American Bikes manufactures custom motorcycle racing equipment and parts. The company engages in the following activities (not in sequence):
a. Shipping product to the customer
b. Processing mail-in orders
c. Queuing orders to be shipped
d. Sending each order to the appropriate production department at the end of each day
e. On-site salespeople calling in orders at the end of each day
f. Shipping parts
g. Quality inspection during production
h. Cataloging orders taken over the phone
i. Production department ordering special materials for ordered parts
j. Queuing orders in the production department
k. Setup of machinery to produce part according to specifications
l. Production of a part
m. On-site sales to retail motorcycle shops
n. Classifying orders according to process required for production
o. Quality inspection after production
p. Sending a part to the shipping department
q. Staffing on-site booths for taking orders at races
r. Holding parts until completion of other parts in the order
Categorize these activities according to the elements of customer response time shown in Exhibit 4.8. Write a short report to management detailing what you think could be done to reduce customer response time.