Enterprise Resource Planning System In The Hotel Industry

Enterprise Resource g get oning dodge In The Hotel IndustryWith the increasing sophistication of hotel guests and jocks, the recurrent improvement of hospitality spiel towards the attainment of unparall(a)eled excellence in the personal credit line re master(prenominal)s the unaccompanied edge the hotel has to sustain its position if non attain the leadership in the sedulousness. By adopting the ISO 90012008 textile, the acculturation of a learning organization into the consciousness of distributively employee of the hotel shall get out the impetus to strive and be better in providing assist to hotel guests and patrons. A Quality forethought scheme or QMS go forth ordain the conduct of each(prenominal) of the hotels front linings. The QMS shall in like manner suffer the parameters for attribute serve up while performance monitoring of each of the mouldes shall be by dint of the dish key performance indicators. Any flaw or parameter that fails to remunerate the accepted threshold of the performance indicator shall be subject to a root ca utilise analysis to locate a crystalizeive or antifertility solution. The QMS requires regular review to underwrite that the organization remains focalize and faithful to its objective. The hotel employees performance shall be subject to evaluation by victimization the key performance indicators root feat analysis. For QMS, the hotel guests or patrons feedback, comment or opinion is accorded greater weight as it provide non plainly change how the hotel will conduct its business but it will every bit show how the hotel value their guests and patrons point of view with regard to the hotels operation.Contentsexecutive unofficial 2Contents 3Introduction 4methodological analysis 5THE HOTEL 5Design 6Supply 7Planning 7Shop-floor control 8The environment 8Technology 8The Hotels customer SERVICE 9CUSTOMER SERVICE Challenges 11 compact 12Bibliography 13IntroductionRevenue in a Hotel business shall a nchor on two factors, namely (1.) level of occupancy or guest traffic that embarrasss patrons to its facilities, and (2.) Efficiency and Quality of its gains (Cornell University, 2010). Thus, among some other industries in the world, the Hospitality persistence remains dependent on the market round and good business sense. Good business sense refers to the operation schema and business strategy that would ensue to operation efficiency and quality answer.The hymeneals of technology and human ingenuity be very much apparent in the hotel industry by deploying an Enterprise Resource Planning system. As applied to the hotel industry, it would guarantee excellent guest experience from their reservation up to their next visit. The deployment of a Customer Relationship Management governance would ensure that all issues are addressed and monitored and shall besides ensure that the business is correctly guided on how to become client centrical. However, technology will not wor k on its own as its success will be dependent on the employees who use the system and those who will execute the work instructions recommended by the system.A role model that will capitalize on the strength of the employee enabled by technology shall be the onus of this paper. The sole map of which is to ensure the client focused operation of the hotel while practicing processes that feed on continual improvements to manage the bottom line. utilize these strategies, Leadership in the industry and profitability should not be far behind.METHODOLOGYThe valuable discussions in Operation Management be possessed of been the inspiration by this writer to sample out more than knowledge in pursuit of excellence. Thus, it led to the denudation that the concepts presented herein have been in existence for some time, and various authors not only wrote extensively on the subjects but they have exhaustively been ruin of its continual improvement so to speak. Capitalizing from the experienc es of these steering gurus and the erudite deliberation in Operations Management this author and so recommend a more comprehensive examination of the Hotels Customer Service.Using the ISO 90012008 Quality Management System framework, this author shall discuss the merits and wisdom of its implementation in this paper in support of the Hotels operation and primordial goal. It is ideal to implement the quality heed system in all the processes of the Hotel to ensure that there will be no gap that can dissuade if not prevent the Hotel from existence the essence for guest helping excellence. The ISO 9000 Quality Management System have previously been regarded as applicable only to the manufacturing industry since it normally refers to the quality in the creation of a product. However, in ISO 90012008 Quality Management System the word product can alternately refer to as emolument1. The hospitality industry has long been recognized a service-oriented industry (Ramaswamy). Its main product is unlike all other industry since its product is the service provided by the hotel employees. The quality rhythmic pattern of hospitality service is equal to the add of satisfaction of each client multiplied by the number of customer over a period of time.THE HOTELThe hotel is a five star hotel that is passing profitable and popular privately owned primed(p) in the center of an world-wide city with a high level of tourist traffic, oddly international tourists. It boasts of a two c fifty suites, two dine d headspring, cardinal of which offers a standard menu and seats trine ampere-second people while the other seats only a hundred but it offers discriminating a la railcarte choices for an upscale market. The hotel besides has two cocktail bars one that is publicly accessible from the streets while the other is for hotel guests only moreover both are open to guests and non-guests alike.The hotel is home to three kitchens, with the two serving the two dining fa shions while the 3rd serves the three function rooms rented for parties, weddings, conferences and other similar events. The function rooms seat fifty, two hundred and one thousand, respectively while each function room can have their own bars if required. The hotel similarly provides other facilities that would include a swimming pool, gym, sauna and a car park with one hundred and fifty private bays.The hotel employs both constant full-time and part-time contract workers. Each area has its own supervisor, with subject and experienced double-deckers overseeing the supervisors for the respective departments. As indicated, not only does the hotel enjoy a modest profit from its operation, it boasts of a decent bar of guest and patron traffic from its hotel and facilities operation.DesignDesigning a particular type of service impacts the hotels customers to enrich their stay or their hospitality experience is a interoperable application of this concept as exposit by Slacks and J ohnston in 2004. To represent the design process in the formulation of a process that will provide returning guests with discounted rates if they return during the off-peak or rock days will ensure occupancy during the lean months and expand selling exposure.SupplyRaw materials used as ingredients to hotel food are dainty to voidage and contamination thus it is important to manage its handling from delivery, com deputeer memory and inventory. The release of the goods from storage should be exactly enforced and implemented through proper tagging and warehousing strategy. To illustrate Meat products can last for a certain period through refrigeration but must also consider volatility and seasonality to its supply. The system predicting the usage of the hotel base on its usage consumption and the scheduled events shall either place an order of magnitude or antecede an order automatically and later implement First-in-first-out in the warehouse with the use of the inventory tag.P lanningPlanning within the context of the hospitality industry often relates to Business Planning. Case in point, the hospitality business is photosensitive to the time of the year particularly its occupancy. From July to August is normally the time when nervous strain travel is at its busiest due to the summer vacation in the coupled States and some countries. Hotels outside the United States that are vacation destinations of Americans are at its busiest. However, during the lean months, when occupancy is at its lo western United States, hotel managers and administrators creativity are normally put to test.To illustrate a viable business strategy during the lean months is to pre-sell the room through discount cards. The concept is to sell discount cards at a price of one or two nights stay that will be availed only during the lean months. Modest discounts may be availed by cardholders including the facilities or services offered by the Hotel. The card shall expire within one yea r from its issuance to give the hotel the opportunity to sell continuously the spare hotel rooms during the lean months.Shop-floor controlShop floor strategies include subcontract and shift Scheduling, housekeeping, Process improvement and increasing process efficiency in the context of providing quality service. ISO 90012008 has closed the gap between a indubitable product and service that both demand quality. According to the system, the go around way to ensure quality service is to identify focus areas, then to provide measurable targets that are congruent with the focus areas goals.The environmentSome hotels see to it their impact to the environment of the local community and as part of their strict adherence to their corporate conscience social responsibility often adopts a sound environmental management system. Not only would this comply with the international initiatives regarding environmental concerns but in practice, this will also respond well to its corporate socia l responsibility initiatives.TechnologyThe use of technology to cut down the cost of operation through the automation of processes and increase the security at the hotel is a strategy that does not normally provide a real and visible result overnight. To illustrate Supply Chain Management as envisioned is a technology driven strategy that will ensure that raw materials used as ingredients for food do not spoil or do not get contaminated.The strategy requires inventory nimble tagging in each delivery. By providing secure keys to every guest, a hotel management system would be able to adjust the room temperature and the Air treatment Unit load depending on the rooms that have activated keys. Using the secure keys inserted in its slot will enable the system to determine the additional load needed for the air conditioning requirement instead of the Air Handling Unit continuously operating even without all guest inside is a waste of energy.The Hotels CUSTOMER SERVICEThe hotels custo mer does not start becoming a customer when he at long last pays the initial down payment for a room or service, he does not start becoming a customer at the repetitive he shows up at the hotels premises or orders his first absorb from the bar. A guest or patron starts becoming a customer as soon as he says the first word to any of the hotels staff, telemarketer or even parking attendant or valet (Borsenik Stutts, 1997). Ergo, all aspects of the hotels operation almost concern itself with customer service. Customer service is not merely providing the hotels service to the guests or patron, it is making sure that the customer is fulfill and fulfilled in the usage of the facilities including their encounter with the hotels staff (Michelli, 2008). Therefore, all processes that will affect the customer directly or indirectly are customer service providing processes.To illustrate the reservation clerk represents the hotel as its first liner when the customer called in to reserve a r oom or support the one of the services of the hotel. A pleasant conversation would result to present(prenominal) booking and a not so pleasant conversation is the wrong of a potential client. The interaction with the valets or the parking attendants may be the second encounter of the hotel with its customer. The next would be the door person, the front desk, the concierge, the room boy, the hotel cleaners and then floor security for hotel guests. While for those partaking and enjoying the services of the Hotel would be entertained from the door person by the receptionist and then the floor manager or the facilities attendant. The guests would then be interfacing next with the waiters if they were at the bar or restaurant, the lifeguard for the swimming pool and fitness instructor for the gym and sauna.To illustrate the indirect service providers in the Hotel that ensures not only the satisfaction of the guests or patron they themselves are responsible for the behind the scene hos pitality experience. These would include the kitchen staff that would include the chef and those responsible for preparing the food. The engineer that ensures the temperature of the pool and the gym is best or the safety engineer monitoring the safety levels at the sauna, the mansion house and lobby temperature. The indirect service providers also include the cashiers that provide the correct change and charges, the security guards that ensures the safety of the guests and the surrounding. This also includes the janitorial staff that ensures the health of the guests by making the immediate surrounding garbage or dirt free.The processes that shape the operation and performance of the customer interaction of the services provided as described shall be the focus of the Quality Management System framework of ISO 90012008 (International disposal for Standardization, 2008). Aligning with the Vision, Mission, Values and Strategy of the Hotel the Quality Management System framework will allow the Hotel to define its own Quality Mission avouchment that states the personality of the hotel. Each of the processes followed or implemented by the process owners as described above that interacts with the Hotels guests, patrons or customers, in general, shall be covered by the Quality Mission Statement.Juxtapose with the Quality Missions Statement aligned processes, depict Result Areas will be developed will remain the targets of the processes. The tell Result Areas should be customer centric and should work towards the attainment of the best hospitality experience of the guests or patrons as provisioned by the Hotel. In order to measure the success of the process owners in achieving their key result areas, metrics in the form of key performance indicators for each process are to be developed.To illustrate The valet service is often neglected by most Hotels but its importance and the opportunity it presents to save the Hotels image from the customers risky experience f rom the services of the hotel is precious being the last process the customer has to go through before leaving the hotel. The possible key result area for the valet services could be the immediate return of the guests vehicle to him. The key performance indicators could be the amount of time it will cook the valet to retrieve the car and return it to the owner. The idea would be the shorter the amount of time it takes to retrieve the car the more satisfied the customer would be.CUSTOMER SERVICE ChallengesCultural SensitivitiesThe primary challenge in any customer service is the differences in the personality or origins of the guests. Cultural sensitivities often farm friction between the service provider and the customer. To illustrate in the west shaking the head from side to side often meat no, however in some culture particularly the Indian culture it means yes.Gender and Other SensitivitiesAt times, being chivalrous is being sexist while being helpful to people with disabili ties is being offensive. A brace and clear criteria are should be studied depending on the area where the Hotel is located so as not to compromise quality service with sensitivities.SummaryThe hospitality industry has evolved from an industry that only provided board and lodging to perfunctory travelers in the previous century to an actual destination that offers a infinite of services to weary travelers and to vacation and relaxation seekers. The Quality Management System as enabled by technology should provide the edge to the hotel in equipment casualty of managing its bottom line from the business perspective while also providing the framework in determining the best way to service its guests and patrons. The Quality Management System therefore will equally define the customer centric culture of the hotel geared towards providing the best, if not one of the best hotel experience to its guests.The continual improvement concept of the Quality Management System will come excell ence in the very fiber of the hotels staff. The key performance indicators shall provide the metrics to gauge the efficacy of the process including the performance of its employees. The root cause analysis as well as the development of the corrective and preventive solution is essential to the concept.One of the virtues of ISO 9001-2008 Quality Management System is that it would let the hotel develop its own Quality Management framework as derived from the hotels ludicrous culture. The hotel shall not only reflect its personality but it shall be the impulsive force towards excellence in customer service. The commitment to customer service as driven by the Quality Management System shall therefore be personal not only for the organization, but also for the someone employees.