Introduction
This project deals with the development of a network based inventory management application for a company located in the United Arab Emirates. Dubai Computer Services is a system development company based in Dubai. The company is a small to medium enterprise that mainly deals with computer repair services such as fixing / upgrading parts, software and hardware installations, networking services and similar services. Thus, their market focus is primarily on the sale of existing products and services in the information technology services sector of the Emirates.
Overall, the company has seven branches around the country. It is a fact that they have no external branch or any other form of foreign presence what so ever. In total, they offer a range of ten different services that confine to this internal domestic market. They provide and sell computer services to individual customers and small companies. Thus, they focus on a particular sector of the information communication technology of the UAE market that deals mostly in retail sales. Such types of sales are of low monetary value in nature but can be multiple in quantities.
The reason for this is that such type of products appeal to a large base of customers. Practically they appeal to every individual and small business which possess an information technology related device or product. Since the United Arab Emirates are a well-developed country, we find many users of technology.
This is true especially for computer hardware and software products. Thus, Dubai Computer Systems, Inc. positions itself strategically in a rapidly growing market. In order to take full advantage of such position, it is necessary to be well prepared, fast and accurate in all its operations.
The Problem
A business offering solutions and products in the IT area should have accuracy and velocity as its cornerstone values. Without a fast and accurate service provision, the company soon would find itself out of business. Furthermore, generally IT related products are special in that the responsibility of the seller does not stop when the product sale to the customer. Meaning that after sale support and help provision is essential to gain customer confidence. That is the problem: how to design and implement an order system that considers all aspects of the supply chain and after sale support to the customer.
The Proposed Solution
The proposed solution for the above problem statement is the formation of a fast and error free coordinating system between the sale, inventory and finance departments. Coordination among these departments is the crucial link for successful sales. Nowadays, the fastest, more secure and reliable way to coordinate within a company is through the implementation of information communication technology. A network-based application is the perfect solution for such problem of coordination among various departments of the company.
That is why it is vital that the planning and implementation of such network-based program done very carefully. The risk is that without adequate planning and correct implementation of the project, the application will result in causing more problems than resolving them. In the next section, we will give a systematic description of the phases of the project.
Feasibility
After the initial evaluation, the team concluded that this project is feasible in three aspects: technical, economical and operational. Technically, all system and information is already in place in each of the departments that this new system will be implemented. All the required hardware materials are already in place and the software is within the programing capabilities of our staff. Economically, the incurred cost is acceptable. Since all hardware material and software programing staff is already part of the company, there will be only few additional costs to the normal daily operational routine. Finally, operationally speaking, this new technology will increase efficiency and reduce waste in operations.
Scope and Constraints
The scope of this project is to develop a network-based application to be used by employees in the in the following departments: Sales, Inventory and Finance to both enter and get appropriate information. The aim is to speed up workflow process and boost efficiency for the company, Dubai Computer Services.
However, there are a few constrains that apply to this project. One of the main constrains is the time factor. Dubai Computer Services is a small company and it cannot sustain long pauses of the work processes. The result will be increased levels of customer dissatisfaction. A second constraint is the cost of the application. Being a small company the team has to be in budget and the budget itself is not big. A third constrains is the employee capabilities. Since this will be a new system, employees will find it difficult at first to adopt and some may take a long time to do so. This can be avoided by providing future trainings.
A fourth constrains is related to the supply lines. The suppliers of the company would help if adapt to the new system. A final constrain is the customer recognition. Surely, the improved service quality and efficiency will make sure customers recognize the difference.
Information Gathering Process
All team members will gather information. The details are explained in the last section of this report. The information gathering process is composed of a quantitative and qualitative aspect. The quantitative aspect relates to the research and data collection in each of the departments involved in the process: Finance, Sales and Inventory. The data collection and review serves as a snapshot of the current situation and work practices relating to order processing in those departments.
The qualitative aspect of the information gathering relates to personal in-depth interviews with key actors from each of the departments. They comprise the head of the department and one of the senior employees dealing with order processing. Their insight will serve as guidelines for the development of the application.
Results of Information Gathering
Planning Phase
Task 1: Research of the actual situation in the sale, finance and inventory departments;
During this task, one of the team members has the duty to make a report of the current situation in the three mentioned departments. This report will include a snapshot of the current practices of these departments regarding the coordination activities. The completing of this task will require at least one week and up to ten days according to its development.
Task 2: Categorization of products and services according to the target market sector or consumer group;
One of the team members will make a short market research to categorize the products and services that the company offers and group them according to market demand. This task is necessary because many IT products strongly correlate to each other and the sale of one could easily bring the sale of the other. Furthermore, it would be easier to have the products grouped for inventory purposes. This only part of the network-based application will be used when dealing with products within the same group and there will be free bandwidth within the network to utilize for other purposes. One week to ten days is the expected timeframe for such task.
Task 3: first stage of design of the network-based application;
During this task, one of the team members will check the current hardware and software capabilities of the company. In accordance to the findings, he will begin to design the basic architecture of the application without entering into the specifics. For this step, he has to wait for the feedback of the other two group members. The same period applies as for the two previous tasks.
Task 4: brainstorming of the group and design of the details and specifics of the application;
Here all the group members will discuss their respective findings and design the specifics and details of operation of the network-based application accordingly.
Implementation phase
Task 1: installing the application in the company network;
During this task, all team members will be each in one of the departments, to ensure that there is no problem during the installation procedure and that all three departments connect to it. Ideally, this task will take 2-3 days.
Task 2: making a feedback control on each of the departments;
Cost estimates
The costs associated with this endeavour are mostly related to the purchase of any necessary hardware and the subsequent software installation. The hardware to be installed mainly refers to routers and switches. Also, a dedicated server unit will greatly enhance the system performance. The other major cost is that of the software. The program installs on the server machine. Then, it is connected via networking to the departments of the company.
Benefits
The benefits of this project are enormous compared to its costs and capability requirements. The primary benefit will be the boosting of sales due to faster and more efficient ordering process. A second benefit is the increased levels of customer satisfaction due to increased performance. Thirdly, the staff will enjoy a lower work related stress.