The information will be produced automatically by the modal if the formulas are inserted correctly. E.g. If the name of the customer was changed from Anees Razzak to Ian Gandu it will be automatically done. Basically this means that once a new customer has filled in his details in the final draft it will automatically be transferred to the invoice and replace the previous customers personal information.
Software selection
Whilst deciding upon my software, I had various software’s available to me such as:
- Spreadsheet software
- Word processor
- Desktop publisher
- Database software
- Drawing software
- Presentation software
I did not do use ‘Word processor’ because I cannot work out formulas on ‘Word’ and it not designated for using formulas. ‘A database’ is not user friendly and is available in very few computers therefore I did not really consider this option. A ‘presentation software’ is more focussed on the presentation and I find it very difficult to work on ‘PowerPoint’ therefore I ruled out this possibility. I decided against’drawing’ software obviously as the problem is not based on drawing but modeling. I also decided against using a ‘desktop publisher’ as it could not work out formulas and I was unfamiliar to this software.
I needed software that could work out formulas, be user friendly and be available on most computers and ‘spreadsheet’ has exactly that. As it was available on most computers, the car hire service could have been built in different places.
The only other realistic alternative to a spread was a word processor. I am more familiar with a word processor but it cannot calculate formulas, whereas a spreadsheet can.
SYSTEM DESIGN
Initial ideas and layout
The variables for my model are:
- Km charge
- Engine size
- Insurance
- VAT
- Days hired
For example, If the VAT decreases by %5 then the cost of hiring decreases
The rules I have applied to my car hire system are:
- A person must be over the age of 18 to hire a car
The cells are linked within and between the two sheets if the software is instructed to do this. When a formula is inserted in a cell, it will obey your command if the formula is linked correctly. It is linked by typing in the = sign and then choosing the draft and pressing enter, it is very simple.
SYSTEM IMPLEMENTATION AND TESTING
Draft 1 and Draft 2
Draft 1 and draft 2 are very similar. Draft 1 has the basic test data whereas draft 2 has more complex data such as information about the vehicle. There were also formulas working out the financial details of hiring a car (test data).
Draft 1 Draft 2
SCREENSHOTS OF MY COMPLETED CAR HIRE SYSTEM.
Final model
The final model is basically an extension of draft 2. the appearance itself was much better than that of draft 2 as the operator has to be satsifed with the appearance as he/she will be looking every time. The final draft was far more complex than draft 2 for many reasons. Firstly, the insurance barriers were changed because an ‘IF’ formula was used in another spreadsheet. It works by enetring data for a specific thing, I.e. age and the model will automatically work out the price of hring the vehicle.
Once you have inserted the information of the customer and car he/she want to hire then the program will start to work. Also the customer has to mention how long he will hire it for etc. once all of this information has been inserted then the system begins to work. As I mentioned before, once he enters the information in the final model it will automatically transfer to the invoice as I have entered formulas. This makes the system much faster and more proficient.
Final draft formula
The final draft formula consisted of all the formulas used in the final draft
Invoice formula
The invoice formulas consists of all of the f formulas used in the Invoice
Testing for customer use
I tested it for customer use to ensure the costs were correct. I need to ensure that I tested it because if it does not work then the price may be wrong and it might overcharge or undercharge the customer. If this rare situation occurs it could be very damaging to the company because if the customer has a bit of sense he could sue the company.
The five changes to the variables I have made are
- Change the VAT
- Change the km charge
- Change the number of days hired
- Change the engine charge
- Change the insurance charge
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What if 1
What if 2
What if 3
What if 4
What if 5
SYSTEM EVALUATION
System improvements
Although my system did what I wanted it to do, it was very basic and consisted of very few, if any, graphics and logos etc. in the beginning I found it very hard but once I got going I started to understand what Mr Askew was talking about. At first I was clueless because Mr Askew gave very brief and subtle instructions.
I found it relatively easy to create and use the model using the spreadsheet software, as I was quite familiar with its components. However, I did have some trouble in creating a ‘what if’ solutions to test the data.
To make the model better I could have used more logos and graphics and maybe even pictures to brighten up the system and make it more attractive instead of using texts. This obviously would have attracted a few more customers.
I feel as if my choice of software was very wise as it is user friendly and is very easy to use even IF YOU ARE BEGINNERS at Microsoft Excel.
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BY ANEES RAZZAK
