TOP BIKES SYSTEMS PROJECT, computer science assignment help

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Term Paper: TopBike

Due Week 10 and worth 230 points

This assignment consists of two (3) sections: analysis and design document, a requirements document, and a project plan that is created through the use of MS Project. You must submit the three (3) sections as separate files for the completion of this assignment. Label each file name according to the section of the assignment it is written for. Additionally, you may create and / or assume all necessary assumptions needed for the completion of this assignment.

Read the article titled “TopBike” and complete this assignment located here: Week 10 Term Paper - Top Bike.PDF

Imagine that you, a systems architect leading a consulting team, are asked to perform a systems analysis and design to help TopBike implement a software system that can improve their profits and save costs.

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TopBike Introduction Herbert owns and manages a bicycle shop called ‘TopBike’ which is undergoing significant expansion. Since you are a friend of his and run a professional systems consultancy, he has taken the precaution of commissioning a feasibility study from you at a cost of £1,000. Two years ago Herbert realized that, due to competition from massive out of town retailers such as Malfords, his business either had to expand or go under. Therefore he has now completed the purchase of the nextdoor shop, virtually doubling his floor space, using a loan of £200,000 from the bank. The loan was secured partly on the basis of a business plan, the relevant excerpts of which are included as an Appendix. This plan suggested that an improvement was essential in the information system in use in the business for a modest initial investment. Such a (computerized) system was essential to cope with the massive forecast increase in business: Herbert’s target is to double turnover in 3 years. You have a description of the current system, excerpts from the business plan, and are entitled to ask questions from your tutor in order to clarify the requirements. On the basis of this information, your team is required to a) examine the feasibility of possible improvements to the system and b) (on the basis of your feasibility study) develop a model of the TO-BE system specification. TopBike Ordering and Sales: current system Introduction TopBike is a bicycle shop and showroom with a large range, from children’s bikes to large mopeds and a wide range of accessories like child seats, helmets, clothes and tools. They sell these goods ‘off the shelf’ to customers and also make up custom built bikes to customers’ requirements. They also make telephone sales, including parts, both to customers and to smaller shops and carry out repairs for customers. The following is a brief description of how this is done. Purchasing/stock control When customers purchase items from the shop, a record is kept in the sales book of the item sold and a receipt is issued to the customer. At the end of the day the manager deducts the items sold from records of stock held on card indexes. It is a source of great frustration to Herbert that the stock cards are not always accurate. He also doesn’t know whether staff members are busy or just tired and forget to record sales or whether they are stealing stock. If the stock level for a particular item is very low then the manager will pass this to Jean to re-order this item of stock from a supplier. When the new stock comes in the stock cards are updated, and the list of back orders (see below) is checked. Repairs When customers bring in an item for repair, they are quoted a price which is calculated by Herbert or Vijay, who is the chief repairman, by adding parts + labor + VAT. This quote is recorded in the repairs book, and customers are expected to make payment when they collect the item. Sometimes it is necessary to adjust the quote when a repair job has discovered hidden problems! The repair will involve the use of new parts that also involves altering the stock lists/ re-ordering. The procedure for custom-built bikes is very similar and a record is kept in the custom-built bikes list. Telephone orders Customers (known as Indirect Customers) may make an enquiry by phone, in which case the staff member will consult both the price list (also a manual list) and the stock list. If the price is right and the item is in stock (assuming that the stock list is correct), the customer may place an order. The order is recorded in the telephone orders book. In the morning a designated member of staff (usually Vijay) puts together the appropriate items of stock, if they are available, together with an invoice that is collected and delivered by the company van. If items are in fact unavailable Vijay has to tell Herbert to make re-orders, send a part order, record the part order not completed and phone the customer to apologize. The telephone customer would typically then pay by check. Herbert and Jean (who works in the office) handle the banking. If all or part of an order is out of stock (or is not normally held in stock) then a re-order is sent to the suppliers (if one hasn’t already been sent). The order is then filed away in a back orders file that is checked when new stock comes in. A record is kept of customers’ invoices that is checked monthly. If a customer has failed to pay during the month then a repeat invoice is sent to them. If Jean is too busy/ forgets/ is on holiday/ sick then repeat invoices are delayed. Currently the business is owed approximately £10,000 by other shops and £10,000 by indirect customers. Herbert blames Jean’s inefficiency for these debts and for his stomach ulcers! Trade customers Other bike shops may also place orders by phone. The only difference in the way their orders is handled to those of other (indirect) customers is that bike shops get a 15% discount on all purchases. Herbert suspects that there are some customers getting this discount who shouldn’t be. Staff at TopBike is also entitled to this discount. Unbeknownst to Herbert, Ged has already bought 4 bikes this year! Suppliers’ invoices Herbert and Jean also handle all suppliers’ invoices which, when received, are checked against orders. Where there is a discrepancy usually Jean will phone the suppliers; otherwise TopBike has a reputation for paying promptly. New System ideas Ged, who works on the shop counter and is only paid £150 per week, took the first year of a computing course at University but left because he ran out of money and failed a couple of modules. He has his own Web site at home and reckons he could easily put together something for the shop. He told Herbert, who is interested, but ignorant about such matters: “... if you invest about £5,000 in two PCs (one for the counter and one for the office) and peripherals such as cable, barcode reader, printers etc which I can hook up together, I can build you a stock control system and a web site in about two months of my own time. You could use the Web to advertise the shop and take orders from customers who’re connected. You don’t need to worry about software, because I have got the latest kit that will do the job easily. All you’d need to do then is pay me an extra £2,500 per year on my salary to develop and manage the system, and an annual fee to an Internet service provider of about £200 per year.” Appendix 1: Relevant Excerpts of TopBike Business Plan as Presented to the Bank ‘Rationale ...TopBike is a bicycle showroom and repair shop. The shop has steadily expanded over the last 10 years and in 1997/8 had a turnover of £400,000. The shop employs 7 staff including the owner and manager Herbert. With the exception of Sally, who is part time and only works Saturdays and occasional other days such as Christmas, all the staff is full time. Two of the staff work full time on repairs... In the current economic climate and considering the ongoing influence of macroeconomic entities the business must consider its position vis a vis ‘out of town’ developments. It is the view of the directors (in reality Herbert ed.) that the business will either need to significantly expand to a turnover of £800,000 by the year 2000 or collapse. This is the justification for seeking a loan of £200,000 with repayment over a 5-year period. Details of the business plan follow... Name of business: NoAsthma In order to increase revenue, TopBike will reposition itself to take advantage of an increased public interest in leisure, fashion and the environment. It will therefore rename itself ‘NoAsthma’ and seek to significantly increase sales, particularly in cycle clothing. It will introduce its own range of branded designer clothes, manufactured by a third party. By purchasing additional premises it will double floor space devoting one half to clothing. The measures outlined below are expected to increase turnover by 100% in the space of 3 years... Competition and Suppliers TopBike is concerned about the massive new out of town development, three miles away, in Dumptown, due to open in 1999. ‘Malfords’, one of Britain’s leading cycle retailers, is planning to open a new cut-price superstore there, which could significantly impact on TopBike’s trade. TopBike is also concerned that they might lose their position as agent for ‘Waleigh.’ Waleigh’s rep. has indicated to Herbert that TopBike neither generates sufficient revenue for Waleigh to be interested in continuing their current relationship (which involves a special discount on all Waleigh goods), nor does TopBike (unlike Malfords) possess the equipment necessary for electronic trading. It should be noted that Waleigh account for approximately one third of TopBike’s sales. The conclusion drawn by the company is that they must expand significantly in order to retain their area status for Waleigh. TopBike currently gets a 10% discount on all Waleigh goods as a result of this status. Costs ... From a loan of £200,000, £150,000 will be spent on purchase and refurbishment of the new premises. The remainder is allocated to advertising, development of computerized sales and ordering system, development of an Internet site, some advertising additional to the current budget of £7,000 per year, and new stock. An expert member of staff has estimated that an initial investment of around £5,000, together with an annual operating cost of £2,500 should prove adequate for the computer work... Following the refurbishment of the new premises and introduction of the new systems (3-4 months), TopBike will commence repayments at the rate of £60,000 pa for 5 years...’ Section 1: Analysis and Design Document Write a ten to twelve (10-12) page paper in which you: Identify the business problems that TopBike has. Determine the analysis technique for this project and explain why. Determine the methodology for this project and explain why. Identify the roles (i.e., system analyst, developer) for the team and explain their responsibilities. Explain how to conduct requirements gathering sessions and determine the tools to use. Create the functional model, structural model, and behavioral model with class diagrams through the use of graphical tools in Microsoft Word or Visio, or an open source alternative such as Dia. Note: The graphically depicted solution is not included in the required page length. 7. Create a design document with a data management layer. 8. Draw a physical architecture diagram for the final solution through the use of graphical tools in Microsoft Visio, or an open source alternative such as Dia. Note: The graphically depicted solution is not included in the required page length. . 9. Explain the human-interface design considerations. 10. Explain the steps for developing test cases and describe how they help the overall project. 11. Determine the change management process and post implementation strategy for the project and product. 12. Use at least four (4) quality resources in this assignment. Note: Wikipedia and similar Websites do not qualify as quality resources. 1. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 2. o o o • • • 3. • • • • • • • • • • • Section 2: Requirements Document Create a requirements document that includes: Functional and nonfunctional requirements for TopBike. Nonfunctional requirements for TopBike. Use cases and their descriptions. Section 1 and 2 of this assignment must follow these formatting requirements: Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; citations and references must follow APA or school-specific format. Check with your professor for any additional instructions. Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required assignment page length. Include charts or diagrams created in Visio or Dia. The completed diagrams / charts must be imported into the Word document before the paper is submitted. Section 3: Project Plan Use Microsoft project to: Develop the project plan. The project plan must: • Record all tasks, subtasks, resources, and time related to the project. • Outline the planning, analysis, design, and implementation phases. • Identify the key milestones of your project. The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are: Explain and apply object-oriented analysis techniques. Compare and contrast different roles needed in systems analysis and design. Compare and contrast requirements gathering among traditional and iterative project methods. Procure, document, and scope IT project requirements with use cases. Describe object-oriented modeling, structural modeling, and behavioral modeling. Develop class diagram based on business scenarios. Create a business requirements document that conforms to the Unified Modeling Language standard. Apply the project requirements steps of eliciting, analyzing, documenting, and testing to address and solve a proposed business problem. Determine the steps and principles of design modeling with UML. Describe how societal mores and social media impact the design of human-computer interactions. Describe the impact of contemporary computing architecture to the physical architecture design. • • • • • • Describe how to gather nonfunctional requirements and its importance for overall IT project success. Explain the importance of change management and post-implementation support and how they impact business and overall enterprise. Describe and design test cases that uncover software bugs. Develop a business requirements document that addresses and solves a proposed business problem. Use technology and information resources to research issues in procuring and designing project requirements. Write clearly and concisely about project requirements and design topics using proper writing mechanics and technical style conventions.
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Running Head: TOP BIKES SYSTEMS PROJECT

Title of the Assignment
Students Name
Professors Name
Course Title
Date

1

TOP BIKE SYSTEMS PROJECT

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Introduction
There is an increasing need for computer–based information systems in every business
organization. This is due to the increasing number of transactions made every day and the need
to keep track on movement of the stock. In the case of Top Bikes Shop, the use of a manual
stock and sales control system is causing a chain of problems to both the staff and the owner.
If a computer information system is adopted, data could easily be processed collected, analyzed
and stored for future use more easily. Moreover, stock and sales could be monitored more
effectively. This move will help in the attainment of the firms' objectives. Tailor made
software’s such as Transaction information systems and Accounting information systems are
currently being used by most business organizations to facilitate quicker and effective control
of transactions and management of cash.
Keywords: system, transaction information system.

TOP BIKE SYSTEMS PROJECT

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1. Information system problems
Inefficient sales information system. The sales made are recorded in a sales book and
the manager later deducts the sales made from the stock card. Herbert – the manager has
concerns that sales are sometimes not recorded and the stock list is not always accurate. He
also suspects that there might be stealing of stock. In an organization with a proper
information system, the item sold should be immediately deducted from the stock card so that
the remaining stock is updated real time. (Goyal 397)
Poor stock control system. The updating of stock is being done at a later time after the
sales have been made. This practice is causing problems in the stock list since sales can be
made but not recorded. Ideally, proper internal control procedures should ensure that the item
sold should be deducted from the remaining stock immediately the sale is taking place. In
addition, the altering of stock during repairs leads to errors and facilitates fraud.
Delay in re-ordering of stock. Re-ordering of stock from suppliers should be anticipated
in advance and the shop should not wait until the stock runs out so that an order can be
placed. It can be found that the manager at Top Bikes sometimes usually forgets to deduct the
item sold from the stock cards. This is bringing a false picture in the stock movement since it
can be assumed that the item is still in stock based on the stock card list but in the real sense,
the stock is not actually available in the shop.
Telephone orders are not effectively arranged. This is brought about by the inaccuracy of
the stock list. A customer of Top Bike may phone and places an order for an item which is
not in the stock, but the staff receiving the phone is not aware of it. This forces the business
to apologize and orders part of the stock that is required by the customer. Making part –
orders become expensive compared to normal orders and this will reduce the profit margin of
the company.

TOP BIKE SYSTEMS PROJECT

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Organisational Problems
There is no delegation of duties; the manager who is also the owner of the shop is
involved in almost every activity of the business. Herbert is tasked with updating the stock
list, updating the customer's invoices and quotation of price for repairs. Amid all these roles,
he is also involved in the ordering of stock and dealing with banking. The roles between
Herbert and Jean are also not clear. It can be inferred that at some point Herbert is unsure if
an order has been made by someone else or not.
Poor Internal Control procedures
At Top Bike shop, customers' invoices are checked on a monthly basis. This is a very
long period that errors and frauds did before cannot be identified. It is also noted that Jean
who is responsible for sending repeat invoices to customers who have not paid is too busy or
forgets and sometimes is on leave, therefore, invoices are delayed. The delay in sending the
invoices can be attributed to the huge amount that customers owe the shop.
Payment of suppliers promptly. The habit of Top Bikes of paying suppliers promptly is not
a prudent move. The manager should first investigate to find out if the orders being made
were actually made. They should also utilize the concept of time value of money by delaying
their payments.
The discount incentive is being misused. The discount incentive meant for other bikes
and staffs is used by the employees fraudulently. The manager suspects that other people who
are not entitled to discount are being given a discount. People known to Herbert were also
given discounts but were not entitled to.
Dependence on advice from a person who is not an Expert

TOP BIKE SYSTEMS PROJECT

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Herbert is considering taking an advice from Ged who is an employee of the company.
Ged is not a qualified Information and Computer Analyst to offer a technical advice to the
shop. Moreover, he failed a couple of modules and he does not stand a chance to give an
advice that could be included in the business plan. Despite the fact he owns a website at
home; it doesn't mean that he can offer advice to the shop where she only works on the
shelves. If she was indeed competent, he should be practicing her career of computing
elsewhere and not work in the shop.
2. The Analysis Technique for the Project is SWOT Analysis
SWOT analysis enables us to understand the weaknesses and the threats that an
organization has. In the case of Top Bike, we need to identify the weaknesses that are
currently present in the information system of the business and come up with alternative
measures to correct the weaknesses. SWOT analysis also becomes appropriate because we
can see that Top Bikes has an opportunity of expanding its floor area. The strength of the
business is that it acts as an agent for Waleigh- an established company that is giving them
10% discount on purchases they make from them. The thread for the shop is competition.
Malfords one of Britain’s cycle retailers is planning to open a superstore in the outskirts of
the town at a cut price. This plan would greatly affect the sales of the business.
3. Methodology of the project- Agile software requirement
The methodology for the project is agile software requirement. The methodology focuses
on adaptability due to changing business situations. It also provides a regular and constant
feedback from the management of the business and from the team members. This
methodology suits Top Bikes because it responds faster to change and following a plan made
by Top Bike it will attempt to reduce risks through the development of software within a
short time.

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Agile is also appropriate because it emphasizes on immediate and real time
communication between the team members and the clients rather than written
communication. Moreover, agile project management is ideal for smaller software projects
like the one to be done for Top Bikes Shop because agile software requirement is an
adaptable system and human-centric (Ross Berg)
4. Roles of team members and responsibilities


System Analyst; the task of the system developer would be to assess the computer
and information system requirements for the shop through definition and analysis of
the current system problems. The system analyst will also offer control solution by
pr...

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