Description of FastFit’s Operations
FastFit Sporting Goods is a successful New England regional supplier of sporting goods to the high end consumer market. They sell an exclusive selection of equipment and apparel to men and women who exercise and pursue outdoor activities on a regular basis. They operate five (5) upscale retail stores in the New England market that offer a high level of customer attention, with a headquarters (HQ) is in Burlington, Massachusetts, and a single warehouse, distribution, and eCommerce fulfillment center in Haverhill, Massachusetts. Most of their products are purchased from two suppliers, Winter Gear Distributers outside of Providence, Rhode Island, and Boston Fitness Supplies in Marlboro, Massachusetts. FastFit has expanded successfully in the New England area over the past five years. However to expand nationally as a major retailer, they need to improve the scalability of their operations (stores and warehouses). A key part of their strategy is to leverage information systems to automate and improve operations, to strengthen management controls, and to enable significant growth while maintaining the “high touch” customer experience. A diagram of their complete non-Web based operations follows. See figure 1.
General Question
1. Mark the main flows of goods and money in the diagram (above) and employ a key or table of descriptive elements to explain your answer.
Business Process
1. Customers go shopping at the store and purchase sport goods.
2. Stores are sending back money to HQ.
3. HQ forwards information to supplier.
4. Supplier sends goods to warehouse.
5. Warehouse sends goods to store.
6. Store sends goods to customer.
7. Store reports information what is purchased and what is the most popular product to HQ.
8. HQ responds what they need for next step to store.
9. Warehouse tells HQ how much they could store and by what time they need these...