Written Case Study: Champion Snacks

Today, the introduction of ERP can enhance the performance of organizations consistently. At this point, it is possible to refer to the case of Champion Snacks which faces considerable problems at the moment because of the poor information processing and overload of the company with paperwork. The introduction of ERP could tackle those problems successfully and, therefore, improve the performance of the company.

At the moment, Champion Snacks faces several problems. First, filling papers to transfer goods from warehouse to sellers, such as stores, raises the problem of the low efficiency of employees performance and poor interaction between the sales department and warehouse. When goods from the warehouse are delivered to the sales department and to sellers, employees have to fill in paper forms. Obviously, this procedure is time consuming. As a result, the working time is used ineffectively, since employees are wasting their time on filling in paper forms, while customers may be awaiting for the completion of their orders. Moreover, such a situation creates the risk of losing clients, who may be unwilling to wait and need goods of the company urgently. At the same time, the company may deliver less goods to customers because of the time consuming procedure of goods transfer from the warehouse to the sales department.

Another serious problem refers to the sales department and accounting department of the company. Sales quotes are written on 3 parts written forms which increase the risk of arithmetic errors being made by salespersons. As a result, the error made by a salesperson may affect the accounting department since real revenues will differ from revenues the company has on paper forms. Errors made by salespersons will lead to errors made by accountants and, thus, the accounting system of Champion Snacks will be inaccurate and ineffective.

In such a situation, the introduction of ERP such as SAP could tackle many problems the company is currently facing. First, the information between departments could be shared in real-time via the information system developed in terms of ERP. ERP implies the automation of the information processing and employees will not need much time to complete orders made by customers. As a result, the transfer of goods from the warehouse to the sales department will be accelerated. The company will be able to supply more products to its customers and gain higher revenues. At the same time, the interaction between the sales department and the warehouse will be automated and, thus, more effective since employees will focus on their work solely, instead of filling in paper forms.

Furthermore, the automation of the information processing will minimize the risk of arithmetic and other errors since the human interference will be minimal, while manual processing of information stored on paper will be virtually excluded. Therefore, the accounting system of the company will function well and the risk of errors made by salespersons will decrease. Moreover, even if salespersons make errors, they may be corrected by ERP and the automated system. The ERP will make the information processing fast and precise that will increase the overall effectiveness of employees’ performance as they will have more time to focus on their duties and responsibilities.

Thus, the introduction of ERP, such as SAP, will have a positive impact on the organizational performance and eliminate problems Champion Snacks is facing at the moment.