I.T. solution for Castle Couriers Essay

Analysis1.1 Statement of the problem1.1.1 IntroductionFor this project I pull up stakes foring be constructing an I.T. solution for Castle Couriers. Castle Couriers is a comp all, which provides a number of courier services, primarily 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 cerebrate forms to the tax office, also from car showrooms. It is currently a company with a small number of employees, or so 4, and a very local customer base. However they plan to expand in the near prospective and do not believe their current arrangement will be effective with much more than data. The current schema, Lotus SmartSuite, is not intentional with their company in mind and is in that respectfore complicated to croak and the addition of data is often laborious. I hope to improve their situation by creating an automated database, so that creating do cuments and modifying data is a very simple task.1.1.2 User RequirementsThe owners of Castle Couriers energize a number of requirements-Reduce season spent on inputting data-This will aid the expansion process because an incr console 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 higher(prenominal) quality document range-Now that the production of documents is virtually automatic, the end drug users are keen to hold in 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 borrow time and possibly money.1.1.3 Current ashesAt the present moment Castle Couriers uses a generic plan called Lotus Smartsuite. My knowledge of Smartsuite is minimal but the program has not been sp ecifically designed for this company. I countenance been informed that it is similar to Microsoft office, which I have good experience in. It is very popular with umteen 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 expressage level of automation.1.1.4 Data Flow diagram of current administrationThe following diagram illustrates the current processes snarled in dealing with an order1.1.5 Problems with the current systemCastle 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 refreshed customers, as they are readiness to do, should they decide to continue with expansion, is very difficult and is adding to t he 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 systemThe new system should meet a series of criteria, firstly the time spent inputting data and the ease with which this is through should be improved. Making the system less(prenominal) complex than Lotus Smartsuite should solve both of these objectives. Secondly they would wish to be able to search for details of customers and services tardily. 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 aristocratical to operate and difficult to corrupt.1.1.7 Performance indicatorsThe following performance indicators will be used It should take less than 1 minute to construct and print invoices Data entry should be made simple complete 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 sweep away any fields or tables The system should be simple enough for users with only a staple I.T. knowledge to operate1.1.8 Volume of dataThe level of data that will be stored in the database is in all probability 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 SoftwareThe majority of the design will be carried out on my schools 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. so there should not be any problems in compatibility. However, at home, where close to 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 schools 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 demolition user skill levelNone 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, Micro soft Excel and Microsoft Word. It will therefore be necessary to imbibe the project very simple to use with automatic functions.2 Design2.1 Consideration of solutions2.1.1 Manual clayThis would be based around data being processed, stored and filed in the form of paperwork, with calculations being manual and documents handmade.-Easily the drawn-out-Higher risk of loss/damage to data-Complicated and tedious-Lower quality documents-High risk of mis-calculationsWe 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 SystemA spreadsheet system would be designed and operated in a program such as Microsoft Excel.-Easy to design-Little chance of damage/loss-Simple functionsA spreadsheet system would not allow for the necessary functions and operations to improve on Lotus Smartsuite.2.1.3 A specifically designed courier systemA package, which has been specia lly designed for this type of business, could be obtained from certain software companies-Best program-Expensive-All necessary functions presentThis 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 forward deciding.2.1.4 Access databaseThis 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 usersUsing this system has the advantage of allowing Castle Couriers to have an influence in the design of the system.2.2 Database Design2.2.1 Entity-relationship diagramThere are six entities, or tables, within this database. They are basically split into two separate functioning databases, however I will financial support them in one for ease of use and because the services/tasks table will be used by both systems. The first system, o utlined in red, will concern the receiving and payments of orders, whereas the second, outlined in blue, will allow allocation of tasks for employees.