Question 1: (a) Which new info system (CRM, ERP, etc), if any, should Moore purchase?

In 2001, Linda Autore, CEO of Moore Medical Corporation, was faced with several significant company-wide problems that needed addressing. Each problem posed a specific challenge for Autore. For example, share of wallet of current customers was not close to 100% due in part because the company did not offer capital goods, also split shipments were an issue due to excess cost and wasted time, additionally their current ERP system, that was recently installed, was not being fully utilized and lacked important functionality that was key to overall demand planning success and customer satisfaction. These areas of either under-utilized functionality or …show more content…

b) Can the likely financial benefits of any of the proposed new ifo technoloogies be assessed? If so, which ones? What are the benefits? :

The likely financial benefits of both the CRM and the bolt-on software for ERP can be partially assessed. The CRM system has a cost to Moore Medical of approximately $600,000. The pay-offs are somewhat harder to measure. The company's churn rate, or number of customers that quit placing orders with Moore over a year-long period, was 30% and close to 35% in some segments. This percentage is somewhat high compared to the industry average of 25%. This number was thought to be high due to customers that only used Moore when they were the cheapest, these customers showed little to no loyalty to the company. If anywhere from 50% to 80% of these lost customers could be captured year after year, especially if the customers were those from historically profitable sectors, net profits for the company would increase. To retain these customers the CRM system would make transactions easier and faster as well as make customers feel important because every channel would know all information about them. CRM might also help reduce costs to labor capital for Moore. The current ERP system as pertains to bids and quotes and new accounts is confusing and tedious. If the CRM system, once implemented, changed the user interface these