Preliminary Investigation And Requirements Report

Preliminary Investigation and Requirements Report

Template

Case Study for Ruben Keys and Lisa Tejada

General Information

Company profile

Club IT is a nightclub that was inspired by musicians while in college, Club IT see most of their customers on weekends as a nightly entertainment venue.
The staff at Club IT often cooks, set and clean tables and escort guest to tables while occasionally utilizing entry level data entry.
Revenues in 2004:$1.5 Million
Profit:$37,000 dollars
$0.00 IT budget for 2004 Looking for Internship to propose IT systems development for inventory management

Business situation

The owners Lisa and Ruben run financial and business related record keeping but realize there systems in place are in need of a major upgrade as they struggle with inventory levels and often run out of inventory. Often on busy nights Club IT runs out of popular menu items due to an aged outdated way of placing food and drink orders through vendors. As a result of lost income and low levels of inventory Club IT wants to procure software for improved tracking of inventory and purchasing.

Technical situation

Club IT’s current environment runs on 1 personal computer that runs an outdated operating system of Windows XP and has little memory along with no wireless internet card adapter. This personal computer is located in the back office and offers a stationary 17 inch display. This computer is not capable of being utilized around the club in the inventory and storage room because of the low bandwidth of memory and the lack of wireless internet and the portability of the device. Additionally, Club IT would like a system that would adjust inventory levels the moment an article or product is ordered with the waiter or waitress and a notification and automatic order would be generated to the supplier if levels are low.

Problem or Opportunity

Project Scope and Constraints

Project Scope

The Scope of this project is to equip Club IT with an inventory management system that can show live reports of the inventory on hand and what is being ordered. While having an inventory management system it will adjust levels and order when needed to the vendor.

The Project Creep in Club IT is the lack of inventory management system as this system was delayed on getting established recently the club has ran out of critical inventory that are on popular items and cause delay in keeping inventory up to date and ordered in a timely manner.
- Constraints
  - The Present Constraint for Club IT is getting a software system installed and taking inventory control of all food and or beverages that is on hand while implementing a point of sale system that can track and update automatically levels of inventory to place orders to food and beverage vendors as items are ordered. The Future constraint for Club IT is maintaining the employee training and the software and hardware associated with the inventory management system to ensure levels of inventory are always up to date and can be on hand when the demand in high.
  - Internal constraints for Club IT is the ability to train the employees on the new system and to ensure that all food and beverage orders are properly ordered in the point of sale system and to ensure that the levels are accurate to what is being ordered. The external constraints is for the current food and beverage vendors to ensure they are supplied and can handle the clubs new ordering software and to ensure it is delivered and a status update is provided.

Perform Fact-Finding

Fact-Finding Site visit to Club IT

Club IT currently doesn’t have an inventory management system it is ordered via manual form that needs to be submitted to Ruben and Lisa for approval
Ruben and Lisa Owners have previous experience in MS office to include Access for database management systems
Inventory on most popular food items encountered 6 times where the inventory was depleted and was out of stock.
Inventory surplus was counted on multiple items that are not popular and little to no movement on the menu
Inventory ordering spreadsheet is utilized for new orders that include count of current inventory and ending inventory along with used quantity
Assistant manager struggles to reorder popular food and drink resupplies because of surplus of inventory that is not as popular
Inventory levels remain high for certain items while others are critically low due to popularity

Current Processes

Requirements

List of Requirements

Output

· System must be able to produce a daily report showing the food name, food supplier, quantity on hand, quantity needed quantity available and cost of product. Also provide a low quantity flag on items that are below the threshold of quantity on hand for auto reordering from vendor.

Input

· The system must be able to allow the waiter and or waitress to put in table number, number of people at table and each item that a person at that table may order. This entry process will give a check assigned to each table for the product ordered and will have an order ticket sent to kitchen and or bar. The input of items will also allow the inventory levels to adjust based on what is ordered and pulled from the kitchen while preparing the food and or drink item.

Process

· This system must be able to handle the orders for multiple checks for one table to allow for drinks and or food items and allow those items to be sent to the kitchen via a cook ticket and or drink order and adjust the volumes of quantity that are available current in the clubs inventory. When the inventory is low then the system would generate a report and sent it to the supplier for reordering and delivery.

Performance

The system must be able to handle all employees and operational every day the club is open and prepare supplier ordering reports by open business the next day and for inventory purposes flag all low stock items that are below minimum quantity to allow for reordering.

Control

· The system must be able to provider login credentials for each waitress and or waiter for the operating system. There should also be credentials set up for managers, employees and system administrator for different levels of security and features within the operating system. The system must also be able to create backup files for inventory and nightly reports for total sales from each employee and inventory used and number of guest along with revenue for each assigned employee.

Club IT Point of Sale Go Live

Brandon Curtis

American Public University System

System Design Specification

Table of Contents

Management summary
1. Summary of requirements
2. Development to date
3. Provides a current status report
4. Summarizes project costs and benefits
5. Implementation schedule highlights
6. Any issues that management will need to address
System Components
1. System
2. Recovery and Backup Files
3. Functions of the software
System Environment
1. Constraints
2. Requirements
3. Hardware (Storage, Input / Output Devises)
4. Systems software
5. Security
Implementation requirements
1. Specify start-up processing
2. Initial data entry or acquisition
3. User training requirements
4. Software test plans
Time and cost estimates
1. Detailed schedules
2. Cost estimates,
3. Staffing requirements
4. Total costs-to-date
Additional material
1. Other material

1. Management Summary

A.The requirements for Club It is to have an effective inventory management system that allows the orders when ordered and then processed to be able to pull those quantities from the supply on hand while flagging low quantity items below the desired threshold to send a report via electronically to the vendor for a reorder of items by the next business day. The system also allows the operating software to order items and send those tickets to the prep area while allowing the wait staff to perform cashier functions to complete checks and allow a daily inventory report of sales and quantity of product in the warehouse or storage facility on hand.

The development to date has no system and or technology footprint. The current way that Club IT is set up is manually counting inventory and reordering based upon counts, after counted a spread sheet is filled out and reordered via vendor supply information supplied by an excel template that gets ordered via telephone and or web based upon what is on the inventory order form.

The current status has defined that an inventory management system needs to be in place to ensure that the proper levels of food are ordered and adjusted based upon what is being sold and used during open hours. Also the system must perform auto fill functions and adjust quantities based upon items being cooked and or used so there is not a surplus of items that are not needed as often. The Vend software will also provide auto fill reports to the ordering manager for vendor supply and create a POS system for accurate ordering and inventory management based upon the customer’s order.

The total project cost that included with the systems requirement include a new point of sale systems that allow the wait staff to enter orders of items wanted by customers and when processed will adjust inventory quantities in the inventory management system based on what’s ordered. This Point of Sale system and Vend software will also allow managers to view reports based on sales, items that are popular and the quantities that are available on hand in the warehouse and storage area. The benefits of allocating this money to Vend software and the Point of Sales systems hardware is that these systems will be located conveniently for wait staff while the software is easy to use for ordering and cashier functions it will product reports for management. This Point of Sale system will also process the order it will automatically adjust inventory levels and set off low inventory flags for items that are below threshold and send that report to the vendors email and or ordering process to be fulfilled. The total cost to implement the Point of Sale system for the complete ordering of the hardware and software is around $5,400.00 US dollars. After the system is set up and ready for entry of items and user set up there will be additional funds that would be allocated for employee training and the data entry of menu items, vendor information and prices of items to ensure all menu items are uploaded correctly reflecting what is on the public’s menu.

The implementation schedule will include a inventory count of current supplies and setting thresholds for the quantity desired for items that are most popular. After the inventory is counted and numbers are set we would install and correctly locate the Point of sales systems and ensure all areas are functioning before data entry and employee training starts. Once the system is set up there will need to be data entry of quantities and menu items along with prices in to the POS system once this data entry information is complete employee training can start. In employee training that would be operations to ensure the orders are entered correctly, the process works correctly for sending tickets to kitchen and bar and to test and ensure that all inventory is being adjusted to what is being ordered before the go live date of the POS system.

Issues that management will need to address are the proper way to input food to the POS system so that inventory remains accurate for ordering purposed from the menu items.

2. System Components

A.The completed design for the new system includes a Point of sale system with software that will allow the items that are sold on the menu that allows those items to be added to a ticket. Once those items are added to a ticket and sent to the kitchen and or bar for processing those items are tracked and then adjusted to the quantity that is on hand while updating those numbers within the inventory control system. After the order is complete the table customers can pay their bill and or apply discounts via the cashier part of the Vend software and once the ticket is completed out inventory levels will be updated based upon if items were added and or removed such as condiments and or extra of something this will ensure what is being purchased and used is reflected on inventory counts. After an order is completed there will be generated report that is able to be sent for low quantity flagged items to the vendor along with a sales report will be generated at the end of each day for manager viewing of items that are most popular and items that are not as popular for better inventory management.

Within this system there will be backup and recovering in a file that is achieved for record keeping that allows sales to be stored by day, month and year so if numbers need to be traced and or tracked they can be located in a backup file. The system will also be able to process many different items within Club IT to include inventory management, order processing, cashier functions to pay out the ticket and sales log for tracking employee’s sales based on the assigned employee id number.

The system I am developing will allow the employees to have functions such as order processing, cashier and ticket producer sending order tickets to the kitchen/ bar as these functions are available to the employee based on their access level. For the employee with knowing what is being ordered and entered into the point of sale system the inventory levels will adjust once the ticket is paid out and completed based on food items added and or removed so numbers will be accurate based on what was used via the order process. The function my system will have for the owners Rubin and Lisa and any manager for Club IT would be to have functions within the system to look at archive files from previous days and months to look at trends in sales for items ordered and popular items along with inventory counts, inventory suppliers, cost of items and also stocked orders, auto filled orders and supplier returns and defects. The manager function will allow for manual override of auto filled orders, vendor changes and functions with the employees to track sales and orders and viewing reports that may come in need for any business need or purpose. There will be software that needs to be purchased with the point of sale package this includes Vend that is included with a Tablet, cashier drawer, credit card processor and receipt printer. Vend software along with the Point of sale system allows the manager to track and manage products with one to many items and allows inventory control, product catalog, product organization, pricing, discounts, taxes and automated promotions.

3. System Environment

Constraints within the system include amount of transaction volumes and the amount of data that needs to be stored for transaction details, transactions and reports of inventory must be stored within the systems hardware. There is also response time for reports as the inventory levels flagged and ordered to ensure the proper delivery of goods to Club IT in a timely manner. Another constraint that could be affected would be backup and recovery files to ensure if there ever was a virus and or problem with the software that these files can be obtained later for tax purposes, inventory trends, popular items and sales reports for staffing.

Requirements for the Point of Sale system is training for staff to ensure that items are entered properly into the system for inventory tracking purposed as well as ensuring the proper quantities are updated as items are purchased this will ensure that the levels are adjusted and ordered when needed . The other requirements is to ensure that the proper line of communication is sent to the prep area along with inventory control to ensure new items that need to be ordered are correct and the prepped food is communicated to how the customer wanted their items is correct.

Hardware for the Point of sale system will include touchscreen inventory control that allows items to be placed to order, inventory to be adjusted, cashier drawer for payment and a signature pad and credit card processing machine to allow multiple different forms of payment and a printer for receipts. Besides the cashier point of sale systems there are additional tablets located in the kitchen and bar areas for incoming orders and tracking of the items being prepped.

Systems software that would be used is Vend which offers POS system software that allows inventory to be tracked, items to be ordered and sent to the kitchen and or bar for orders and allows reports for sales and inventory levels. The software is a simple easy to use touchscreen that shows menu items and allows those items to be added to checks and sent to the prep areas for completion. Vend also offers management functions for inventory management, reports and other employee functions from a back end prospective.

Security offered from Vend lets the administrator set up accounts on different levels to ensure employees have access to place orders and check out customers with tickets and allows owners and managers to check inventory, look at returns, auto filled orders and orders that were placed along with sales reports for each employee. These accounts will be password protected and cannot be opened access for all employees.

4. Implementation Requirements

The startup process will be implemented by tracking inventory that currently is on hand and in process of ordering and fulfilling orders and while having these counts is to manual enter those numbers into the system for future use and ordering. If then the levels that are lower than the designated levels it will be auto orders by an entry screen that is filled with UPC of food item, quantity ordered and vender in which supplies those food items.

Initial data entry of items will have to be completed with all menu items, prices, vendor info, quantity needed and all drink combinations that are possible. Also the data entry that will have to be completed will be discounts, promotions and payment details of what all forms of payments are accepted.

User training requirements are needed to ensure that all employees are trained in to use the new POS system to ensure all menu items match up on the system and the menu and to ensure that they understand and know how to submit an order, pay for the order and allow for multiple checks and seats to be split for split checks and or running tabs for the bar. The training will also need to be done for management to ensure that the inventory levels are set and ordered with auto fill and manual if needed and to ensure all menu items keep up to date and ensure they are accurate of what is displayed on the public menu and pricing.

Software test plans will include a sample run to ensure when a mock customer places and order for multiple different items that the ticket will get submitted to the kitchen cooked and delivered but to ensure the back end functions are operated as well to ensure quantity is updated with the now lesser of items due to the food order and or drink and to ensure when all items are ordered the prices reflect correctly and the items adjust and also every system functions correctly to pay those claims and ensure its closed out and complete.

5. Time and cost estimates

The schedule for implementation in my 4 weeks the proposal is due by January 31^st 2016. The next step is to ensure that all systems are purchased and delivered by February 14^th 2016. After all the systems are set up and are powered on and software is installed we will then have by February 28^th 2016 to data enter all items that are need to include food and drink and vendors and prices into the system for testing purposes for the go live date of 03/01/2016. February 29^th will be designated for testing and debugging the system and quality checks and repairs for improper ordering and inventory levels and to work out all bugs associated with the system. March 1^st 2016 the Point of sale system will be implemented and the first customers will experience electronic tickets, the cooks will get the ticket order to the kitchen and the inventory levels will be adjusted and updated and ordered reflecting the food ordered with auto fill option for vendors to fill low flagged items so customers will not experience a shortage or out of order food supplies.

Staffing requirements will be adequate training on the point of sale system with ensuring all menu items are loaded, prices correct and the proper way to ring up a customer to ensure all items ordered are correctly displayed for inventory and the cooks in the kitchen and to ensure the proper cashier techniques are utilized for proper change and to ensure the check is closed out when the customer pays the bill.

Total costs-to-date for the POS system, Vend software and the expedited delivery and set up will be approximately 950 dollars per each Hardware bundle and we will install 4 units around Club IT, there will also be 4 display tablets in the kitchen and the bar area for orders at 400 apiece. The total cost for hardware and software as they are sold in a combination and associated with this system will be $5,400.00 USD. The additional funds needed to complete this project are training expenses to include 8 hours each for employee and 8 hours of Data entry into the system for all important information around menu items, prices, vendors and specials and or promotions. The initial set up fee for this total project will be $5,400.00 USD once the equipment is ordered and then after set up will be employees training wages and data entry wages for employees associated with the completed POS system.

6. Additional Material

Figure1. This is a DTD Diagram for Club It when an order is placed and when inventory is flagged low to reorder items from the vendor.

Figure2. This is the POS system main screen that shows items to be ordered to the right and to the left shows a summary of the bill and what all was included from what was ordered.

Figure3.This is an inventory report that is generated by Vend, In this report it shows what quantity is expected and what was counted and if numbers are in the range they are shown in green. If they are short they will be added to auto fill vendor list report.

Figure4.This is a dashboard that managers have access to show the revenue for the day, month or year, customer count, sale count, profit and discounts applied throughout the day.

References:

Vend (n.d.). Inventory Management software. Retrieved from https://www.vendhq.com/tour/inventory-management-software

Club IT(n.d.) Welcome to Club IT. Retrieved from http://higheredbcs.wiley.com/legacy/college/rainer/0470169001/club_it/index.html

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