Key Users???

Hey Sorry this is so huge, it doesnt all need to be read just skimmed for users
One of my questions is who are going to be the main users of the system?
I put :
Accounts Office
Purchasing Department
Sales Office
The Warehouse

should i add orders and invoices to the list???

im just wondering if i should add any others, or whether i should not incldue Customer Relations! Thanks so much!


The Wine Store started 10 years ago, when Kevin Blackburn visited France and brought back a few cases of wine to sell to his friends. Since then the company has grown a lot, and currently employs 50 people. The Wine Store imports wine from all over the world and sells directly to the public through a mail order system. The head office and warehouse are located on the site of Kevin Blackburn’s XVth century farmhouse, just outside Oxford. The following sections describe the current business functions of The Wine Store.

Purchasing.
Although Kevin still makes the odd ‘buying’ trip to France, he does a lot of tasting, and no buying. All wine is bought through independent agents in key wine producing regions of the world. The Wine Store concentrates on small, less well known vineyards who provide good quality wines at reasonable prices. A smaller part of the business caters for classic vintages from established producers. Agents send The Wine Store regular lists of wines, together with prices. The purchasing department is responsible for selecting a limited range of wine, based on the perceived preferences of the current customer base. Orders are then sent to the appropriate agents for quantities determined, again, by the current customer base. Copies of the orders are sent to the Accounts department, and to the Sales Office.

Accounts.
Invoices from the agents arrive with the wine, and are passed directly to the Accounts office for payment. The Accounts office checks the invoice against the orders sent by purchasing. The Accounts office notifies the Sales office that the wine has arrived, so that the stock levels can be amended.
Accounts are also responsible for processing customer payments. This must be done prior to the despatch of any customer orders. Customer orders are currently sent directly to the Accounts office for clearance. If payment is offered by credit card, then the payment is taken immediately, and the order is stamped, and passed to the Sales Office. If the customer order includes a cheque, then the order is filed, and the cheque is sent to bank. Once the cheque has been cleared by the bank, the original order is retrieved, stamped as before, and passed to Sales.
In either case, if the payment is not cleared, then the order is discarded.

Sales (including marketing).
First contact with customers occurs in one of two ways. Firstly, introductory offers are advertised in a wide range of magazines, newspapers, etc. Customers apply directly for the introductory offer of a mixed case of wine at a special price. Note that all customer orders must be accompanied by a payment. The order is processed in the normal way, and the customer details are added to the customer file for future sales (see later in this section). The second means of contact is through recommendations from existing customers. Invitations to suggest new customers are sent with brochures. Any replies are processed by recording the potential customer information (separately from existing customers), and mailing the current introductory offer details directly. If the potential customer replies, then they are treated in the same way as if they had responded to an advertisement.
New customers (those who have ordered the introductory case), are given one extra offer (in this case, a 15% reduction on their next order), before they become ‘ordinary’ customers.
The ‘introductory offer’ scheme was launched two years ago, in an attempt to boost sales. It is working very well, and the number of ordinary customers has grown to about 6,000.
All ordinary customers are sent a catalogue once a month, together with an order form. The catalogue lists all wines currently available, with prices per case (12 bottles) or half case (6 bottles). Exceptional wines are also offered by the bottle. The catalogue also includes mixed cases offered at a special price. The catalogue is prepared in the Sales office, using information obtained from the warehouse about current stocks, and from Purchasing about current orders which are due for delivery from the agents.
Customer orders are processed initially in the Accounts office, and Sales receives the orders only once payment has been cleared. The Sales office processes the orders in the following way:
Stock levels are adjusted by subtracting the quantities of each order. A packing slip is then prepared for each order, showing the customer name and address and the wines ordered. The packing slips are sent to the warehouse, usually at lunch time each day. The original order forms are stamped by the sales staff, and filed for one month in case of complaints from the customers.
In cases where the current stock does not allow an order to be completed, the order form is passed to Customer Relations where an alternative order is decided on, and subsequently passed back to Sales.

The Warehouse.
The warehouse is divided into two physical areas, storage and packing. The storage area is made up of a number of aisles, each with an aisle number and a set of shelf numbers. When new deliveries are received from the agents, the wine is moved to an empty shelf, and the details of the delivery (wine name, quantity and location) are noted in the warehouse records.
When a bundle of packing slips arrives from Sales, the warehouse staff first calculate the totals of each type of wine to be packed. For mixed cases, the obvious calculations are made. The required quantity of each wine is then moved, by forklift truck, to the packing area. Mixed cases are constructed as required, otherwise cases, half cases and bottles are packed together, according to the packing slip for each customer. Once the packing is complete, the packing slips are forwarded to the Distribution Manager, for organisation of shipment by rail and finally road to the customers.

What he said.

um...huh?

It looks like you doing some kind of UML diagramming perhaps, getting started on it?
The Lounge isn't really the place to get a straightr answer on the question. Can we get one of the mods to perhaps redirect this in the business help forum, or something appropriate?

I guess the Business Help forum would be appropriate per your suggestion. Thanks JimmyGosling.

Moved from the Lounge...