RHODA SANYANGORE

PROJECT PROPOSAL

PIGGERY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

Project proposal

St Johns Supermarket management system

St Johns Chikwaka is located in Goromonzi District at St Johns High School. It is located 50 km

from Harare along Mutoko road and 5km South from Juru Rural Shopping Centre in
Mashonaland East Province. The current system started in 1999 where the system was operated
by two users.

Details for new born piglets, those that are for commercial use, dying pigs and the reason that
lead to its death, vaccines given to each and every pig and their cost, those that are being
slaughtered, their feeds and the cost and some challenges are recorded and stored using a manual
system.

The current system is not efficient because it does not save time and there is too much
duplication of files. It also causes some information to be lost and to be accessed by
unauthorized users. When feeds and vaccines are delivered an omission of some data is
experienced when recording the information. When also doing some calculations, for example,
when calculating the costs it takes since the born day until the day it was sold and the profit or
loss made. Also used when calculating the total amount needed for the feeds. The system is slow
and expensive in that many books have to be bought to record all the activities occurring, for
example, records for the new piglets, their feeds etc. It also causes some information to be lost. It
is also risky because once the unauthorized users get access to the information, they can falsely
edit the information aiming to steal and at the end of the day, the project manager is experiencing
losses. Moreover the system does not provide backup of data if data is lost. Data can be lost
accidentally, through natural disasters or theft so there is need for back up of data. Due to these
problems the analyst proposed to come up with the new computerized system of St Johns
Chikwaka Piggery Management System.
RESEARCH INSTRUMENTS

 When the analyst researched for the problems being faced by the current Piggery
Project Management System, the analyst used the following fact finding techniques:

I. Document Inspection
II. Interview
III. Observation

DOCUMENT INSPECTION

Document analysis is a form of qualitative research in which documents are interpreted by the
researcher to give voice and meaning around an assessment topic. The system that is being used
is manual based therefore they are experiencing a lot of errors in compilation of their reports.
Analyzing documents incorporates coding content into themes similar to how focus group or
interview transcripts are analyzed. Document inspection gives the analyst a picture of what will
be taking place during the running of the system however some of the records where a bit
difficult to understand.

INTERVIEW

It is a face to face interaction between the interviewer who will be asking questions and the
interviewee who will be providing possible answers to the questions asked. Interview is a
valuable assessment tool because it allows the participant to share their experiences, altitudes and
beliefs in their own words. The analyst did an interview with the St Johns Piggery Headworker
Mr Chimbwido so as to fully understand the operations of the current system and to identify the
problems of the system.

QUESTIONS ASKED ON THE INTERVIEW

 Can you please give a brief description on how the current system works?
 How do you produce your annual reports?
 Is there any backing up of information in your project’s system?
 What are some of the challenges you face as the headworker of this project?
 How do you handle lost books?
 How do you handle replaced books?
 what benefits are there of using the current system?
 Does the current system produce accurate results? How reliable is it?
 Where do you keep your record books? Is there any means of security?
 What measures do you think should be taken to improve the current system?
 Are you willing to accept the proposed computerized system or you want to continue with the
current system?
 What do you expect from the newly proposed piggery project system if you are willing to accept
it?
OBSERVATIONS

The field observation is another method for collecting qualitative data. The objective of the
observation is to collect data in a “ natural setting.” As with most qualitative data collection
methods, the individual identified as the observer is the instrument for the data collection. The
observer notes things such as what people say, do and their locations.

There are some delays in some recordings if the person in charge of the keys to the room where
they keep the records and some of their books of accounts is not around. The system is very slow
since they have to be very careful when recording the daily information so as to avoid
unnecessary mistakes. The system also does not accommodate any employee without
Mathematics since there is more need for calculations of costs on feeds, vaccines and those pigs
sold. The system is very expensive since a lot of stationery is needed each and every month for
the recordings.

BROAD DESCRIPTION OF THE CURRENT SYSTEM

The current system is manually based. There is ssno backup of information. The information is
only stored in one book which means if the book is stolen or destroyed by any naturally
occurring hazards like floods or even burnt by fire during a fire outbreaks the the data will be
lost. Also the current system is time consuming because it is manual therefore there is need for
developing an electronic Piggery project system which may be much faster, for example, when
compiling reports. In addition, calculations of both stock feeds vaccinations and all other costs
incurred are bound to have human errors therefore electronic calculations can reduce these
errors. Lastly, compiling the number of pigs that are still in the project is difficult because the
headworker has to browse through all books used during that period.
LIMITATIONS OF THE CURRENT SYSTEM

INPUT PROBLEMS

The headworker of the Piggery project takes a long time in trying to record all the daily
information, for example, when there are new feeds delivery, new born piglets and some that are
to be vaccinated. He also takes a lot of time trying to balance the daily sales at the end of the day
like the money used to buy feeds and even the money they got if there are any pigs sold during
the day. Since all these balances are to be calculated at the end of the day after all the work is
done, there are high chances of getting inaccurate balances due to tiredness. Due to the lack of
validation there is omission of vital information.

PROCESSING PROBLEMS

 Calculation problems are incurred.

 Searching: one has to go through page by page searching for a certain record until they
find the record, for example, when searching for the number of pigs that were born or
sold on a certain date; they have to open page by page looking for that date.
 Deletion of some pigs slaughtered, sold or that died cannot be neatly done. Also even if
there are some mistakes made during the calculations, the deletion will not be neatly done
again.
 Addition: it is difficult to add all the cost incurred during the month or for a certain batch
of pigs since the born day until the day they are slaughtered or sold.
 Comparison: it is very challenging to compare improvement in the trend of the project
from the previous period. It requires a lot of labor.

STORAGE PROBLEMS

 There is no security so any one can just come and alter the data in the records of the
project. This might lead to theft cases at the end of the day since almost every worker
is getting access to the record books.
 A lot of space is used up for storing the files or books with the recordings yet it can
be used for other productive things.
 Since the records are all on paper work, they are very difficult to keep them safe.
They can be an occurrence of natural disasters, for example, fire outbreak or even
floods, all the data will be destroyed.

OUTPUT PROBLEMS

 Printing is difficult or one cannot print.

 It is difficult to compile and come up with reports.
  The progress of business cannot be displayed in graphical form.

REQUIREMENTS SPECIFICATIONS

USER REQUIREMENTS

Each user is expected to at least have a qualification in computers, for example, HEXCO operation
packages certificate etc. Also the user needs to have knowledge of what the proposed system will be
doing for ease of use. Moreover user manuals should be provided in the necessary format so as to assist
the users I understanding and using the system.

HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS

 Monitor - The monitor will be required to display the operating system and to provide a
user interface which enables communication between user and computer.
 Dual Core Processor (2.10GHz) - Used for faster processing of registering, searching
and execute every form of the Piggery system with high speed.
 RAM (4GB) – The internal memory needs to be large enough to manage both the OS
and the Piggery system itself.
 SECODARY STORAGE (500GB) - The system must have an effective way of
managing its storage space, so that the system will have sufficient storage space at the
appropriate time.
 PRINTER – The printer will be required to produce the reports in hardcopy form
produced periodically by the system. The printer must support a learning environment
like Piggery system.
 MOUSE – A mouse will be required to navigate through the system and will be used for
selection. It enables selecting of commands, options in the Piggery system.
 KEYBOARD - A standard keyboard will be required to enter data and instructions into
the system. The user enters much details of the Piggery system using this hardware
device

SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS

 Operating System, (Microsoft Windows 8 to 10) – it is needed to provide a working

platform for Piggery system. It acts as an interface/communication between Piggery
system and the user.
 Programming Language, (Microsoft Visual Basic .NET) – is an Integrated Development
Environment (IDE) programming language which was used to create the system. It is
 used to develop graphical user interface forms applications.
 Microsoft Office Suite – it contains Microsoft Access which is used to create a database,
to store user and project records. It also has Microsoft word processor that was used to
create this documentation
 Latest Anti-virus kit – it protects the computer from virus attacks and it prevents data
corruption by keeping it safe. If malware is detected, it prevents the malware from
running for example Smadav Anti-virus software requires to be updated frequently.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

AIMS

 Decrease the time taken to update pigs in the system or products in the piggery project
system by automatically updating the products feeds quantity when purchases are made
or pigs when sales are made.
 Reducing duplication of data in the piggery project control system files by creating links
between system files so that data can be shared, this results in the reduction of time spent
on data entry and saves storage space.
 Reduce input errors by using validation.
 To reduce manual work hence promoting efficiency and effectiveness.

OBJECTIVES

 DATA VALIDTION
Omission is eliminated since there are present checks. Because of the presence of data type
checks, data is now entered in correct books and fields.

 CALCULATIONS
There are quick and automatic calculations of the number of pigs after increasing or reducing
the number of already existing pigs in the project.
  SORTING
Can be done using a computer facility according to categories as you can create and merge data
using queries.

 DELETION
It can be done neatly when one wants to delete a record.

 SEARCHING
It can be done faster .For product records a query which extracts specific information from the
data set can be used.

 ADDITION
New records or new products being sold can be easily and neatly added.

 DATA SECURITY
Through use of user ID’s and passwords data will now be safe since no one can access without
knowing the password.

 COMPARISON
One can easily and quickly compare business from the previous period and the present and know
if the business is gaining or making losses.

 STORAGE SPACE
Reduction in the storage space used up by the files since all records are kept in the computer
thereby less storage space.

 DATA ACCESS
Usage of hard disk makes it easier to access data since it offers direct access to individual
records.

 REPORTS
They can be easily and quickly compiled and also accurately.

Time is not lost whilst searching for documents so as to compile a report

 PRINTING
Printing of reports is faster and easier

 GRAPHS OR CHARTS
Can be easily generated from data and displayed in any required diagram.

 AD-HOC REPORTS
Can now be compiled within a short period of time on the monitor.