White soul system designs Essay Example for Free

White soul system designs Essay 1 Analysis 1. 1 Introduction White Soul System Designs is a small computer store that designs and makes many of its own systems and products. It is situated on Queen Street in the centre of Neath. Many people swear by White Soul products and go to the store for any product they wish to purchase or repairs their computers need. Manu people in Neath use this store because the prices of products are guarantied to be the lowest you can find, and the repair system, no fix no fee is very popular. At present only two full time staff members work there. The owner Mr. Adam Williams and his only member of staff Mr.John Edwards. The store is open form 9am 5pm every weekday. On Saturdays it is open from 10am 6pm and on Sundays it is closed all day. Only having two members of staff working eight hours a day, six days a week is very difficult. With increasing numbers of customers Mr. Edwards and Mr. Williams are under pressure to get every ones orders and files in order. Not having a computer system means Mr. Edwards and Mr. Williams have to file all the store customers and stock records manually. This manual system means mistakes are made and customer satisfaction is lowered. This undoubtedly means a loss in profits. This made Mr. Williams think that like their computer systems, they should be up to date. He is currently looking for a new system and approached me to ask my opinions. Not knowing the best solution for the store off the top of my head I decided to observer the current system and speak to the Mr. Williams and a regular customer and get their opinions of how they would like the store to change. 1. 2 Problem Definition The problem with White Souls current system is that it is a manual system with two members of staff. Every thing is done manually and because of this mistakes are made. All customer records and stock orders are stored in filing cabinets in alphabetical order. Lately due to the manual system many customer records have been misfiled. This is a huge problem because if for example Mrs. Abraham went into the store to purchase a new item, one of the members of staff would look under A for Abraham in the filing cabinet. If the customer record had been put into another file by mistake a new customer record would have to be created. This then means the customer proving where they live when a letter and proving they identity with a passport or birth certificate. As you can imagine customers would not be very impressed with this and profits may suffer. Stock records can also be misplaced. This may lead to the staff members thinking they had ordered new stock but to have it never arrive. This is a problem when a customer has specifically requested that item of stock and has to find out that it will not be delivered till the next stock delivery. This again causes customer dissatisfaction and in the long run a loss of prophets. Sometimes, because stock numbers have been mixed up because of bad filing the store gets stock that it didnt mean or want to order. This is a cut straight out of their prophets, as they have to pay for it because they ordered it, even if they didnt mean to. 1. 3 Objectives After a few brief chats with Mr. Williams, he explained to me that the whole objective of this new system was to keep up with the times. He then went onto explain how the current system worked. Adding a Customer If a customer wants to become a member of the store and get special offers and discounts on certain products an application form must be filled in. To become a member more then one form of identification is required and to confirm their address a letter or a bank statement is needed. After the customer identity and address is confirmed an application form will be filled out and filed. Data requirements   Name Surname and forename of the customerAddress Address the customer is occupying   Postcode Area code of the address Date of birth Date the customer was born Phone number Number on which we can contact the customer   Credit Card Number ID issued by the bank uniquely given to the customer Documents used Customer application form (see appendix A1) Problems Some customers have poor handwriting or just handwriting that the staff members struggle to read. This may lead to miss filing or even a mistake made with the customer details. Also a lot of the time customers are not carrying any item that may prove their identity or are not carrying a letter to prove their address. No members may be added to the files with out first proving their identity and address so they have to return home to get these items before they can become members of the store. Searching for and viewing a customer For a special in store discount customers are offered a chance to become a member of the store. Their records are stored in alphabetical order in a filing cabinet. If a customer wants to use this discount their file must be found. One of the members of staff will look in the filing cabinet for the customers file. All customers records are stored in alphabetical order in our files. To look for that customer we get their last name and search the file that corresponds with the first letter of their second name E. g. Charles Powel We would look in the P file Michael Roberts We would look in the R file Bethan Langdon We would look in the L file When the second name has been found we resort to using their first names, we do this because in some cases there will be more than one Powel, Roberts or Langdon. If there are two identical names in the files we have to look at each and match the address, this is the last resort. Data requirements   Customer name The customers surname and forename   Customer address The customers home address Problems A manual filing system is used. All customer records are kept in a filing cabinet that both members of staff have access to. They are stored in alphabetical order using the customers surname. If a customer record was filed under a wrong name it would appear lost or it may seem to the staff that that customer has never completed an application form. This means a new form would have to be filled in and the customers identity would have to be proven again. This lowers customer satisfaction and creates problems for the two members of staff. Amending a customers details If a customer is to move house or to change their telephone number their membership must be updated. Once their file has been searched for and found the new customer information can be added. Data requirements   Name Surname and forename of the customer   Address Address the customer is occupying Postcode Area code of the address Date of birth Date the customer was born. Phone number Number on which we can contact the customer Credit Card Number ID issued by the bank uniquely given to the customer Documents used Customer application form (see appendix A1) Problems Tippex is used to erase the current details before the new details are added. This makes the form look messy and it may become hard to read. And when written over the tippex or writing may smudge and make the form look a complete mess. Again a lot of the time customers are not carrying any item that may prove their identity or are not carrying a letter to prove their address. No members may be added to the files with out first proving their identity and address so they have to return home to get these items before they can become members of the store. Deleting a customer If a customer wishes to no longer be a member with our store their file may be deleted. Again identity is required for this transaction to take place. After the customer is searched for and found it may be discarded. Data requirements   Customer name The customers surname and forename   Customer address The customers home address Problems Once a customer has been deleted from our files we have no contact with them. This means any warrantees are void and the customer cannot claim money back or an exchange of item once they have been deleted from our files. And once again if a customer wants his or her file to be discarded they have to prove their identity. Many customers may not carry identity around with them but this is required. Identity is required to ensure that no files are wrongly discarded. Adding a Stock it em When a new stock item is purchased and arrives at the store, immediately a record of the stock is made. Data requirements   Number Unique stock number given to that item only   Title Name or title of the stock item. Description Description of what the stock item is   Price Price of the stock   Status Status of the stock: Available Unavailable Discontinued Documents used Stock data form (see appendix A1) Problems When a stock data form is filled in it can some times become a mess due to ad handwriting or coffee stains after a long days work. This may make it hard to read. Searching for a stock name If a customer wants to purchase a certain item of stock the stock record must be found from the stock file to see if that stock item is available and to make sure that it is the correct item the customer wished to purchase. Stock number the unique number given to this item Problems Stock items are filed using their stock number, not their name. This is a problem because there is no name order so each record must be checked, and refilled if it is the wrong item. Searching for a stock ID If the customer has gone through the trouble of finding the stock ID or the members of staff know the stock ID from the name a stock ID search can be made. This is much less trouble as the stock items are filed by their stock numbers and each stock number is unique so there can be no matches. Data Requirements * Stock Number A unique stock number given by a member of staff. Problems Not every one knows the stock number so a name search may have to be made. Also if a stock record is out of place then it may be difficult to find it. Amending stock status It is important that each day the stock is checked. Once the stock has been checked the stock records must be modified to show weather the stock is Available, Unavailable or Discontinued. Data requirements   Stock Name The name of the stock item   Stock Number The unique stock number given to this item Problems Tippex is used to erase the current details before the new details are added. This makes the form look messy and it may become hard to read. And when written over the tippex or writing may smudge and make the form look a complete mess. Amending stock details Once an item of stock has been entered into a file it is sometimes necessary to edit the properties of the stock, for example if a sale occurred the stock price would be altered or if a mistake was made when first entering the stock it may be amended. Data requirements   Number Unique stock number given to that item only   Title Name or title of the stock item   Description Description of what the stock item is   Price Price of the stock   Status Status of the stock: Available Unavailable Discontinued.