Sanja Djurdjevic

Process audit Inventory and Shipment management process 1. Process initiation: Q: How do you know when you need to start working on a process? Does someone tell you, or do you get some notification/information which triggers the start of the process? Who provides that information? Is the information provided in a timely manner? What communication channel was used to convey the information? What information do you need to start the process? Does someone need to provide any guidelines, issue a formal request, send documents/sheets, provide access to any tools, etc.? A: We receive a mail from the Warehouse in Ontario, they inform us that the Shipment with the required products and components has been sent and provide Shipping instructions and Invoice. Then we need to document that information in a sheet and collaborate with our bookkeeper on invoicing our customers and managing inventory. 2. Process description (working on tasks): Q: What does your working day typically look like, in terms of this specific process? How do you work on your tasks? How much time does each task take you? Do you communicate with other team members/managers, and if yes, in which situations? A: I start my workday at 9 am by checking my email inbox. This is the time when I review the e-mail from the Warehouse in Ontario, download the attachments to our storage system and share them with a team member who will out the Shipment tracking sheet with the information provided. I then contact our bookkeeper and share these files with him.This takes about 3 hours, and it is the first thing I would do in the morning, and then I spend the next 2 hrs responding to other emails. The rest of the day is dedicated to overseeing my team members, checking the inventory and making sure all shipments are documented and delivered on time. Q: Are there any hand-off points when you complete a certain part of the task and then delegate the task to someone else to complete the other part(s)? A: Basically, we delegate invoicing to our bookkeeper, whereas the responsibility for inventory management is shared between departments in New York and LA. Once I have the Shipment information, I share the files with the bookkeeper, and the invoicing process is delegated to him. Each department (in New York and LA) is responsible for updating the inventory after Shipment information is provided to them. Q: What tools do you use to complete the task, and communicate to other team members? A: We use Google Drive as our main (document) storage system, and Slack and email as main communication channels. For documenting data we use Google Sheets and Docs. ● Problems: Q: Do you encounter any problems during your work (e.g. you cannot access a document/platform, the instructions were ambiguous, you are waiting on instructions or other input, you cannot complete the work on time, you are assigned too many tasks, the deadline is too short, etc.)? A: Usually, this process is very straightforward, but if there are many shipments at once, there are sometimes delays when it comes to getting notified from the warehouse. Also, the departments in New York and LA need to notify us when they pick up the shipment quantities designated for these cities. I think that the current, manual inventory data entry process is error-prone, as we always need to double-check the information entered by the departments in New York and LA.