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Building Information System

(Case Study)

House of Angostura (also known as Angostura Limited), headquartered in Laventille, Trinidad, is one of the Caribbeans leading rum producers and the world market leader for bitters used in many cocktails. Angostura has 330 full-time employees and annual revenue of approximately $100 million.

Order Taking Process:

Angostura still takes care of local distribution of its products in Trinidad and Tobago, with a team of 16 sales representatives taking orders out in the field. Although this arrangement worked well in the past, the process was heavily manual, tedious, and time-consuming and sometimes produced inaccurate orders. Each day, the 16 sales reps in the field had to copy the orders on paper and return to the office to hand off the order forms to a customer service representative, who would then manually input the order data into Angosturas SAP enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. Because the orders were handwritten, information could be read and entered incorrectly, which could result in the wrong goods being sent to a customer. Such inaccurate orders were often returned, creating more paperwork and higher costs.

Accounts and Reporting Process:

Angostura also used manual processes for reporting and tracking invoices and accounts receivable information, which could create additional delays and errors. The sales representatives were also working with data on product availability that might be out of date. If the sales reps were away from the office, they would not be able to tell whether an order could actually be fulfilled. They would have to call Angosturas warehouse to find out if an order was possible.

Management Decisions:

In 2012 Angosturas management decided that the sales process needed to be more streamlined and efficient and that it should use mobile technology. The company identified a set of detailed information requirements for the improved sales process and spent more than a year evaluating system solutions from five mobile vendors.

System Requirements:

One important requirement was that the application should be able to automatically update the availability of purchased products from the companys overall inventory and integrate with the firms back-end SAP ERP system.

Another requirement was that the mobile system be able to operate offline so that a sales representative could still input an order on a mobile device even if there was no online connectivity. Once online, the device could then send the order through to the ERP system.

Software Outsourcing:

The vendor selected was the one that could best develop the mobile application to the companys specifications and stay within the budget established by management. In 2013 Angostura partnered with IDS Scheer and itCampus consultants to develop a mobile sales solution running on Apple iPads.

The solution includes:

• An offline customer database,
• Product catalog,
• Customer specific pricing,
• Order entry,
• Order preview,
• Integration with Bluetooth printers.

It was quickly created using SAP NetWeaver Gateway technology to connect various devices and platforms to SAP software. A pilot application was ready for testing in June, and the entire application went live in January 2014.

Each of Angosturas 16 sales representatives was issued an iPad that includes not only the order application but other mobile apps to make the sales process more efficient, such as email, Google Maps, and a video and PDF document uploader to display the Angostura product line.

Advantages of Using the Mobile App:

1. The sales application integrates with the corporate ERP system, providing the sales reps with up-to-date information on the availability of products in the warehouse.
2. With the Angostura Mobile Sales App, an order can be created in less than 30 seconds, depending on the size of the order, making the ordering process two times faster.
3. There is a 20 percent time savings per salesperson because the sales reps now have the ability to send orders through as they place them rather than waiting until they return to the office.
4. The amount of time customer service representatives would typically spend on data entry which was considerablehas been reduced by 75 percent, freeing up time for more useful tasks.
5. Returned orders have been reduced by 30 percent.

Steps required to design and build new information systems:

Angosturas experience illustrates some of the steps required to design and build new information systems. Building a new system for mobile sales orders entailed:

1. Analyzing the organizations problems with existing systems,
2. Assessing information requirements,
3. Selecting appropriate technology,
4. Redesigning business processes and jobs.
5. Management had to oversee the systems-building effort and evaluate benefits and costs.

Changes in the business process:

The information requirements were incorporated into the design of the new system, which represented a process of planned organizational change. Angosturas ability to handle sales orders was hampered by outdated and inefficient manual processes, which raised costs, slowed down work, and limited the companys ability to serve its customers.

The solution was to redesign the sales order process to use mobile devices and software and allow orders to be entered through iPads and transmitted to the firms back-end ERP system. Angosturas information requirements were incorporated into the system design. The solution encompassed not just the application of new technology but changes to corporate culture, business processes, and job functions. Angosturas sales operations have become much more efficient and cost-saving.

Prepare a report to answer the following questions:

1. How did Angosturas Mobile Sales App meet its information requirements?
2. How effective a solution was Angosturas Mobile Sales App?
3. Why? How much did the new system change the way Angostura ran its business?
4. Go to the website https://www.sap.com/. Explore the website and differentiate between SAP and ERP.