Q. What does your company sell?
“Well we sell all sorts of electrical merchandise of the audio kind, like DJ equipment, disco lights, In-Car-Entertainment (ICE) and we also repair TV’s and Videos”.
Q. Do you have a computerised system?
“We do have a computer but it is very basic, and we don’t use it for the ICE department”.
Q. What’s the main use of the system?
“I wanted to use the computer to put all of my customers names and contact details and the items that they bought, but because of a lack of time and other commitments I haven’t been able to set up the computer to what I want it to do. We only really use it to type up letters to send out to customers and suppliers, but apart from that, no other business use is gained from the computer. A lot of the staff use it to go on the Internet to research about new products”.
Q. What would you want me to do then?
“Recently a customer, who I knew, came in with a sub woofer that he bought from the shop. The sub had a fault so we were going to return it to the manufacturer, under its manufacturer’s guarantee. When we return any items, we need a receipt to send with the item to prove that it was actually sold. But in this case, the customer had lost their receipt and I couldn’t find our copy, which made the situation a bit difficult. Fortunately, the manufacturers agreed to fix the sub, but basically I would like a system where I can keep receipts stored and retrieve them if a problem like this occurred again.
Similarly, a customer bought a head unit (car stereo) from us and had agreed an installation with one of my guys. When he came back after a couple of days nobody was aware that the installation was to take place, and on that day nobody was around to install the head unit. The customer booked the installation, which was supposed to be entered into the installations diary, but on this occasion it wasn’t, the customer only had a verbal agreement to install. Many problems could have occurred, such as not having anybody around to do the installation. A system that allows us to book installations through the computer, and then be able to print a sheet that tells us what installation is to be made that particular day, would be much appreciated”.
Q. What is the current procedure for the sales?
“The customer comes in, and chances are they know what they want. We then check the stock and if it is available we complete a receipt, and take a payment. Once the receipt is completed a copy is issued to the customer and we keep a copy ourselves. If an installation is required, we agree a date and the customer returns at that time. We don’t have any electronic form of sales or anything like that, it is all done manually”.
Q. What sort of receipts do you have at the moment?
“We buy those template receipts from WH Smiths, and write down the necessary information”.
(A copy of the receipts that are used can be seen in the appendix.)
Q. And what do you keep on your receipts?
“The usual types of information really:
- Name
- Address
- Contact Number
- Products bought
- Price
- Quantity
- Vat Number
- Date
- Receipt Number
- Sales person
Q. What is your level of computer knowledge?
“Well, I’m not the best user. I scarcely use computers so I only know the basics of Word and the Internet. But the thing is, I won’t be the one who uses the system all of the time, it is the staff who are going to use it more”.
I also asked the employees working in the ICE department what they would like in the new system, as well as their level of computer knowledge.
Employee1: I would like to be able to keep copies of receipts. I’ve only got basic computer skills.
Employee2: It would nice to have an installation schedule, where all of the installations of the day are on a sheet, so none can be missed. I’ve got basic skills.
Employee3: A computerised receipt wouldn’t go a miss. It’s time consuming writing out the receipts, I sometimes forget altogether. I’m a novice user.
Employee4: Somewhere to store the receipts and to be able to search for these using the customers name and so on. I am a quite confident user.
Employee5: A system where we can inform the customers that their guarantees are up, and for special orders and that. I’m confident in using computers too.
The Current System
The current system that Horizon use in the ICE department is a manual one, no computerised processing occurs. A customer enters the store and asks a staff member if they have a particular item in stock. The member of staff will check the stock, and if there is stock then the customer will be asked to give their personal details. This is so that a receipt can be produced. The member of staff will write down the customer’s details (name, address, contact telephone number etc) the items that they bought, the date of the transaction, the total price, the receipt number, the name of the salesperson and also the company’s VAT number.
The receipts that are produced are from a receipt book bought from a stationary retailer. The book has a carbon film which copies whatever is written on the form above the film down to the form below the film. One of these copies is torn out of the book and issued to the customer. The other copy is left in the book. The customer then pays the money owed and, if required, agrees an installation to be done. The customer then leaves the store, and returns on the day of the installation, if required.
Problems with the Current System
The current system has many flaws and problems. The main problem is that it is a manual system. All data is recorded by hand onto paper, which is then filed away. For instance, when producing a receipt staff write down the customers name and details into a receipt book, along with the items that they purchased. The paper has a carbon film so two copies are produced. One is given to the customer and the other copy remains in the receipt book. In theory, all of the receipts should be in the receipt book, however, many of the receipts have been torn out and misplaced. The problem here is that receipts go missing and also the whole process is very time consuming. Because of this many of the staff don’t like issuing receipts and sometimes forget to include vital information, such as the date of purchase, or even forget to write a receipt altogether.
As well as the process being time consuming, another problem is that of illegible handwriting. Different people have different handwriting, with some being neat and others being scruffy. Due to the inconsistent style of writing, some people may not be able to read the writing. The problem here is that information relating to the date and price of the item can be misread leading to false warranty times and even in the event of a refund; the customer may unwittingly receive more money back than what they initially paid, because of the poor handwriting.
Another problem with the system is that the installations that are booked are again recorded manually in a diary. The problem is that the diary can get lost and the staff may accidentally tear out sections of the diary. The fact that the staff have to manually write in the installation has led to problems of the staff forgetting to enter the installation.
Requirements of the New System
Here is a detailed account of the objectives of the new system and what the users would require from the system.
General Objectives
- Create a customer database
- Produce a computerised system that will create receipts.
- Produce a computerised system that will book installations for customers, and be able to print off an installation schedule at the beginning of each day
- Produce a computerised customer file, where all receipts are stored, and be able to automatically find a receipt after giving certain criteria, such as a receipt number.
- Produce a computerised system that will be able to contact each customer in the customer file regarding new store promotions etc.
- Create a tool that will search for customers given certain criteria (Name, ID, Town)
- Create a tool that will search Installations given certain criteria.
- Create a Salesperson database
- Create a tool that will search for salesperson given certain criteria.
10.Create a Products database
11.Create a tool that will search for products based on certain criteria
12.Create a tool that will illustrates the sales made by particular salesperson
13.Create a database of Suppliers
14.Create a tool that will search for suppliers given certain criteria.
Data Processing
From the list of objectives I can now determine the processing that will be carried out by the system.
Data Input
Here is a comprehensive list of data that will be input into each entity of the database.
Customer Details
- Customer ID
- Title
- Surname
- Forename
- Address1
- Town
- County
- Post Code
- Telephone
Product
- Product Code
- Make
- Model
- Type
- Price
- Supplier ID
Supplier
- Supplier ID
- Supplier name
- Sales Rep
- Address1
- Town
- County
- Post Code
- Telephone
- Fax
Salesperson
- Salesperson ID
- Surname
- Forename
- Address1
- Town
- County
- Post Code
- Telephone
- Date of Birth
Orders
- Order Number
- Customer ID
- Date
- Salesperson ID
- Method of payment
Product Orders
- Product Order Number
- Order Number
- Product Code
- Qty
Installations
- Installation Number
- Customer ID
- Order Number
- Product Code
- Salesperson ID
- Date
- Time
- Car Make
- Car Model
- Car Registration
Data Output
The output of the data is a completed sales receipt. This is the only form of output.
System Security
Constraints
Hardware
Here is a list of the hardware that the end user has access to:
- Dell Dimension 4500 2.5GHz
- Intel Celeron Processor 2.5GHz
- 256MB DDRAM
- 40GB Hard Drive
- DVD/CD-Rewriter
- 17” Analogue Monitor
- 56K V92 Data/Fax modem
The hardware that the end user has is advanced and up to date. Due to this, there is no need to recommend or to purchase new hardware.
Software
The software on the computer is as follows;
- Windows 98
- Microsoft Office 2000
- Paint
- Word Pad
- Calculator
- Adobe Acrobat reader 5
- Internet Explorer.
Microsoft Office 2000 consists of the following packages;
- Microsoft Word 2000
- Microsoft Excel 2000
- Microsoft Access 2000
- Microsoft Front Page
- Microsoft PowerPoint
- Microsoft Publisher 2000
Again, the end user does not need to purchase any new pieces of software, as the software on the computer is satisfactory
User IT Skills and Knowledge
The actual end user mentioned, in the interview that I had with him, that he has very minimal computer skills. At the moment he can use a word processor as well as the Internet, but that’s about it. However, Mr. Sharma also stated that he is not the one that will be using the new system all of the time. It is the staff members in the ICE department who will be using the system on a daily basis. Therefore, I asked each employee about their level of computer skills and knowledge.
Employee1: I’ve only got basic computer skills.
Employee2: I’ve got basic skills.
Employee3: I’m a novice user.
Employee4: I am a quite confident user.
Employee5: I’m confident in using computers too.
In light of the varying computer skills and knowledge throughout the ICE department I will have to produce a system that is straight forward to use and maintain. I will also produce a detailed user guide so that the intended users will have clear and concise instructions of how to utilise the system.
