Greenwood Rock Company quarries and sells limestone. The company operates its own stone quarries and makes various products used in construction and landscaping. Greenwood’s construction products include chopped, cut, and crushed stone. The company prides itself on its quality. It uses only the best diamond saws in the cutting process, and only hand loading instead of the usual method of scooping loads using front-end loaders, which often damages the stone. As a result of Greenwood’s quality standards, it is able to deliver limestone that covers a larger area per ton than is covered by its limestone of competitors. Also, because it minimizes waste, it extends the life of the entire quarry.
About 75 percent of the customer orders come from stone masons; the rest come from building contractors. Company trucks deliver orders within a 300-mile radius. Third-party carriers are used to deliver orders farther away.
Greenwood employs 42 production workers, 12 truck drivers, 1 mechanic, an accountant, a full-time office manager, and a full-time salesperson. Homer Winston takes orders over the phone, via fax, and from the Web. When orders arrive over the phone, this process occurs:
• He prepares a written sales order.
• He sends one copy each to the customer and the production manager.
• The production manager processes the order and sends it to delivery.
• Upon delivery, the delivery manager sends a copy of the delivery slip to Homer.
• Based on the delivery slip, Homer sends an invoice to the customer.
Evaluate Greenwood’s internal controls over the sales cycle, and make suggestions for improvements in the internal controls for its sales cycle.