Maritime Engineering is an engineering company specializing in the installation, repair, and maintenance of ship and port infrastructure. The company was established in 1990 in the industrial area in the port city of Port Elizabeth. The company uses different programs to record its activities. Due to the nature of the business, the receiving department and the workshop are located close to the harbor. This makes it easier for engineering teams to transport finished parts or materials required for repair due to the short distance. The loading dock at the workshop serves a dual purpose: not only are the raw materials are delivered there, the completed materials required for maintenance and repairs are also transported from there to the sites where they are required. 

All engineers have their own laptops, which they carry with them when site visits are required to quote on repair or maintenance work. Accepted quotes on proposed maintenance or repair work are sent via e-mail to the administrative section of Maritime Engineering. For existing customers, the go-ahead is given for the work to start upon manual verification. For new customers, a customer account is first created. All maintenance and repair work is on credit for both existing and new customers. 

Materials required for the accepted quotes are then collated and parts that need to be manufactured, if any, are sent for manufacturing. Once the materials have been collated, they are queued in order of customer names near the loading dock for the supervising engineer to arrange their transportation. 

Repair and maintenance work is often delayed because it can begin only when all materials have been received, and manufactured parts are frequently not delivered in time because their raw materials may not be readily available in the warehouse. The warehouse staff logs all such shortages as soon as they are identified, and the inventory records are updated every Monday morning. A periodic inventory is maintained, and physical inventory counts are done once every six months. 

Customers are invoiced only when all the work on the accepted. Invoices are sent via e-mail. 

Required 

a. Identify at least three weaknesses in Maritime Engineering's revenue cycle procedures, explain the associated problem, and propose a solution. Present your answer in a two-column table with these headings: Weakness or Problem and Solution. 

b. Draw a BPMN diagram to depict Maritime Engineering's revenue cycle revised to incorporate your solutions to step a.