Structured Process Analysis

            Structured processes in GASCO are well-organized activities that ensure efficient and effective management of natural gas, and in this context, we will talk about inventory management, which outlines the roles, responsibilities, & resources needed at each step to maintain optimal natural gas stock and reduce its wastes, while satisfying customer’s demand.

key steps for inventory management:

 

 

while this process is effective, it still faces some issues like inaccurate forecasting which usually happens due to an unexpected global event (EX: COVID-19, Russ-Ukraine war) which causes unexpected shifts in the demand and supply which can either cause stockouts or overstocking. Some other issues that the company faces are limited visibility & slow decision making which are due to the company’s resistance to change and computerizing its actions. To this day, Gasco still relies on some manual ways of data processing and analyzing.

The IS used by GASCO for inventory management is WMS (Warehouse Management System). WMS focuses on all operational activities related to inventory management within storage facilities. Some of its components are:

Inventory Tracking: tracks the quality and quantity of natural gas units within storage facilities.

Warehouse Operations: manages inventory tasks like receiving, storing, retrieving gas for deliveries, and packing.

Barcode Scanning: enables GASCO to track natural gas location, which improves accuracy and reduces manual data processing.

Reporting and Analytics: reports on storage levels & inventory utilization, which allows GASCO to make data-driven decisions.

Integration with Other Systems: can integrate with other systems like ERP.

GASCO does not have information silos in its information system as it uses effective types of information systems such as Customer Relationship Management (CRM); it helps the company to the
company to manage its relationships with its customers by collecting all of their data into one database to enhance the collaboration of departments so they can personalize their documented customer services as GASCO has suppliers as its main customer base.

As a result, GASCO’s information system helps in eliminating the silo problems and issues because it helps the company standardize quality and process for all its customers and uses data-driven decisions to make sure that all the departments are aligned with the same data, order entries, and decisions that are based on it looking forward to achieving the company’s goals.

 There are several support enterprise processes like CRM, ERP, and EAI. First, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is a type of support enterprise process that includes four functions of the customer life cycle: Marketing, customer acquisition, relationship management, and Churn; it helps in increasing customer satisfaction. Second, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) is a type of system that more of a work on the data of the main departments of the company such as Sales, HR, Accounting, inventory, etc,... Its main benefit is the integration of all of these departments’ data to increase efficiency and continuous updates. Third, Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) is considered an integrated layer of the other systems while allowing the move of data to ERP; it helps in improving the collaboration of departments as it provides the sharing of integrated data. There are several ERP vendors such as Microsoft, Oracle, and SAP. GASCO uses Oracle as its ERP vendor as it is considered one of the strongest ERP models that provides innovative cloud-based solutions. An inter-enterprise information system is a system that connects with more than one entity at the same time to have more collaborative work as it allows the sharing of data across multiple directions. GASCO does not have an inter- enterprise information system and should implement one and use it because it will help connect its customer base who are the suppliers of the natural gas industry through a smoother flow of information as it will lead to higher efficiency and productivity.