Answer

Systems Analysis and Recommendations: A case of Lost Pines Outfitters

Description of System in Current State

The current system operations at Lost Pipes Outfitters (LPO) entails the segments of online merchandize and the traditional approach to retailing. Increased innovation and use of the internet continues to impact customer preference, the majority of whom use LPO online to make purchases. The system operations of Lost Pipes Outfitters on the online merchandise space allow customers to establish orders through the retailer`s portal, which is then channeled to the warehouse for retrieval curation. Associates in the warehouse use one computer to track customer orders, create items from the inventory and pull inventory for fulfilment. One of the issues in the system that face associates in LPO warehouse involves the computer and the fact that the inventory tracking system requires manual updates. Selected items from the inventory are taken to the fulfilment department for delivery to the customer. Shipped deliveries are further tracked to ensure they reach the customer. Once the customer receives the order, the retailer`s field associate sends a card for gratitude and request for customer review.

Recommendations

Evaluating the current Lost Pipes Outfitters system in terms of how it operates to ensure the satisfaction of online customers, several issues that need to be addressed come up. Although the process of placing orders for the customer is straightforward, the interactions of events before customers receive their items appear tedious and may result in errors. The first issue that needs to be addressed involves the use of one computer in the warehouse to track customer orders and updating the inventory. The use of one computer among the retailer`s field associates implies that the overall turnaround time for deliveries of customer items increase. It is also possible that errors in inventory updates can occur, something that needs to be changed by increasing the number of computers in the warehouse. Another issue that needs to be addressed involves customer appreciation note and reviews. Although it may seem unique to send customer cards to get their feedback and thank them for shopping with Lost Pipes Outfitters, the process can be made more accessible by including icons the retailer`s website and portal for customer reviews, feedback and complaints. This will reduce the cost of operation and introduce efficiency in customer satisfaction.

The evaluation of the system operations in the online merchandise space for Lost Pipes Outfitters is consistent with problems associated with inventory control and management. The overall implications of the current situation of the system to business operations at LPO include high cost of inventory, consistent stock-outs, low rate of inventory turnover, and high cost of storage and spreadsheet data-entry errors. It is also possible that the current situation that involves long processes before the customer receives their item can lead to lost customers.

Besides the imperatives of narrowing the inventory tracking process and increasing the number of computers in the warehouse, further recommendations involve the need to for LPO to develop auditing and reporting procedures for online sales, create short-term measures of assessing the flow of inventory and reduce the turnaround time for deliveries to customers. Figure 1 below shows a simplified visual for online customer inventory management for LPO. Errors in data entry can be remedied with further training of associates, and consistent stock-outs can be addressed by determining the value and number of items for each category before and after purchases. Initiating changes will increase customer satisfaction, reduce errors in spreadsheet data entry, reduce the rate of stock-outs, improve customer acquisition and improve the overall job satisfaction of field associates at Lost Pipes Outfitters. It will also enhance the full utilization of technology in the online space in terms of making orders for customers, reception of reviews and complaint mitigation.

System Visualization

Figure 1.1 Simplified visual for online customer inventory management

Conclusion

The need to sustain a competitive edge in the business environment demands effective approaches in identifying and developing solutions to problems. The use of system thinking in the business allows managers to make the right decisions as it advances the ability to analyze the issues and solutions according to the systematic consequences it would have. The benefits of system thinking in business is not isolated to decision making as it plays a fundamental role allowing managers create a compelling vision of the future, improves dimensions of exploring new business opportunities and improve re-designing of broken (Monat et al., 2020). Businesses using system thinking have a higher capacity to understand in the complex human factors impacting operations besides increasing the scope of understanding and developing solutions to a problem.

The issues involving online customers and management of the inventory at Lost Pipes Outfitters are incredibly complicated and demands stepwise approaches effectively offer solutions. The use of system thinking, in this case, was essential since it provides a stepwise approach to the analysis of complex problems in a business environment (Gorissen et al., 2016). System thinking allowed me to assume a problem-solving approach that attempts to balance between holistic thinking reductionist thinking. It offered the opportunity to analyze and zoom out questions about the interactions in the system and how each interaction impacts the outcomes of item deliveries to customers.