Project Description
This report proposes the development of a mobile application that will be utilized to boost marketing metrics. The application must show information about the sales for the company and the performance index in transportation and distribution of goods within the enterprise (Case Study: GG Freightways, 2021). Through the application, the clients will be shown the available freight tariffs and warehousing alternatives with the inclusion of a comparison to other rival firms. The mobile application shall be utilized during the freight management and it is intended to better the services of GG Freightways and hence get more customers.
Strategic Alignment
The mobile marketing application intends to assist in tracking the whereabouts of the goods transported hence contributing to the timely delivery of the freight to the clients (AgĂĽero et al., 2016). Secondly, through the marketing paraphernalia, the application will assist to lure more clients after getting the performance history of the company. Lastly, the warehousing will be integrated in terms of the inventory and the running operations hence ensuring there is the availability of products to customers every time. The project also aligns with GGFRT information technology (IT) strategies.
IT Portfolio Roadmap Alignment
One of the GGFRT’s IT portfolios is to have a marketing boost where a potential customers can be shown important information about the company. The mobile application should work together with the management reporting system in instances where financial data is required by the customer before deciding on the shipping methodologies (AgĂĽero et al., 2016). The project can be executed after GGFRT has an effective financial reporting system and management reporting system. Therefore, the project should come afterward so that the IT portfolios can be comprehended effectively.
IT Architecture
The project fits with other systems in place and those under development. For instance, the freight tracking system will be useful in providing information about cargo origin, destination, and other information. When developed, the two projects will work hand in hand to address the mapping of orders and integrations about zip codes and the sequence of delivery (Zhou & Wan, 2021). Therefore, the information to be shared including the client information based on location, type of merchandise, the shipping requirement, the dispatchers, and maintenance personnel shall also have to be integrated under one interface.
Benefits
Table 1: Benefits of the project.
Requirements
The primary driver for this project is the need to have efficiency in freight management by utilizing cloud-based applications that will ensure there is simultaneous business flow. For GGFRT to embark on this project, the management must be compelled by the need to improve their logistical processes, increase customer satisfaction, and have high returns on revenue (AgĂĽero et al., 2016). Therefore, with the key drivers existing, there are various requirements as shown in table 2 below.
Table 2: Requirements of the project.
Cost Estimation
The development of a freight mobile application requires website designers and computer programmers who would work on the features required. Therefore, the assessment of project size and complexity is largely moderately complex. The reason is that there are individuals who have specialized in expertise power in creating mobile applications while utilizing computer science (Bharadwaj, 2020). Additionally, there are other existing applications for the other rival firms hence it will be easier to analyze feasibility.
Table 3: Cost estimation for the project.
Performance Measures
The performance measures will be based on the benefits the projects intend to bring to GGFRT. Additionally, depending on the system requirements, the firm will be able to test the feasibility and functionality of the mobile marketing application project (“Small Freight Logistics benefit using Mobile App Technologies”, 2019). For example, the management shall test whether or not efficiency was achieved and if not, what requirements would be suitable to have the issue properly executed.
Table 4: Performance measures for the project
System Development
The first consideration will be to plan the requirement for the project. That includes a rough draft of the mobile application features and potential drawbacks. For example, it will be important to determine the extent to which the application shall require support from the system developers (“Small Freight Logistics benefit using Mobile App Technologies”, 2019). The next step would be to design the prototypes by factoring in all the essential microservices architecture required to launch the application. Building the application follows, whereby the software will be configured by integrating the features of the company in one single function.
Testing of the mobile app is also important to ascertain whether or not the features complement the business strategies for GGFRT and whether the requirements can meet the benefits without significant exposure to risks. Lastly, the launching of the application is done by placing the system alongside other existing ones and feeding the necessary data that is realistic to the functions of the freight company (Zhou & Wan, 2021). Here, the workflow is boosted by the system, and what takes over is maintenance and monitoring after successful launching.
References
AgĂĽero, R., Zinner, T., Garcia-Lozano, M., Wenning, B., & Timm-Giel, A. (2016). Editorial: Mobile networks and management.Mobile Networks and Applications, 21(4), 561-563. Web.
Bharadwaj, D. (2020). Integrated freight terminal and automated freight management system: A theoretical approach.Transportation Research Procedia, 48(9), 260-279. Web.
Case Study: GG Freightways (GGFRT). (2021). pp. 1-8, PDF
Small Freight logistics benefit using mobile app technologies. (2019). SSTech System. Web.
Zhou, Z., & Wan, X. (2021). Does the sharing economy technology disrupt incumbents? Exploring the influences of mobile digital freight matching platforms on road freight logistics firms.Production and Operations Management, 5(6), 22-26. Web.