AutoPlastics I.T. System

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Problem Statement

The company which I have decided to do my project for is AutoPlastics, a company that deals primarily with the supply and repair of plastic car bumpers to both the public and insurance companies. The owner of the company is my end user.

The company is currently experiencing problems with its ordering system. When a person phones and places an order or asks for a quote their details are taken and written into a book. A customer is then contacted within a day and provided with a quote and the company then arranges a suitable delivery time with the customer. The quote given to the customer is based upon the price at which the bumper must be purchased from the manufacturer if they do not currently have it in stock. If a bumper must be ordered from the manufacturer, 15% is added to the price to cover the cost of ordering and installation of the bumper. The problem occurs when the price of a bumper in stock is required that is currently in stock as the company have such an extensive range. The prices of the more popular models vary frequently (in order to meet with the competition), and are entered from memory. As a result mistakes are often made resulting in inaccurate quotes being given to customers. If an individual feels that they have been overcharged the result will be an unhappy customer who may choose not to use AutoPlastics again, and the companies overall profits will decrease.

The paper based system currently employed also makes it difficult to keep track of orders made by customers and keep an accurate record of the most popular bumpers and frequent customers. The company is also in need of a printed form of recipt because at present recipts are written onto recipt slips by hand and the company has no record of sales. There have also been a number of customers who request V.A.T recipts which the company is unable to provide at present.

Company Background Information

AutoPlastics is a relatively small company which receive upto 50 orders per week, given the size of this company and the fact that there are only 3 employees a computer based system would be beneficial to the company. The need for such a syatem is justified by the improvement to the company that it will provide and may also result in a net profit to the company.

Requirement Specification

End user requirements

Auto Plastic Bumpers are in need of an ordering system which will keep computerised records of customers orders so that they can easily be recalled when needed for reference purposes, allowing the company to keep an account file for frequent customers such as insurance companies. The orders may also be printed as used as receipts. The system must also indicate only currently available stock as to indicate wether or not new stock must be ordered to meet the needs of the customer.

Tasks to be completed on the system

. Produce spreadsheets which will make up the booking and ordering system for the company

2. Create a booking system which will enable the customers details to be easily entered into the spreadsheet and then be printed to function as a recipt.

3. Adapt the ordering system spreadsheet to automatically calculate the total of a customers order and display prices both inclusive and exclusive of V.A.T

4. Create a backup system to ensure that data will not be lost due to computer error.

5. Introduce a front end into the spreadsheet to enable easy and direct access to the required function.

Implemetation free specification

. Increase the speed at which customer bills are calculated from approximately 1-5minutes to 30seconds-1minute.

2. To ensure that calculated totals are accurate. Currently totals are calculated manulally which often leads to errors. Using a spreadsheet will eliminate calculation errors.

3. Reducing the amount of time spent calculating totals will enable members of staff to spend a greater amount of time on other tasks.

4. Achieve a higher customer satisfaction and improve company image. A higher Customer satisfaction will also result in a greater chance of a customer will use Auto Plastics again.

Resources available

Computer resources available to the company:

* Processor-Intel Pentium II processor operating at 400Mhz

* RAM-128mb

* Hard Disk-16Gb

* OS-MS Windows ME

* Software-MS Office XP Professional Edition + Nero Burning Rom
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* Printer-Epson Stylus 640 Inkjet printer

* HP CD-Writer

Human resources and End user's IT literacy

The company currently employ 3 members of staff all of which have a basic understanding of computers and are familiar with MS Office and associated applications. This will mean that my soluction will not be that limited in its complexity and may not be required to be automated.

The software and hardware available will not really provide me with any limitations other than the fact that invoices will really need to be A4 in size as this is ...

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