Develop a cross-functional process map for the Purchasing Department and other depart- ments What recommendations can you make for improving the paperwork flow?

Please use a paper and a pen

9.7 The Purchasing Department is required to use the following paperwork procedure for each purchase order (PO) related to a company production order. The purchase order is the legal document used by the company to order raw materials and parts from vendors in specified quantities and to guarantee payment to the vendors upon delivery of the items ordered. The purchase order procedure is triggered by the release of a production order that has been authorized by top management for one of the company's regular products. The production order indicates what product is to be produced, how many units, and when it is to be completed. To produce the product, the raw materials and component parts must be ordered in the correct quantities from suppliers (vendors). To initiate the purchase order procedure, a purchasing agent in the Purchasing Department fills out a blank purchase req- uisition form for each raw material or component part, obtaining the quantity information from the bill of materials for the product. The purchase requisition is an internal company document used to obtain approvals by several departments that are responsible for the product and/or its production. The purchase requisition is sent first to the Design Engineering Department where it is checked for any engineering changes that may have been made to the item ordered. The requisition is then sent from Design Engineering to the Manufacturing Engineering Department, which checks to make sure that a valid route sheet exists for the item. The route sheet is the process plan that indicates how the item is to be processed in the factory. From Manufacturing Engineering, the requisition is sent to the Production Control Department, which checks the requisition to make sure the quan- tity information and delivery date agrees with the production order. At each of these depart- ments, the signature of the department manager is required in addition to the regular department employee who performed the check. It takes an average of three days in each department to obtain the necessary checks and approvals. After approval by Production Control, the purchase requisition is returned to the Purchasing Department, where it is used as the authorization to prepare the actual purchase order that will be sent to the ven- dor. The information on the purchase requisition is transcribed onto a blank purchase order form by the originating purchasing agent, and the PO is then signed by the manager of the Purchasing Department and mailed to the vendor. Each PO is sent in a separate envelope by first class mail, even though there are many vendors receiving more than one purchase