Santa’s Gift Request and Fulfillment Workflow

We got a rather urgent request from Santa yesterday to digitize and streamline the gift request and fulfillment process. It seems that the high volume of gift requests, as well as involvement of Mrs. Claus, who thought Santa was a bit too generous with high-end gifts, really slowed down the operation. With barely 36 hours left Santa was really concerned and reached out to us about digitizing and streamlining the whole process using ZFlow.

After looking at the current situation we recommended that Mrs. Claus review gift requests that are above $1,000 and let others go directly to Santa. Mrs. Claus was fine with our suggestion. In the new streamlined process, we added a rule that would involve Mrs. Claus only when the estimated cost of the gift is more than $1,000.

In addition, since all the stakeholders related to the process (Santa’s COO, Santa’s helpers…) are on the same page they get advanced visibility into the requests so that they can plan their work properly. In the process below, gift preparation is done by Santa’s helpers and gift delivery is supported by Santa, Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen, and Rudolph.

 

 

 

The following roles were designed to support the process

 

The list below shows who is performing the roles as part of the workflow

 

My Gift Request

I quickly took advantage of the request process to put in my gift request.

 

I hope Mrs. Claus approves my request. I know Santa will given how much he likes fast cars.

 

And look what I found in our garage this morning. Thank you Mrs. and Mr Claus!

 

 

Santa’s Gift Request and Fulfillment Workflow

We got a rather urgent request from Santa today to digitize and streamline the gift request and fulfillment process. It seems that the high volume of gift requests, as well as involvement of Mrs. Claus, who thought Santa was a bit too generous with high-end gifts, really slowed down the operation. With barely 36 hours left Santa was really concerned and reached out to us about digitizing and streamlining the whole process using ZFlow.

After looking at the current situation we recommended that Mrs. Claus review gift requests that are above $1,000 and let others go directly to Santa. Mrs. Claus was fine with our suggestion. In the new streamlined process, we added a rule that would involve Mrs. Claus only when the estimated cost of the gift is more than $1,000.

In addition, since all the stakeholders related to the process (Santa’s COO, Santa’s helpers…) are on the same page they get advanced visibility into the requests so that they can plan their work properly. In the process below, gift preparation is done by Santa’s helpers and gift delivery is supported by Santa, Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen, and Rudolph.

 

 

 

The following roles were designed to support the process

 

The list below shows who is performing the roles as part of the workflow

 

My Gift Request

I quickly took advantage of the request process to put in my gift request.

 

I hope Mrs. Claus approves my request. I know Santa will given how much he likes fast cars.

 

And look what I found in our garage this morning. Thank you Mrs. and Mr Claus!

 

 

Opportunity-to-Cash (OTC) Process Orchestration for Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) and Hardware Companies

Digitizing Lead-to-Cash process is one of the best ways to improve sales performance, fulfillment, customer experience and time-to-usage-and-billing in software-as-a-service (SaaS) and hybrid hardware+software companies. In fact, the effectiveness and speed with which SaaS, PaaS and IaaS organizations can execute the lead-to-cash process can determine many of the key metrics, including Customer Acquisition Cost, Lead Velocity, Recurring Revenue Growth, Net New Recurring Revenue, and others.

 

Streamlining Lead-to-Cash process to be digital and effective is anything but simple because of the cross-functional nature and number of systems and people that are involved. Specific pain points include:

  • Orchestrating Sub-processes (complex quote development, new customer onboarding, partner based manufacturing and fulfillment, provisioning software/hardware, billing set up)
  • Master Data Management(Customer Master, Product Master (Initial and Lifecycle), Pricing Master, Vendor Master) and Process Synchronization across CRM, Subscription Billing, and ERP systems
  • Closing the loop between Customer-facing, fulfillment and ERP systems (Changes to orders, renewals and amendments..)
  • Uniform view of the main Lead-To-Cash process and sub-processes across CRM and ERP systems and for all Stakeholders

Getting Your SAP System Ready For Remote Work

The global coronavirus pandemic is truly a once in a lifetime black-swan event. And we seem to be in the early stages of an unfolding multi-faceted (public safety, economic, and supply chain) crisis. As of today the more than half of the world’s population is staying home to mitigate the spread and to flatten the curve. In addition, it is increasingly looking like the crisis in varying degrees will be with us until a proven vaccine is taken by majority of the world’s population. As a result the trend of remote work is here to stay with us for the foreseeable future. Email, video-conferencing, messaging will be main modes of collaboration for getting work done.

However, many of the key processes that run the business on a day-to-day basis rely on ERP systems like SAP. And SAP, especially the older versions, have not been very amenable to remote and collaborative work for a variety of reasons. With ZFlow for SAP, your SAP ERP system regardless of its age, transforms into a collaborative business process portal accessible by anyone, anytime, and from everywhere.

We have also made ZFlow free to use until Dec 31, 2020. In Q4 2020, we will make a decision on whether we should extend the free use of ZFlow into 2021.

 

A New Era for Master Data Management

Considering the importance of master data for achieving operational excellence in finance, purchasing, sales, commerce, manufacturing and supply chain, it is a surprise how inadequately and ineffectively current master data management (MDM) solutions support the master data lifecycle management. We know a thing or two about Master Data because master data management (MDM) workflows are some of the most popular workflows deployed on ZFlow.

We also developed significant appreciation for Master Data because of deep support for New Product and Supply Chain Development in ZFlow. As a matter of fact, what we have seen is that much of the master data (creation/changes) is usually an outcome of product development and supply chain processes. Most certainly Master Data Management is not

 

In addition,

How Master Data Management Really Looks like

Instead master data management should be an outcome of business workflows like this

New Supplier Creation

 

 

New SKU

 

Materials Master Data Management

Materials MDM needs its own post – Mastering Materials Master Data Management.

ZFlow for Master Data Management

ZFlow is a fresh and effective take on Master Data Management. Master Data Management in ZFlow is an outcome of functional business processes related to New Product Development and Introduction, Commerce, Procurement, Supply Chain Planning, Logistics and Maintenance Planning. In addition, it is reimagined take on what an effective master data management solution should support

 

Lastly, ZFlow also happens to be the most customer friendly solution in the market.

 

Mastering Materials Master Data Management

Material, also called item/part/product in other domains and solutions, is THE most important master data object as it is central to many mission-critical business processes in sales, commerce, design, manufacturing, logistics, customer service and maintenance. The creation of material is an extremely cross-functional exercise that spans the whole supply chain. What starts off as a vision and a sketch on a napkin turns into a finished product. Like the Cybertruck below.

Coming back to the topic of Materials Master Data Management. We have seen a very unfortunate pattern of data entry oriented master data management tools (MDM) trying to tackle Materials Master Data Management and failing miserably. Right off the bat we would like to establish the following

Materials master data is not something you type into a form or an Excel sheet, run some validations, and send it via an approval workflow, and call it a day. Materials master data is the outcome of analysis and decision-making by Design, Manufacturing, Purchasing, Logistics, Marketing and Sales/Customer Service stakeholders.

Facets of Material Master Data

 

Regardless of what some vendors advocate and would like you to believe, MDM most definitely is not the following

 

 

Design/Engineering Related Master Data

More often than not Design and Engineering functions are the starting point of the process when creating new parts/materials. While not strictly treated as master data by ERP systems, key engineering information such as Drawings, Visualization files, etc. should considered as Master Data related to Materials.

Drawings and Visualization Data

Drawings contain key dimensional and specification information that is often used by manufacturing and suppliers for properly following instructions (design, manufacturing, tooling) as well as quoting.

 

 

 

Bill(s) of Material

Bill of Material is element of Material Master Data. In most cases Bills of Material originate in design/engineering systems (MCAD/ECAD) and needs to be transferred to ERP/MRP/Supply Chain Planning systems so that MRP runs, purchasing and manufacturing planning can be effectively supported.

Alternates

Alternate materials/parts are an important master data element. These alternate parts are used whenever for some reason (usually shortages) a plant is not able to use the primary part for manufacturing/assembly.

 

 

 

Master Data related to Purchasing and Supply Chain

Purchasing related information is key master data for materials that are purchased. Purchasing related information can include

Approved Suppliers

Key master data related to purchasing is approved suppliers for the materials. The related information can include manufacturer and manufacturer part information as well as cost and lead time information.

 

Approved Manufacturer Parts

Approved manufacturers and approved manufacturer parts are critical master data information, especially when working with electronics and semiconductor components.

 

Cost and Ordering Related Information

In addition, cost (agreed price), quantity discounts, minimum and standard order quantities, packaging units, order lead times are key master data related to purchasing.

 

Material Master Data for Lean Operations – Plan for Every Part

Plan for every part (PFEP) is the blueprint for effectively managing logistics and manufacturing aspects of a part (for Finished Goods as well as Raw Materials/Purchased Components). A “Plan For Every Part” is a plan to make sure

Right part is available where needed at the right time in the right quantity

More about Master Data related to Plan for Every Part

 

Master Data for Sales and Marketing

One of the best ways to understand master data for sales and marketing is to review master data needs for E-commerce. More on master data for E-commerce.

 

SAP Material Master

Many companies use SAP ERP as the primary system for Finance, Sales and Distribution, Purchasing, Production Planning, MRP, Maintenance and other business processes. SAP Material Master plays an outsized role on how well business processes are designed and implemented for the companies that use SAP. We created an entirely different post for delving deep into SAP Material Master – Anatomy of SAP Material Master.

 

Material Master Data Workflows in the Real World

New Material Creation

If you ask a design engineer, product engineer or material management stakeholder they will actually say that creating new materials might look something like below (for illustration only)

Changing Materials

And changing materials might look something like below. And typically an Engineering Change Request and/or Change Order is used to change materials.

 

 

 

Adding/Changing Bill of Materials (BOM)

Bill of Material (BOM) is a key aspect of material master data. New BOMs and changes to existing BOMs are actually related to new material creation or changes to existing materials. Any MDM solution that cannot handle BOMs will not be an effective MDM solution for Materials.

 

A BOM change is a change to Material

 

Collecting Right Information from the Right Person

Since many people are involved in creating material master data it is best to get the right information from the right person. For example, a design engineer is in the best position to provide information related to “Weight” for example. On the other hand purchasing and manufacturing stakeholders are better able to obtain lead time and lot sizing information.

 

 

 

 

Validation at the Right Time, and By the Right Person

It is still a good idea to add validations (required fields, ranges, etc.) for materials master data. But there is a right time for validation. Too much validation right in the beginning can frustrate users and users that have no idea will select incorrect information or may just give up. Validation at later stages of the master data process can make sure that accurate master data makes it into downstream systems.

 

 

 

Summary

Materials Master Data Management is one of the most cross-functional process in the organization and the extended supply chain and is connected to many upstream and downstream processes in design/engineering, sales, marketing, purchasing, manufacturing and logistics. Treating it as a cross-functional business process leads to many advantages and benefits to individuals, teams and organizations.

Welcome to the (Business Workflow) Jungle, ServiceNow

We welcome ServiceNow’s entry into business process workflow market. Our strong belief is that more competition is always better for the customers. Usually more competition leads to lower prices, better products and higher quality. We are not very confident that such a scenario will reveal itself in the case of ServiceNow.

But first let’s evaluate the merits of one approach vs. another based on the needs, desires and aspirations of people that take part in, own, or design business processes for various functional domains. Many of these functional domains such as sales, commerce, marketing, design and engineering, manufacturing, order fulfillment, logistics, supply chain are interrelated. We can argue that ERP and various specialized application suites (CRM, Supply Chain, Human Resources..) already support many of the business processes. The problem has been that ERP and application suites due to their transaction oriented design, complexity and cost, have left huge swaths of people that are central to business process out of the business process. These huge swaths of people have neither the visibility, nor take part in the business process.

ZFlow was designed and has been in use among many medium-sized to large customers for several years to address the above problems that many of these companies faced with ERP systems and application suites. Our customers have designed (themselves) business process workflows in many functional domains, including sales, engineering, manufacturing, order fulfillment, quality, finance and maintenance. What we learned from that experience is that workflow systems are best when they

  • Can support simple to sophisticated workflows that can bring user oriented activities (data preparation, reviews, approvals, etc.) and system integration (now called automation) activities into one process
  • Can handle process data, some of which can be fairly complex, that provides rich context to the process and often drives workflow logic
  • Provides an easy and methodical way for a very large number of people from within the organization and the supply chain to take part in and complete workflow activities
  • Do not charge for every user that participates in the workflow as it can be cost-prohibitive and counter-productive to the whole concept of collaborative workflow
  • Support invitation and participation of users dynamically as part of workflows
  • Require minimal or no programming (We definitely understand the need for programming for sophisticated workflows. In our experience, any introduction of code in a workflow system makes it less dynamic, but in some cases that is what is needed to provide meaningful and useful workflows)
  • Allow continuous updates and improvements to workflow easily. What’s the point of having a workflow if it cannot be improved as and when needed.

In all of the above facets, ZFlow has proven to be one of the best and remains unmatched. We don’t see that changing even with ServiceNow entering the market.