What authorizes the warehouse to pick the goods from the shelf and send them to the shipping department?

Our first view of the process is a general one. Figure 11.5 portrays the M/S process in the form of a context diagram. Recall that a context diagram defines our area of interest. Although it presents an abstract view of the process, it serves the purpose of delineating the domain of our study. In Figure 11.5, one input enters the process and seven outputs emerge. Also, notice the entities in the relevant environment with which the M/S process interacts. Some of these entities reside outside the organization (Customer and Carrier), whereas some are internal to the organization but external to the M/S process (payroll process and revenue collection process.)1 These internal entities are covered in detail in subsequent chapters.

Figure 11.5 The M/S Process—Context Diagram 

Figure 11.6 presents a level 0 diagram of the M/S process. Observe that the inputs and outputs are identical to those presented in Figure 11.5. As you recall, this balancingof inputs and outputs is an important convention to observe when constructing a set of data flow diagrams. The single bubble in Figure 11.5 has been divided into three bubbles in Figure 11.6, one for each of the three major functions performed by the M/S process. 2 Additional data flows connecting the newly partitioned bubbles appear, as do the data stores used to store various sets of data.3

Review Question

What are the three major processes? What are the subsidiary processes of each major process?

The physical means used to disseminate the order may vary from using a paper sales order form to using computer screen images as illustrated in Figure 11.7. Regardless of the physical form used, we generally expect the dissemination to include the following data flows:

• A picking ticket authorizes the warehouse to “pick” the goods from the shelf and send them to shipping. The picking ticket identifies the goods to be picked and usually indicates the warehouse location.
• A packing slip is attached to the outside of a package and identifies the customer and the contents of the package.
• A customer acknowledgment is sent to the customer to notify him or her of the order’s acceptance and the expected shipment date.
• A sales order notification is sent to the billing department to notify it of a pending shipment.
• The bill of lading represents a contract between the shipper and the carrier in which the carrier agrees to transport the goods to the shipper’s customer.

The carrier’s signature on the bill of lading, and/or the customer’s signature on some other form of receipt, substantiates the shipment.

Review Question

What do the terms picking ticket, packingslip, bill of lading,tickler file, and one-forone checkingmean?

applications are usually viewed as being focused on operational or analytical applications

focus on providing the info needed to monitor and control business processes

allow the use of sophisticated statistical and other analytical software to help understand customers, processes and markets

authorizes the warehouse to "pick" the goods from the shelf and send them to shipping. Identifies goods to be picked and (usually) warehouse location

sent to notify customer of order's acceptance and expected shipment date

doc or computer message sent to the billing department to notify them of a pending shipment

contract between shipper and carrier in which carrier agrees to transport goods to shipper's customer

sent w/ the package to identify the customer, destination, and contents

record of every authorized, regular customer

record of each item that is stocked or regularly ordered from a vendor

repository of a variety of sales-oriented data from presales or sale activities

created on completion of a sales order and updated when goods have been shipped

devices that use light reflection to read differences in bar code patterns in order to identify a labeled item

Optical character recognition

used similar to bar code readers, for pattern recognition of handwritten or printed characters

input devices that capture printed images or docs and convert them into electronic digital signals that can be stored on computer media

Digital image processing systems

computer based systems for capture, storage, retrieval, and presentation of images of objects, such as pictures and documents

performed to ensure that an org does not overextend credit to a customer

Compare picking ticket to picked goods

ensures the correct goods are picked from the shelf and any errors are detected and corrected in a timely manner. Example of one-for-one checking

Independent shipping authorization

establishes, for the shipping personnel, that someone other than the warehouse personnel authorized the shipment

Compare shipment to sales order and picking ticket

ensures the shipment will be authorized and accurate

independent customer master data maintenance

assumes a segregation of duties between personnel who create the customer record (authorize sales) and the personnel who create the sales order (execute sales)

Review file of open sales orders (tickler file)

detects any shipments that should have taken place. ensures that all shipments are made in a timely matter

Which document authorizes the warehouse to pull items for shipment to a customer?

Which data store contains a record of each item that is stocked in the warehouse or is regularly ordered from a vendor?