Zayambika Fixed

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ABSTRACT

In Malawis business sector, companies that provide delivery of goods from door-to-door

delivery of goods are vital in boosting the countrys economy. Times Courier Services is one

such company. The Times Courier Services System requires a lot of time to have all processes

that precede and succeed parcel delivery carried out by the clerk. For this reason, an online

Courier Service Management System is required specifically for the purpose of providing a more

organized and smoother running courier company. This document intends to specify the

requirements of an automated online Courier Service Management System for Times Courier

Services. The automated web-based system will enable Times Courier Services to manage all

parcel delivery, transactions, driver allocations and customer payment details.


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Table of Contents

1.0 INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................ 3

1.1 Problem Statement ........................................................................................................ 4

1.2 Project Scope ................................................................................................................ 4

1.3 System Personnel .......................................................................................................... 6

1.4 System Overview .......................................................................................................... 7

2.0 SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS ......................................................................................... 11

2.1 Functional Requirements ............................................................................................ 11

2.2 Non-functional requirements ....................................................................................... 12

2.2.1 System-Related Non-Functional Requirements .................................................... 13

2.2.2 User-Related Non-Functional Requirements ........................................................ 16

3.0 PROJECT PLAN ........................................................................................................... 17

4.0 APPENDICES ............................................................................................................... 19

5.0 GLOSSARY .................................................................................................................. 22

6.0 REFERENCES .............................................................................................................. 23


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1.0INTRODUCTION

In Malawis business sector, companies that provide delivery of goods from door-to-door

delivery of goods are vital in boosting the countrys economy. Times Courier Services is one

such company. Times Courier Services was introduced in early 2010 and currently operates in all

three regions of Malawi. Times Courier Services does not deliver goods to P.O box numbers.

Times Courier Services only delivers goods to physical addresses.

Customers can have their packages picked up from specific locations or they can bring forth the

packages to Times Courier Services offices. The packages can either be in the form of documents

or parcels. A waybill is filled out by the Clerk. The waybillcontains sender details, name of

receiver, delivery address, type of service and goods description e.g. dimensions weight etc. The

waybill is then signed by the sender and the clerk. A payment for the goods is made in three

ways. Either the sender pays in advance or the receiver pays upon delivery in what is known as

cash on demandor using customer accounts. This payment information is also recorded on the

waybill. The waybill has for copies, one for the filing section, one for the customer, one for

receiver and one for the Sales Department.

When receiving the package, a delivery sheetis filled out by the clerk and returned to the office

for filing. The delivery sheet has the receivers name, waybillnumber, name of deliverer and

time of delivery. At the end of each day, all goods transactions are forwarded to the Sales

Department for accounting purposes.


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1.1 Problem Statement

The Times Courier Services System requires a lot of time to have all processes that precede and

succeed parcel delivery carried out by the clerk. Also, there are no standard driver allocation

procedures, meaning that tracking down and allocation of drivers to parcels is an arduous task.

The Service attaches a receivers copy of the waybillon the parcel which can easily get lost

during transportation. Because of the physical filing system, keeping track of parcels, their

owners, and their delivery is a very difficult task for the clerks. Creating daily records on excel

sheets and keeping track of customer account payments for the Sales Department is tiresome to

clerks.

1.2 Project Scope

With the proposed system, a clerk shall be able to perform daily tasks that involve parcel

delivery on this centralized Courier Service Management System. The clerk as a user shall have

an interface where the customer and parcel details shall be entered into the system. Each

customer entry shall contain a list of all addresses from and to which their parcels have to be

delivered. During the collection capture, users shall be able to select one of these addresses from

a simple drop-down list, or enter a new address if needed.

Once the collection has been captured, the users shall have the option of assigning the collection

to drivers or agents. As soon as the collection is assigned to a driver, an SMS shall automatically

be generated and sent directly to that driver's cell phone. This message contains the exact

physical address of the collection, as well as additional details such as the closing time. In this

way, each driver shall have an accurate list of all collections on his cell phone.

Once the driver has made the collection, he shall simply send a return SMS with a unique

collection code and the collection is automatically marked as collected. Collection status shall be


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1.3 System Personnel

The system developer is Juvenalis Mambo, a fourth year Bachelor of Science in Information and

Communication Technology (ICT) student at Mzuzu University. The user classes shall be the

Administrator, Expert users and Novice users. Administrator shall have full rights to configure

and manage the entire system, including user registration. Expert users (Times Courier

personnel) shall be able to manage parcel data and create user accounts for customers. Novice

users (Customers) shall be able to request proof of deliveries (POD), book deliveries and request

billing details.


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1.4 System Overview

This section describes the high level overview of the system using Data Flow Diagrams.

1. Current System

Figure 1.1: Context Diagram of current system


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Receiver

Sender de

Senders c

Figure 1.2: Level 0 DFD of Current System


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Figure 2.2: Level 0 DFD of proposed system


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2.0SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

This Section describes software requirements identified during the analysis. The requirements

are divided into functional requirements, interface requirements and non-functional

requirements.

2.1 Functional Requirements

This section enumerates functional requirements. These requirements shall apply to specific

functionality (including security functions) of the system.

Req. # Requirement Description

FR001 The system shall perform user authentication The system shall permit only

authorized users to interact within the

system.

FR002 The system shall allow registration of user

accounts

Users shall be able to create customer

accounts for billing and parcel

booking

FR003 The system shall automatically generate and

billing information to customers

Once waybill data is entered and the

parcel is delivered with valid proof,

the system shall calculate the cost and

notify customers via email or SMS.

FR004 The system shall assign deliveries and send

SMS to the assigned driver

Users will manually assign the drivers

and the system shall automatically

generate an SMS with delivery

information to the driver.


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FR005 The system shall generate and send package

delivery details to customers

Registered customer shall receive

package delivery information via

SMS or email.

FR006 The system shall have a search facility A correct list of package and

customer details shall be returned if

the records match attributes of a query

that was entered into the search field.

FR007 The system shall generate reports Every report generated by the system

shall be able to be previewed on-

screen prior to printing. This allows

zooming, panning, selection of

specific pages, searching on data, etc.

Reports can be sent to any

Windows printer, fax server, or

other Windows registered device.

2.2 Non-functional requirements

Non-functional requirements address issues of the system other than the specific functions it

performs. These issues include system performance, reliability, security and portability. They

also address issues of the system development process and operational personnel.


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2.2.1 System-Related Non-Functional Requirements

This section enumerates the performance requirements, those that are measurable and usually

encompass a series of unique requirements.

1. Performance Requirements

Performance Requirements Table

Req. # Non-Functional Requirements Description Affected Req.#

PR001 The system shall have fast response time Machines that fit the

minimum

requirements will

benefit

FR003, FR006

PR002 The system shall update records Records updates

shall be done once

deliveries are

performed

FR003, FR004,

FR 005

PR003 The system shall require adequate disk

space

At least 20GB of

hard disk space shall

be needed to

accommodate the

systems database.

FR002, PR002,


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2. Security RequirementsThe Courier Service Management System supports user Id/password based

authentication. Users shall be required to provide user ID and an encrypted password.

User Ids and initial passwords will be sent to that particular user via email. In case a

user forgets their password, the user will have to contact the administrator who will

create a password and send it to them. In this case, they will be required to change it

upon logging in.

3. Operational Environment1. Hardware Platform

Pentium 4 or Pentium 5 computers with at least 512MB of RAM and

1.6GHz Processor Speed shall be required. Internet access shall also be

needed to access the system.

2. Software Platform

The systems server shall run on a 32-bit Windows XP/Vista Operating

System. It shall run WAMP server, Version 1.7.4 or higher which will

connect to MySQL database utility for storing data. The system shallsupport any web browser e.g. Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla

Firefox, Opera etc.

4. General CharacteristicsReliability

The system shall always be available as long as internet is running and the

server is running. It shall depend on continuous power supply.


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Data Accuracy

The system shall only accept correct data entries into the system such that

fields intended for integers will only accept integer values. In some cases,

combo boxes shall be provided to allow users to choose from specific lists.

Privacy

The system shall allow users to access information according to their user

levels e.g. a customer shall not have rights to view all customers available

in the system as a user will. This shall be achieved by assigning different

privileges to users.

Portability

The system shall run on different software platforms such as Windows

XP, Windows Vista and Linux. However, WAMP Server and MySQL

software have to be installed on such machines prior to usage.

Modifiability

The system shall be very flexible such that the source code can be changed

shall there be a need. The system shall be extensible so that new users,

new system features and new resource type can be added to the system.


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2.2.2 User-Related Non-Functional Requirements

Skill

Users should have knowledge of computers, internet and SMS. An online support

shall be available on each page using Help and FAQbuttons.

Training

Users and the systems administrators will be trained on how best they can use the

system. The user manual will be distributed to users as a systems readily

available support. An online support shall be available on each page using Help

and FAQbuttons.


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3.0PROJECT PLAN

Development Cost

The system developer will require stationary and money for printing and time spent during the

research of new programming languages and the systems development itself. Appendix B shows

the projects financial budget.

Constraints

During the development period, there may be constraints like using unfamiliar programming

languages which would require time to learn. The system will also require training of end users

on how to use the system itself after implementation. Lack of appropriate project resources like a

Laptop with 24hr internet service may also be one of the difficulties to the development.

Deliverables

1.

System Proposal Document

2. Software Requirements Specification Document3. Detailed Design Document4. Working System5. System Manuals

Installation

Parallel running will be used as an installation method whereby the current system and the

proposed system will run concurrently until the new system has proved to be working. Source


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code plus deliverables defined above will be given to Times Courier Services to guide them

during system maintenance.

Development Time

The development of the system will roughly take nine months, starting from August 2011 to

April 2012. Appendix A shows the project plan.


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4.0APPENDICES

1. Project PlanThe following Gantt chart illustrates the project plan:


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2. Project BudgetThe following is the breakdown of the cost of the whole project:

Category Quantity Price (MK) Total(MK)

Stationary 2 reams of plain papers 1,000 2,000

Unit of pens 50 500

Stapling pins 100 100

Stapler 650 650

Communication 8 hrs 1600 per hour 12,800

Internet 60 hours 50 3000

Printing 250 pages 20 5000

Transport To and from Times

Courier Services offices

(15 trips)

200 3000

Contingency 2,500

TOTAL 29550


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5.0GLOSSARY

The following table presents a glossary of terms used in this document and their definitions:

Word/Phrase Meaning

DFD Data flow diagram diagram used to describe

an overview of the system and its processes

Authenticate A way to acknowledge that the person is indeed

who they claim to be

Online Something that is readily available on theinternet

POD Proof of Delivery

FAQ Frequently asked questions

WAMP Server A software that is installed on a server machine

to interact with the systems database

MySQL Database engine software that allow database

definition, manipulation and structured record

keeping

RAM Random Access Memory used by computers

for temporary storage of information

GB Gigabytes measurement of memory in

computer systems

Web-based system A system that can be remotely accessed using

network e.g. internet.


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REFERENCES

Mr. Drycon Nantupa, Times Courier Services Clerk (Mzuzu Branch)

Ian Sommerville, Software Engineering, 6th

Edition

Skidmore Steve,Introducing Systems Analysis and Design, 2nd

Edition

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