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The Clean Brite Company (CBC) Ltd

Tutor: ThaiND

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Company overview (1/4)The Clean Brite Company (CBC) Ltd is a supplier of cleaning products to a number of different industry and commercial sectors. CBC does not manufacture the cleaning products itself but purchases them from appropriate manufacturers, repackages them and sells themon.CBC provides different grade cleaning products to a number of very different sectors. For example, food processing industries, hotels, catering organisations, hospitals and public organisations such as leisure centres and schools.

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Company overview (2/4)The needs of each of the different sectors serviced by CBC are very different, and each sector is, therefore, treated entirely separately from the others. A catalogue detailing the cleaning products available is produced for each of the sectors – a restaurant would not be interested in purchasing the type of cleaning products used to clean equipment used by a plastics manufacturer, for example. A team of telesales staff is assigned to each of the sectors to advise potential customers and take orders. However, supporting the sales and querying functions of each of the sectors is an organisation-wide stock control system which aims to ensure that orders for any cleaning products may be fulfilled as quickly as possible.

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Company overview (3/4)CBC has been in operation since 1982. Over the years the company has grown, and it has a loyal customer base. In 2005, CBC bought out its main rival, Scrubaway Allbright Ltd (SAL), and began to merge operations. This merger involved streamlining operationsand reducing the workforce where necessary. Today, CBC is the leading supplier of cleaning products to UK industries and has an annual turnover of £30 million.

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Company overview (4/4)During 2006, the Managing Director of CBC came under attack from the executive board because of the vast amount of money spent on unsuccessful I.T. projects during the last three years (approximately £12 million). As a result of the board’s concerns, an external management consultant undertook a review of the Company generally and the I.S. development function specifically. He reported back the following:

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General company review (1/2)The merger of SAL with CBC has led to two distinct organisational cultures that need to be integrated.

Similarly, the merger of the two companies, and resulting streamlining of operations, has led to employee dissatisfaction and insecuritythat is clearly affecting individual performance.

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General company review (2/2)There is obvious discord between the executive board and the day-to-day management group, and this is beginning to impact upon planning and decision-making for the future.

The Information Systems (IS) Department is viewed by the rest of the organisation as distinct and aloof. Department Heads appear to have little faith in the service offered by the IS department.

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IS Development function review(1/4)1. The Information system development function

is largely unsuccessful because end-user needs are not being met.

2. Not enough attention is being given to understanding the problem domain before technical requirements are discussed. Greater consideration needs to be given to the relationship between the information systems developed and the wider organisational environment.

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IS Development function review(2/4)3. The I.T department has good programming

resources with many staff being experienced in object-oriented techniques, web development and multimedia application programming. However, the decision in 2006 to freeze In-house IT recruitment and employ two contractors instead has led to a great deal of dissatisfaction. Since this time, 20% of the IT department workforce has resigned. This has led to a skills shortage in relation to current system support and local business knowledge.

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IS Development function review(3/4)4. Many of the systems developed in-house are

mission-critical. That is, they relate to the primary function of the organisation of selling cleaning products to different industry sectors. As they are not, generally, meeting the user requirements, they are placing a strain on the company’s ability to function effectively.

5. Robust, flexible systems with appropriate user-friendly interfaces are a key requirement of any new I.S developments within the organisation.

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IS Development function review(4/4)6. A variety of development methods/techniques are in

use within the organisation including object oriented, rapid application development and structured approaches. However, there is no organisational standard for a development environment and no clear guidelines on how development methodologies should be applied.

7. Finally, unless the role of the business analyst is given proper credence within the organisation, with the problem domain being thoroughly explored and then user requirements being properly analysed and documented, there is unlikely to be any great improvement in I.S development success rates.

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The results of this reviewThe results of this review, obviously, caused grave concerns to the board members. They further commissioned the management consultant to identify appropriate techniques for business and requirements analysis activities within the organisation. In November 2006 the management consultant presented his final report to the board. He strongly recommended the introduction of the Soft Systems Method (SSM) to firstly understand the problem domain. He then recommended the use case analysis and modelling to assist in the gathering of user requirements.

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The results of this reviewThe Senior Business Analyst at CBC was asked to pilot Soft Systems Methods by analysing the CBS environment and modelling his findings using the Rich Picture technique. He was also asked to pilot use case modelling techniques for the Home Sector Order Processing system - a system about to be developed to support the sale of an exclusive range of high quality, highly effective, eco-friendly products for use in the home.

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Appendix A

The Home Sector Order Processing System

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New system requirements (1/2)1. The new system must provide a quick,

efficient service. CBC should be able to ship a customer’s order by the fastest, most efficient means possible (e.g. parcel force, DHL).

2. An electronic interface, such as the Web, would be a popular method of ordering/querying an order for some customers. Where customers do not have Web access, they must be given the same service via telesales staff at CBC.

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New system requirements (2/2)3. The new order-processing system must be able to

track the order from the time it is received until all cleaning products ordered are despatched. Customers with Web access must be able to view the status of their own orders. Non-Web customers must be able to easily query the status of their orders via the telesales staff. A customer must be able to cancel an order if that order has not yet been sent for shipping.

4. The system must notify the shipping agent (e.g. Parcel force/DHL) as soon as the order is fulfilled and ready for despatch.

5. Reordering of cleaning products from the manufacturers must be an automated process. Pre-defined reorder levels should automatically trigger purchase orders to the chemical manufacturers.

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Placing an orderCBC envisages that ordering via the Web will follow the format used by many successful e-commerce sites: A valid customer id will be required. Customers will be able to browse the on-line catalogue and select products/quantities. Once the product selection is complete, the customer will be advised of the final cost of the order and any unobtainable products. He/she will then be asked to select a delivery method (next day, three days or 1 week) and the final order cost calculated. If the customer agrees to this, the order will be confirmed and an order number given. A similar process will be followed for telephone sales.

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Querying an orderIn order to query the status of an order, the customer will need to know his/her customer id. From this, all outstanding orders may be found. The system must show for a particular order, which products have been despatched, which are in the process of being despatched and which (if any) are unobtainable. The query must also show the shipping agent used and the type of delivery (1 day, 3 day, and 1 week). If order queries are made to telesales staff, a similar process must be followed on-line and the information conveyed to the customer verbally.

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ReferencesCW_COMP1304_190004_ver2_1011.pdf