Task Management System
Communication Within Metal Service Centers
In today’s metal market, there is a crucial need for technology to support a fast-paced, rapidly fluctuating industry. This is especially true right now as we are seeing rapid growth with increased restrictions and regulations. Managers must be vigilant overseeing the ins and outs of their business. Information concerning the activities of their staff need to be delivered to them in a quick and concise manner to enable them to make quick decisions.
With the hectic pace within today’s metal service centers managing multiple projects or tasks can become a bit chaotic leading to missed assignments or project delays. Quality, customer accounts receivable, material claims, customer returns, blanket orders, purchasing approvals, pricing approvals all of these factors and many more need to be managed and tracked. Gone are the days where salespeople are wandering around the office with orders in their hands looking for a signature; it must be automated. Salespeople need to be on their phones or answering emails to do their job.
Modern ERP software solutions must offer a “Task Management” system. Management and Staff will receive their tasks in a standardized format which can be set to pop open upon the individual signing into the system. The tasks can then be filtered by user, date, type of entry and the status of the task.
Tasks can be assigned to individuals or groups, i.e. the credit department, sales management to be handled by the users within that group. Tasks can then be dealt with by the person the task is assigned to or with the proper authority the task can be transferred to another member within the group.
Staff can prioritize the tasks and handle the most critical tasks quickly. Individuals will view their Task Manager screens, and management can also view individuals Task Manager screens which will allow management and staff to quickly view and act on various tasks such as;
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- Material Buyout Approval
- Credit memo/Debit memo Approval
- Documents Approved
- Intercompany Approval
- Orders Requiring Credit Approval
- Pricing Approval
- Purchase Order Approval
- Review Documents
- Message Tasks
- Scan To Invoice
- E-Commerce Order Approval
The Tasks assigned are generated by day-to-day business activities. Here are just a few examples.
Credit Approval
An order created for a Customer that is flagged by credit for whatever reason will populate a Credit Managers Task Manager dashboard for approval or denial. All Tasks are all stamped at time of creation.
PO Approval
Companies can establish maximum Purchase order values, e.g. Salespersons = $5000, Sales Managers = $25,000. Any PO’s outside the limits will automatically populate the Purchasing Managers Task Dashboard for approval. High value P.O.s can also be required to be approved by two or more managers.
Pricing Approval
Minimum and maximum gross profit margins can be established for any product or group of products. If an order is generated that falls outside these parameters it will automatically populate a Sales Manager’s Task Dashboard for approval.
Personal Tasks
The modern version of the sticky note. Staff can simply populate their Task Manager and be certain they will deal with any individual tasks they may have. Nothing will fall through the cracks.
A Task Management system will assure the efficient and timely handling of all tasks and result in a more productive workforce. Efficient and timely internal communication becomes critical if companies are to be able to provide the high level of customer service required in today’s competitive market.
