CRM in Japanese Pump Manufacturing Company | Report

Running head: CRM
CRM in Japanese Pump manufacturing Company
Name of Student
Name of University
Author Note

1
Table of Contents
1. Introduction to the Company and its Key Operations.....................................................2
2. Description of current IT Systems...................................................................................2
2.1. Warehouse Management System..............................................................................3
2.2. SAP Sales Order Management System.....................................................................3
2.3. SAP for Finance Management..................................................................................4
3. Discussion of the Recommendations...............................................................................4
3.1. Brief introduction of CRM.......................................................................................5
3.2. Importance of CRM and Benefit to the Company....................................................7
3.3. Components required for the CRM..........................................................................8
3.4. Process of Implementation of CRM.......................................................................10
3.5. Expected Outcome and Possible Obstacle..............................................................11
3.5.1. Expected Outcome...........................................................................................11
3.5.2. Possible Obstacle.............................................................................................12
Conclusion.........................................................................................................................12
References..........................................................................................................................13

2
1. Introduction to the Company and its Key Operations
The chosen company is a Japanese pump manufacturing company that follows a
traditional process of business management. Since the organization follows a traditional process
of implementation, digitization is quite slow in the organization. Since it is a manufacturing firm,
the internal operations is mainly associated with the manufacturing of pump, management of
sales, finance management and management of the customers. The company make use of SAP to
manage the warehouse, managing the sales, and managing the finance. However, the company is
currently facing issues related to the management of the human resources of the company. This
is a major concern since customers’ dissatisfaction can result in business loss. Therefore, the
company need to work on management of their information system needs to enhance the
customer experience and business profits. Lack of direct interaction with the customers is
hampering the business process of the pump manufacturing company as the sales are gradually
decreasing.
The report aims in describing the current operation of the IT system to provide a
recommendation on the needed IT system that will ensure improvement in the business operation
of the Japanese pump manufacturing company. In the following paragraphs, the current IT
system of the Japanese pump manufacturing company is discussed to identify the need of a
specific enterprise system that can improve its current business operations (Coombs 2015). On
basis of the current operation of the pump manufacturing company, use of a customer
relationship management system is proposed. The components of the CRM is discussed and the

3
strategic benefits that the company can realize with the implementation of this system is
discussed as well.
2. Description of current IT Systems
The Japanese pump manufacturing company is associated is a medium sized organization
having slow digitalization process. The slow digitalization is one of primary reasons that the
company so far has invested only in SAP for management of the core functionalities of their
warehouse, management of sales order and finance management (Dwivedi et al. 2015).
Although these three information system is in operation, the company is in need of certain other
enterprise systems that can handle the current business process and help in increasing the
business profit. The description of the current IT systems are discussed in the following
subsections
2.1. Warehouse Management System
The manufacturing firm make use of SAP Warehouse Management System (WMS) for
processing the movement of the goods from the warehouse and in management of the stocks of
the warehouse. The current system supports a scheduled and efficient processing of all the
logistics in the warehouse (Murray and Kimmatkar 2016). Implementation of SAP in
management of all the warehouse operations proves to be good business decision for the
manufacturing firm as it integrates all the major operations and streamlines the key
functionalities to make the process of handling and tracking the warehouse goods easier (Fomina
and Samoylov 2017). This IT system helps the manufacturing firm in integration of the various
complex supply chain logistics for increasing the business efficiency.
2.2. SAP Sales Order Management System

4
The Japanese manufacturing firm has implemented SAP for management of their sales
order. All the order placed are directly put into SAP that controls the processing and distribution
of each of the orders (Missbach et al. 2016). The SAP order management enables the staffs of
the organization to efficiently process, track and fulfill the orders that are placed by the
customers. Currently this system is used to manage the customers’ experience, which is not that
effective. This entire sales order management system is handled by the sales department. The
order management is associated with keeping a track of all the orders, processing all the orders
and managing the people associated with those orders (Shankararaman and Kit 2014). However,
the sales order management system is not able to handle the customers’ request and feedbacks
which is leading to increase in customers’ dissatisfaction and attrition. Therefore, improvements
are needed to be brought about in this particular IT system of the company to enhance the
customers’ satisfaction.
2.3. SAP for Finance Management
Along with the warehouse management system and sales order management system, the
finance management process is handled by SAP as well. The Japanese manufacturing firm has
maintained the speed and accuracy of all the financial operations of the organization
(Heinzelmann 2017). This particular system enables the managers of the organization in
controlling, planning and managing all the major financial operations related to order and sales.
The above discussed points provides an idea of current IT system of the company. The
current IT system indicated that although company has invested in IT systems for managing the
core organizational process, there is a scope of further improvements in the field of customer
relationship management.

5
3. Discussion of the Recommendations
On basis of the analysis of the current IT systems present in the Japanese manufacturing
company, it can be commented that although the company has invested in management of their
core business processes, the firm lacks IT system that can manage the needs and demands of the
customers. Currently the company is facing problems in management of their existing as well as
the new customers. The company is facing serious problems in management of the client
relationships as the needs of the customers are not clear. The company follows a manual
feedback collection process after sales which is quite ineffective. The feedbacks obtained from
the client is not properly analyzed that is resulting in increase of the client issues. The manual
record keeping process and the analysis of the clients’ feedback through elaborate paper works is
a major business issue that is affecting the optimal business performance of the manufacturing
firm. The company needs to improve its efficiency of serving clients to improve their current
business operation. In the recent years, there have been a greater number of client attrition which
is one of the primary reasons behind decrease in the business profit. Therefore, it is
recommended that the company should invest on a Customer Relationship Management system
(CRM), which can help in management of customers’ need in an effective manner (Khodakarami
and Chan 2014). In the following sections, a brief introduction to the recommended enterprise
system is provided to communicate its need in the Japanese manufacturing company.
3.1. Brief introduction of CRM
CRM is a technology that is used by organization to manage the interaction with the
customers. The goal of a CRM system is to improve the communication processes to stay
connected with the customers and to improve the profitability of the organization.

6
A CRM system is recommended for the Japanese manufacturing firm as it enhances the
ability of a business to cultivate and nurture the relationships between the customers, which is an
essential need for the company currently (Navimipour and Soltani 2016). CRM is effective in
management of customers’ relationship as it provides a unified approach of organizing the
information of the customers and to streamline the business processes. This customer focus IT
tool further act as an effective sales and marketing tool. In the recent years, the increase in
sophistication of a CRM has made it a mandatory inclusion in the IT systems of an organization.
The key components of a CRM system are indicated in the image below-
Figure 1: Demonstrating the key components of the CRM system
(Source: Soltani and Navimipour 2016)
The key purpose of a CRM is to track the customer information that will be helpful for an
organization to increase its revenues. A modern CRM system is capable of increasing the
business profit by reducing the cost of various business operations by streamlining the core

7
internal processes (Choudhury and Harrigan 2014). Thus, the implementation of CRM will be
beneficial for the Japanese pump manufacturing company.
CRM system provide an opportunity to manage and track the relationship with the
customers. With the implementation of this system, the Japanese manufacturing organization can
effectively invest in sales Force Automation and marketing automation. Sales Force automation
will enable the managers to easily navigate through the sales cycle, which will in turn help in
identification of the demands of the customers. This will provide a platform for easier tracking of
the customer interaction, analysis of the sales and automation of the business tasks. The
marketing automation further helps in reduction of the repetitive task (Vukšić et al. 2016). Since
the demands of the customers can be easily analyzed by analysis of the sales trends, the CRM
system can help in addressing the key concerns associated with the existing work process of the
Japanese manufacturing company. Since the company already has its warehouse management
system, order management system and finance management system in place, it would not be
difficult to implement and integrate the CRM system with the existing business modules.
3.2. Importance of CRM and Benefit to the Company
The use of CRM is recommended and is required for the company as it can help in
addressing several issues associated with the company. Operational CRM is an important tool
that can enable the company to go through the past data of the customer to identify their needs
and the probable reason of dissatisfaction (Toma, Mihoreanu and Ionescu 2014). CRM is
important for the Japanese manufacturing firm as this system offers a historical view and
analysis of the acquired customer data. All the customers’ details can be easily tracked in the
CRM and therefore, it is necessary for the organization to implement the same. CRM will be

8
storing each and every details of the customers and therefore, it would be easy for the Japanese
company to determine which customer would be profitable for the company and accordingly the
issues with the customers’ management can be solved efficiently. One of the strongest aspect of
implementation of a CRM is that this particular system is quite cost effective and requires very
less paper or manual work. The starategic benefits that the Japanese company can realize with
the implementation of CRM are indicated as follows-
1. The CRM will enable the company to make the client relationships better by
increasing the efficiency of serving the clients.
2. The CRM system will offer greater staff satisfaction as the core organizational
processes are automated. It will further help in increase the revenue and the profitability of the
organization (Mohamad et al. 2014).
3. The implementation of the CRM system will enable the Japanese company to increase
its efficiency of serving the clients. CRM is quite useful in recording the customer interaction,
which in turn help in serving the client in a better manner.
4. The implementation of CRM will help the company in lowering the number of client
attrition which is recently observed in the organization (Alshardan, Goodwin and Rampersad
2016).
The above discussed points provide an idea of the key strategic benefits that can be
realized by the Japanese manufacturing firm on implementation of the CRM system.
3.3. Components required for the CRM

9
The implementation of the CRM system requires the presence of certain key components,
which are indicated as follows-
Hardware Requirements:-
The hardware needed for implementation of the CRM system are indicated as follows-
1. Multi-core 1.8-GHz CPU or higher version
2. Quad-core x64 2 GHz CPU or higher (for SQL Server)
3. A minimum of 40 GB hard Disk space
4. Hard Disk: SAS RAID 5 or RAID 10 Hard Disk Array
5. Minimum Screen Resolution of 1024x768
6. End user Device such as a laptop, PC or tablet
Software process and database Requirements:-
The software, process and database requirements for implementation of the CRM system
are indicated as follows-
1. SQL – SQL Word Breakers
2. CRM – Indexing Service
3. CRM – Microsoft ASP.NET
4. CRM – World Wide Web Publishing
5. CRM – IIS Admin

10
6. SQL – SQL Server Agent Service
7. CRM – Windows Data Access Components (MDAC) 6.0
8. SQL – Server Full-Text Indexing
People Requirements:-
1. Software development Team
2. Software Consultant
3. Software Vendor
4. Technical Expert
3.4. Process of Implementation of CRM
A planned strategy is to be considered for implementation of the CRM in the Japanese
pump manufacturing organization. The stepwise implementation plan for CRM are indicated as
follows-
1. Identification and documentation of the specific requirements of the CRM. This will
help in developing a feasible plan for CRM implementation.
2. Identification of the specific CRM products that matches the needs of the organization.
Accordingly those CRM modules are to be implemented in the organization (Foorthuis et al.
2016)
3. A feasible schedule and timeline is to be prepared that will highlight the key
implementation events associated with the implementation of CRM.

11
4. The working plan is to be prepared that will tailor the organizational needs with the
value chain. This plan will indicate the schedule and the budgetary requirements. The plan is to
be approved before any further works associated with the implementation of CRM (Shanks et
al. 2018).
5. Implementing the CRM system under the guidance of an experienced team.
6. Training the existing staffs of the organization about the working principle of the CRM
system
7. Demonstration and launch of the CRM system
8. Collection of Feedback
The above points indicates the plan for stepwise implementation of the proposed CRM
system. A planned implementation of this system is necessary to ascertain that the CRM modules
are integrated with the existing IT system of the organization. One of the most important step
towards the implementation of this system is to ensure that the specifications of the CRM system
matches with the organizational goals and objectives (Karlinsky-Shichor and Zviran 2016). This
will help in realizing the maximum benefit associated with the CRM implementation.
3.5. Expected Outcome and Possible Obstacle
The expected outcome of implementation of CRM and possible obstacle in path of its
implementation are outlined in the following sections.
3.5.1. Expected Outcome

12
The implementation of the CRM system is expected to increase the business profit and
the business revenue of the pump manufacturing company. The implementation of the CRM
system will help the manufacturing business to actively engage with its customers, and will
enable the form to understand its customers’ requirements in a more effective manner, which
will in turn will provide the staffs with an ability to exceed clients’ expectations (Chang, Wong
and Fang 2014). Therefore, it can be said that implementation of CRM will enable the form to
grow efficiently by promoting a positive team culture and effective communication among the
team. It is expected that the productivity and the revenue of the firm will increase by at least 25%
within 6 months of implementation of the CRM.
3.5.2. Possible Obstacle
CRM system is considered to be quite difficult in implementation as if its implementation
is not correctly planned, there is a high chance of failure of the entire project. In this case, the
monetary investment needed for implementation of this new enterprise system can be an obstacle
considering the company to be a medium sized organization (Torabi, Giahi and Sahebjamnia
2016). Apart from that, the technology infrastructure requirements can be another obstacle
towards successful implementation of this system. Lack of proper staff training can become a
major issue as well.
Conclusion
The report provides an overview of key business operations of a Japanese pump
manufacturing company and documents the need of improving their customer service. With an
aim of improving the existing business operations, a recommendation for implementation of a
CRM system is made. The report provides an overview of the key business benefits that can be

13
realized by the company with the implementation of the CRM system. CRM is needed to manage
the customer’s requirement and analyze their feedback. A plan for implementation of CRM is
documented along with possible outcome and obstacle in implementing the system.

14
References
Alshardan, A., Goodwin, R. and Rampersad, G., 2016. A Benefits Assessment Model of
Information Systems for Small Organizations in Developing Countries. Computer and
Information Science, 9(1), pp.1-20.
Chang, H.H., Wong, K.H. and Fang, P.W., 2014. The effects of customer relationship
management relational information processes on customer-based performance. Decision support
systems, 66, pp.146-159.
Choudhury, M.M. and Harrigan, P., 2014. CRM to social CRM: the integration of new
technologies into customer relationship management. Journal of Strategic Marketing, 22(2),
pp.149-176.
Coombs, C.R., 2015. When planned IS/IT project benefits are not realized: a study of inhibitors
and facilitators to benefits realization. International Journal of Project Management, 33(2),
pp.363-379.
Dwivedi, Y.K., Wastell, D., Laumer, S., Henriksen, H.Z., Myers, M.D., Bunker, D., Elbanna, A.,
Ravishankar, M.N. and Srivastava, S.C., 2015. Research on information systems failures and
successes: Status update and future directions. Information Systems Frontiers, 17(1), pp.143-157.
Fomina, I.G. and Samoylov, V.V., 2017, February. Applying of innovative methods in
warehouse management. In 2017 IEEE Conference of Russian Young Researchers in Electrical
and Electronic Engineering (EIConRus) (pp. 1337-1340). IEEE.

15
Foorthuis, R., Van Steenbergen, M., Brinkkemper, S. and Bruls, W.A., 2016. A theory building
study of enterprise architecture practices and benefits. Information Systems Frontiers, 18(3),
pp.541-564.
Heinzelmann, R., 2017. Accounting logics as a challenge for ERP system implementation: A
field study of SAP. Journal of Accounting & Organizational Change.
Karlinsky-Shichor, Y. and Zviran, M., 2016. Factors influencing perceived benefits and user
satisfaction in knowledge management systems. Information Systems Management, 33(1), pp.55-
73.
Khodakarami, F. and Chan, Y.E., 2014. Exploring the role of customer relationship management
(CRM) systems in customer knowledge creation. Information & Management, 51(1), pp.27-42.
Missbach, M., Staerk, T., Gardiner, C., McCloud, J., Madl, R., Tempes, M. and Anderson, G.,
2016. SAP on the Cloud (pp. 7-8). Heidelberg: Springer.
Mohamad, S.H., Othman, N.A., Jabar, J., Majid, I.A. and Kamarudin, M.F., 2014. The impact of
customer relationship management on small and medium enterprises performance. The Journal
of Technology Management and Technopreneurship (JTMT), 2(2).
Murray, M. and Kimmatkar, S., 2016. Warehouse Management with SAP ERP: Functionality
and Technical Configuration. Rheinwerk Publishing.
Navimipour, N.J. and Soltani, Z., 2016. The impact of cost, technology acceptance and
employees' satisfaction on the effectiveness of the electronic customer relationship management
systems. Computers in Human Behavior, 55, pp.1052-1066.

16
Shankararaman, V. and Kit, L.E., 2014, July. Enterprise systems enabling smart commerce.
In 2014 IEEE 16th Conference on Business Informatics (Vol. 2, pp. 50-53). IEEE.
Shanks, G., Gloet, M., Someh, I.A., Frampton, K. and Tamm, T., 2018. Achieving benefits with
enterprise architecture. The Journal of Strategic Information Systems, 27(2), pp.139-156.
Soltani, Z. and Navimipour, N.J., 2016. Customer relationship management mechanisms: A
systematic review of the state of the art literature and recommendations for future
research. Computers in Human Behavior, 61, pp.667-688.
Toma, M., Mihoreanu, L. and Ionescu, A., 2014. Innovation capability and customer relationship
management: a review. Economics, Management and Financial Markets, 9(4), p.323.
Torabi, S.A., Giahi, R. and Sahebjamnia, N., 2016. An enhanced risk assessment framework for
business continuity management systems. Safety science, 89, pp.201-218.
Vukšić, V.B., Bach, M.P., Garrido-Moreno, A., Lockett, N. and Garcia-Morales, V., 2015.
Exploring the role of knowledge management practices in fostering customer relationship
management as a catalyst of marketing innovation. Baltic Journal of Management.