ABSTRACT: The objectives of the Elizor Case are to give students experience with business process analysis by requiring them to rst document an \"as is\" raw materials purchasing process during the planning for an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system implementation and then to have students determine issues inherent in the process that will necessitate process redesign. Students will learn the difference between two types of process redesignbusiness process reengineering (BPR) and business process improvement (BPI)synthesize this knowledge in order to identify process issues inherent in the case, and suggest process redesigns that an ERP system will need to provide so that the purchasing process is more efcient, effective, and controlled. The case has broad appeal for faculty teaching ERP systems and/or business process management. Keywords: enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems; business process improve- ment; business process reengineering; process mapping; purchasing process; expenditure cycle; case study. INTRODUCTION lizor Co. (\"Elizor\") is a mid-sized manufacturer of modern ofce furniture, specializing in E chairs, desks, sofas, and cubicle spaces. The company was founded in 1970 and employs 375 people, primarily at its Durham, NC manufacturing facility. It also has six showrooms located in North Carolina and South Carolina and more than 250,000 square feet of warehousing and storage space. Elizor has also established a customer-facing web presence for business-t0 business (BZB) sales and is considering ecommerce solutions for its suppliers. Their mission is to \"produce such amazing ofce furniture you'll never want to leave work.\" Elizor recently has experienced a great deal of growth and is in the process of expanding its production and storage capacity and adding a new line of ergonomic ofce furniture. Because of this, management is interested in obtaining an understanding of its current business processes and existing functionality because they want to implement an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system in the near future. They believe an ERP system will help them solve their current problems, ensure their business processes are as effective and efcient as possible (e.g., non-value-added steps are minimized), and maintain better internal controls over operations. Current business issues Elizor faces are: 0 long cycle times for key business processes, including raw materials purchasing; 0 desire for growth, in particular the launch of a new product line; 0 need for advanced functionality and technologies; and - too many outdated business systems supporting business processes. Over time, Elizor's processes have developed organically, with very little attention to optimization. Additionally, since the early 1990s, Elizor has used various information systems to support its core business processes, such as the raw materials purchase-topay process. Two systems support this process: CODE, a nancial accounting system that maintains the general ledger (GL), accounts payable/cash disbursements, accounts receivable/cash receipts, and produces the nancial statements; and EPT, a procurement system that handles vendor management, inventory management, purchase requisitions, and purchase orders. Elizor's top management has formed an ERP project team, which will play a critical role in the success of the ERP project. This team includes process owners, endusers, managers, and IT staff, who span functional boundaries, locations, and organizational levels of the company. One of the rst tasks in planning for an ERP system implementation is to document the \"as is' processes to help determine requirements for a new ERP system and identify current process \"pain points\" that the ERP system should rectify or that could be rectied prior to implementation. The ERP project leadership team is made up of Elizor's most valuable and knowledgeable employeesthe \"best and brightest,\" including Joe Wall from purchasing and Martha Long from accounting. Both of these individuals have ERP implementation experience at previous employers and are considered by management to be employees who will likely embrace organizational and procedural change, inuence others in a positive way, and work well with others. These individuals were also chosen because management believes they have a clear understanding of the relationship between the operational requirements of the business, corporate strategy, and customer satisfaction. Joe and Martha will begin documenting current \"as is\" processes, engaging key business process owners to brainstorm ways to improve key business processes, and incorporating these ideas into new \"to be\" processes that will be supported by the new ERP system. Thus, Joe and Martha will be responsible for planning, organizing, leading, and managing the business process documentation stage of the project. An ERP system implementation can bring radical, dramatic changes to processes, known as business process reengineering (BPR), which involve major overhauls of processes to achieve breakthrough performance. Companies must reengineer to match the best practices programmed in the ERP softwarethe software dictates the way processes will be conducted. Other changes to the processes may be more incremental, depending on how closely current processes line up with the new ERP system. This type of change is known as business process improvement (BPI), which is a relatively minor change compared to BPR but still very effective. Elizor will likely experience massive changes to their business processes when implementing the ERP system (BPR), but will also tweak processes prior to the implementation (BPI). BPI is also something that is done throughout the operation and maintenance stage of an ERP system to further ne-tune business processes. Joe and Martha also have experience with process mapping, but realize that it is important to determine process mapping standards so that there is consistency in how the process maps are drawn (see Appendix A for their process mapping standards and conventions). One of the rst processes that Joe and Martha chose to map out is the raw materials purchasing process. This process has been fraught with inefciencies for years, including a long cycle time, which has 7' 33335.; Journal of Emerging Technologies in Accounting v \"swath" Volume 12, 2015 Using Process Mapping to Reveal Process Redesign Opportunities during ERP Planning 171 negatively affected customer satisfaction. The longer it takes to get raw materials to the plant, the longer it takes for customers to ultimately receive their orders. In addition, Elizor's mission of producing \"amazing ofce furniture\" places utmost importance on purchasing highquality raw materials. In the past, Elizor has received inferior materials from its suppliers. Below is the narrative that Joe and Martha compiled after a lengthy group interview session in which manufacturing, purchasing, accounts payable, receiving, and warehouse employees were interviewed together in order to arrive at a consensus on the process steps. Joe and Martha chose the group interview method because it can be more accurate than other methods given that all stakeholders of the process steps have to simultaneously agree on how the process currently works. Additionally, the high degree of participation that this method requires generally increases the ownership that the group feels regarding the redesigned process map and, more importantly, the business process. Elizor's Raw Materials Purchasing Process The manufacturing supervisor in Durham enters purchase requisitions into the EFT system, which triggers emails to the purchasing clerks. The purchasing clerks read the emails and decide whether the request is for a known or unknown part. If what is needed is a known part, and there is a preferred supplier for the material in the EFT system already, then a purchasing clerk emails a purchase order (PO) to the supplier for the item(s) requested. If what is needed is not a known part, then a purchasing clerk sets up a new part in the EFT system and performs traditional new vendor sourcing activities to determine an appropriate supplier for the material. Once these steps are complete, a purchasing clerk emails a PO to the chosen supplier. If no supplier exists for a known part, then a purchasing clerk must still perform sourcing activities and send the PO to the newly identied supplier. When the raw materials arrive, they are inspected for quality by the receiving department. If the quality is deemed substandard, then the goods are immediately sent back to the supplier. The raw materials passing quality inspection are then sent to the warehouse employees who count them for accuracy and prepare a receiving report. Warehouse employees then decide where a good place to store the materials in the warehouse might be and send the receiving report to the manufacturing supervisor as proof the raw materials have been received. The manufacturing supervisor will then sign the receiving report as conrmation the material has been received. Guidelines for Drawing Process Maps The following guidelines should be followed when drawing process maps: Have a clear purpose for mapping a process. Label the scope of the process at the top of the process map. Determine the roles that participate in the process. These become the \"swim lanes\" across the page. Identify the trigger, which denotes the start of the process. For horizontal maps, the trigger, designated with an oval, should be placed in the top swim lane left justied. The page shows the passage of time, so activities should generally move left to right and top to bottom. Label activities with active verbs such as \"input, correct, move,\" and \"order.\" Enter data, information, or physical goods owing between activities directly on the process ow lines. Label decisions in the form of questions. Label process ow lines that branch out of decisions with the outcomes (e.g., yeso). When activities are performed by multiple roles, the activity should span multiple swim lanes. (Abubakker 2010; Jacka and Keller 2011). \" IS 5, GI FIGURE 2 Example Narrative and Process Map (Fit Gear Bi-Weekly Payroll Process for Plant Employees) Panel A: Narrative Describing the Bi-Weekly Payroll Process for Plant Employees at Fit Gear The narrative of the process is as follows: Fit Gear plant employees use a timecard machine to clock in and clock out during a two-week period. At the end of the second week, the receptionist collects the timecards from the plant and makes sure she has the correct number of cards (75 cards for 75 employees) and that they are complete (for example, did someone forget to clock out?) If there appears to be a problem, she tries to resolve it with the employee. She then corrects the timecard for the employee and gives the timecard data to the plant supervisor. The plant supervisor signs off on hours for all plant employees and returns the cards to the receptionist. The receptionist then enters the time for each employee into an Excel spreadsheet, which is emailed to the payroll clerk. The payroll clerk enters the bi-weekly time (including sick, vacation, and leave) into the TEMS Payroll System. The payroll clerk also enters any updates to the HR master data (for example, change in address, change in the number of personal exemptions) into the system. The payroll clerk prints a payroll register and reviews for correctness. If there are errors, he resolves them in the system. Next, the payroll register is reviewed by the HR manager for correctness. If she nds additional issues, the payroll clerk resolves them in the system as well. The payroll clerk then prints paychecks, and the receptionist distributes them to the plant employees. Panel B: Fit Gear Process Map Page 1 of 2 Fit Gear Bi-Weekly Payroll Process for Plant Employees Process Payroll Plant Employees Clock in/out -Timecards Discuss incorrect/ Receptionist missing timecards No Counts timecards Are timecards Timecards Enter time in Excel and reviews for complete and Correct timecards spreadsheet correctness correct? Corrected timecards Plant Supervisor Approves time Approved Timecards Email Excel spreadsheet Payroll Enter employee Clerk payroll time and HR master Payroll Print Payroll updates into data Register 2 TEMS HR Manager (continued on next page)Using Process Mapping to Reveal Process Redesign Opportunities during ERP Planning 177 FIGURE 2 (continued) Panel C: Fit Gear Process Map Page 2 of 2 Fit Gear Bi-Weekly Payroll Process for Plant Employees Error Correction Paycheck Distribution Employees Paychecks Receptionist Distribute paychecks Plant Supervisor Paychecks Send for review Payroll Clerk Review for Errors? -Yes- Correct correctness errors in TEMS Print paychecks from TEMS Yes HR Manager Review Errors? Bradford (2015) used with permission of author