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Case - National Furniture
National Furniture is a large retail design and furniture store. The store often orders special
merchandise at the request of its customers. However, the store recently experienced problems
with the on-time delivery of these special orders. Sometimes the orders were never received,
resulting in irate customers.
The process of fulfilling a special order begins with the sales associate who records the
customer information and obtains approval from a manager to process the order. The sales
If a problem arises with the order, the manager receives notification, and contacts the
sales associate who took the order to decide what needs to be done next. Typical problems that
are often observed include sales associates not filling out the order form completely or entering a
request date that is impossible to fulfill. Sometimes the sales associate does not put the form in
the proper bin, so the form never gets faxed. Other times, sales associates are asked to obtain
more information from the customer, but fail to call the customer back, or do not inform the
office associate to refax the form after getting additional information from the customer.
National Furniture is a large retail design and furniture store. The store often orders
special merchandise at the request of its customers. However, the store recently experienced
If a problem arises with the order, the manager receives notification, and contacts the
sales associate who took the order to decide what needs to be done next. Typical problems that
are often observed include sales associates not filling out the order form completely or entering a
request date that is impossible to fulfill. Sometimes the sales associate does not put the form in
Discussion Questions
1. Develop a process map for special orders. What steps might you suggest to improve this
process?
