I.T. solution for Castle Couriers Essay

Analysis 1.1 Statement of the problem 1.1.1 Introduction For this project I will be constructing an I.T. solution for Castle Couriers. Castle Couriers is a company, which provides a number of courier services, mainly for car showrooms. Their main service is the transportation of vehicle registrations to the V.R.O. (Vehicle Registration Office) and their return, and also the transportation of tax related forms to the tax office, also from car showrooms. It is currently a company with a small number of employees, approximately 4, and a very local customer base. However they plan to expand in the near future and do not believe their current system will be effective with much more data. The current system, Lotus SmartSuite, is not designed with their company in mind and is therefore complicated to operate and the addition of data is often laborious. I hope to improve their situation by creating an automated database, so that creating documents and modifying data is a very simple task. 1.1.2 User Requirements The owners of Castle Couriers have a number of requirements: -Reduce time spent on inputting data -This will aid the expansion process because an increase in data will not lead to a further increase in time spent processing. -Increase ease of finding data -Again a time saving requirement, useful during the complicated period of expansion. -Producing a sufficiently high quality document range -Now that the production of documents is virtually automatic, the end users are keen to see that the quality does not decline. -Must be user friendly due to lack of computer literacy of end user -There must be very few complicated procedures, as having to increase the end users I.T. skills will take time and possibly money. 1.1.3 Current system At the present moment Castle Couriers uses a generic program called Lotus Smartsuite. My knowledge of Smartsuite is minimal but the program has not been specifically designed for this company. I have been informed that it is similar to Microsoft office, which I have good experience in. It is very popular with many businesses because of the amount of very professional tools available. However, in the case of Castle Couriers, these tools are not linked together effectively, allowing for a minimal amount of automation. They store data in both spreadsheets and databases, with certain functions allowing a limited level of automation. 1.1.4 Data Flow diagram of current system The following diagram illustrates the current processes involved in dealing with an order 1.1.5 Problems with the current system Castle Couriers’ main problem with their current system is its complexity, which is leading to an increase in the amount of time they spend producing documents and organising orders. Adding new customers, as they are planning to do, should they decide to continue with expansion, is very difficult and is adding to the already complicated and overloaded system. Modifying data is also a time consuming problem as it takes time to navigate through the procedures necessary. 1.1.6 Objectives of the new system The new system should meet a series of criteria, firstly the time spent inputting data and the ease with which this is done should be improved. Making the system less complex than Lotus Smartsuite should solve both of these objectives. Secondly they would like to be able to search for details of customers and services easily. Very importantly, this program must maintain the high quality of documents such as invoices and memorandums. Finally none of the staff who will be using the system have very much experience in IT, so the system must be easy to operate and difficult to corrupt. 1.1.7 Performance indicators The following performance indicators will be used: – It should take less than 1 minute to construct and print invoices – Data entry should be made simple enough for all queries to be 100% accurate – The system must be able to cater for any number of staff/customers/services to be added without improvements as the company expands – It must be impossible to erase any fields or tables – The system should be simple enough for users with only a basic I.T. knowledge to operate 1.1.8 Volume of data The level of data that will be stored in the database is likely to be quite small at first, but this should increase as Castle Couriers continues expanding. Initially there are likely to be about 40 customers, with a choice of 3 services and 5 members of staff. Details of each customer will need to be stored and will cover name, address, telephone and fax numbers, e-mail, contacts within the firm and their history with Castle Couriers. 1.1.9 Hardware and Software The majority of the design will be carried out on my school’s computer network with the equivalent to a 1.6Ghz Pentium processor, 128MB of RAM and an easily sufficient sized hard drive. My home PC and the computers of Castle Couriers are of a similar specification. Therefore there should not be any problems in compatibility. However, at home, where some aspects of the design will be carried out, I have a newer version of Microsoft Office, and therefore a newer version of Access. This should not cause any problems, however should I wish to incorporate functions not available in the school’s version, I will have to do this last. All of the designing will be done in Microsoft Access, with some links to Word, for better quality documents, and Excel, for data interpretation. This is available on all three of the concerned systems. 1.1.10 End user skill level None of the people who will be using the system have any formal I.T. qualifications. Their only previous I.T. experience is based around the use of Lotus SmartSuite. This will be a problem for me because the system I will be designing for them will be entirely based within three programs, Microsoft Access, Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Word. It will therefore be necessary to make the project very simple to use with automatic functions. 2 Design 2.1 Consideration of solutions 2.1.1 Manual System This would be based around data being processed, stored and filed in the form of paperwork, with calculations being manual and documents handmade. -Easily the slowest -Higher risk of loss/damage to data -Complicated and tedious -Lower quality documents -High risk of mis-calculations We have therefore judged that this system would not be suitable for Castle Couriers, as it is far too slow and complicated and will not be better than the current system. 2.1.2 Spreadsheet System A spreadsheet system would be designed and operated in a program such as Microsoft Excel. -Easy to design -Little chance of damage/loss -Simple functions A spreadsheet system would not allow for the necessary functions and operations to improve on Lotus Smartsuite. 2.1.3 A specifically designed courier system A package, which has been specially designed for this type of business, could be obtained from certain software companies -Best program -Expensive -All necessary functions present This is probably the best option as it is designed only for use in this type of company, however due to the expense of this program Castle Couriers have allowed me to attempt a database before deciding. 2.1.4 Access database This is the option they have allowed me to attempt and this will be designed and implemented by me -Very cheap and easy to design -Inter-personal interaction during design -Easier to train users Using this system has the advantage of allowing Castle Couriers to have an influence in the design of the system. 2.2 Database Design 2.2.1 Entity-relationship diagram There are six entities, or tables, within this database. They are basically split into two separate functioning databases, however I will keep them in one for ease of use and because the ‘services/tasks’ table will be used by both systems. The first system, outlined in red, will concern the receiving and payments of orders, whereas the second, outlined in blue, will allow allocation of tasks for employees.