Free advice for improving your printing organization.

How E-Commerce Is Changing The CSR:
Fulfillment of Finished Goods

More then ever, customers are demanding that their printer maintain and ship their finished-product inventory.

Customers may place multiple-sometimes hundreds-of releases for the same printed item. Customers usually request these releases via telephone, fax, or email. The CSR must check availability of the item and then enter a release into the business management system. The business management system then generates an "inventory release" that instructs the warehouse personnel to pull and ship the item to the customer. Many companies routinely produce "finished - product - inventory reports" that identify the quantity and value of each item for their customers.

With an E-Commerce model, the finished-goods-inventory database is available over the Internet. A customer with the proper security privileges can view and release their inventory-24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days per year. The system then sends the release directly to the warehouse personnel to be pulled and shipped, and automatically generates an invoice for accounting. This entire process can transpire without the CSRs involvement.

Craig L. Press is president of Profectus, Inc, a national consultancy that helps printing organizations implement best business practices and maximize the value of their information technology investments. www.profectus.com