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Abstract
Online Sales System is a web application which is a product of FSA Fortex AB 1
.The idea of
this thesis is to study the company’s current working. And propose a solution in order to
digitalize their current processes and overcome the current issues which are being faced
daily due to lack of computerized solution. This need of digitalization of their current
processes related to order handling will help the company in forecasting their business
growth. The customer places an order through a website which is examined and later
accepted by Fortex AB. Fortex AB looks for a potential supplier against each customer
order and sends a pro forma invoice which is generated by the system, as it is termed as
a mini agreement between Fortex and supplier.
As an initial step of the thesis, the understanding of Fortex AB current work flow is built.
After that the system requirements were identified and documented. Theoretical review
of similar systems was made. And as a result of this thesis recommendations were given
to Fortex AB, whether the system should be developed in house or by using other
existing systems like ERP or CRM.
Introduction
1.1. Acquirer
The acquirer of this thesis is an enterprise named FSA Fortex AB, consisting of retailers
dispersed around the globe.
1.2. Background
FSA FORTEX AB is a company that buys and sells forest products, paper in particular, around
the world. It is a small size company which has sales in approximately 35 countries and
suppliers in some 25 countries. The company handles shipments and financing to customers.
It handles about 1,150 shipments per year approximately.
Currently FSA FORTEX AB doesn’t have any computerized system to manage workflow of
orders. This situation is causing hurdles in management and overall productivity of company.
1.3. Problem Statement
In today’s fast paced society, it’s very hard to be competitive without using cutting-edge
technology available in market. After years of business, the data has grown much for Fortex.
It is becoming a challenge for Fortex to manage that data in an effective way. To be more
productive in order processing, Fortex needs a solution which can facilitate their current
processes with use of technology and software.
With increased amount of orders, it is becoming difficult for Fortex to manage orders in
effective and efficient manner. It is very hard to go through all paper work and backtracking
orders. If there is any complain or review of any order, it takes large amount of effort and
time to backtrack and fix the problem. This results in loss of resources, increased time, and
low output.
All orders are managed using different papers; all information regarding one order is stored
in one physical file. This file contains all the documents related to that particular order. Once
Fortex receive an order, they assign a unique number to that order/file. Some of financial
details regarding orders are managed in an Excel sheet.
Currently in FSA Fortex the work flow followed is not very efficient due to lack of Software
and digital media usage. Workflow from order quotes, order to invoice and payments are
today made manually without the help of a computerized management system. This means
a lot of manual work, which leads to the loss of control over operations. Due to higher
workloads and more errors, delay in the whole process is experienced on daily basis. No
database exists and thus poor ability to pick out statistics on for example the existing order
stock.
FSA FORTEX AB needs an administrative system that should be built to suit their specific
organization. There exist no readymade systems that can meet all of FSA Fortex Business
needs. Requirements are unique and complex which make use of third party tailored system
difficult to implement.
The system should primarily involve the internal work, but will in future have the ability to
integrate with various parties, such as book keeping, bank and suppliers.
1.4. Problem Area
Fortex AB is currently facing difficulties in managing paper work. Received orders are
processed throughout their process completion cycle on paper documents. Handling of
these documents (records) in a large number increase the overall order processing e.g. in
documents verification, generating reports, back tracking of orders and payments, and
information retrieval. Therefore, there is a need of a data management system, providing an
effective and efficient record keeping, along with an easy document management system
for;
Fortex Performa invoice Generation.
Sending order to supplier.
Creating customer invoice.
Generating documents for bank (bill of lading1
).
Sending Bill of lading to customer.
1.4.1. Customer Management
Fortex is currently following very complex work flow for managing customers, which is at
most due to lack of computerized processes. Customers, clients, sales persons are contacted
directly to or by Fortex. There is no such system currently at place which can provide details
of the stakeholders swiftly, represented through graphical/histogram or by any effective
means of information sharing, which is based on stakeholder’s historic data.
1.4.2. Invoicing
Fortex is maintaining most of its information on physical documents. Invoices are handled in
physical document formats, where orders can be received by means of an email, fax or a
phone call. Every actor is currently using their own format for placing an order, mostly by
pdf, word document or other means of communication. This makes information
management difficult and complex for Fortex, and utilizes much more resources to manage
that information. This is mainly due to the absence of any specified format by which
customers can place their orders.
1.4.3. Order traceability
Order traceability is the most time consuming process throughout the order life cycle. It
increases the overall effort due to lack of any computerized management system for
information traceability. All the information at present is cross checked manually, which
most of the time makes traceability much more difficult and exhaustive. It gets more
complex when dealing with orders with a larger life cycle.
1.4.4. Financial Details Management
Financial details are handled on multiple Excel Sheets at present. There is no such efficient
system available which can help Fortex to manage their financial details. They are facing
challenges in handling and updating financial information while performing different
processes during completion of one order. For Fortex it is important to verify financial
information at every step during orders from multiple files, and documents which makes it
more complex and time consuming.
1.4.5. Demarcations
The application does not focus on the development of systems that authorizes the payments
from the customer.
Scope of project
Scope of this project is to investigate and design a software solution which can facilitate
Fortex in performing their daily tasks, improving efficiency, and helping them to be more
productive. This project will provide a solution through which Fortex can easily manage,
handle and generate all required information in their respective format when needed. It will
help them to manage order details, financial data, and historical data and also in producing
documents of different formats for different customers.
This solution will help Fortex in reducing effort spend on managing orders. It will also provide
them opportunity to explore possibility of generating documents, managing financial details
and analyzing historical data with use of digitalized solution.
Overview of current working
Fortex AB is managing all documents, orders, and customers with the help of filing systems.
They are not using any computerized system to manage the business. Most of the
documents produced are kept in different files, according to customers/countries and time.
The actors involved are as following:
Fortex AB
Agent
Customer
Mill
Bank
Shipping company
Other regularotory agencies
Current order flow of Fortex AB is as follows.
2.1. Initiation of Order
This step involves receiving order from customer, or receiving goods details from mill which
needs to be sold.
2.2. Finding Mill/Customer
Fortex then look for a mill from where they can find the goods that are required by
customer. This step also includes negotiations on different aspects of order like price,
delivery time, mode of payment etc. In case of mill wishing to sell goods, Fortex looks for
customer who is interested in buying goods.
2.3. Create/Sent Pro forma Invoice
Fortex will then generate Pro forma invoice to communicate price with customer. This is
considered as mini agreement between Fortex and Customer on price and other aspects of
order. In some cases customer don’t need to send formal approval of Pro forma Invoice.
2.4. Order to Mill
After customer agrees on Pro forma Invoice, Fortex will order the goods to the mill. This
order will include all the detail of goods, cost, delivery time, shipment details including ports
detail etc.
2.5. Handle Shipment
When goods are manufactured by the mill, they transport those goods to Fortex. In some
cases the mill can handle shipments but it’s mostly Fortex who manages shipment of goods
to the customer. This includes finding shipping company, communicating ports of delivery
and receiving, goods details etc.
2.6. Generate B/L (Bill of lading)
Once shipment is started, Fortex will start working to manage B/L.
2.7. Generate Documents for Bank
In many cases, to complete the delivery, Fortex needs to generate and compile documents in
order to let customer get their delivery from port. This process includes communication
between bank and Fortex, finalizing packing list and compiling documents for
bank/customer.
2.8. Receive Payment
After completion of all above steps, Fortex will receive payment on basis of invoice
generated. In some cases, Fortex will generate invoice in the end, after the delivery has been
done.
Requirements
Fortex AB system is a combination of software and hardware components, whose purpose is
to provide services related to sales and purchase of goods. All the information is being stored
in database, and retrieved when needed by means of display or print.
There are four stakeholders involved in the system (Fortex AB, Mill, Customer, and Bank). All
the communication between Fortex AB, Mill and Customer has to be digitalized as a part of
this thesis and the communication between bank and Fortex is out of the thesis scope.
These requirements are elicited during informal meetings with the stakeholders within
Fortex AB. These requirements are divided into three main categories: hardware, functional,
and non-functional requirements. Which are as following;
3.1. Hardware Requirements
1) Dedicated application server with minimum specification, are as;
a. Intel Core 2 Quad
b. Memory 2*2GB DDR3
c. Hard Disk 1 x 360 GB HDD SATA
d. Ethernet Card 10/100/1000 Mbps
e. Microsoft Windows 2003 Small Business Server.
2) Dedicated Microsoft SQL Server 2008 with minimum specification, are as;
a. Intel Core 2 Quad
b. Memory 2*2GB DDR3
c. Hard Disk 1 x 360 GB HDD SATA
d. Ethernet Card 10/100/1000 Mbps
e. Microsoft Windows 2003 Small Business Server
3) UPS with software to perform proper shutdown in case of power failure.
4) Wireless modem and Ethernet network card.
Functional Requirements
1) System must be able to add/modify customer.
2) Customer must be able to view his/her personal details only.
3) System must be able to accept orders from the customer via email or online form.
4) Customer must be able to view his/her orders history.
5) Each customer must be able to view placed order status.
6) System must alert Fortex AB for new orders.
7) Fortex should be able to change the status of the order between order executions.
8) System must generate pro forma and customer invoice against an order.
9) Customer should be able to validate and confirm their invoice.
10) Fortex AB must be able to view pro forma invoice and packing list sent by the mill.
11) Fortex AB must be able to view order history of a customer.
12) Fortex AB must be able to validate and manage customers order against payments.
13) System must store information related to shipment and banking for each order.
14) The system must guarantee secure access to the stored data, managing the
permissions according to the user profile.
15) The system must support easy addition of functionalities and enhancements
16) The system should support device upgrading or changing of devices.
3.3. Non-functional requirements
1) The system shall be accessible from anywhere in the world.
2) The system shall be made available 99% yearly.
3) System shall automatically make backups after every 4 months. This can be tuned
according to company needs too.
4) System connectivity with internet shall be ensured through backup line
5) The safety of the system information shall be insured by means of firewall.
6) The Fortex AB system is going to be used commercially, so the project in not opensource
and the source code cannot be published.
7) The Fortex AB system is the first project for the company, therefore there is no such
existing system which needs to be integrated.