Buckie Management Information System - Case Study Example

Management Information System report s s Grade 10th October BUCKIE MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM REPORT Introduction Problem statement The government requires Buckie Management Company to carry out a continuous check on their equipment. This need led to company coming up with a system that would assist them in recording this data on who carried the inspection, when the next inspection will be carried out and which product exists in the inventory. The need to adapt information technology by all the company’s in the market led to Buckie’s management approaching us to develop the system on their behalf. The system is supposed to have a user interface and a database for the storage of the information. Scope The system is supposed to work in the construction industry where it is supposed to allow for easier recording of the different equipments. It is also supposed to allow for the generation of the different reports suiting the needs of the users. Overview System analysis The workers carried an analysis of the existing manual systems in order to come up with a diagram of the new systems. Different mode of data collection were used which included questionnaires and interviews. Interviewees were supposed to be the people who were participating in the current manual system and managers of the organization. To make sure correct information was given, first the interviewees were taught of the importance of the information that they were providing, and the need of it being correct. The answers given during the interviews were recorded, and the system design was drawn. To make sure that the system requirements had been captured in the system design, the experts visited a neighboring company by the name John contractors, who had a similar system implemented the previous year. This enabled us to learn some of the problem that was encountered by the team after deployment and improvements that were suggested. System Design After the analysis of the current system, the team had to come up with a design of the online system. We had also to come up with the implementation mode which was arrived at that the system should be web based and have a database. The design took into consideration the different modules and requirements of the system which had been supplied to us in the specification document. Owing to security measures and need of availability of the system, it was to be designed in a way that it was to run from a server within the organization. The system included different levels of users who included the managers and the subordinate staff. Functionalities of the system identified in the system design were: 1. Maintaining PAT reading records and showing who did the reading. 2. Maintaining records of hygiene inspections on the equipments and the reader’s details. 3. Storage of reading of gas equipments and their records 4. Maintaining a list of all the equipments that are within the organization for the need of stock taking. 5. It was to give a report of inventories within the organization at the end of the company’s year. 6. The system is supposed also to give reports of when certain inspections will be carried out each month. Goals of the proposed online system 1. Offer security of information- The system ensured this by requiring people to log in before accessing it. This is made possible by having a username and password for anybody who has the right to access the system. Unauthorized people are not allowed to access the system. 2. Accuracy in record keeping- Accuracy is ensured by restricting who can delete and add information to the database. This leads to a situation where all the time information available is correct. 3. Gives a uniform way of carrying out the different activities and producing the reports- Due to the structured way that the system will operate workers will be forced to follow the same procedure in carrying out the activities. Also with the ability of report generation within the system all reports belonging to the company will be similar. 4. Offers data backup- The system will have an automatic trigger within itself that will allow for data backup after every twelve hours. This ensures that incase any accident or malicious damage of the system data can be recovered. 5. Allow for reporting – the ability of the system to store huge amounts of data leads to the organization being able to carry out data mining. These reports will help the managers in making decisions, which are correct. System Requirements The organization had to provide some resources for the purpose of deployment of the system in the correct manner. These resources comprised of: 1. Hardware Requirements i. Cpu’s with Pentium II or above processor, 252 MB ram, 80GB hard disk. ii. A server with a space of 1000 gigabytes. iii. Network cables and a switch iv. Internet connection with a speed of 1 mbps. 2. Software Requirements i. XP , Linux or Windows Seven operating system ii. Xampp or Wamp server. iii. Windows Server 2000 or latest version. Feasibility Study To establish whether the system would be successfully implemented, a feasibility study had to be carried out. The study included both economical and technical feasibility study. The technical feasibility study was to establish whether the company had the infrastructure laid down in readiness of the deployment of the system. The experts established that the company had computers which were stand-alone workstations with a server that had not been put into use. The management was advised on the need to network the different machines and then look for an internet service provider. The cost estimate of this was arrived at 500 dollars, which would not be a burden to the company. If this was carried out correctly, the company would be technically ready to roll out the new system in its environment. The feasibility study on the economic status of the company required the experts to provide a cost estimate of all the work and resources required. This was taken to companies managements who approved it with a little reduction on some of the costs. This signified that the company would afford the system in terms of cost. Feasibility study was also carried out on time to see if between the time of proposing the system and the delivering the system if it was possible for the company to wait. It was established that it would take four months to develop the system and get it deployed which was a practically plausible time for the company to wait. Maintenance Owing to the stipulations of the software standards we had to maintain software after deployment. The company had to take responsibility of corrective, adaptability and perfective maintenance for a period of six months without any fee being charged. After this, the company would either continue maintaining the system at a fee or the clients decides to outsource the provision of services to another company. The client was given a chance to make a choice of providing one of its employees to undergo training on the different ways of maintaining the system. The training would be carried at a fee which was to be agreed prior to the training being carried out. Table Entities User Username, password, access_level, user_id Equipment serial_number (primary key), name, date_of_purchase, date_of-disposal, location User_id(foreign key) Pressure_equipment_reading Pressure_id(primary key), reading, supervisor_id(foreign key), serial_number(foreign key), date_of_reading, date_of_nextreading Supervisor Supervisor_id(primary_key), name, location, contact Pat_reading Id(primary key), reading, serial_number(foreign key), supervisor_id(foreign key) Life history of Entities Equipment- The life of the equipment begins from the date it is recorded in the system database. It ends when its date of disposal is recorded meaning it no longer exists within the organization. Supervisor –The life of the supervisor begins when he makes the first reading of any equipment within the organization which can be pressure or electricity reading. Pressure Equipment _reading- this exists in the system from the date of reading, and it does not leave the system due to the need of reporting in the future. Pat_testing- once a test has been carried out that is when it is recorded, and it cannot be deleted there in the future making it exist in the system for its life. User – the user joins the system the time his or her details are recorded within the system to the time when he is deleted from the authorized user of the system. Logical data Structure Data Flow Diagram 0 Data flow diagram 1 Pressure store Pat reading store Reference Dennis, W. (2007). Life Computer Software Management. New York: National Bureau of Standards. Read More