Lone Pine Outfitter Analysis
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Lost Pine Outfitters System Revision and Recommendations
Adam Mason
Associate Degree in Cyber-Security, Southern New Hampshire University
IT-200-X4858 Fundamentals Info Technology 22EW4
Brian Reiner
April 23, 2022
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Lost Pine Outfitters System Revision and Recommendations
Lost Pine Outfitters, based out of Bastrop, Texas, is an outdoor clothing shop with intentions to be affordable for those seeking a good piece of clothing at a reasonable price. Utilizing both a physical and online presence, Lost Pine Outfitters, here to be referred to as LPO,
has a single warehouse to fulfill online and physical orders. Contained in the warehouse, a sales associate fulfills orders sent directly to the warehouse, monitored and tracked via a single work terminal, of which is also used to track incoming orders, locate inventory items, and designates selected items for order fulfillment. Upon the fulfillment of the order, the order is then assigned a tracking number, and is manually updated as it processes throughout its delivery by an associate. Upon successful delivery, an associate then also mails out a card for surveying quality of the purchasing experience, and overall quality of the product. In brief, this system is far too reliant upon the human element, without any consideration of automation, or an actual efficient system in place to maintain records, orders, fulfillment, or even an efficient system to monitor and submit reviews to.
To first create a superior system, one must first identify the parts of the system already in
place, both that do, and do not work. From the start, a node that stands out sharply would be that
of the single work terminal for all associates in the warehouse to use for fulfillment, inventory updates, and every other task required of the warehouse associates. This is an easy point to solve.
Provide each part of the warehouse with a terminal to ensure steady workflow and proper management of customer and business data. In addition, this would alleviate the discrepancies, allowing everyone to maintain their logs at a constant rate, in tandem with regular TPS report submissions to a central server, of which is the central hub of the newly renovated system. As a recommendation, I suggest, as it is described on the Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Website (2022),
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the “HPE ProLiant MicroServer Gen10 Plus G5420 8GB-U S100i 4LFF-NHP 180W External PS Server”, priced at $799 before tax, allowing it be cost efficient for business needs.
On the note of feedback loops, one that is immediately obvious is, mentioned in the client specifications report, is the frequent discrepancies between inventory database and inventory tracking. This, ultimately, slows business even further than it may already be slowed, as not only is there one terminal for the entirety of warehouse staff to use, but now it is further being monopolized to update and re-update inventory information every hour, perhaps even more frequently than that. Again, the simple solution is multiple terminals for each section of warehouse operations to reduce downtime, and ultimately, remove the slow-down feedback loop.
However, this may have the result of more information to process, thus resulting in a slow-down further down the line to maintain databases necessary to keep everything together. But, as recommended previously, a central server to keep database clean and organized to track inventory and manage inventory database as well. With this, you would also need business management software, and inventory management software as well, to reduce the need for manual digital inventory upkeep. At a glance, I recommend both “Fishbowl”, an inventory management software for small to medium sized businesses, and intuits “Quickbooks”, a book-
keeping software made for businesses of any size. To state it simply, there is no reason a company managing both a physical storefront and an online presence needs to maintain inventory, orders, and finances personally, when they can afford pieces of software to maintain it
for them. Now, constructing the new system, we would also utilize Googles ability to create a business page to remove the need for cards to be mailed to clients. Perhaps, in addition to mailed
out products, you can include a QR code to the LPO’s online review page, to leave reviews of
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the purchasing and shipping experience, in addition to the sites URL on the card as well. As an added idea, perhaps with the order confirmation and tracking number email, include the review link as well. However, none of this would be possible without a recommended storefront software, to make orders much more standard and send out tracking numbers automatically, instead of manually tracked and updated via associate. Shopify is an online e-commerce template that can help immensely as well, automatically updating order numbers, status, and delivery dates, in addition to streamlining purchasing and payment methods.
With all new parts of this system suggested, the final step is to compile them into a final, far superior system for LPO. To do this, lets start at the transaction phase. First, a customer submits an order, via Shopify, to the warehouse for an item. Inventory tracking, via its terminal, says, in basic terms, “Yes, this item is in stock”. Then, Inventory database, via their terminal, then says “Item is in x row of y shelf in z part of warehouse.” Warehouse associates then pull the
item, packaging it promptly and updating the Shopify status with the tracking number, at which point an email is sent with the tracking number, a link to the Google store page to leave a review,
and seeing as this is a small-scale company, a small paragraph thanking the customer for choosing Lost Pine Outfitter. At a public facing level, most qualms have been settled and the client experience is far smoother. Now, for the business itself, after the order is placed, the central server, located at the retail store, would hold the data, the tracking numbers, and Quickbooks reports. This, in turn, makes it easier for the company to manage and see what’s selling where, how well its selling, among other things.
In a word, LPO’s original infrastructure was very poor. A single terminal, lagging all aspects of the business and delivery, and severely limiting inventory and financial management. With the simple addition of a few computers, software, and a server, we cut negative feedback
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loops out to the betterment of the system as a whole. In its entirety, this new system is far superior to the one LPO had originally, and should result in increased business and turn-arounds on orders and far more consistent inventory management.
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References
Fishbowl (2022) Fishbowl Warehouse https://www.fishbowlinventory.com/products/fishbowl-
warehouse
Intuit (2022) Intuit Quickbooks https://quickbooks.intuit.com/#accounting-for-business
Packard, Hewlett (2022) HPE ProLiant MicroServer Gen10 Plus G5420 8GB-U S100i 4LFF-
NHP 180W External PS Server https://buy.hpe.com/us/en/servers/tower-servers/hpe-
proliant-microserver-gen10-plus/hpe-proliant-microserver-gen10-plus-g5420-8gb-u-
s100i-4lff-nhp-180w-external-ps-server/p/P16005-001?
ef_id=Cj0KCQjw6pOTBhCTARIsAHF23fIJFHS_tQEyKmMizem56uXZXx2eeqYI3c74
e_zuD1ZB5QJ81Lzgw7waAilJEALw_wcB:G:s&s_kwcid=AL!13472!3!
331628972784!!!g!852703508315!!1707918369!
67076417419&gclsrc=aw.ds&gclid=Cj0KCQjw6pOTBhCTARIsAHF23fIJFHS_tQEyK
mMizem56uXZXx2eeqYI3c74e_zuD1ZB5QJ81Lzgw7waAilJEALw_wcB
Shopify (2022) Shopify E-Commerce Software https://www.shopify.com
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