illegible triplicate copy and would speed up the process of the procurement. For a new system to be adapted to the organization one of the main resistance is the successful adoption of the technology by the members (specially the users of the technology process) to adopt the new technology without apprehensions. The training module would be a mandate for all the personnel involved in crate a purchase order to validating it. The module must also include training of the suppliers involved, as they would be responsible for undertaking the purchase order and delivering the goods efficiently. The training module would delay the operations of the new system by a few days; however it is important to understand the impact of the training on the smooth function of the operations. 1. Dedicated training hours for the employees responsible in making and validating the purchase orders 2. Training module and documentation available for the suppliers for seamless delivery of the orders 3. Support team to clear the doubts and help the employees in handling the new web portal

Snapshots of proposed system: