Case Studies Allsteel – Literature Fulfillment Download Pdf The Challenge Allsteel needed a resource to manage the shipment of literature sets to Dealers and Designers - even when all of the pieces to the set were not available. Shipping partial sets was identified as a critical need because not providing the requested information resulted in missed sales opportunities. The Solution MAI proposed using their proprietary MARS system to create backorders for only the items missing from each kit thus enabling the remaining materials to be shipped as needed. MARS adds the missing component(s) to orders as backordered line items. MARS also lists the items as backordered in the user's online order history. When backordered items do become available, MARS produces a packing slip for the item, identifying it as backordered from the original order. The Results Dealers and Designers no longer wait for materials to be fully in stock to speak with prospective customers. Literature kits are sent on demand and backorders are processed as soon as components arrive. Elements Kit building Identification of missing component Creating component backorder Shipping partial kit Shipping backordercomponent Background Allsteel, part of HON Industries, is a high end office furniture company that prides itself on customer service and quality. HON and Allsteel were named Fortune Magazine's Most Admired Furniture Company in 2003.