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Mapping assignment


Table of Content
1. Akademibokhandeln ................................................................................................................ 2
1.1 Finance Data ......................................................................................................................... 2
2. Literature Review .................................................................................................................... 3
3. Methodology ............................................................................................................................ 4
4. Process description .................................................................................................................. 4
4.1 Symbol description ............................................................................................................... 5
5. Occurred Problems .................................................................................................................. 7
6. Recommendations ................................................................................................................... 7
7. References ............................................................................................................................... 7
8. Appendix ................................................................................................................................. 8


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1. Akademibokhandeln

Akademibokhandln, it means academic bookstore in English. It has a good reputation as leading
bookstore chains in Sweden. There are about 130 chains in Sweden, and the number of average
employee is about 512 and the overturn is approximately SEK 938m in 2013.
Akademibokhandln offers about 1.2m books from all kinds of titles. The academic bookstores
often organize the events which the writers meets their reader, and the reader can find the
information on Website. Bokia decided to combine their business and operations with
Akademibohandln at the turn 2012/2013. In the beginning of 2013, Akademibohandln acquired
Bokus that is the online bookstore from KF. Maria Edsman takes office on August in 2014 and
succeeds Bo Holmberg who is retiring. Now Maria Edsman is the new head of the Academy
Bookstores. Since 1998 Akademibohandln included in the Cooperative Union, and the ownership
of the company is 65% of KF Media, 11% of Foundation Nature& Culture, 11% of Guys
Bookstore and 13% of about 60 franchisees.


Akademibokhandeln was set up at the University of Stockholm in the 1970s under the name
Academus AB, and its first owner is Stockholm University Student Union. In 1992,
Akademibokhandelsgruppen formed by merging of Academus AB and Esselte Bookstore AB,
which was acquired by Stockholm Consumer Cooperative Society. Then in 1998 the company
had a new name Akademibokhandeln.
1.1 Finance Data

The amount of Total Liabilities is raised, but the solvency ratio is decreased. That means the
company default on its debt obligations. (A solvency ratio greater than 20% is considered
financially healthy.)
1

The amount of Turnover per Employee since April in 2013 compared with the same time
period last year fell by 21.42%. But the amount of average employees increased by
156.25%, while the amount of turnover increased by 101.32%. The rate considered in
relation to the merger of Akademibokhandeln and Bokia.
23


1
For Details see Appendix B
2
For Details see Appendix B
Akademibokhandeln
KF Media(65%)
Foundation Nature &
Culture(11%)
Guy's Bookstore(11%)
about 60
franchisees(13%)
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ROA tells you what earnings were generated from invested capital (assets).
4

ROE: The amount of net income returned as a percentage of shareholders equity.
Because the company was loss, so the rate of ROA and ROE was negative which mean the
company was losing the assets gradually.
5

The amount of Total Liabilities increased, so the amount of financial expense increased.
The company needs to repay the long-term liabilities and short-term liabilities and its
interest.
6

The Current Ratio increased, and the ability of the company to pay short-term obligations
was higher than before.
78


2. Literature Review
Supply chain mapping allows a company to identify bottlenecks by: providing visibility into
how processes are carried out; identifying where the processes are executed; identifying who is
doing what within the processes; revealing how processes affect other processes; and
determining why a process is being executed. Mapping also makes it easier to identify activities
within a process that are not adding value; these can then be targeted for elimination and/or
modification.(David Parsley, 2011)

When we began the mapping initiative, we grouped processes within the context of "key
relationship points" associated with five areas: 1) supplier/distributor engagement; 2) product
development; 3) testing of products and services; 4) support for promotions and limited-time
offers; and 5) supports for menu changes. These are all fundamental elements for supporting
restaurant operations. (David Parsley, 2011)

There are a number of ways to approach mapping, but typically it begins with a high-level map
that identifies the major internal linkages and potential bottleneck areas. The map must also
consider the key linkages with customers and suppliers. (David Parsley, 2011)

Once we assemble a cross-functional team that represents the appropriate functional disciplines
of our customers, we begin the mapping process. By bringing this cross-functional team together
we can identify various inputs, outputs, delays, decision points, and flows. The three basic flows
we typically map are material, financial, and information flows. (David Parsley, 2011)

The first step in creating an outcome driven supply chain is supply chain mapping. It is the
process that identifies change that will identify a difference in an organization from its
competitors; it will reduce cost and increase profitably. Mapping is the process in which there are
series of steps and persons are involved in every stage of operations of organization. It will deal
with suppliers, their procurement of material and how it come through the distribution channel
and will reach the final customer. One basic technique for mapping in many businesses is

3
For Details see Appendix D
4
For Details see Appendix C
5
For Details see Appendix E
6
For Details see Appendix B
7
For Details see Appendix C
8
For Details see Appendix E
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drawing and mapping supply chain and production process because when a company grows and
expands it becomes very important factor for the organization. It is stated that by drawing out all
the operation within an organization on the paper or on a whiteboard, it can be visualized and
understand the problems of the organization. By doing this everyone will be incorporate in the
process and it will be easy for them to identify their areas and it will help them to reduce waste.
It is taken into consideration in many studies that supply chain management is not only used in
the prospective of logistics activities or how to plan or control materials and the flow of
information within a company and outside of the company as well. Many authors said that there
should be strategy, inter organization problems others to talk about alternative organizational
form to vertical integration (Thorelli, 1986), the relationship which a company develop with its
supplier it should be identified and described (Sako, 1992; Lamming, 1993)
3. Methodology

We have got a list of logistic companies in Jonkoping from kommune. There were 25 companies
and we tried to communicate with them by phone and email for appointment. They said this is
the peak season for them and they dont have enough time to cooperate with us. Then we have
searched local market by visiting store to store and asked them about process of receiving goods
and selling it to customers. It was quiet tough to get information because many of them refused
straight away to provide any information, some stores have customers in cues, so they dont have
time to give information. Finally we have found a bookstore and luckily they give us time and
information about their process of receiving, managing and selling of books to customers.
4. Process description

The Akademibokhandeln store in Jnkping is a very small franchise business of the whole
Akademibookhaneln bookstore chain. They have five employees controlled by one store
manager, but every employee has the same tasks and responsibilities. For their business they
order two-times a week at three different retailers / wholesalers. The procurement process from
ordering to receiving the goods it takes always three to four days depending on amount,
availability of the goods or if its for instance a peak season. Additionally to the ordered goods,
every store gets an amount of goods ordered from the chain management. This could be for
instance special offers or promotions of books. After receiving the goods, the employees always
try to handle the goods immediately, but only if the running business allows them to do it,
otherwise the deliveries will always be handled the next day morning before the stores opens.
The first step of handling the delivery is a visual quantity and quality check in comparison with
the delivery note and invoice. In cases of insufficient quality of the received goods they collect
the items and send them back to the retailers / wholesalers. In the usual way everything is
satisfying and they book the goods into their computers system by using the ISBN (International
Standard Book Number) and creating for each good an item number. After this step the invoice
will paid for each booked item. The booked and paid books will be put into the shelves and
display, if space is available, if not the remaining books will put into the storage. In average,
there are always round about 7500 books in the store and storage. Not as often as the ordering
process, the Akademibokhandeln store handle the returns or sending back of the goods to the
retailer / wholesaler. Only three to four times a year, depending on the amount, they collect all
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the non-sellers, dated or out of season books. The chosen goods will be packed and send back to
the retailer / wholesaler for a refund of the already paid amount.







4.1 Symbol description

Processstep
Processinformation
Documents
Start / End
Decision
Processflow

6/10

Start
Place Order
Receive Order
Two Times a
week at three
different
retailers
Delivery note
/ Invoice
Quality Check Insufficient Sufficient
Book into System
ISBN / Booking No.
Check Filling
Capacity of Shelf
Space available Full
Put goods into shelf
Collect Non-sellers
3-4 Times a
Year
Outbooking
Packaging
ISBN / Booking No.
Send back to
retailer
Get refund
End
Goods into Storage
Pay invoice
Immediatly /
next day
morning
Quantity Check
After 3-4 Days
+ additional
order from
chain
management

7/10

5. Occurred Problems
They have control on their own order placing but the inventory comes from head office, they
have not control on it and they have to process it as they received the books weather there is
demand for those books or not. There was a problem of work specification as we have seen that
no worked was not divided or assigned among the employees. This is the major part of mapping
process that work should be assigned to the employees and they should be very well aware with
their work. There was a problem of return purchases when they received books if some of them
are damaged or miss prints they have to keep these books for a longer period like four to six
month. They store these books in their store. When they received the books from supplier there
was no time limits to put these books on shelves like weather they will put these books on
shelves on same day or any other day. They can measure their performance but they were not
using any kind of specific system to measure this.
6. Recommendations
Akademibokhandeln is one of the chain book stores in Sweden. In this study we have focused on
a specific store which is located in Jnkping. This book store is arranged in a traditional manner
although retail stores have developed their supply chain process now a days. Mapping tools have
played vital role to improve the supply chain process. This book store has also used the process
mapping tool to make their functions smooth but this mapping tool is not good enough to get a
smoother operation. From the perspective of modern supply chain this mapping tool is
incomplete as it does not describe the whole process. The process could have been better if they
could focus the basic mapping structure which includes input, processing, output, control and
recourses. To ensure the better service for the customer and to ensure the performance of the
available resources in the organization they should include the output processing system which is
possible through connecting the customers into the mapping process and they should also include
the resource allocation system so that all the available resources would be utilized properly. The
whole process could not be the same as it expected to be so monitoring should be ensured
through setting a standard level of performance and then match the actual performance with the
standard one. The mapping process would not provide the expected result if it does not follow
the specific time limitation so all the process should be done in time. The trouble they face while
receiving order from the central store, can be reduced through having the control of central order
processing.
7. References
David Parsley, Adding value through process mapping, Quarter 2 2011
Sako. M. Prices, Quality and Trust: Inter firm Relations in Britain and Japan.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992
Lamming, R.C, Beyond Partnership: Strategies for Innovation and Lean
Supply, Prentice-Hall, Hemel Hampsted, 1993
http://www.ups.com/media/fi/Supply_Chain_Mapping.pdf
2012, United Parcel Service of America, Supply Chain Mapping accessed on 26/09/2014
Thorelli, HB. Networks: Between Markets and Hierarchies. Strategic
Management Journal 7(1) pp. 37-51, 1986

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8. Appendix
Appendix A: Akademibokhandeln Location



Appendix B: Akademibokhandeln Financial Key figures
x1000 SEK 2013/12 2013/04 2012/04
Turnover 938,366 645,177 320,479
Financial expenses 4,662 4,126 2,883
Earnings before taxes -33,013 -68,182 -24,371
Total assets 490,478 464,223 165,638
Current assets 362,611 311,176 71,055
Current liabilities 437,219 389,684 90,086
Total liabilities 447,219 421,051 113,129
Equity capital 43,259 43,172 52,509
- share capital 43,171 15,110 15,110
Employees (average) 512 451 176









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Appendix C: Akademibokhandeln Financial Ratios
Financial Ratios 2013/12 2013/04 2012/04
Solvency 8.8% 9.3% 31.7%
Turnover per employee 1,833 1,431 1,821
Profit as a percentage of turnover -3.5% -10.6% -7.6%
Return on assets (ROA) -5.8% -13.8% -13.0%
Current ratio 82.9% 79.9% 78.9%
Return on equity (ROE) -76.3% -157.9% -46.4%


Appendix D: Akademibokhandeln Turnover Overview

















0
200,000
400,000
600,000
800,000
1,000,000
Apr-12 Apr-13 Dec-13
Turnover
Turnover
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Appendix E: Akademibokhandeln EBT Overview



-80,000
-70,000
-60,000
-50,000
-40,000
-30,000
-20,000
-10,000
0
Apr-12 Apr-13 Dec-13
Earnings before taxes
Earnings before taxes