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Improving Operations Efficiency
(Duplicate orders & Wrong Items shipping)
First initiative: Preventing Duplicate Orders and wrong item/quantity from shipping
Problem defined-
Over the past several months, we have been experiencing duplicate orders and wrong items being
shipped to some of our customers. Our goal is to minimize if not completely eliminate these
occurrences.
Measure –
From January to October, we have had 16 Duplicate orders shipped and a total of 238 wrong item or
quantity shipped. See attached work sheet
Analyze –
In reviewing the past duplicate orders, it seems the mistakes are happening for the following reasons.
 Customer places an ordered by phone and then again by fax - causing a duplicate order
 Inconsistency in keying PO#
 Order didn’t print initially (hung-up in JDE) then got reprinted; then later the initial order printed
 Backorder released but paper wasn’t matched to the original paperwork
 Order is changed without pulling order back (it ships) and the revised order comes to the floor
(it ships too)
 Order is held by someone and shipping can’t find so the order is reprinted and shipped;
however, within the next day or two the original order is placed on the floor then it ships
 Reprinting orders without checking the floor and salesperson
In reviewing the past wrong items or quantity shipped, the mistakes are happening for the following
reasons:
 Customer Service Representative makes a mistake when entering an item number
 Miss-reading the Pick Slip
 Items not labeled and mixed in the right location
 Items in the wrong location and picked without verifying
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 Items labeled incorrectly by supplier and/or during the receiving put-away
 Location changed but paperwork showing old location
 Items with similar item numbers and/or color next to each other sharing the same location
Attached is a drafted copy of our current processes. The shaded areas are points in the process where
improvements need to be made.
Improve –
In the attached processes, we have identified 10 areas to focus on for improvement. Doing so should
minimize if not eliminate duplicate orders and wrong items shipping.
Duplicate orders
In the order entry process, found 3 areas
In Step 1. – could lead to a duplicate order
Customer places an ordered by phone and then again by fax - causing a duplicate order.
Problem:
1. CSR creating a new customer profile when he/she can’t find customer ID #.
2. Multiple order entry points
3. customer sends an order by phone and then later by fax
4. Data validation
Solution:
1. Verification of all account information and bill to
2. In the order screen, pull up all orders placed for that day and check if an order already exist-
confirm with the customer if the order is new or an add-on.
In step 1 – could lead to wrong item
CSR Entering the wrong item or quantity on order
Problem:
1. Typo
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2. Customer gave the wrong item part number
Solution:
1. Update the customer catalog so information the customer is viewing is correct to what is in JDE
2. Always repeat the order with part and description to the customer/ double check for any typo
3. Be consistent in sending email confirmation to the customer
In step 2. – could lead to a duplicate order
Inconsistency in keying PO#; this will allow for multiple orders to be generated.
Problem:
1. CSR are not typing in the customer’s PO as it is written on the original purchase order
Solution:
1. Establish a written process on how to enter a PO.
2. Do not use “verbal” or “today’s date” as a PO. In case the customer wants to use verbal PO and
advises that the PO will be faxed later, put the order on XX hold and let your CSR or ISR of your
territory know that the PO will be faxed/email. Once the PO is received, update the order and
release from XX Hold.
3. Enter the PO number the same way it’s written on the customer’s actual purchase order. By
doing this, any duplicate order entered will be flagged during order entry. Pay close attention to
the warning signs on the bottom of the screen
In the order changing/canceling process, found 2 areas
In step 9 – could lead to a duplicate order
When changing an order, CSR are not checking the pick slip tracking to see if the order was printed
before making any changes
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Problem:
1. no training on how the paper flows through our areas
2. no communication
3. paperwork not retrieved
Solution:
1. Utilize a WMS that will change an order real time to avoid shipping errors. It will also prevent an
order from being changed after it is packed confirmed
2. Utilizing the right places in JDE to handle changes and cancellations
3. Create a training check list for CSR’s to follow
4. identify when an order can or can’t be changed
5. Training on how paper flows through each departments process
In step 10 – could lead to a duplicate order shipping
Only Betty was being notified about changes and/or cancelations and responsible for tracking and
pulling the order off the floor before shipping.
Problem:
1. One person responsible to track down orders each time a change is made
Solution:
1. When sending email notification, copy Christie, James Austin, and Greg Cole to ensure orders
are pulled off the floor.
Wrong items and incorrect quantities
In the order picking process, found 6 areas
In step 15 – could lead to wrong item shipping
Some orders have split parent and child lines, which is causing some fabrication and/or work order to be
picked incorrectly.
Problem:
1. Child lines sometimes print on a separate page
2. Backordered lines can cause a child line to split when there isn’t enough material in a location
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3. Products in two different locations
Solution:
1. Use a WMS with scanner to keep the parent and child lines together during order picking
2. On demand pick slip & commitment. Kyle is working on a solution.
3. Training on how to read the various types of orders and what potential errors to look for.
Order Picker not checking the item part number on the sales order to the physical location, and to the
part number labeled on material
Problem:
1. Order picker not performing the 3 critical to quality checks in the process. I.e. (1) physical bin
location in accordance to the pick slip. (2) Physical location of an item number in accordance to
bin. (3) Physical label on the item.
Solution:
1. Utilize a WMS with scanners to identify location, part numbers, and quantity
2. Do not place items in numeric order to minimize mis-picks
3. Remove the item numbers off the shelves to force a picker to verify the material in the location
4. Retrain the order picker to verify all 3 critical to quality checks in process in accordance to what
the pick slip is asking for. Verification is done by circling the location, quantity, item number on
pick slip and circling the item number on one sheet of the item pulled.
5. Record and review the daily performance of the order picker and next day go over any
discrepancies.
Order Picker not an order to be NCC’d when there isn’t enough material in a location
Problem:
1. The order picker sometimes marks out the unavailable item on a pick slip and continues to pull
the order. When the picker is done picking an order he sends the order to the pack station. This
is done on multiple line item orders. With the intention that the packing department will back
order the unavailable items.
Solution:
1. All items that are not available in accordance to the pick slip. The order picker will come to the
supervisor with the pick slip so that the secondary location can be found in JDE. If there is no
secondary location found in JDE, the supervisor will make a copy of the pick slip and give the
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original to the order picker so that he can continue to pick the order. The supervisors will the
start the NCC process with the copy.
When a backorder is released, occasionally it doesn’t seem anyone is reviewing to see if the original
order is still on the floor to math them together. To prevent shipping twice
Problem:
1. Backorders releases and not matched to the original paperwork to prevent an item shipping
twice
Solution:
1. Utilize a WMS which will prevent an item from being picked twice
2. The person who prints the backorder release should go into pick slip tracking and locate the
original pick ticket and physically match it up to the back order.
During packing, some items are not verified before shipping
Problem:
1. Packer not paying attention to details
2. Not checking items inside the boxes
3. Rushing
Solution:
1. Use a WMS scanner to verify items to the order to ensure it’s correct
2. Packer must look and verify each item
3. Compare items in the box shipping to what is listed on the pick slip
In step 25 – could lead to an item shipping twice
During Pack confirming some lines aren’t being compare to the pick slip to prevent an item shipping
twice
Problem:
1. In pack confirm, sometimes all of the lines doesn’t show when you scan the pick ticket bar code
2. Some lines maybe under a different pick ticket number
Solution:
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1. Using a WMS with scanner would eliminate this process; the items would have been verified at
packing
2. Scan the sales order number - to pull up all of the items then pack confirm only the items
physically in the boxes
Control –
All of the above issues are primarily related to 3 things:
1. Customer service data entry and verification
2. JDE printed orders
3. Pack verification of items
To control the improvements, we will need to establish:
1. Better communication with customers and inter departments
2. Training on how each person affects the other in the order to ship process
3. Written processes to follow routinely, to ensure the right questions are being asked to the
customers and followed when an order is changed or canceled
Overall Solution
The real solution is to fully use the CRM and WMS components in JDE.
The CRM system will allow Customer Service to better coordinate and mange the order taking process. A
CRM helps by:
• Relationship management a customer-oriented feature with service response based on
customer input, one-to-one solutions to customers’ requirements, direct online
communications with customer and customer service centers that help customers solve their
issues.
• Sales force automation. This function can implement sales promotion analysis, automate
tracking of a client’s account history for repeated sales or future sales, and also сoordinate sales,
marketing, call centers, and retail outlets in order to realize the salesforce automation.
• Use of technology. This feature is about following the technology trend and skills of value
delivering using technology to make “up-to-the-second” customer data available. It applies data
warehouse technology in order to aggregate transaction information, to merge the information
with CRM solutions, and to provide KPI (key performance indicators).
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• Opportunity management. This feature helps the company to manage unpredictable growth and
demand and implement a good forecasting model to integrate sales history with sales
projections.
• CRM in developing and maintaining client relationships
A warehouse management system (WMS) is
• a key part of the supply chain.
• primarily aims to control the movement and storage of materials within a warehouse
• process the associated transactions, including shipping, receiving, putaway and picking.
• The systems also direct and optimize stock putaway based on real-time information about the
status of bin utilization.
• A WMS monitors the progress of products through the warehouse.
• It involves the physical warehouse infrastructure, tracking systems, and communication
between product stations.
These are a few ideal scanners for our environment.
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Improving Operations Efficiency- Issue 1

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