Kudler Fine Foods

At this present moment, Kudler Fine Foods doesn't have a purchasing department as standard policy and procedures for daily operations. Each store manager determines what items are fast movers and are placed on a standard purchase order for delivery. It is the responsibility of the department manager to obtain the best price, quality and delivery possible. (Apollo Group, 2009) They should also contact the stores to see if they are ordering the same products and at what price they are paying for it. By doing this, they are encouraged by the owner, to combine purchase orders in order to save money. The idea is if the same products are being purchased, maybe they could get it at a better price and order larger quantities. When the items are arrive in-store, they receive and inspect those items to make sure they are correct and unharmed by documenting them on an order. These forms, in turn, are process by the accounting department so the invoices can be paid for. The owner also places purchase orders which consists of capital, specialty and repair items for all the stores. All purchase orders that are created by Kudler Fine Foods are either mailed through the Post Office, faxed, given to a salesman or emailed, depending on the scenario. The data collected during sales transactions at each location are recorded. This is how all orderable items are tracked.

Kudler Fine Foods could benefit from Internet purchasing because it would help simplify day to day operational methods. Internet purchasing or e-procurement is an exchange between a business and another entity in which the sale of items is done through the Internet. All information is entered in a software application which includes many features and is now very popular as far as e-procurement is concerned. The main type of e-procurement is the web based ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning). ERP systems are software modules that handle core functions of business enterprise, including sales, inventory, purchasing and accounting (Demand Media, 2011) The integrated modules involved in ERP would allow Kudler Fine Foods data to communicate amongst the stores utilizing one common database. I believe that if Kudler implements an ERP system, they will be able to utilize available resources to the fullest and improve relationships with customers because they will have a better understanding of processes due to implementation. Kudler's staff can easily be trained on the new system. The advantage of using a ERP is that the web browser can accessed from any workstation. Kathy Kudler herself would be considered a remote user to access the whole system.

An example of an ERP software solution for Kudler is ISIM ERP software for Order Management and Financials introduced by Metasystems. The Order Management portion regulates all purchase orders that deals with order processing, shipping and inventory and sales reporting and history, which would help in forecasting. Other features of this software