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Assignment (Individual and group components)
The Company
Ceylon Textile Suppliers (CTS), an Australian owned organization based in Melbourne
which supplies clothing-related products to Australian and New Zealand retail outlets on a
sale or return basis. It has an annual turnover of around $ 60M and plans to expand this. The
current business processes for operations have limited and ad-hoc IT systems to support
them. Business processes are mainly manual, and the inter-departmental communication of
information is mostly paper-based. There are a number of issues with operations recognised
by the staff running these processes, which interfere with the smooth running of their
departments.
Ceylon Textile Suppliers: new IT-based strategy
CTS’s Board of Directors has declared a strategy to expand the business’s operations to
embrace the latest developments in information technologies, specifically web-based
technologies and the opportunities it presents. This is likely to include a web interface and
web presence beyond the purely brochure-style one in place. The strategy requires sales and
stock operations should be automated, integrated support to achieve efficiency gains and the
ability to inter-operate with any internet technologies and opportunities it presents to CTS’s
new strategy. The Board of Directors wants a phased implementation to realise benefits
quickly and to minimise the risk of interruption to its core operations.
Holmes consultants
CTC’s Board of Directors have contacted the Holmes Institute to help them to achieve their
new strategic directions and requested a proposal to conduct a comprehensive review of its
processes to identify areas for improvement and to implement their IT-based strategy. They
also asked Holmes to propose a suitable internet-based automated solution to facilitate its
new strategic initiative as the second stage of the project.
Project requirement
As a first step of the proposal, the Holmes consultants have prepared an initial review report
that includes current processes related to sales orders, stock control and advertising
campaign. Your task is to provide a system vison and requirement models for each subsystem
and other necessary information to represent the current level scope, as indicated by the
consultant’s report. The requirement models and other necessary information should consist
of:
For the whole system (group work):
1. One system vison document
For each identified subsystem (individual work):
2. Two activity diagrams to represent business processes
3. Event table with six events with use cases
4. Two user stories and acceptance criteria
5. A levelled set of dataflow diagrams (i.e. Context Diagram, Diagram 0, and one level 1
diagram)
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6. A dataflow dictionary which describes all information flows in your level 0 dataflow
diagram
7. A data dictionary describing all the attributes in your data model reflected in level 0
dataflow diagram.
8. Two process descriptions in level 1 diagram
9. Three use case diagrams
10. Two use case descriptions
For the whole system (group work):
11. Selection of a solution for the system
This project contributes 50% to your final mark.
Due dates: Weekly from week 3 onwards
Assignment instructions
This assignment requires you to design requirement specification models for the following
organisation and finally recommend an appropriate solution such as an ERP system that
consists of a number of subsystems such as sales, purchases, marketing etc. Remember, a
subsystem is a system that is part of a larger system. For example, a sales management
system might be one subsystem of a customer relationship management (CRM) system.
Another CRM subsystem might enable customers to view past and current orders, track order
fulfilment and shipping, and modify their account information. A third CRM subsystem
might maintain the product catalogue database and provide Web-based access to product
specifications and manuals. A fourth CRM subsystem might provide technical support via
telephone and a Web site with detailed tracking of customer support requests and related
reporting to improve call centre management and product quality.
How does this assignment work?
In week 3, students need to form groups (possibly in between 2 or 3 members). Then, in week
3, all group members complete the system vision document for the system (i.e. ERP type
system) that you are proposing for the case organisation. When building the system vision
document, you may have considered system capabilities and benefits for the whole ERP
solution (not individual subsystem). This represents the project requirement 1 above.
In week 4, individual group members should decide which subsystem that they are focusing
on. When you read the assignment carefully, you should be able to select a specific
subsystem. Then from week 4 to the end of week 9, each team member will work on the
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requirement specification models for their selected subsystem. This represents requirements 2
to 10 above.
Then in week 10 all group members will get together and decide a possible solution (possibly
an ERP type solution). This represents requirement 11 above.
The marking rubric included inside the assignment folder describes each requirement, marks
allocated and the due week.
Note: please be mindful about weekly due dates.
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Holmes consultant preliminary report
For
Ceylon Textile Suppliers
(Extracts only)
Summary
This consultant report provides initial findings of:
A high-level view of the current processes (as-is)
A high-level view of the important data used in the current manual system
These findings will use to improve the efficiency of operational processes and provide it with
an IT support needed. At the end of this initial study, it is expected that a full study will be
carried out to streamline the existing processes.
Stakeholders
The following stakeholders have been identified as the direct or related interest of the
proposed project. We believe that these stakeholders can strongly influence and make a
decision about business requirements.
The Chief Financial Officer (CFO): Barak Obama
The Sales and Marketing Director: George Bush (keen to see improvement in the
efficiency of the sales operation but he is also interested in how the work might
inform aspects of what the new website (out of scope) may and must cater. George
also acts as a Project Sponsor
Human Resource Manager: John Howard
Operations Staff Representative: Andrew Barr
The Stock Manager: Julia Gillard, will be Ambassador User Representative (primary
representative for helping with the analysis or arranging access to operational staff)
Organization chart
Please refer to Appendix A
Scope of the project
In scope
Purchasing
Stock Control
Sales
Dispatch
Goods In
Customer sales data for marketing campaigns
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Out of scope
Accounts processes
Marketing department (except as above)
Human resource department
Travelling salesforce
Stakeholder interview extracts
| Reference | Raised by | Issues/ problems raised | Proposed solutions |
| RF 01 | Will Hodgman | “If the customer asks if we’ve got enough in stock to meet their order, we’ve got to keep them hanging on for ages while we look up stock levels. It’s quite embarrassing”. | |
| RF 02 | George Bush | “Marketing spends a lot of time trawling through the Customer Master File to select customers appropriate to a particular campaign. They need to do this each time because the types of products they buy can change from order to order. They would like to use a version of the master sales s/sheet as it contains a lot of the info needed.” | George: When it’s computerised, it should be dead easy to select customer by various demographics. They could then be output into a spreadsheet from where we could copy and paste into Outlook or Word. |
| RF 03 | Kevin Rudd | “The Sales and Returns report for the Accounts dept. it takes too much time to put together each day. If it could be computerised, I’d save about a half an hour a day.” | Kevin: The master sales spreadsheet could be changed to hold the right information, then the report could be printed by a macro in it. |
| RF 04 | Julia Gillard | “Sometimes, especially during peak periods, the stock levels don’t get updated properly when an order is filled. This means we sometimes run out of stock unexpectedly.” | |
| RF 05 | Julia Gillard | “Some of our suppliers allow online ordering. If we could do it, it would speed up delivery, and we’d be able to fill backorders more quickly.” | Julia: A pc and modem in the stock control room would let me do that. |
| RF 06 | Julia Gillard | “We all spend a lot of time cross checking documents to make sure that all that has been ordered from suppliers get delivered and ditto for all orders and subsequent deliveries to customers.” | Julia: Any computerisation must make this as automatic as possible. |
| RF 07 | Julia Gillard | “We want to be able to be more precise in setting our targets and monitoring performance against them.” |
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Process descriptions
1. Sales orders
The sales team raises sales orders as a result of receiving customers’ purchase orders (by post
twice per day), orders passed in by the travelling sales team and sales calls received or made
throughout the day. As and when they are received they are recorded on the sales team’s
master sales spreadsheet (MSSP), which is used to print out the multi-part sales order.
The multi-part sales order comprises:
The sales order (filed on raising in the customer master file, together with the
customer’s purchase order if one was received)
A dispatch note (batched and passed to the stock room four times a day for picking
and packing)
A delivery note (accompanies the dispatch note and is attached to the parcel, which is
then passed to the courier for delivery to the customer)
Priority is given to back-orders (as noted on the dispatch notes received from the stock room),
and these are reviewed against the recent deliveries part of the stock levels report from the
stock control manager (see below).
At the start of the day, the stock room pass on the previous day’s returns notes and one of the
sales team update the master sales MSSP with the information before filing them in the
customer master file. The stock room also passes on a list of products that are dangerously
low on stock and those that have been delivered into stock the previous day. For sales orders
that couldn’t be filled entirely, the dispatch notes for them are passed back, too, so the sales
team can inform the customer and give priority to filling them when new stock arrives.
Again at the start of the day, the Accounting Department send through a list of customers
nearing their credit limit. Sales staffs check this as they are raising orders to make sure that
each customer stays within their limit.
At the end of the day, the sales team leader prepares a sales and returns report that is passed
to the accounts department. It contains details of the sales orders for that day and the details
of yesterday’s returns, by customer. It includes the order / returns value, taking into account
any returns not fit for stock.
Every month, or sooner if requested, the sales team leader prepares a customer sales report
from the master sales MSSP for the marketing department. The sales report includes:
A summary of the best and poorest moving stock
On a customer by customer basis, the value of and the products purchased.
Marketing Department keeps sales operations updated with planned campaigns including any
product pricing changes, offers and special discounts.
On a monthly basis, or sometimes more frequently, the sales team leader sends emails to all
customers with a friendly note and details of any offers etc. A primary purpose is to shift
slow-moving or discontinued stock.
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Every new customer is credit checked by the accounts department before being allowed to
place an order. If their application included an order, the order is put on hold until accounts
have completed the checking. Once complete, accounts pass on the customer’s details and
credit limit to sales operations (accounts will have created a new file in the customer master
file), together with the order if included with their application. Major exception – if declined,
sales make the call to the customer to explain.
2. Dispatching of goods
The two-part dispatch and delivery note forms that are received from the Sales Team drive
the dispatch process. A Goods Out member of staff collects stock from the shelves for a
customers parcel and ticks off the items on the dispatch note as s/he goes.
When the parcel is complete, the delivery note is attached. Completed parcels are put in the
goods out area for collection by the courier, who calls to collect four times a day.
The dispatch note is used to update the stock master file with the new stock levels; the
number filled on each order line is subtracted from the present stock level to give the new.
The dispatch note is then put on a stick pin. Once or twice a day, they are handed over to
stock control.
3. Stock controls
This area is responsible for maintaining stock at their pre-determined levels. It must take into
account targets for marketing campaigns, including any new and discontinued products
(notified by the marketing department).
The stock manager is the one who primarily does this, although some cover is provided by
other members of the stock team (i.e. Goods In and Out staff).
The stock manager examines stock levels on the stock master file for those that are below or
near their minimum stockholding level. For those that are, she raises a purchase order,
perhaps phoning the preferred supplier first on important orders, to confirm the order can be
met. If not, he will raise the order with one of the alternatives.
She updates the stock master file record with the purchase order number to show that it is in
order. If a supplier subsequently puts an ordered product on back order, then the expected
delivery date is filled in.
During the day the stock manager uses this information of, Goods In pass over delivery notes
from suppliers and returns notes from customers-to update stock holding levels on the stock
master file. For each filled order line, the purchase order number against the product on the
master file is cleared.
The stock manager is given every dispatch note once the order has been filled. If any stock
level anomalies arise, these can be checked. Otherwise, they are filed in the customer master
file. The only exception to this is if an order line couldn’t be filled. These dispatch notes are
passed back to sales operations so the customer can be notified.
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At the start of the day, old returns notes are passed back to sales operations, together with a
report showing items dangerously low on stock.
4. Goods receipts
Returns from customers and purchases from suppliers are received first thing in the morning
and then, intermittently, throughout the day.
Goods In checks the items into stock and updates the stock levels on the stock master file.
The returns and the delivery notes are passed to the stock control manager two or three times
a day. If returned items are not fit for stock, this is marked on the returns note.
5. Marketing and advertising campaign
The marketing department carries out marketing campaigns on a monthly, seasonal or ad-hoc
basis. Campaigns are to:
1. Introduce and push new product ranges
2. Shift product about to be withdrawn
3. Target specific customers with offers and discounts
4. Move poorly performing product
They use the sales reports provided by sales operations to target the customers for 2 and 3,
above. 1 and 4 tend to go to the whole customer base.
Marketing keeps a mailing list database in Excel of all customers and manually select those
that are to be included in a mail campaign (they use MS Word for this).
Mails by marketing presently are all paper-based as some or all of brochures, vouchers and
product catalogues accompany the mails.
From time to time, they trawl through the entire customer master file to bring their MSSP up
to date.
When a campaign is planned and during its execution marketing keep the stock manager
updated with targets and expected sales volumes (so that demand can be met from stock).
When a new product range is planned, marketing investigate suppliers, negotiate purchase
prices and write marketing copy (including product name and description). They then pass
these to the stock manager so that they can be entered on the stock master file.
Other information
Sales order
There are around 175 orders taken per week. Most of these are phoned through and some
received by mail. The following information extracted from the sales order log book.
| Data item | Description |
| Customer Account Number + Sales Order Number | The Sales Order Number is allocated by the sales assistant |
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| who raises the order. |
| Delivery Address |
| Special Instructions |
| Date Raised |
| Raised By |
| Packer |
| Date Dispatched |
| Order discount given |
Product
There are approximately 10,000 products in the catalogue. Therefore a Product isn’t really a
product unless fully described by a style, a colour and a size. For example:
Snug-fitting ladies blue jeans with hipster pockets. Style: Hipster, Colour: Blue, Size:
Small / L30 W30
Wide fashion belt with star-shaped and bling buckle. Style: Bling Star, Colour:
Shocking Pink, Size: XSmall (fits 28W)
Business rules
| Reference | Name | Description |
| BR 01 | Orders from new customers | All new customers must be approved by accounts before any of their orders are processed. |
| BR 02 | Stock levels | Unless withdrawn, no stock items are to fall to zero holding. |
| BR 03 | Credit limit checking | Customers are not allowed to exceed their credit limit. If an order would put them over that limit a part-order can be filled. In such situations, the customer is referred to the Accounts department. |
Targets
| Reference | Name | Description |
| TG 01 | Time to fill orders | All orders are to be processed on the day of receipt, either being filled and handed over to the couriers for delivery or passed back to sales for placing on back order. |
| TG 02 | Back orders | All back orders are to be filled within 10 working days of receipt of the initial order. |
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George Bush
Sales and Marketing
Director
Barak Obama
CFO
Mahinda Rajapakse
Managing Director
| Tony Abbot Accountant | |
| Kevin Rudd Sales Operation Manager Julia Gillard Stock Manager Sales Team Leader Sales Assistant Annastacia Palas Andrew Barr Goods In (part ti Adam Giles Goods Out Anna Bligh | John Howard Human Resource Manager |
| Colin Barnett Filling Clerk Jay Weatherill Book Keeper | |
| zczuk me) |
Will Hodgman
Mike Baird
Sales Assistant
Daniel Andrews
Goods In
Goods Out
Appendix A Board of Directors