Matthew Mansfield04/10/2012
Alternative Solution Approaches
In my approach to provide a solution to the problems of MBM Distribution’s appointment booking system, stock control and sales processing. I have explored a range of different solutions including modifying the current system, off-the-shelf software packages and a bespoke software package designed specifically for MBM Distribution. I will briefly outline the features of each possible solution and also give some disadvantages of each. I shall also compare each of the solutions against my requirement specification to indicate which will meet the needs of the company.
Improvement to current system:
The current system relies on several elements including Microsoft Excel spreadsheets, paper based diaries and templates of documents from a Microsoft Access based system.
Documentation:
The invoices and delivery notes are currently made from a template from another system and then edited accordingly. By editing the logo and house style I could reduce the amount of time spent by staff doing this each time, however the template would still need to be filled out manually as it does not contain any of the relevant customer information.
Navigation:
There is currently no real navigation system to the system as it relies on so many different programs and objects including Microsoft Access, Microsoft Excel and paper based diaries. Therefore creating a compatible home-page would be impossible to keep the system in one place.
Customer and staff information:
The current information about customers is all kept on paper based records that can be referred to as needed by staff. This takes time and allows for mistakes to be made frequently. The staff records are not accessible to employees except the manager meaning that although it has good security it may be difficult for staff to access necessary information. I could modify this system by putting all the employee information into a word document so that it saves employees’ time searching through paper books, however this would still mean the data has to be kept in a separate document that may not be security protected.
Appointments:
The current system involves employees having a record of visiting customers in an individual diary. This makes it very difficult for other staff to see where and employee is at any time and book appointments with customers for the salesmen without speaking to them. This could be improved by Using a word document stored centrally within the system so that employees can write down where they are visiting at what time so that other employees know. However this would need to be changed every week to prevent the document becoming too crowded and it could not be accessed by more than one employee at a time which would be a hindrance.
Security:
This system is somewhat in-secure and susceptible to loss or theft of documents. The customer and employee details and stored in a filing cabinet in the manager’s office that is locked with a key that only the manager can access. There is no back-up of this information as it is stored in a paper documents. This could be improved by inputting this data into a word document that is password protected so that if the paper copies of the documents are lost, there is a backup version of the customer information.
Stock control:
By improving the stock control spread sheet to be more user friendly, this would benefit the staff however it would not encourage them to use the spread sheet any more as it has to be loaded separately and may not be kept up to date.
‘Off-the-shelf’ Packages:
BookFresh–
BookFresh is an off the shelf software package that could be used for appointment booking appointments. This system allows multiple employees to access the system simultaneously as required and can track client history to view their past orders for example. The system includes SSL Security so should be relatively secure.This system is based on a contract of $19.95 per month which equates to around £12.30 per month for as long as the system is used.This system also allows payments to be taken but does not allow documents to be produced from it.
Navigation:
The system contains a home screen containing buttons to allow a range of functions to be performed easily as shown in the picture. It is an easy to use operating system with several functions that are neatly organised for convenience.
Documentation:
This system does not produce invoices or delivery notes therefore they would have to be produced manually based on the sales information which would take much longer and may incur mistakes and inconsistencies. The system does allow sales to be made but there is no documented reference of them for future use. This is inconvenient and means that manual records will be have to be kept for legal reasons.
Appointments:
This software is designed specifically for booking appointments so is highly proficient and optimised for appointment booking. There is features allowing appointments to be made and edited for specific times with specific people and records of all future and past appointments are stored on the system.
Customer and Staff Information:
The information about customer and staff information can be added to lists and then selected from drop down lists when appointments are booked and then employee and customer information can be added or edited easily from an option on the main menu.
Security:
This system does not allow different access rights to different employees of the company so every employee can view all of the information about each employee (some of which may be sensitive information.) The system does contain company name, password protection, and CAPTCHA so that only employees can access the information however. The system also uses a software package that comes free with the system called SSL Security which prevents unauthorised access and uses CAPTCHA to make sure that the system is not being entered by another computer.
Stock Control:
This system does not have any features allowing stock to be controlled and managed. The system focusses purely on appointment booking and sales so does not have any mention of stocks. Therefore a separate stock control system would have to be run alongside this software.
Pulse DNN Cart v. 7.2
This is a software package that is designed to enable users to produce an order taking system that is interlinked with an online website. It costs $499 per month which equates to £311 per month making it the most expensive option. This is for the Professional version of the software which enables 10 users to access the system. The package does have a form builder but only uses a CSS library so the house style can not be kept. It also allows queries to be made and some basic stock control functions.
The system also comes with a free iPhone application to allow mobile access to the system which could be a useful feature.
Navigation:
Pulse DNN Cart allows the user to navigate the system through a series of screens with a list of buttons down the left hand side of the screen. This is a fairly simple system to use however there are many buttons as there are many functions to the system which are not required by MBM Distribution increasing the complexity of the menus.
Documentation:
As this system is based on sales, it does not focus on the production of documents. There are invoices that can be produced in the system, however all the information has to be manually entered by the user giving opportunity for mistakes to be made. These forms do not have bespoke design features so will not abide with the house style of the company and produce a corporate image. The system does not produce delivery notes either which are a key features of the requirement specification.
Appointments:
Pulse DNN cart is not appointment booking software so does not have a function to allow the salesmen to book appointments with employees. However, it does have an online e-commerce feature allowing the company to produce an online website allowing sales to be made online providing an alternative medium for sales.
Customer and Staff Information:
This software package does not store a library of information about customers and employees. A record of all past sales is kept on the system and can be accessed by the administrators for future reference, but the information on the documents can’t be used again and has to be manually entered each time an order is made online by a customer. This means the customer has to place the order themselves which may deter them from making the order as they cannot receive the same customer service and advice online.
Security:
To gain access to the software the user requires a username and password for the company. However this is the same access to everyone in the company so all information is available to all employees.
Stock Control:
This software package does not contain a stock control system so all stock levels would have to be run separately to this piece of software.
Bespoke software system –
A bespoke software solution would be designed specifically and tailored to meet the requirements shown in the requirement specification.This system would be based on Microsoft Access using a form based interface. One key advantage of this system is that it is produced alongside the customer with regular contact with the customer so they can have regular input and modify the system to be exactly as they want it.
The Microsoft Access system will also allow all of the staff to access the system at the same time.
Navigation:
The bespoke system will contain a home screen containing buttons linking to the different functions of the system to ease use for employees. This home screen will be in the house style and contain the company logo. The buttons will have on screen help to allow the users to know what the buttons by hovering the mouse pointer over it. Each page will also have a home button to allow users to navigate back to the home page.
Appointments:
The bespoke system will contain a method to allow employees to book appointments with customers. This will be created from a form linked to from the home page allowing a specific employee to make an appointment with a customer on a specific time and date so other employees and management can see where the employee is.
Documentation:
The bespoke system will allow company documents to be produced and printed off in a consistent house style with minimal error. These documents include invoices and delivery notes and will be produced from drop-down lists and manual entry from a form accessed from the home screen. This will minimise the errors made by staff on data entry. The documents produced will be in the house style containing the company logo to ensure a consistent corporate image.
Customer and Staff information:
Staff and customer records will be stored in the system so that all customers are logged including all of their contact details in one secure place. This will also allow customer order history to be searched for using the system using a query. Staff information is also stored to allow appointments to be made but any sensitive information will be kept confidential and only be able to be viewed by management. Having the customer information stored will also allow the customers to be selected from drop down lists when producing invoices and delivery notes to save time and prevent mistakes in data entry.
Security:
Each employee would be able to log onto the system with a user name and password and each have restricted access rights appropriate to their position within the company. The system will also be backed up to a hard drive. This will mean there is always a version of the system that is no more than one day old kept in case of an emergency.
Stock Control:
This system will allow stock to be controlled using a form based interface in which each time you change a stock level you enter the new values and change the database values for the stocks of each item.
REQUIREMENT: / MODIFIED SYSTEM / BOOKFRESH / PULSE DNN CART V.7.2 / BESPOKE SYSTEMAccess & Security
1: All employees shall be able to access the database system at the same time. / x / x / x /
2: Employees shall be able to log on to the system using their name and a password of their choice. / x / / /
3: Employees will only be able to access parts of the system that are relevant to them. / / x / x /
4: Employees will only be able to access the database when connected to the company network through an office Desktop Computer or when controlling their computers through remote access from a laptop off-site. / x / / /
Staff
Information about employees will be stored on the system abiding by the data protection act of 1998. / / x / x /
Information about firms will be stored on the system. / / / /
Documents
1: All documents produced on the system will be able to be printed using a print button at the bottom of each printable page. / x / x / x /
2: All documents that are printed will be saved in the system so that they can be accessed for future reference. / x / / /
3: Invoices will be produced from a form and will be able to be printed. / / x / x /
4: Delivery notes will be produced from a form and will be able to be printed. / / x / x /
5: All documents will follow the company house style and colour scheme. / x / x / x /
6: All documents will have the MBM Distribution logo at the top. / / / /
7: All reports will be printed in portrait format. / / x / x /
Forms
1: Forms shall contain drop down boxes so that data can be selected from lists. / x / x / x /
2: Forms will contain tick boxes to represent Boolean data. / x / / /
3: Forms will have boxes where a user can manually enter quantities and values. / x / / / X
4: Users can input new customers into the system. / / / /
5: Users can input new employees into the system. / / / /
6: Customer or employee information will be able to be changed. / / / /
7. Invoices will be produced containing all required information. / / x / x /
8. Delivery notes will be produced containing all the required information. / / x / x /
Navigation
1: There will be a home containing buttons that will allow users to navigate to each of the forms of the database. / x / / x /
2: The home page will contain a button that allows queries to be made to search for previous reports. / x / / x /
3: Each button will contain a home button to allow the user to navigate back to the home page. / x / / /
4: There will be a button to allow the user to exit the system. / / / /
5: Users will be able to edit information such as adding a new customer or editing employee details. / / / /
Guides and Documentation
1: There will be a comprehensive user guide that all employees will have a copy of which they can use if they are unsure how to use any features of the system. / x / x / x /
2: Buttons shall have control tips to help the user to understand their function. / x / x / x /
3: There will be example data next to data entry boxes allowing the user to see the format of the data that is to be entered. / x / x / x /
Review:
Throughout this document and summarised in the table, I have considered a number of solutions to the problems of MBM Distribution including bespoke software packages and ‘off the shelf’ packages. Each solution is compared against the criteria of the requirement specification in the table shown above.
The modification to the real system would certainly improve the situation but would not enable access to all staff and make the system any more reliable or centralised (relies on too many software packages etc.) Therefore it would not solve the problems specified.
BookFresh is an appointment booking software package that is easy to use and highly functional and also allows sales to be made on the software, however it only solves one area of the problems of MBM Distribution and doesn’t contain any features for producing invoices or stock control which is a major issue. It also relies on a monthly contract which although is fairly cheap, would have to be paid for in every month of use.
Pulse DNN Cart v.7.2 is an online e-commerce website allowing sales to be made to customers over the Internet and forms and payments to be dealt with. It provides a platform for E-commerce for MBM distribution which may be beneficial. However it does not allow for appointments to be made or for stock control so does not solve the whole problem. It is also very expensive at £311 per month on a continuous contract.
The bespoke software system is the only solution that can solve all of the problems and meet every item of the criteria stated in the requirement specification. It also gives the unique advantage that as it is designed specifically for the user, it can be modified at regular intervals along the way meaning the finished project will be no less and no more than what is desired by MBM Distribution. Customisation is the key feature of Microsoft Access and is a unique advantage not offered by any of the other solutions. It will allow MBM distribution to have a completely unique system designed specifically for their needs. Therefore I think that the bespoke software solution is the best choice of solution for MBM Distribution.