Greg O wrote:
"USENET READER" wrote in message
news
$50 bucks to process an order? Who did they have working this place - a
buncha snails?




Salesman places the order, enters into the computer. Order is picked,
shipped or loaded on one of their many delivery trucks. Driver drops off the
product, gets packing list signed. An order entry clerk confirms all was
shipped, and corrects the bill and back orders any products not shipped.
Another body prepares and sends out a bill, then at months end a statement.
I probably have missed a step or two, including the person that placed the
stock order to stock the warehouse shelve, the person that received the
product into the warehouse and put it on the shelve.
Do the math and every step adds a few seconds to several minutes to the
process. Before you know it you have an hour or more spent just doing work
caused from processing an order. Small orders are quick, large orders take
more time.
All the steps are caused one way or another from a customer's order.
Greg



So? If they get $10 an hour (wages, benefits,
etc.), it cost the company $10, not $20. I worked
where the estimated cost of letter was calculated
as $10, and processing a check (for jury duty)
cost the company way more than the check was worth.

Every one of those orders costs extra, right?
Nope, only for the most efficient business with
exactly the right number of employees. That
doesn't happen often. In many case, it doesn't
cost the company anything because the employees
would be sitting on the butts doing nothing, maybe
even doing something that cost the company a lot.

The only way to know how much it costs to process
orders is to divide the total cost by the total
number of orders. Does that mean that if the cost
averages $10 than another order would cost $10?
Probably not. It might just mean that the average
cost of the processing order just dropped slightly
when you average that next order in. There is no
strict answer as it depends on the company
operation.

It doesn't really matter. If a company is just
breaking even on mailing and handling costs, and
it costs $20 for a simple product always (or
should be always) in stock, then the company is
doing something wrong.