- Quick response time: Reduction in the time to determine deliver y dates for standard products from days to over the phone, or on-line during the order inquiry request.
- Order amendments: Where an order change is requested and approved, we provide the facilities to determine the status of the order (to figure out if the change is feasible), re-plan and reschedule based on the current status of the order.
- Pricing: Reduction of time to price an inquiry for standard products while providing on-line instant feedback during the inquiry process.
- Product definition: A depositor y of specifications, including AISI, ASTM, custom specifications, definition of grades, product catalogue, and testing rules.
- Standard orders: The order inquiry system is designed to automatically handle standard orders, including pricing, promise date calculation, order entry and order confirmations. The order is then entered into the production plan and production capacity can be allocated, or held waiting for receipt of the confirming purchase order.
- Custom and non-standard orders: The order entry system allows for entering custom orders into the system. As these may require discussions by technical staff they are routed to those areas to address specifics of the inquiry with the customer and allow for easy entry into the production cycle.
- New inquiries can be entered, priced, planned and confirmed while the customer is on the phone. Rapid turnaround of inquiries helps to build customer satisfaction, and can lead to higher inquiry capture rates.
- All fields can be validated using user-defined rules, and lists of values are used extensively to virtually eliminate clerical errors.
- Shipping and billing details are entered automatically from the customer’s profile.
- Taxes, duties and estimated freight charges are calculated automatically.
- Quickly review customer’s credit status. Approvals can be granted automatically, or by authorized users.
- Line items are rich in steel-industry specific detail, including product type, end usage, final product shape, dimensions and tolerances, grade, quality, specifications, special chemistry requests, special tests. Each line item can have a distinct shipping destination.
- Line items can be priced automatically, and the standard cost is calculated to determine the potential profit margin on any order.
- Advanced automatic and manual stock search capabilities to fulfill orders quickly.
- Reserve stock, purchases or Advanced Shipping Notices (ASN) directly to any line item.
- Support is provided to manage third party inventories.
- Create and manage complex Work Instructions for manufactured or value added products. Standardized Work Instructions can be attached to customer parts.
- Corrective actions may be suggested for inquiries that exceed or violate company policy.
- Inquiries can be set to expire automatically if not confirmed within a specified number of business days.
- System handles multiple units of measure.
- Sales orders are generated upon confirmation of the inquiry. The confirmation report can be automatically sent to the customer via email or fax.
- Any existing sales order can be used as a template for new orders or inquiries. Query-by-example search tools are provided to quickly look-up sample orders.
- Inquiries or sales orders can be priced automatically as soon as they are entered into the system.
- Pricing components may be based on any sales order property, including freight, quality, alloys, special packaging, tests, and other surcharges.
- Any number of customizable pricing schedules can be entered with effective dates.
- Pricing schedules can be customer specific to allow for negotiated contract pricing.
- Invoices are automatically printed or sent electronically to the customer when the order is ready to ship.
- Multiple currencies are supported.
- Blanket orders are supported, with the ability to create any number of scheduled releases. Customers can be allowed to manage their releases securely via the Internet.
- Support provided for toll-processing orders and inter-company transfers.
- Real-time production and shipping status is available for any sales order. Status can be queried securely by customers via the Internet.
- Workflow management tools ensure that each step in the order process is completed successfully, every time.
- Maintains a detailed log of all revisions to a sales order.
- Extensive sales and profitability analysis capabilities provided using advanced Business Intelligence tools.
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