Case Customer Order Promising at Kirk Motors Ltd. Kirk Motors Ltd. is a licensed motor vehicle...

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Case Customer Order Promising at Kirk Motors Ltd. Kirk Motors Ltd. is a licensed motor vehicle dealer for Mitsubishi cars and trucks. Headquartered just outside of Wellington, New Zealand, Kirk has outlets in several cities in New Zealand. The company is a full-service distributor offering a complete range of Mitsubishi cars and trucks, with full maintenance and used-vehicle facilities. The company sells products that are assembled in New Zealand, Australia, and Japan. The wide variety of production/option combinations means that keeping a complete inven- tory is impossible. Moreover, because of the multiple geographical sources of product, customer order promising is complicated. To facilitate customer order promising and provide customers with infor- mation on the specific models they are interested in, the company uses an availability record. This record provides inventory and final assembly schedule information. Consequently, the firm can provide very reliable product and delivery information to its customers. The information to produce a response to a customer request is stored centrally, and individual re- quests for a specific model and options are run when a customer wants the information. Figure 5.17 is an example of part of the record for the Wellington, New Zealand, location. The header informa- tion gives the name of the dealer (Kirk, Wellington), and the salesperson specifies the vehicle model number (KS6P41, containing information on engine, doors, etc.), special packages, other options, and any paint (PT) specifications. Specifying the options does limit the search but doesn't provide any FIGURE 5.17 Kirk Motors Available to Promise from Stock Vehicle Search Dealer Model Kirkwe KS6P41 Package Options PT Dealer Order PT KIRKWE 631194 DF A5 JX A5 JX A5 WP A5 WP A5 AE A5 KIRKLH 631426 AE A5 MCVEMA 631294 DF A5 TOUR 626477 LR Z777777777 TM BS RS AM Locn Due BABS RSTD AIM KIRKWE STOCK BABS RSTD AIM TODDPK STOCK BABS RSTD AIM TODDPK STOCK BABS RSTD AIM TODDPK STOCK BABS RSTD AIM TODDPK STOCK BABS RSTD AIM TODDPK STOCK BABS RSTD AIM KIRKLH STOCK BABS RSTD AIM MCVEMA STOCK BABS RSTD TOUR STOCK information for the customer to use for trading off, say, color for availability. For each vehicle listed, the paint (PT), trim (TM), brakes (BS), air bags (RS), alarm system (AM), location (Locn), and avail- ability (Due) codes are provided. The vehicles in stock are listed first, starting with those at the Wellington dealership (KIRKWE), continuing with those in stock at the New Zealand assembly plant (Todd Park, located near Wellington), and then those at other dealers at ever-increasing distances from Wellington. If the customer finds the desired vehicle in stock, then arrangements are made for delivery at the Wellington location. The salesperson can use the system to look at the automobile assembly schedule to determine availability if the vehicle is not in stock (or is too far away for delivery). An example is shown in Fig- ure 5.18 on the next page, again for the Wellington dealership. The information is the same except that now the assembly dates are provided in the Due column. Vehicles that are not already promised to a dealer are available to promise to customers. In addition, for vehicles to be assembled in the fu- ture there is some flexibility for the customer to change the options that are specified for the sched- ule. The sales people are satisfied with their ability to provide reliable information to their customers and to close sales that might not have been possible before. The system has been such an effective de- vice that the company is now using it in its advertising, inviting customers to come in and configure their own vehicle. Assignment 1. A customer has called with an interest in purchasing an automobile with the following options: PT = WP, TM = A5, BS = BABS, RS = RSTD, HM = AIM. How should Kirk Motors respond to this inquiry? Case Customer Order Promising at Kirk Motors Ltd. Kirk Motors Ltd. is a licensed motor vehicle dealer for Mitsubishi cars and trucks. Headquartered just outside of Wellington, New Zealand, Kirk has outlets in several cities in New Zealand. The company is a full-service distributor offering a complete range of Mitsubishi cars and trucks, with full maintenance and used-vehicle facilities. The company sells products that are assembled in New Zealand, Australia, and Japan. The wide variety of production/option combinations means that keeping a complete inven- tory is impossible. Moreover, because of the multiple geographical sources of product, customer order promising is complicated. To facilitate customer order promising and provide customers with infor- mation on the specific models they are interested in, the company uses an availability record. This record provides inventory and final assembly schedule information. Consequently, the firm can provide very reliable product and delivery information to its customers. The information to produce a response to a customer request is stored centrally, and individual re- quests for a specific model and options are run when a customer wants the information. Figure 5.17 is an example of part of the record for the Wellington, New Zealand, location. The header informa- tion gives the name of the dealer (Kirk, Wellington), and the salesperson specifies the vehicle model number (KS6P41, containing information on engine, doors, etc.), special packages, other options, and any paint (PT) specifications. Specifying the options does limit the search but doesn't provide any FIGURE 5.17 Kirk Motors Available to Promise from Stock Vehicle Search Dealer Model Kirkwe KS6P41 Package Options PT Dealer Order PT KIRKWE 631194 DF A5 JX A5 JX A5 WP A5 WP A5 AE A5 KIRKLH 631426 AE A5 MCVEMA 631294 DF A5 TOUR 626477 LR Z777777777 TM BS RS AM Locn Due BABS RSTD AIM KIRKWE STOCK BABS RSTD AIM TODDPK STOCK BABS RSTD AIM TODDPK STOCK BABS RSTD AIM TODDPK STOCK BABS RSTD AIM TODDPK STOCK BABS RSTD AIM TODDPK STOCK BABS RSTD AIM KIRKLH STOCK BABS RSTD AIM MCVEMA STOCK BABS RSTD TOUR STOCK information for the customer to use for trading off, say, color for availability. For each vehicle listed, the paint (PT), trim (TM), brakes (BS), air bags (RS), alarm system (AM), location (Locn), and avail- ability (Due) codes are provided. The vehicles in stock are listed first, starting with those at the Wellington dealership (KIRKWE), continuing with those in stock at the New Zealand assembly plant (Todd Park, located near Wellington), and then those at other dealers at ever-increasing distances from Wellington. If the customer finds the desired vehicle in stock, then arrangements are made for delivery at the Wellington location. The salesperson can use the system to look at the automobile assembly schedule to determine availability if the vehicle is not in stock (or is too far away for delivery). An example is shown in Fig- ure 5.18 on the next page, again for the Wellington dealership. The information is the same except that now the assembly dates are provided in the Due column. Vehicles that are not already promised to a dealer are available to promise to customers. In addition, for vehicles to be assembled in the fu- ture there is some flexibility for the customer to change the options that are specified for the sched- ule. The sales people are satisfied with their ability to provide reliable information to their customers and to close sales that might not have been possible before. The system has been such an effective de- vice that the company is now using it in its advertising, inviting customers to come in and configure their own vehicle. Assignment 1. A customer has called with an interest in purchasing an automobile with the following options: PT = WP, TM = A5, BS = BABS, RS = RSTD, HM = AIM. How should Kirk Motors respond to this inquiry?