Materials:

  • Materials are :: the basic elements used in the production process
  • consists of two types:
    • Raw materials - the essential substances in their unprocessed state.
    • Intermediate goods - goods manufactured and used in further manufacturing or processing. For example, flour for making bread or wheels for making cars.

Information:

  • Information is :: the knowledge gained from research, investigation and instruction, which results in an increase in understanding. Information can come from two sources
    • External - comes from outside the business (market reports, government stats, media reports, etc.)
    • Internal - comes from within the business, gathered from internal sources (financial reports, internal KPIs, inventory turnover rates, etc.)

Customers (as a transformed resource):

  • Customers become transformed resources when their choices shape inputs.
  • Consumer orientation is essential to business → customers preferences will impact on the transformation process.
  • businesses can implement a customer relationship management (CRM) program, that is :: a system used to maintain customer contact (e.g. salesforce keeping track of emails and support tickets per customer).