HW 7 The WIZARD system at Avis It is possable to rent cars at almost every major airport and city centre in the world, and there is invariably intense competition to antrect and keep customers. Since the hire companies all offer similar ranges of relatively new vehicles, and the reliability of these cars is taken for granted by most customers, competition is generally on servise and or price. The most eritical service factor is the availability of the desired category (size and specification) of car, and the speed with which all the hire contract paperwork can be completed, so that the customer is not unnecessarily delayed. This depends on the effectiveness of the hire company's planning and control system. One of the most important Avis sites in Belgium is the operation at Brussels National Aipport at Zaventem, which deals predominantly with business cusiomers, and hires out up to 200 cars on a busy day. Avis's advertisement, targeted at the besiness market, emphasizes its ability to process customers quickly and efficiently. The objective is to complete the transaction in less than fwo minutes and this is facilitated by Avis's well-developed computer system, known as WIZARD, which handles all reservations, preparation of hire contracts at the service desks, inventory management and invoicing systems. WIZARD is a globally integrated system, with over 15,000 terninals in Avis branches worldwide, allowing international reservations to be made with accuracy and certainty, and helping to maximize the utitimation of vehicles throughout the network. Regular customer surveys and aralyses of actual demand pattems are carried out to determine the customers' preferences in terms of type and eategory of vehicles, providing a guide to the Belgian fleet composition, which is managed from the ceatral 'clearing house' at Machelen. Because each of the Belgian branch offices has aceess to a pool of cars beld at Machelen, their local beffer stoek requirements can be minimized. The requirements for the movement of car inventory between branches and betwoet countries is centralized in this way, allowing the branches to coocerntrate on the task of providing good customer service. Each regular business custamer has a uaique reference number in WIZ ARD, allowing reservations to be made and rental contracts to be completed quickly, with only three pieces of information: the customer's number, the type of car required and the durstion of the hire. This type of transaction is usually completed within two minutes, affer which the customer goes directly to the ear pask and collects the car. Questions 1. What do yes sec as the main plauning and control taits of the Witard system? 2. How mould your evaluate the efectheness of the planning and control activity at Avis