course work project for igcse ict computer studies 2014

7/27/2019 Course Work project for IGCSE ICT computer studies 2014

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GCE O level Coursework-Computer Studies-2014 Hassan Zayan Azzam pg. 1 of 450Automatic Stock Control and Billing MV000 Date of printing

Introduction

The purpose of this coursework is to allow candidates to demonstrate their

ability to undertake a complex piece of work, which is a computer based solution to asignificant problem, and to complete the solution and present their results. I have

chosen to conduct this coursework on a well-known local super market chain buy-a-

lot because they supply and retail a number of every day products but use the

traditional method of pen on paper to record their stocks and billing. Due to a recent

fire the business has lost all their previous records and is looking for an appropriate

solution that is easy to use and maintain. By conducting this coursework I hope to

achieve a better understanding of how databases help people record and maintaininformation in a proper manner, how they work and the process that goes into the

design and implementation of such a system. The software that has been chosen to

design the program is Microsoft Office Access 2010 as it offers complex tools in an

easy to learn and user friendly environment.


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I: Analysis

1.1 Description of the Problem

The Background of the Company

Buy-a-lot super market began as a small shop that bought in staple foods in 1992.

But since then they have grown into one of the largest supermarket in Male. Today

they employ nearly a hundred employees and sell hundreds of products.

In 2012 the company underwent a complete takeover by a new management. Upon

the start of operations by the new management they had noticed that the system of

stock control and billing, the company had been using had been severely outdated.

The company had been keeping all their inventory records, Orders, Sales and BankStatements in a massive collection of files and papers in huge cabinets. But

unfortunately a few months ago due to a fire in the office building the company had

lost all of its previous records.

The new management has decided to start fresh and install a new computerized

system which will assist them in the day to day business. The management aims to

directly implement the new system when the supermarket reopens after a major

renovation. They have appointed Mr. Ahmed Manik to oversee the development of

the new system.

Nature of the problem to be solved

Due to the fire the previous system that the company used was destroyed but thecompany notes the following problems.

1. Difficulty in creating new records:Previously the staff had to fill out huge formsevery time new stock arrived or new sales were made. Due to the nature of thebusiness this had to be done very often.

2. Difficulty in amending records: Whenever any information had to be amended

the company found it especially difficult as they had to cut the wrong information andfind space in the forms to re-write them.

3. Large storage space required:The nature of the business requires it to keepthousands of records every day and due to the previous system that had been inuse, this required lots of space so the business had to rent an office where all therecords were kept.

4. Time Consuming:Because the company staff had to fill out forms for everybusiness transaction they made took lots of time. Searching for specific documentswere even more time consuming as they had to go through thousands of documents.


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5. Extra staff required to maintain records: The Company had to hire extra staff inorder to maintain and organize all of its records.

1.2 Objectives

General Business Terms:

1. To make the process of buying and selling faster as it would be much moreconvenient to the customers.

2. Reduce costs by not having to recruit additional staff to maintain records and nothaving to rent a separate office space.

3. Increase productivity of workers.4. Create a paperless work environment5. To be able to find out customer shopping habits and from which areas do most

customers come from.

Computer Related Terms:1. To be able to create, edit, delete or add to an record easily without taking up

much time or resources2. Being able to sort and find specified information with a click of the mouse.3. The ability to be notified when current stock levels are low and new stock must

be ordered.4. To have a database of customers, products, orders, and sales readily available

at any given time.


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1.3 Description of Existing Solution

Data Collection:The following are the forms that the business usesto capture data.

Tax Invoice:Document issued by the seller when a sale is made that showsthe price of a sale, what is sold and indicates whether it includes GST andshows the amount of GST.

GST

TOTAL


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Purchase Order:A commercial document and the first official offer issued bya buyer to a seller, indicating types, quantities, and agreed prices for products

or services. Acceptance of a purchase order by a seller forms a contractbetween the buyer and the seller.


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Goods Received Note:Record of goods received at the point of receipt. Thisis used to confirm all goods have been received and often compared to apurchase order before payment is issued.


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Input and Storage:The following shows samples of the registersused by the business

Purchase Order Register: Contains an index of all the purchase ordernumbers, the suppliers ID, date of transaction and amount.


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Tax Invoice Register: It is an index of tax invoices numbers, customerIDs, amounts and dates of all carried out transactions transaction.


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Inventory Register: Keeps record of how much of a commodity isavailable at the given time.


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Customer Register:Provides business with an index of customers bylisting their customer ID, name, Contact information and address.


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Employee Register: Lists the unique ID given to each employee alongwith their name, job title, contact information and address.


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Supplier Register: Contains an index of all suppliers to the business. Thisregister includes information about Supplier ID, their name, contact info,and address.


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The information copied into these registers are verified only by visually checkingthe information.

Information are copied onto these registers manually, this causes many errors and

problems such as, repeated entries, miss-spellings, wrong amounts being enteredand records being left out.

Processing

Formulas used:As the current system consists of manually writing andcopying information into records no formulas are used in the process.

Type of processing used and its suitability:Due to the nature of thebusiness, they collect massive amounts of data every day thus, real-time

processing is not possible. Data are processed in batches during theweekends when the shops are closed. This method is seen as most suitablebecause if the business were to process the data in real time it would slowthem down and will cost more to recruit extra employees to process the data.Also if the business were to use real time processing it would greatly increasethe amount of errors in their records.


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Output: The following are sample copies of reports that are made and usedby the business in the existing system.


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GCE O level Coursework-Computer Studies-2014 Hassan Zayan Azzam pg. 20 of 450

These reports allow the managers of the business to be presented withvaluable information that is required to make important business decisions, aswell as providing stake holders, information about the performance of thebusiness.

Just like all the other forms and registers used by the business these reportsare filled in by hand. This gives way for many types of problems to ariseduring the process such as spelling mistakes, duplicate entries, missingentries and wrong information. The method used to make reports takes longamounts of time as employees have to refer to large amounts of records tocomplete the reports.

Miscellaneous

Methods of security used:

o Records are kept in a separate office building that is only accessible byadministrative staff.

o All modifications to records are authorized by person in charge.

User friendliness of the system:As the previous system requiresemployees to spend lots of time searching for documents and writing records,it is considered extremely unfriendly to the user.

1.4 Evaluation of Existing Solution

The current system presents the business with more flaws than

course work project for igcse ict computer studies 2014

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