Business Process Analysis of Melbourne Delivery

The report is focused on analyzing the business process of Melbourne delivery, a food delivery company in Melbourne, from the customer's perspective. Mapping of the business processes is beneficial in various ways. To begin with, the information provided can be used as instruction for dealers, especially the ones that are new in the market, in carrying out their business processes. Additionally, the info can be useful in providing a fundamental basis for diagnosing Melbourne delivery along the business process. Also, through analysis of the software, great improvement ideas can be created and implemented thus enhancing the business process for increase profitability. A flowchart diagram has been drawn to provide a clear image of the current business process that is involved from the ordering of the products to when the customers receive their preferred products. In consultation with pieces of literature on customer relationship management, the report identifies the ineffectiveness and inefficacy within the current business process. Based on total quality management (TQM) approach, the report further provides recommendations on the business processes that are the most ineffective; thus offers solutions to reduce activity time on non-value adding methods.

1. Introduction

EASI is a delivery company that offers various delivery service, including food delivery around Australia. Currently, EASI owns a business in the following six cities: Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth as well as Hobart. Each town holds individual software application and operates separately (EASI, 2018). In Melbourne city, food can be ordered by individuals through the Melbourne delivery platforms from the popular restaurants in the city. Through this application, advertisement services for EASI have been improved and popularity of its food products increased. Generally the online platform has increased the profitability of the business as more customers can now access the products from anywhere thus convenience. The paper provides a description and analysis of the current business process focusing on the Melbourne delivery app. A graphical flow chart will be provided accordingly. In consultation with literature in total quality management (TQM), a few suggestions of business process improvement will be discussed. An improved flowchart will be presented as well.

2. Current Business Process

As a customer, I have been ordering delivery services from Melbourne Delivery for about half a year. The overall quality of the service is acceptable. However, there were two times I was agitated. It was around dinner time. I placed a dinner order with a restaurant that is about 12 miles away. About 2 minutes later, the order confirmation was sent to my phone. I was patiently waiting for my dinner. 30 minutes later, when I thought my meal should arrive in 15 minutes, Melbourne Delivery called to inform me that the order was canceled because it's too far away from my location. Drivers won't be able to deliver for me. It happened not once but twice. The second time, they informed me about 20-25 minutes after the order confirmation.

Based on this personal experience and advice from a former employee, the current business process (BP) of Melbourne Delivery will be drawn next. Please be advised that the gap exists between the actual BP and the proposed one.

2.1. Description

The process is initiated when the customer places an order through the app. Shortly after receiving the request, the system will generate a voice call to confirm the order with customers. Once the order is approved, the system will automatically assign orders to an available driver. According to a former driver of Melbourne Delivery, drivers are allowed to refuse orders if either restaurants or customers beyond their driving distance. If the driver refuses to deliver, the order will be canceled. A representative will call to inform the customer. If the request is accepted, the system will forward the order to the restaurant. If the restaurant is unable to provide service (for instance the restaurant is closed for the day), the order will be canceled as well. If the request is accepted, the driver will pick up when it's ready and make a delivery to the customer. The entire process is completed once the customer receives the order.

Figure2.1.1. Flowchart of the Current BP

2.2. BP Analysis

There are two problems can be identified based on the previous description. The first problem is that the delivery management system is unable to filter restaurants based on the customer's location, which is a technical defect. The second problem is that the first problem is not identified and remedied immediately after it happened. The promised delivery time on Melbourne Delivery app is 45 minutes; however, the actual average delivery time is about 60 minutes. When an order is canceled, the average process time to inform customers is about 30 minutes. From customers' point of view, when they expect orders to be delivered in 15 minutes, they are told that orders are canceled. Based on Five Gaps theory (STK, 2002, cited from PZB, 1985), customer dissatisfaction arises from the gap between expected service quality and the actual delivery.

Moreover, according to the Nordic School (Erjavec et al., 2016), the service output quality is an important factor in determining service overall quality. Regarding service output quality, the service results and interactions with service suppliers are both considered. As for Melbourne Delivery case, fail to deliver as expected disappoints customers first. Inefficiency in communicating to customers further irritates customers. Fortunately, Melbourne Delivery has no competitors exist now, especially in the Chinese customer market. Nearly 530,000 (13% of Australia overall population of 2018) (ABS, 2018) Chinese in Australia, only one food delivery application that specifies in Chinese and Asian cuisines. However, dissatisfied customers are just forced to be ‘satisfied' and loyalty because there are no alternatives for them to switch to (Erjavec et al., 2016, cited from Fornell, 1995). Once a substitute emerges, Melbourne Delivery is more likely to be abandon.

3. Suggestion to Business Process Improvement (BPI)

To improve customer satisfaction and therefore sustain competitive advantages, the following section will provide recommendations regarding total quality management approach (TQM). TQM is a management approach that initially focuses on manufacturing industries. In recent decades, it has been applied to service quality control and management in the service industry (Calabrese & Corbò, 2015). Reducing the amount of time between the time when the order is made and the time when the products are delivered can increase profitability and customer satisfaction. This reduction in time can be done through increasing the number of restaurants in the city, this will be more efficient as the driver will take a shorter time to deliver the products.

3.1. Business Process Improvement

According to Calabrese and Corbò (2015), there are five critical factors (CF) contribute to the failure of adopting TQM into practical use. The first CF lacks top management support and standardized business processes. The regulated business will assist management to perform quality control and ensure service outcome. As for Melbourne Delivery case, the top management must first realize that the inefficacy and ineffective exist in their business process and thus support the business changes. When combining with business strategies, senior management needs to establish standards and measurements in business activities. For example, the customer only restaurants within five miles of the delivery location are presented for customers to choose from. The response time for drivers must be measured to reduce the delay time as well. Drivers must receive a response to order status within 5 minutes. If the answer is not received within the designated time, the system will transfer the order to the next available driver. Through these changes, the activity time on the driver will be reduced to the minimum, therefore shorten the entire delivery time. If any drivers do not confirm the order, the order will be canceled automatically and be transferred to operators. Operators are required to put canceled orders in priority and take actions within 3 minutes.

The second critical factor that mentioned by Calabrese and Corbò (2015) is that the involvement of employees, including employee training and empowerment. Employees need to be educated to understand the importance of their jobs and their positions in the workflow, therefore improve employees' performance (Calabrese & Corbò, 2015, Tang et al., 2010). TQM focus on continuous improvement in service quality. Employee involvement and the sense of ownership can support business changes and the success of implementing a quality control plan (Calabrese & Corbò, 2015). In figure 2.1.1, after orders are canceled, operators should inform customers as soon as possible. Lack of understanding of the importance of this particular process can cause operators to delay in execution.

Moreover, to comfort customers and reduce negative impacts, operators need to be trained in communication skills. Besides internal control, external supplier quality management is critical in successfully adopting TQM as well, which including supplier relationship management and communication management (Calabrese & Corbò, 2015, Tang et al., 2010). Restaurants are the primary service suppliers for Melbourne Delivery. Establish an active communication channel can help Melbourne Delivery receives the most recent updates on business hours, menu changes, peak and down times, etc. By collecting these data, Melbourne Delivery can reduce the number of order cancellation due to ungodly business hours, moreover is be able to estimate more accurate delivery time; hence service quality is improved.

After standardizing the business process, a qualified and effective system is demanded to support and implement the new business process. Only the systems that are developed and designed based on business strategies can enhance business performance. Moreover, financial support is essential as well to support the development of the systems (Calabrese & Corbò, 2015). Unfortunately, there is a limitation on the information of their current delivery management system. This paper assumes the system is developed and maintained by themselves. Currently, their system is capable of locating customers, restaurants, and drivers through mobile devices. It's reasonable to assume that Melbourne Delivery is capable of adding distance limitation as well as adding time limitation for drivers with sufficient financial resource support.

3.2. Improved Business Process

An improved flowchart is drawn based on suggestions in 3.1. It's evident that the overall activity time has decreased by 18% to 29.4% by setting a time limit on drivers. 50% reduces the inform time from operators to customers.

Figure3.1.1. Flowchart of improved BP

After reviewing the flowchart, some might wonder will the new BP increases the possibilities of order cancellation. At the beginning of implementing this new process, there is a high possibility for this to happen, especially when drivers are not familiar with the new system and work process. Therefore, sufficient training for all employees is essential. Once employees become expert in the developed work system, this situation should be reduced. Moreover, to achieve continuous improvement, periodic feedbacks and adjustments in the business process are recommended.

4. Conclusion

With the limitation in retrieving more accurate information of Melbourne Delivery. This paper has drawn business process based on personal experience and assumptions. Flowchart diagrams are presented for both current and improved BP to provide a clear image of how the business process can be improved and managed by adopting TQM approaches. However, due to the gap exists between the actual BP and the proposed BP, further investigations may be required to take the above recommendations into practical use.