Project ProposalSystem Name: Case Metals, Mfg.

Prepared for

System Analysis and DesignProf. Koontz

Prepared byRobert Brownson

Zachary Epperhart

Jacob Curry

Edobor Efam

On

May 6, 2015

P a g e | 1

Table of ContentsExecutive Summary.............................................................................................................4

The Current System Troubles..............................................................................................5

Our Solution.........................................................................................................................5

Keeping the Future in Mind.................................................................................................6

Results of System Study......................................................................................................6

Custom System................................................................................................................6

System Alternatives.............................................................................................................7

Current System................................................................................................................7

Custom-Designed System................................................................................................8

Pre-Packaged System......................................................................................................8

Recommendations................................................................................................................8

Appendix............................................................................................................................10

System Structure Chart......................................................................................................11

Context Diagram................................................................................................................12

Context Diagram Narrative...........................................................................................12

Data Flow Diagrams..........................................................................................................13

Diagram Level 0............................................................................................................13

Diagram Level 0 Narrative........................................................................................14Diagram Level 1............................................................................................................15

Diagram Level 1 Narrative........................................................................................16Diagram Level 2............................................................................................................17

Diagram Level 2 Narrative........................................................................................18Database Design................................................................................................................19

P a g e | 2

Entity-Relationship Diagram.........................................................................................19

Entity-Relationship Narrative....................................................................................20Network Decomposition Diagram.....................................................................................21

Network Decomposition Narrative................................................................................22

Hub Connectivity Diagram................................................................................................23

Hub Connectivity Narrative...........................................................................................24

Gantt Chart.........................................................................................................................25

Gantt Chart Summary....................................................................................................26

Hardware Cost Projections................................................................................................27

Hardware Cost Projection Summary.............................................................................28

P a g e | 3

WRITING ASSIGNMENTSystems Analysis and Design

CPIN 239

Executive Summary

Development of a new network and database system will be the first version and released for beta testing in January 2016. It was developed to significantly improve the way today’s workforce manages projects and inventory. With the rapid growth of tablet and iPad use, the product offers tremendous advantages to professional managers, as well as the thousands of customers that have a responsibility of managing projects every day.

This database will be positioned as a high-end software package that enables managers to review, maintain and synchronize their data via wireless technology. This will also give our customers a real-time data of when their orders will ship and arrive at their facility. There is currently no other company that produces this type of online database with the management features we would like to implement.

The potential market for the cost of the database upgrade should pay for itself within the first year. This will be accomplished by faster turnaround times and saving in the amount of waste in the production and shipping processes.

Our financial projection for Year 1 is a net profit after taxes of $250,000 and after the initial proposal amount of 425,000. Year 2 is projected at a net profit after taxes of $1,019,031. Year 3 is projected at a net profit after taxes of $1,165,987. The expected net profit is expected due to the amount of new customer gains and lower turnaround times.

The IT Management Team members have strong backgrounds in both computer hardware and software development which will allow fast updates and fixes. If the decision to go with a prepared package software, these net profits will be less. Not to mention, the turnaround time may not be as good with a custom made package for our business.

The $300,000 we are seeking will be used to begin production of the software, production team help with the design and for short term capital and overhead needs. An additional $125, 000 being supplied by the Owner is for unexpected delays and extra manpower needed to keep goal on track and any professional help needed for guidance.

P a g e | 4

The Current System Troubles

The current manual invoice system uses paperwork, traditional mail, and direct human interaction to generate purchase orders, invoice approval, and the filling of orders. Currently there are two people working on invoice approval and four people working on purchase orders.

Purchase orders for materials are generated manually by four people. The purchase orders are then mailed in the traditional manner to the vendors. The vendors are not held to a contract and orders are filled on their own timeline. There is no monitoring and/or tracking of missed delivery target deadlines by the vendors. The filling of orders often requires as much as four weeks’ time to fill even when the material is not on backorder. Once the order has been filled and shipped, a considerable amount of time is required to verify the receipt of the goods and transfer the necessary paperwork to the respective departments.

The current manual system has major disadvantages. The current manual system results in a sizable cost per purchase order of $75.00. It leads to lost opportunities to take advantage of discounts offered by the vendors for quick payment. The current system also leads to long delays in production and an increase in employee downtime which, in turn, generates an overall loss of profit for the company.

We have developed a system to increase the efficiency of our entire company.

Our Solution

Development of a new network and database system will be the first version and released for beta testing in January 2016. It was developed to significantly improve the way today’s workforce manages projects and inventory. With the rapid growth of tablet and iPad use, the product offers tremendous advantages to professional managers, as well as the thousands of customers that have a responsibility of managing projects every day.

This database will be positioned as a high-end software package that enables managers to review, maintain and synchronize their data via wireless technology. This will also give our customers a real-time data of when their orders will ship and arrive at their facility. There is currently no other company that produces this type of online database with the management features we would like to implement.

The potential market for the cost of the database upgrade should pay for itself within the first year. This will be accomplished by faster turnaround times and saving in the amount of waste in the production and shipping processes.

P a g e | 5

Our financial projection for Year 1 is a net profit after taxes of $250,000 and after the initial proposal amount of 425,000. Year 2 is projected at a net profit after taxes of $1,019,031. Year 3 is projected at a net profit after taxes of $1,165,987. The expected net profit is expected due to the amount of new customer gains and lower turnaround times.

Keeping the Future in Mind

Case Metal Mfg. is growing faster and faster every day. As we speak we are out growing our current system. Keeping this in mind we have created a new system with not only the growth of our company in mind, but the employees and customers as well.

The IT Management Team members have strong backgrounds in both computer hardware and software development which will allow fast updates and fixes. If the decision to go with a prepared package software, these net profits will be less. Not to mention, the turnaround time may not be as good with a custom made package for our business.

The $300,000 we are seeking will be used to begin production of the software, production team help with the design and for short term capital and overhead needs. An additional $125, 000 being supplied by the Owner is for unexpected delays and extra manpower needed to keep goal on track and any professional help needed for guidance.

Results of System Study

Custom System

A custom system shall save money and time and will pay for itself in half the time over a prepackaged system. The IT department management assures that they should be able to complete a custom package with little to no problems or outside professional help. The custom package we are looking to build will mirror our process as it is now. With this mirror of the process we can save on training and in return save on manual document filing. This will of course have some form of training but will be far less than trying to adapt a system that we must make work vs what the employees are already use to.

This package will also have some auto fill and a lot can be completed will bar code scanners. This system will be a good tracking system for the customers that will update to a database that will track their order throughout the entire process from when the order is taken to the shipment process.

This database will easily track products throughout the entire production process, in return management can see where in the production process value added time is being

P a g e | 6

depleted in each piece. We look to have each piece scanned when it enters and exits each stage of the production process. This can ultimately produce a lean awareness within the production process for the lean management team to produce a higher quality product.

This system will need updates, The IT department is more than capable of completing these updates and transformations of the custom software for any development changes needed. These updates will roll out as firmware updates. The expected release of the system will be firmware 1.1 and will be updated as needed to better suit the entire process.

The production manager will allow some of the senior production workers to meet with the IT department for ideas in meeting the needs of the production department. The receiving and shipping manager has agreed to allow the same for the transition from paper to digital documentation. These associates will meet on a weekly basis with the IT management and team. They will be discussing any issues that may arise with the digitalizing of the process. This will decrease the amount of problems with the release of the software and database.

System Alternatives

Current System

The current system in place is paper documented and all filed in a cabinet and kept for a given time frame. All documentation is all kept for internal audit purposes. The current system is time consuming and storage of all the documents takes up a lot of room. There are numerous employees that are needed to complete the tasks to operate the individual operations. After these operations there are several employees that are needed to store the files and documents. The employees needed and time it takes to document the operations takes money. This is return means less profit and higher loss. In terms of business this is the exact opposite of what a business wants to be a profitable business in these technological times.

P a g e | 7

Custom-Designed System

There are several pros and cons to a custom based system, they are listed below.

Pros ConsBetter suited for what we need More expensive Will pay for itself sooner More time consuming in the build processHigher profitsFaster turnaround on goodsLess mistakes made in documentationHappier customers

Pre-Packaged System

There are several pros and cons to a pre-packaged system, they are listed below.

Pros ConsLess expensive than a custom designed system

Less profits, due to unneeded steps in process

Higher profits than manual documentationFaster to implementFaster turnaround on goods

Recommendations

Due to the ability of expansion and the need for custom updates, I recommend the custom designed system. This will help in the training of the new system because we can use the same forms within the system. By using the same forms, employees will already know the entire process as they used before it will just be saved electronically, majority of the form can be filled in electronically by the use of barcode system.

The customer designed system will allow us to create ways to track sales and produce queries to manage the process. This system can be setup to take network orders from customers, saving time and skipping the ordering process. In theory we can improve our

P a g e | 8

turnaround time for customers and improve the time it takes for the customer to receive their order.

This system will be fully customizable, thus meaning if the system has malfunctions or unneeded steps, the system can be fully adjustable to our needs.

P a g e | 9

Appendix

P a g e | 10

System Structure Chart

P a g e | 11

Context Diagram

Context Diagram NarrativeOUR SYSTEM submits a PURCHASE ORDER (PO) to a VENDOR. The VENDOR sends OUR SYSTEM either a PO REJECTION NOTICE or an INVOICE. If OUR SYSTEM receives an INVOICE from the VENDOR, OUR SYSTEM either sends an INVOICE REJECTION NOTICE back to the VENDOR or a PAYMENT to the VENDOR. When the VENDOR has received the PAYMENT from OUR SYSTEM, the VENDOR sends the SHIPPED GOODS to OUR SYSTEM.

P a g e | 12

Data Flow Diagrams

Diagram Level 0

P a g e | 13

Diagram Level 0 Narrative

The INVENTORY DATABASE (DB) issues a LOW STATUS MESSAGE on specific part that are processed by GENERATE PURCHASE ORDER (PO). GENERATE PO sends a PURCHASE ORDER to the VENDOR. The VENDOR either issues a PO REJECTION NOTICE or an INVOICE TO APPROVE NOTICE.

APPROVE INVOICE receives an INVOICE from the VENDOR. APPROVE INVOICE either issues an INVOICE REJECTION NOTICE back to the VENDOR or issues the INVOICE DETAILS to the ACCOUNTS PAYABLE DATABASE. The ACCCOUNTS PAYABLE DATABASE then sends the PAYMENT DETAILS to the REMIT PAYMENT process.

The REMIT PAYMENT process receives the PAYMENT DETAILS from the ACCOUNTS PAYABLE database and issues the PAYMENT to the VENDOR which, in turn, sends the SHIPPED GOODS the RECEIVE GOODS process.

The RECEIVE GOODS process issues an INVENTORY UPDATE to the INVENTORY DATABASE.

P a g e | 14

Diagram Level 1

P a g e | 15

Diagram Level 1 Narrative

The system monitors the inventory of materials needed to manufacture the product. When additional materials are needed, the system completes an inventory of materials needed and determines what additional materials are needed. Once the additional materials are determined, the system verifies the order is accurate and meets the set inventory requirements, and then generates a purchase order. The purchase order is then sent to the vendor who sells the materials needed. If the system determines no additional materials are needed based on the inventory, an order rejection notice is sent to the system indicating no additional materials are necessary.

P a g e | 16

Diagram Level 2

P a g e | 17

Diagram Level 2 Narrative

The VERIFY INVOICE process receives an INVOICE from the VENDOR outside. If the INVOICE is not proper, the VERIFY INVOICE process issues a REJECTION NOTICE to the PREPARE REJECTION NOTICE process. If the INVOICE is proper, the VERIFY INVOICE process submits an APPROVED INVOICE to the PREPARE APPROVAL NOTICE process.

The PREPARE REJECTION NOTICE process submits an INVOICE REJECTION NOTICE to the VENDOR outside.

The PREPARE APPROVAL NOTICE process submits the INVOICE DETAILS to ACCOUNTS PAYABLE DATABASE (DB).

P a g e | 18

Database Design

P a g e | 19

Entity-Relationship Diagram

Entity-Relationship Narrative

One or many sales representatives serves one and only one company and brings back customer requests. The company places zero to many orders for the product requested by the sales rep. The one and only order contains zero to many products which are stored in one and the company’s one and only one warehouse. There is an associative entity

P a g e | 20

whereby the LISTS symbol represents an ORDER LINE entity that records each instance of a specific product listed in a specific order.

P a g e | 21

Network Decomposition Diagram

P a g e | 22

Network Decomposition Narrative

The above network decomposition diagram shows how the layout of the network with a centralized location of St. Louis, Mo. The diagram shows all the hardware for each location. We have provided costs for the hardware for all the sites. Baltimore, MD and Los Angeles, CA are to 1 Wireless Access Point for wireless access for the 3 workstation computers each facility will have. Each one of these facilities will get a backup server with internal switch that will be connected to the network and will connect to centralized network server in St. Louis, MO. These location will also receive an Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) for the server. The sales offices outside the US will also receive a WAP, 5 computers each, backup server connected to the centralized server in St. Louis and a UPS. The 2 production facilities in Evansville, IN and Mexico will have 5 WAP’s each to cover the entire 100,000 ft2 facilities, 30 computers for the salaried workers, 3 computers for hourly personal and production workers to use that will be set up in the break room. These facilities will also get a network server with backup and an external 20 port switch. The final hardware to be purchased will be for the centralized office in St. Louis, MO, this site will get a rack UPS, 3 computers, a rack server with internal backup and 8TB HDD storage and 16GB memory in each server rack. The last item will be a WAP for wireless access for the 3 computers.

P a g e | 23

Hub Connectivity Diagram

P a g e | 24

Hub Connectivity Narrative

In the network hub diagram there are two production facilities, Evansville and

Mexico, as well as five sales offices (St. Louis, Los Angeles, Baltimore, Italy, and the

United Kingdom). We had the St. Louis office be the center of our diagram and placed

the company server there. As seen in the diagram every place has their own internet cloud

except for St. Louis which has two. This is due to the fact that the program that was used

to create this diagram had a limit to how many connections that could be made to it, so a

second one had to be added. The Los Angeles sales office has three computers for their

administrative assistant and the two sales people they employ. As Italy and the United

Kingdom, within the project papers, didn’t have it specified how many employees they

had I just put the same amount for both as the Los Angeles office which makes it three

computers there as well for one administrative assistant and two salespersons. The St.

Louis office got four computers for their three salespersons and one administrative

assistant. Baltimore got five computers in total, one for the administrative assistant and

four for the salespersons. Both the Evansville and Mexico production facilities got 33

computers. As adding 33 separate computer per each facility would add too much to an

already large diagram for both I separated them into three computers icons each and

labeled them as 1-11, 12-22, and 23-33 each. To save some space on the diagram some of

the facilities names were abbreviated on the diagram such as making the Baltimore

section abbreviated to Balt.

P a g e | 25

Gantt Chart

P a g e | 26

Gantt Chart Summary

Our Gantt chart show the project completion over a 16 week period. We have included the following activities; Meeting for approval of Database Upgrade, Approval of Funds, Installation of Network Facilities, Ordering of Hardware, Ordering and Shipping of Hardware, Server Setup, Computer and Network Setup, Computer and Network Training, Trial Runs, Network Adjustments and expectation for project to go live on week 16.Along with these activities we have included within our Gantt chart the plan start, plan duration, the actual start, actual duration and the percentage of completion to track the project throughout the entire process. This will help management keep on track with the project and that the completion date is kept.

P a g e | 27

Hardware Cost Projections

P a g e | 28

Hardware Cost Projection Summary

The spreadsheet containing our hardware cost projections includes all the hardware to complete the entire installation minus cabling and connecting hardware. We have provided costs for the hardware for all the sites. Baltimore, MD and Los Angeles, CA are to 1 Wireless Access Point for wireless access for the 3 workstation computers each facility will have. Each one of these facilities will get a backup server with internal switch that will be connected to the network and will connect to centralized network server in St. Louis, MO. These location will also receive an Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) for the server. The sales offices outside the US will also receive a WAP, 5 computers each, backup server connected to the centralized server in St. Louis and a UPS. The 2 production facilities in Evansville, IN and Mexico will have 5 WAP’s each to cover the entire 100,000 ft2 facilities, 30 computers for the salaried workers, 3 computers for hourly personal and production workers to use that will be set up in the break room. These facilities will also get a network server with backup and an external 20 port switch. The final hardware to be purchased will be for the centralized office in St. Louis, MO, this site will get a rack UPS, 3 computers, a rack server with internal backup and 8TB HDD storage and 16GB memory in each server rack. The last item will be a WAP for wireless access for the 3 computers.

P a g e | 29

P a g e | 30