The ordering process begins with the decision of the customer to submit their order simply by either calling, faxing or mailing their order information. When a customer calls in their order, the customer service representatives takes down pertinent customer information, which includes the customer's name, billing and shipping address, product number and description, quantity and shipping instructions. While taking down the order, the customer service representative access the company's order entry system where inventory checks are conducted as well as credit checks are processed. In addition, delivery options are advised to the customer. Here the customer decides if he/she would like a rush delivery, a 4-5 business day delivery, an 8-10 business days delivery, or a 10+ days delivery. If the customer decides on a rush delivery, the warehouse located closest to the shipping address is notified as to the availability of the product and the delivery instructions. If that particular warehouse does not have the product available, other warehouses are contacted. If the customer decides on 8-10 days in the future for delivery, the order is held for several days before being processed. If the customer decided on a 10+ days in the future for delivery, the order is held for processing and treated as a back order when it is input into the order entry system. The order entry system generates back order reports daily so customer service representatives are able to keep track of orders that are not necessarily rush orders. Based on this information, once the customer decides on a delivery time the order information is confirmed with the customer.
Once the customer information and order is entered into the system, the customer number is automatically generated if the customer is an existing customer or a new number if the customer is a new customer. From the customer service representative
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