Skip to content

Business Process Assessment

Adapted from the Leahy Consulting question set "Business Processing Assessment (BPA) sample questions", August 2024.

A Business Process Assessment is a structured walk through how your company actually uses Macola®, department by department, so that automation and process changes get aimed at the work that is costing you the most. We run it as a conversation, on site or remotely, with the people who do each job.

The questions below are the ones we work from. They are published here for two reasons: so you can see what an assessment covers before booking one, and so you can use the list on your own. Plenty of companies find half a dozen answers they do not like just by reading through it.

Not every question applies to every company. Where a whole section is irrelevant, say so and we move on.

Booking an assessment

Call (513) 723-8094 or email [email protected]. A typical assessment covers the sections below over one or two days, and ends with a written summary of what we found and what we would do about it.

The questions

Customer Order Processing

  • What challenges do you face in Sales Order Management?
  • Do you have Sales Forecast and how are they generated?
  • How do you track Top Customer/Top Items?
  • Make to Order or Make to Forecast or Combination?
  • Custom Engineer Items and Standard Items
  • Review process from Quote to Sales Order to Production to Picking to Shipping? Using WMS?
  • How are Quotes generated?
  • Do you do Sample Orders?
  • What types of Orders are used? Master, Blanket, Credit Memo,
  • Do you use Copy from History functionality?
  • Do you use Project/Job Tracking?
  • Do you use Order Bookings and Sales History reports?
  • How do you track Sales by Customer, By Item, By Month, Quarter, and Week?
  • Are Customer Due and Promise Dates properly managed?
  • How are On Time Shipments tracked?
  • How are Back Orders tracked and handled?
  • How are Lead Times managed in the system?
  • How do you decide what can be shipped today, this week, this month?
  • How are Item Shortages tracked?
  • Do you use the Multi-Level Inquiry? How?
  • How are discounts handled?
  • Are you using the Price Code system?
  • How is pricing updated?
  • How is the Shipping processed? Manual Paperwork? Bar Codes? Accuracy Level? Confirm Shipping?
  • Are you using Confirm Ship to improve inventory timeliness?
  • Are you using Bill of Ladings?
  • Are you using salespeople, brokers/agents and are there commissions?
  • Are Territories tracked in the system?
  • Do you use EDI to automate Order Entry? Software Using? EDI Transactions utilized.
  • Do you have requirement to import orders from Web or Excel?
  • Do you receive manual Sales Orders that could be automated?
  • What is the average number of lines per order? Largest number of lines on an order?
  • Do you use MRP or the OE to PO Functionality in the system?
  • Do you use Order Comments and Notes?
  • Would it be beneficial to have certain information printed for Manufacturing?
  • Are Manufacturing or shipping instructions needed for the plant?
  • How are Commissions tracked?
  • Are you using Customer Items Cross Reference?
  • How are invoices managed in the system? Are they generated same day?
  • Are you using Pro Forma Invoice?
  • Are you using ICR Crystal Acknowledgements, Pick Tickets, Packing Slips, and Invoices?
  • How are returns handled? Using RMA Processing?
  • Are you using a Customer Relationship Management system such as Synergy? Salesforce?
  • How do you track customer contacts?
  • How do you manage customer-related documents?
  • How are you tracking Multi- year, monthly, trends in Booking, Sales, Items, etc.?
  • What Sales Reports are you using to track Sales Activity?
  • How are sales margins tracked?
  • What information is provided to sales team?
  • Are you using Pulse Dashboard? Would these features help you manage the business?
  • Daily/Weekly/Monthly Order Bookings
  • Daily/Weekly/Monthly Sales
  • Margin Analysis
  • Sales Analysis by Customer, Item, Salesperson, Territory, Product Category
  • On Time Shipments
  • Top Customer/Items
  • Automation of events
  • Invoices
  • Acknowledgements
  • Shipping Notifications
  • Do you have to manage Product Catalogs?
  • How is your Web Site managed?
  • Would you like customers to be able to enter orders requests online?
  • Any Custom VBA Modifications Used or Required?
  • Custom Fields?
  • Are you using Excel or other applications outside of Macola?
  • What is the biggest challenge in meeting customers’ requirements?
  • What areas of improvement do you see that could be implemented?

Inventory Management

  • What challenges do you face in Inventory Management?
  • How are new products introduced and managed?
  • Who set up new items in Macola? What are critical fields in Item Master, Item Location?
  • Are you using Bins, Serial Lot?
  • Are you using Reorder Advice Report or MRP?
  • Are you using MRP to generate Work Orders and Purchasing Requirements?
  • Are you using Item Notes and how do you enter manufacturing instructions?
  • Are you reported using Bins, Serial Lot tracking?
  • How is inventory managed such as Item Shortage?
  • How is Negative Inventory managed?
  • How is Zero Cost Inventory managed?
  • Obsolete Inventory Management?
  • Excess Inventory Management?
  • Do you use ABC analysis management?
  • Do you use Commodity Codes?
  • Do you use Project/Job Tracking?
  • How do you use the Multi-Level Inquiry?
  • Are you using the Inventory Transaction history inquiry and report?
  • How are item shortages managed?
  • Are there events or reports for materials shortage/negative inventory?
  • How is Inventory Aging managed today?
  • How are costs handled and managed in Inventory?
  • Are Labor and Overhead Costs tracked in the system?
  • How are Physical Inventory Counts done? In Macola? Tags/Worksheet?
  • How are Cycle Counts done? In Macola? Tags/Worksheet?
  • What reporting is available and required for Inventory?
  • Stock Status
  • Transaction History
  • Negative / Excess / Obsolete Inventory
  • Inventory Aging
  • Shortage Reports
  • Are you using Pulse Dashboard? Would these features help you manage the business?
  • Inventory Trends
  • On Time Shipments
  • Item Shortage Tracking
  • Inventory Aging Analysis
  • Inventory Turnover
  • Top Customer/Items
  • Sales Analysis by Customer, Item, Salesperson, Territory, Product Category
  • Negative Inventory
  • VBA Modifications Using or Needed? Custom Fields Utilized.
  • What other challenges do you face in Inventory Management?
  • What areas of improvement do you see that could be implemented?
  • Are there other applications you feel would improve your operations?

Manufacturing Production Processing

  • What challenges do you face in Production Order Management?
  • How are customer requirements and change requests communicated to Manufacturing?
  • Sales Forecast? Do you want to review developing Sales History Forecast?
  • What challenges do you have meeting Customer Order dates?
  • How are you scheduling manufacturing?
  • How are Production Work Orders generated and scheduled?
  • Are you using MRP to generate Work Orders and Purchasing Requirements?
  • Do you normally generate new or edit existing captured BOM’s?
  • What is in the Shop Package?
  • How are Work Orders processed?
  • Is production reported in the plant?
  • Is a bar code WMS system being utilized? Would it be beneficial?
  • Are Due Dates being maintained and what percentage of Work Orders is completed on time?
  • Are they reported partially or in full?
  • How are shortages managed?
  • Are you using Material Shortage before releasing PWO?
  • How are costs handled and updated for POP analysis?
  • Are materials and costs adjusted before, during, or after production?
  • Are Labor and Overhead Costs tracked in the system?
  • How do they track Work in Process?
  • Is Production Schedule being utilized?
  • Are you using Visual Scheduler to manage the orders?
  • Are there events to indicate past due or material shortages to key personnel? Do the Customer Orders Change?
  • How do they track Work In Process?
  • How are new products introduced and managed?
  • What are the bottlenecks in current production and how are they managed?
  • What reporting is available from POP processing?
  • How do you track In Process?
  • How are new product introductions handled in Production?
  • What reporting is available on Production?
  • Modifications Using or Needed? Custom Fields?
  • Are their events for production late or materials shortage?
  • Are you using tracking Reporting in Excel or other system?
  • Are you using Pulse Dashboard? Would these features help you manage the business?
  • Sales/Inventory/Forecasting Trends
  • On Time Shipments
  • Top Customer/Items
  • Item Shortage Tracking
  • MRP Analysis
  • What issues do you face in Production Order Processing?
  • What areas of improvement do you see that could be implemented?
  • Are there other applications you feel would improve your operations?
  • Manufacturing Execution (SFR, SPR, MCA, SC)
  • What challenges do you face in Production Manufacturing Management?
  • How are you scheduling manufacturing?
  • How are Shop Work Orders generated and scheduled?
  • What is in the Shop Package?
  • Are you reporting at the Operation level?
  • Is production reported in the plant?
  • Is a bar code WMS system being utilized? Would it be beneficial?
  • Who does Routings?
  • Who reports production?
  • Material Tracking
  • Labor Tracking
  • Manufacturing Costing Routings Managed.
  • How are you using Manufacturing Cost Accounting Module?
  • Are you closing jobs in MCA?
  • Are you using Standard Costing Module?
  • Reporting (Excel, Macola)
  • Are you using Pulse Dashboard? Would these features help you manage the business?
  • Sales/Inventory Trends
  • Forecasting
  • On Time Shipments
  • Top Customer/Items
  • Item Shortage Tracking
  • MRP Analysis
  • What reports are needed?
  • Standard Costing (Accounting/Engineering/Manufacturing)
  • When is the standards changed and rolled up?
  • Are variances managed?

Bill of Materials

  • What challenges do you face in creating and managing Items?
  • Is the Product Development team using Macola?
  • How are new products introduced?
  • How are product changes managed? ECM being utilized?
  • Who is responsible for Quality Assurance?
  • What fields utilized such as Component Location and Reference Designators?
  • How are damage products repaired?
  • Are you using Visual Bill Builder?
  • How are obsolete items being managed?
  • Are you copying and modifying BOM’s?
  • Are you using CAD Program? What Software?
  • Do you need better visibility to Multi Level Bill of Materials?
  • Estimating Module of interest?

Purchasing & Receiving

  • How do you track Vendor Performance?
  • How do you track Top Vendors/Top Items?
  • Are you using a CRM system to track Vendors such as Synergy? Salesforce?
  • How are Vendor set up in the system?
  • How do you manage multiple Vendor Contacts?
  • What challenges do you have meeting Customer Order dates?
  • How are Purchase Orders generated and scheduled?
  • How are you managing vendor Quotes?
  • How is vendor pricing managed?
  • Are you using Item Vendor Master for cross reference and contract pricing?
  • How are vendors notified of order? Automatically?
  • What type of PO’s do you use such as Blanket, Drop Shipment?
  • Are you using Drop Shipping?
  • Do you use Copy PO History functionality?
  • Do you use MRP or the OE to PO Functionality in the system?
  • How do you handle the Customer Orders Change Management?
  • Are you using MRP to generate PO’s?
  • How and where is PO Receiving performed? Timely?
  • Are you emailing manually or automatically to Vendors?
  • Who is managing closing open Purchase Orders?
  • How are new products introduced and managed?
  • Are you using ICR Purchase Orders?
  • What reporting is available on Production?
  • Are their events for late Receiving or materials shortage or late receipts?
  • Are you using Pulse Dashboard? Would these features help you manage the business?
  • Supplier Management
  • Late Purchase Order Management
  • Item Shortage Tracking
  • Inventory Aging Analysis
  • Inventory Turnover
  • On Time Shipments
  • Top Vendors/Items
  • Purchasing History by Customer, Item, Salesperson, Territory, Product Category
  • Negative Inventory
  • Modifications Using or Needed?
  • What challenges do you have in performing your job function?
  • What issues do you face in PO and Receiving?
  • What areas of improving do you see that could be implemented?
  • Are there other applications you feel would improve your operations?

Accounts Receivable

  • How are new customers set up?
  • Who is doing the billing process?
  • Are there many changes such as changing quantities or adding shipping/other charges during Billing process?
  • Using ICR Invoices?
  • Automated invoices via Event Manager?
  • Reprint invoices?
  • Do you know how to void invoice versus Credit Memo?
  • Do you use Debit Memo functionality?
  • How are the AR Cash Receipts and Collections Process being managed?
  • Aging appears current. Who is involved in collections?
  • Automated collection letters or statements
  • How are Credit Memos being handled?
  • How are Commissions tracked?
  • RMA Processing?
  • How do you manage multiple Customer Contacts?
  • What reporting is available and required?
  • Modifications Using or Needed?
  • Are their events for late Collections or materials shortage?
  • What challenges do you have meeting Customer Requirements?
  • Are you using Pulse Dashboard? Would these features help you manage the business?
  • AR Activity Analysis
  • AR Online Drilldown Aging Analysis
  • Salesperson Analysis
  • Commissions Tracking
  • Daily/Weekly/Monthly Order Bookings
  • Daily/Weekly/Monthly Sales Tracking
  • Margin Analysis
  • Sales Analysis by Customer, Item, Salesperson, Territory, Product Category
  • What issues do you face performing your job functions?
  • What areas of improving do you see that could be implemented?
  • Are there other applications you feel would improve your operations?

Accounts Payable

  • How are new vendors set up?
  • How do you process Vouchers? Are they linked to Purchase Orders?
  • Are Purchase Orders cost accurate for quantity and costs?
  • Are costs going to Purchase Price Variance account?
  • Are there many changes such as changing quantities or adding shipping/other charges during Vouchering process?
  • Using ICR PO’s?
  • Automated PO?
  • Reprint PO?
  • Do you know how to void invoice versus Credit Memo?
  • Do you use Debit Memo functionality?
  • How do you track Capital Expenditures? Job Number?
  • Aging appears current. Who is involved in collections?
  • What reporting is available and required?
  • Modifications Using or Needed?
  • What challenges do you have in performing your job function?
  • What issues do you face?
  • What areas of improving do you see that could be implemented?
  • Are there other applications you feel would improve your operations?

General Ledger

  • What accounting periods are utilized? Annual/Fiscal?
  • Are you using Cost Units/Cost Centers?
  • Are you Budgeting in Macola?
  • If so, are you budgeting on based on Department, Warehouse Location, etc.?
  • How are manual journal entries handled?
  • How many manual journal entries monthly?
  • How do you track adjustments to GL for auditors?
  • How is payroll information entered into the system?
  • How is Month End and End Processing performed in the system? Any questions about these processing
  • How do you reconcile Bank Accounts?
  • Using Bank Book
  • Financial Reporting – Using Macola or F9 or manually
  • How are sales tax track and analyzed?
  • What Financial reporting is available and required?
  • Is there a need to generate Financial reports such as Customer Profitability?
  • Customer
  • Item
  • Project
  • Cost Center
  • Do you use Cash Flow Statement?
  • What are Excel and other applications used for to supplement Financial reporting
  • Who is performing Month End Processing?
  • Modifications Using or Needed?
  • What challenges do you have meeting management’s informational needs?
  • What issues do you face in performing your jobs?
  • What areas of improving do you see that could be implemented?
  • Are there other applications you feel would improve your operations?

Sales/Executive Management

  • Reporting Needs? Sales history?
  • Excel?
  • Dashboard
  • Pivot Tables

System Review

  • Review Servers
  • Disks
  • Memory
  • Workstations
  • System Performance
  • Remote Capability
  • Event Manager
  • Data Cleanup from Health Check/SystemPRO
  • File Validations
  • Data Retention Policy
  • Event Manager
  • Pulse Dashboard
  • Synergy Applications (CRM, WF, DM)
  • Access Files

What happens afterwards

We write up what we found, ranked by how much time or money is going into each problem, and separate the items you can fix yourself from the ones that need software or a project.

Where the answer is a PULSE product, we say which one and what it costs. Where the answer is a Macola® setting you already own, we say that too — a fair number of the findings on a typical assessment are settings nobody knew were there.

Projects such as training, workflow re-engineering, network issues, software upgrades and EDI, Synergy or Crystal report work are quoted separately with one of our consultants or developers, and we are glad to scope them with you.

Support & contact

Our team is glad to help with anything from a quick question to a full implementation.