Download 1.8 ERD of ABC Rental Company, Inc.

Acme Consulting
ABC Rental Company,
Inc.
11/13/01
Version 4.0
Acme Consulting, Lozier Center, Room 917, October 16, 2001
Josh Wagner, Zoe Song, Kurexi Shawuti, Pat Artz, Cherif Toure
Copyright © 2001 Acme Consulting.
All rights reserved.
Confidential and proprietary information of Acme Consulting or its affiliates is contained herein. Any
reproduction, use, appropriation, or disclosure of this information, in whole or in part, without the specific
prior written authorization of the owner thereof is strictly prohibited. Failure to observe this notice may
result in legal proceedings or liability for resulting damage or loss.
Any and all information or specifications are subject to change without notice.
Issued by:
Acme Consulting, Lozier Center Room 917
Omaha, Nebraska USA
All brand names and product names are trademarks or registered
trademarks of their respective companies.
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Table Of Contents
1
Introduction .............................................................................. 6
1.1
Scope of Document ......................................................................................... 6
1.2
References ...................................................................................................... 6
1.3
Acronyms ........................................................................................................ 6
1.4
Request for Information Systems Services ...................................................... 7
1.5
Problems, Opportunities, Objectives, and Constraints Matrix ........................ 10
1.6
Problem Statement Matrix ............................................................................. 12
1.5
Design Detail Section ............................................................. 14
1.7
Description of Entity Definition Matrix ............................................................ 14
1.7.1
Entity Definition Matrix ............................................................... 15
1.8
ERD of ABC Rental Company, Inc. ............................................................... 16
1.9
Context Data Model....................................................................................... 17
1.10
Key Based Data Model .............................................................................. 17
1.11
Fully Attributed Data Model Description ..................................................... 18
1.11.1
Fully Attributed Data Model ....................................................... 19
1.12
Logical Data Model in Third Normal Form ................................................. 19
1.13
Event Response Matrix ............................................................................. 21
1.14
Context Data Flow Diagram....................................................................... 24
1.15
Functional Decomposition Diagram ........................................................... 26
1.16
Event Decomposition Diagram .................................................................. 26
1.17
System Diagram ........................................................................................ 28
1.18
Candidate Matrix ....................................................................................... 29
1.19
Physical Data Flow Diagram...................................................................... 33
1.20
Database Design ....................................................................................... 36
1.21
User Interface Screens .............................................................................. 40
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Preface
Document Control
Lists each published version of the Design Specification, the date on which it was
published, and the reason it was published.
Version Date
Major Changes
1.0
9/25/01
Created the document.
2.0
10/16/01
Added the Report 2 deliverables, fixed problems with the
Report 1 sections.
3.0
10/30/01
Added the Report 3 deliverables, fixed problems with Report 2
sections.
4.0
11/13/01
Revised the database to bring it to third normal form, added a
physical database schema. Added user interfaces for Milestone
9 deliverables.
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New and Changed Information
The following table contains the number of the affected section and a brief description of
new or changed information.
Section
1.4
1.5
1.6
1.7
1.7.1
1.8
1.9
1.10
1.11
1.11.1
1.12
1.14
1.15
1.16
1.17
1.11
1.17
1.18
1.19
1.20
1.20
1.12
1.21
New/Changed Information
Added a description of how the Request for Information Systems Services
was created.
Listed all of the problems and opportunities in the Problems, Opportunities,
Objectives, and Constraints Matrix, and described how the matrix was
created.
Added a description of how the Problem Statement Matrix was created.
Description of the Entity Definition Matrix for Milestone 3.
Entity Definition Matrix for Milestone 3.
ERD for Milestone 3.
Context Data Model for Milestone 3.
Key-Based Data Model for Milestone 3.
Fully Attributed Data Model description for Milestone 3.
Fully Attributed Data Model diagram for Milestone 3.
Logical Data Model in Third Normal Form for Milestone 4.
Context Data Flow Diagram deliverable for Milestone 5.
Functional Decomposition Diagram deliverable for Milestone 5.
Event Decomposition Diagram deliverable for Milestone 5.
System Diagram deliverable for Milestone 5.
Revised the Fully Attributed Data Model to include a primary key for the
Rental Agreement entity.
Revised the System Diagram to include input from Senior Analyst
concerning the transfer of vehicles to Ashley Ford.
Candidate Matrix for Milestone 6.
Physical Data Flow Diagram for Milestone 7.
Database Design deliverable for Milestone 8.
Physical Database Schema for Milestone 8.
Revised the Logical Data Model in Third Normal Form by adding a fourth
table for maintenance data.
User interfaces for Milestone 9.
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1 Introduction
John Wright, the President and Chief Executive Office (CEO) of ABC Rental
Company, Inc. requested our services to assist a business process analysis and
redesign. Mr. Wright provided background on the problem, an organizational chart,
a list of information system facilities, and a few general facts about his company.
This background information is available in the Introduction and Milestone 1 of the
ABC Rental Company, Inc. Case Study.
1.1 Scope of Document
This document contains the milestones for each stage of our systems analysis and design
for ABC Rental Company, Inc.
1.2 References
1.3 Acronyms
Entity Relationship Diagram (ERD)
Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
Joint Requirements Planning (JRP)
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1.4 Request for Information Systems Services
ABC Rental Company, Inc. hired Acme Consulting on August 28, 2001 to assist in the
automation of the manual processes currently used as vehicles are checked in, checked
out, and maintained for re-rental. On September 18, 2001, John Wright, the President
and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of ABC Rental Company, Inc., met with the entire
staff of Acme Consulting for the first time.
At the meeting, Mr. Wright described problems with the current system of checking in
vehicles and preparing them for re-rental. The current system is not automated, and it
takes up to 24 hours to prepare a car for re-rental. Mr. Wright wants the re-rental time
reduced to two hours. The company is committed to automating the check-in and rerental processes in order to meet the goal of a two hour turn-around time for the vehicles.
Mr. Wright expects to see profits rise as the turn-around time decreases, but no specific
financial goals were discussed at this meeting.
In addition, Mr. Wright gave several directives at the September 18th meeting. First, the
new and completely automated system must be accessible to all personnel within the
company. Second, the deadline for this project is Thanksgiving. Third, Mr. Wright
named Harold Smith, his Special Assistant, as the key user contact. Fourth, the scope of
the project is limited to redesigning the processes involved with vehicle check-in and rerental. Other business processes are beyond the scope of the current project.
The Request for Information Services on the following page summarizes the particular
problems, opportunities, and directives that were discussed at the meeting between Mr.
Wright and Acme Consulting on September 18th.
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ACME CONSULTING
Phone: (402) 555-1212
Fax: (402) 555-2121
DATE OF REQUEST
9/25/2001
SERVICE REQUESTED FOR DEPARTMENT(S)
ABC Rental Company, Inc.
SUBMITTED BY (key user contact)
Name
Title
Office
Phone
Harold Smith
Special Assistant
EXECUTIVE SPONSOR (funding authority)
Name
John Wright
Title
President and Chief Executive
Officer
Phone
TYPE OF SERVICE REQUESTED:
Information Strategy Planning
Existing Application
Enhancement
Business Process Analysis and Redesign
Existing Application
Maintenance (problem fix)
New Application Development
Not Sure
Other (please specify
_______________________________________________________________________
BRIEF STATEMENT OF PROBLEM, OPPORTUNITY, OR DIRECTIVE (attach additional
documentation as necessary)
Problems: ABC Rental Company lacks computer support; the present system is not automated. An
automobile returned to the company may wait 24 hours before re-rental. The current, paper-driven
system cannot be fixed and needs to be replaced.
Opportunity: A reduction in the time between rental return and re-rental could increase profits.
Directives: A new system must be in place by Thanksgiving. A new and completely automated
system must be accessible to all personnel within the company.
BRIEF STATEMENT OF EXPECTED SOLUTION
Reduce the time between rental return and re-rental from the current 24 hours to two hours before
Thanksgiving.
ACTION (ISS Office Use Only)
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Feasibility assessment approved
Assigned to ____________________
Feasibility assessment waived
Approved Budget $ _____________
Start Date __ _____ Deadline _ ___
Request delayed
Backlogged until date: ______________
Request rejected
Authorized Signatures:
_____________________________
Reason: ______________________________________
_______________________________________
Project Executive Sponsor
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1.5 Problems, Opportunities, Objectives, and Constraints Matrix
Mr. Harold Smith, Special Assistant to John Wright, is the subject matter expert at ABC
Rental Company, Inc. He is the key user contact for this project. Pat Artz and Josh
Wagner of Acme Consulting interviewed Mr. Smith for 10 minutes on September 18,
2001 in order to learn more about the problems, opportunities, and directives related to
this project.
At the brief interview, Mr. Smith reinforced the summary of the problems and expected
solution that Mr. Wright already outlined as part of the Request for Information System
Services. Mr. Smith concluded that the present system is not adequate and must be
replaced. The new system needs to be in place before Thanksgiving.
Mr. Smith shared that ABC Rental Company, Inc. plans to expand to Lincoln, Nebraska
if additional income can be generated to support the expansion. However, Mr. Smith
stated that the Lincoln expansion is not part of the scope of this project.
Mr. Smith explained that the following steps take place during vehicle check-in and rerental under the current system:
1. Attendants at the vehicle check-in collect the paperwork from the customer and
fill in additional information about the vehicle being checked in.
2. All vehicles are cleaned at Jiffy Lube, which is adjacent to the vehicle storage
area for ABC Rental Company, Inc.
3. All paperwork is collected by the Operations Supervisors during the course of the
day. Then, the paperwork is forwarded to the offices of the Maintenance
Department at the end of the business day, which is shortly before 5:00 PM.
4. Mr. Mike Scully, Chief Maintenance Officer, personally approves the availability
of each vehicle. He does this by manually checking the information on each
vehicle on the wipe board in his office.
5. Ashley Ford picks up any vehicle needing maintenance. Maintenance is
performed at Ashley Ford rather than at ABC Rental Company, Inc.
6. Information about the availability of vehicles for re-rental is then given to the
Rental Agents by the start of the next business day. The Rental Agents use a
board with hooks, which is updated each morning with the identification and keys
of all available vehicles.
7. Rental Agents then process all customer requests for vehicles during the day.
The preliminary analysis by Acme Consulting reveals a significant bottleneck in the
business processes. The current procedure of sending paperwork to Maintenance as a
batch at the end of the day slows things down considerably. Rental Agents must wait for
the information about vehicle availability for re-rental, which does not arrive until the
next business day. The following page is a cause and effect analysis as well as a
summary of system objectives and constraints based on the interview with Mr. Smith.
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Project:
Inc.
ABC Rental Company,
Project Manager:
John Wright
Created by:
Acme Consulting
Last Updated by:
Acme Consulting
Date Created:
Sept. 25, 2001
Date Last Updated: Sept. 25, 2001
CAUSE AND EFFECT ANALYSIS
Problem or
Causes and Effects
Opportunity
1.
Turnaround time is
too long.
1.
Manual system is too
slow.
2.
Vehicle paperwork
is processed in one
batch at the end of
the business day.
2.
It takes up to 24 hours
to re-rent a car.
3.
Cars cannot be rented
twice in the same day,
even though some of
them could be rented
again.
3.
Maintenance
information is in
the hands of the
Maintenance
Department only.
4.
Paperwork is not being
processed until the end
of the business day.
5.
Rental Agents must
wait for re-rental
information.
6.
Cars that need
maintenance by Ashley
Ford must wait until the
next business day to be
picked up.
SYSTEM IMPROVEMENT OBJECTIVES
System Objective
System Constraint
1.
Increase profits.
1.
2.
Decrease turnaround
time on car rentals to
two hours.
System is accessible to
all personnel
2.
No one will be laid off
as a result of
automating the system.
3.
System must be in
place by Thanksgiving.
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1.6 Problem Statement Matrix
The Problem Statement Matrix on the next page is an estimate of the differing levels of
urgency, visibility, benefits, and priority among the various problems, opportunities, and
directives that are associated with this project. Also, a proposed solution is associated
with each problem, opportunity, and directive.
The annual benefit for each aspect of the project could not be determined from the initial
meetings with Mr. Wright and Mr. Smith. Further fact-finding will be needed before
dollar amounts can be assigned to the rows in the benefits category.
The project is very focused in scope. Most of the problems, opportunities, and directives
are directly associated with the goal of reducing turn-around time from 24 hours to two
hours. Accordingly, most of the problems, opportunities, and directives have the highest
priority rank. There are two exceptions to this general rule. First, an increase in profits
should extend beyond the two-month deadline for implementing the solution. Second, a
new system could be phased in for personnel who are not directly involved in the
checking in and re-rental of vehicles. Therefore, those two items received a lower
urgency and priority ranking.
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PROJECT:
Inc.
ABC Rental Company,
CREATED BY:
Acme Consulting
DATE CREATED: 9/25/2001
Brief Statements of
Problem, Opportunity, or
Directive
PROJECT MANAGER:
John Wright
LAST UPDATED BY:
Consulting
Acme
DATE LAST UPDATED: 9/25/2001
Urgency
Visibility
Annual
Benefits
Priority
or Rank
Proposed
Solution
1. Turnaround time for rerental must drop from 24
hours to two hours.
2 months
High
(company
wide)
Unknown.
1
New
Development
2. The present system is not
automated and cannot
support a two-hour
turnaround.
2 months
High
(company
wide)
Unknown
1
New
Development
3. A reduction in the time
between rental return and
re-rental could increase
profits.
6 months
Low
(owners and
Finance
Dept.)
Unknown
2
New
Development
4. Maintenance information
that is required for
decisions on re-rental is
available to the
Maintenance Department
only.
2 months
High
(company
wide)
Unknown
1
Restructuring
of processes
involving
maintenance
information.
5. The system must be
accessible to all
personnel so they can
determine the availability
of automobiles.
6 months
High
(company
wide)
Unknown
2
Phase in new
system; phase
out old system
department by
department.
6. New system must be in
place by Thanksgiving.
2 months
High
(company
wide)
Unknown
1
New
Development
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1.5
Design Detail Section
1.7 Description of Entity Definition Matrix
On September 25, 2001, a Joint Requirements Planning (JRP) session was held at the
Lozier Center. People attending the JRP included the following:
John Wright, CEO and President of ABC Rental Company, Inc.
Mike Scully, Chief Maintenance Officer
William Banks, Chief of Operations
May Spindle, Operations Supervisor
William Blankship, Operations Supervisor
Zoe Song, Attendant
Gil Vilmar, Attendant
Josh Wagner, Scribe for Acme Consulting
Sheri Wright, Facilitator
The facilitated discussions between various participants at the JRP allowed the
consultants of Acme Consulting to identify the following processes involved in checking
in a rental vehicle and re-renting the vehicle. The automation of the processes below is
the scope of this project. Currently, these processes are manual:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
A customer returns vehicle to an attendant on the lot.
Attendant obtains paperwork from customer.
Attendant visually inspected vehicle for damage, records any notes on rental
agreement.
Attendant records mileage on the rental agreement.
Attendant keeps one copy of rental agreement and gives it to Operations
Supervisor.
Attendant gives one copy of rental agreement back to customer.
Jiffy Lube cleans all vehicles and tops off the fluid levels after being checked
in.
Customer takes copy of rental agreement to Rental Agent.
Customer pays bill and leaves.
In the meantime, the Operations Supervisor collects the copies of various
rental agreements.
At the end of the business day, all copies of rental agreements in the
possession of Operation Supervisor are transferred to the office of the
Maintenance Department.
Chief of Maintenance checks his wipe board to decide whether the vehicles
are available for re-rental or must go to Ashley Ford for maintenance.
Ashley Ford picks up all vehicles that need maintenance the following day.
A list of all vehicles that are available for re-rental is given to the Rental
Agents by the following day.
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15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
Rental Agents arrange keys and vehicle ID numbers of available on a
pegboard.
Rental Agents process all customer requests to rent vehicles. These requests
can be made by telephone or walking up to the counter.
The Rental Agents are in charge of collecting the payments for the vehicles
and checking the credit cards.
If the request is by telephone, the Rental Agents fill out the Rental Agreement
over the phone, remove the keys of the reserved vehicle from the pegboard
and place them under the counter to await the arrival of a customer. The
customer verifies the information and signs the agreement when he or she
arrives at the counter to receive the keys.
If the request is in person, then the customer fills out a rental agreement and
receives the keys.
Rental Agents refer to the pegboard of keys and Vehicle ID numbers for
vehicle availability throughout the day. If a peg still has keys, then the vehicle
is still available for rental.
On October 6, 2001, the consultants of Acme Consulting met to discuss the entities
involved in the vehicle check-in and re-rental processes. The consultants looked through
the list of steps for checking in and renting vehicles with an eye for people, places, or
things that could be considered candidates for entities. The consultants created the matrix
below as a tentative list of entities to be considered for an Entity Relationship Diagram
(ERD).
1.7.1 Entity Definition Matrix
ENTITY
Customer
Rental Agreement
Rental Agent
Attendant
Maintenance
Department
Operations
Supervisor
Vehicle
Ashley Ford
Jiffy Lube
BUSINESS DEFINITION
Someone who rents a vehicle.
A document that is filled out when a vehicle is rented, then signed
by the customer, and returned to the office when the vehicle is
returned.
Employee who rents vehicles to customers.
Employee who checks in vehicles when returned by customers.
Responsible for making decisions about the maintenance of
vehicles, maintaining all maintenance records, and approving all
vehicles for rental.
Collect rental agreements and transfer them to Maintenance
Department.
The object being rented.
Company that does the maintenance work for all vehicles.
Company that does the cleaning of all vehicles.
A quick evaluation of this tentative list reveals several actual entities. The distinguishing
feature of an entity is that it is something that a company needs to collect data about. The
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three entities from the tentative list that fit this description are Customer, Vehicle, and
Rental Agreement. The other items on the list play key roles in various processes, but
they are not entities.
1.8
ERD of ABC Rental Company, Inc.
The Customer and Vehicle entities interact via an entity that is called Rental Agreement.
In other words, a customer and a vehicle come together at one point in time to create a
rental agreement. In technical terms, Rental Agreement is an associative entity because it
associates the Customer and Vehicle entities. These associative relationships are outlined
in the ERD below:
The relationships in this ERD can be summarized in the following declarative sentences:




A Rental Agreement has one and only one Customer.
A Rental Agreement has one and only one Vehicle.
A Customer can have zero, one, or more Rental Agreements.
A Vehicle can have zero, one, or more Rental Agreements.
These relationships reflect the current business practices of ABC Rental Company, Inc.
and do not limit the business in any way. Corporate customers are still capable of renting
more than one vehicle; our model simply points out that a rental agreement will be
needed for each vehicle rented. Attendants, Operations Supervisors, Rental Agents, and
all other employees still play key roles in the company, but they are not entities. In other
words, we are not storing data about the employees when we rent vehicles, but we are
storing data about the customers and the vehicles.
The Vehicle entity is particularly important in the maintenance phase of the re-rental
processes. The data on warranty, current mileage, and mileage intervals for maintenance
will need to be assessable as decisions are made about the re-rental status of each vehicle.
Accordingly, great care must be taken to choose proper attributes for this entity. Those
attributes are described in the fully attributed data model.
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1.9 Context Data Model
The next step is to identify the natural business processes for these entities. The
common-sense approach is to simply state, “Customers rent vehicles.” However, this is
not a specific relationship. Specific relationships will assist the system designers later in
the project as the current system is automated. Accordingly, the relationship, “Customers
rent vehicles,” needs to be broken down into two separate relationships with the Rental
Agreement acting as the middle ground.
A more refined statement of the relationship would be, “Customers enter into rental
agreements, and vehicles are available for those rental agreements.”
These relationships can be summarized in a context data model such as the diagram
below:
1.10 Key Based Data Model
The purpose of a key based data model is to identify keys for each entity. A key should
not change over the lifetime of the entity, it cannot be null, and it must be valid. The key
is the way that an entity is distinguished from all of the other entities.
In this project, each customer, vehicle, and rental agreement must have a key that makes
each record unique from all other customers, vehicles, and rental agreements. Each
customer has a customer number and each vehicle has a vehicle identification number.
These are natural keys for their respective entities.
Rental agreements present more of a problem. On the one hand, ABC Rental Company,
Inc. could assign a number to each rental agreement. This is the solution that is the most
straight-forward since it fits the current business practices of ABC Rental. On the other
hand, existing attributes within the rental agreement could be combined to create a unique
key for each rental agreement. This would allow ABC Rental to access the information
without creating a new key for the Rental Agreement.
In this case, the most straight-forward approach is the best approach. All personnel at
ABC Rental are accustomed to referring to Rental Agreements by number, and the
additional field does not create a lot of overhead for the database. Accordingly, the
Acme consultants will use a “Rental Agreement Number” as the primary key for Rental
Agreement.
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The key based context model is below:
1.11 Fully Attributed Data Model Description
The discussions at the JRP Acme Consulting on September 25 allowed the consultants at
Acme Consulting to pinpoint attributes for the Customer, Rental Agreement, and Vehicle
entities.
The Customer entity has all of the usual characteristics of customers at any business.
Many of these characteristics are used in purchasing and billing, and these are outside the
scope of the current project.
The Vehicle entity has attributes that will uniquely identify each vehicle in the fleet.
Mileage and the Mileage Maintenance Interval are important attributes for deciding when
a vehicle is available for re-rental or if it needs service.
The Rental Agreement entity uses Rental Agreement Number as its primary key. In
addition, each Rental Agreements is related to the Vehicle and Customer entities by the
presence of two foreign keys. This avoids duplication of data while still allowing a
vehicle and customer to be assigned to a particular rental agreement.
Acme Consulting uses a CASE tool that is restricted to six attributes per entity. The
diagram below must be viewed along with the table below the diagram to get the full
picture of the attributes for each entity.
A key decision in the re-rental process is whether or not to send a vehicle to Ashley Ford
for maintenance. A vehicle is unavailable for re-rental until the maintenance work is
completed. Fortunately, all of the information necessary for this decision is included in
the attributes for the Vehicle entity. No extra attributes are needed for an automated
system to refrain from making vehicles available when in fact they are at Ashley Ford.
Instead, the existing attributes will be compared to each other. This process will be
described more fully in the Physical Data Flow Diagram section of the document.
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1.11.1 Fully Attributed Data Model
More Customer
Attributes:
Zip Code
Phone Number
Credit Card Number
Credit Card Type
Credit Card Expiration Date
Other attributes are needed
to keep track of information
related to accounting (e.g.
Category of Customer) but
these are beyond the scope
of this project.
More Rental Agreement
Attributes:
Miles at Checkout
Miles at Return
Time of Return
Time Rented
Other attributes are
needed to keep track of
information related to
prices (e.g. Daily Rate,
Mileage Charges) but
these are beyond the
scope of this project.
More Vehicle Attributes:
Mileage Maintenance Interval
Monthly Maintenance Interval
Warranty Time Length
Warranty Miles Length
Date of Last Service
Date Purchased
Other attributes are needed to
keep track of information
related to prices (e.g.
Category of Car) but these are
beyond the scope of this
project.
1.12 Logical Data Model in Third Normal Form
Problems with the Vehicle entity emerge as the normalization process moves to the third
form. The data entries for the various attributes for maintenance as well as the attributes
for Vehicle Make and Vehicle Model will be repeated in the database for similar
vehicles. Also, the warranty information depends on attributes within Vehicle and not on
the Vehicle entity themselves.
Adding a fourth entity called Maintenance can eliminate these problems. This entity will
store data used in maintenance decisions. The primary key will be an integer, and this
key will be a foreign key in the Vehicle entity. This primary key simply identifies the
maintenance plan for a particular make, model, and year of a vehicle so that this data
does not need to be stored redundantly in the Vehicle table.
The new, normalized data model is below:
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More Customer
Attributes:
Zip Code
Phone Number
Credit Card Number
Credit Card Type
Credit Card Expiration Date
Other attributes are needed
to keep track of information
related to accounting (e.g.
Category of Customer) but
these are beyond the scope
of this project.
More Rental Agreement
Attributes:
Miles at Checkout
Miles at Return
Time of Return
Time Rented
Other attributes are
needed to keep track of
information related to
prices (e.g. Daily Rate,
Mileage Charges) but
these are beyond the
scope of this project.
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More Vehicle and
Maintenance Attributes:
Other attributes are needed to
keep track of information
related to prices (e.g.
Category of Car) but these are
beyond the scope of this
project.
20
1.13 Event Response Matrix
Next, Acme Consulting examined the findings of the JRP to pinpoint the business events
the system must respond to and the appropriate responses. The conclusions are
summarized in the Event Response Matrix on the next page.
The matrix allowed Acme Consulting to identify high-level processes that can be broken
down into component processes. An analysis of the matrix reveals that Vehicle CheckIn, Vehicle Checkout, and Maintenance processes play key roles at ABC Rental, with
many sub-processes contained within these larger processes.
The matrix shows the current system before automation. Many of the current processes
will continue to play roles in the new, automated system. However, several points appear
to be candidates for revision during the conversion to automation. First, the process of
sending batches of rental agreements to the Maintenance Office requires that vehicles
remain on the lot while the batch is assembled and submitted. Second, the cars still
remain unavailable for re-rental while the processes of reviewing the wipeboard and
matching that data with the data on the rental agreements are completed. The matrix is
on the page below:
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Subsystem
Actor
Event (or Use
Case)
Trigger
Responses
Check-In
Attendant
Checks in
vehicle
Customer
arrives at gate
with vehicle.
Check-In
Jiffy Lube
Vehicle is
cleaned.
Vehicle arrives
at Jiffy Lube
Attendant takes
keys, visually
inspects vehicle, and
fills in Rental
Agreement.
Jiffy Lube cleans
vehicle, returns it to
ABC Rental.
Check-In
Attendant
Forwards Rental
Agreements to
Operations
Supervisor.
Attendant is
done filling in
the Rental
Agreement.
The Operations
Supervisor collects
rental Agreements
all day long.
Check-In
Attendant
Gives copy of
rental
agreement to
customer.
Attendant is
done filling in
the Rental
Agreement.
Customer proceeds
to Rental Agent for
payment.
Check-In
Rental Agent
Receives
payment for
rented vehicle.
Receives copy
of Rental
Agreement
from customer.
End of business
day.
Customer exits
system.
Maintenance reviews
all Rental
Agreements and
looks at information
on wipe board for
each vehicle.
Maintenance Operations
Supervisor
Forwards a
batch of Rental
Agreements to
Maintenance
Office.
Maintenance Maintenance
Supervisor
Decisions are
made about
whether to send
vehicles to
Ashley Ford for
maintenance
work.
Maintenance
Supervisor
examines each
the mileage on
each Rental
Agreement
mileage.
Vehicles are either
sent to Ashley Ford
for maintenance or
made available for
re-rental.
Maintenance Ashley Ford
Performs
maintenance
work on
vehicles.
Called by
Maintenance
Office to pick
up a vehicle.
Performs
maintenance and
return vehicles to
ABC Rental.
Maintenance Ashley Ford
Return vehicles
to Maintenance
Department.
Maintenance is
completed on
vehicle.
Maintenance
approves vehicle for
re-rental.
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Subsystem Actor
Event (or Use
Case)
Trigger
Re-Rental
Maintenance
Office
Returns keys to
Rental Agents
Re-Rental
Rental Agents
Check Out
Rental Agent
Check Out
Rental Agent
Peg board is
checked for
availability of
desired vehicle.
Check Out
Rental Agent
Keys are given
Customer
receives vehicle. to customer.
Maintenance
Supervisor
okays vehicle
for re-rental.
Arranging keys Receives keys
on peg board for each morning
from
the days’
Maintenance
rentals.
Office.
Customer
Generates new
requests
Rental
vehicle.
Agreement.
Customer
selects desired
vehicle from
ABC Rental
categories.
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Responses
Rental Agents
receive keys in the
morning.
Awaits new
customers.
Peg board is checked
for vehicle
availability.
Vehicle is selected
based on availability.
Customers are
upgraded to next
category at no
charge if no vehicles
in desired category
are available.
Customer drives off
the lot.
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1.14 Context Data Flow Diagram
A context diagram visually represents the scope of the project and the boundaries of the
system. The net inputs and outputs are the business transactions and responses, and red
lines represent these. The external agents are the sources and destinations of the inputs
and outputs, and these are represented on the diagram by rectangles.
ABC Rental is satisfied with the roles being played by all external agents. No layoffs are
planned, and no contractual changes are being considered. However, ABC Rental is open
to ideas for reorganizing the various processes, transactions, and agents. The consultants
at Acme are concerned with two bottlenecks in the system. First, the process of
collecting batches of rental agreements by the Operations Supervisor, as seen in the
bottom right corner of the following diagram, requires that vehicles remain on the lot
while the batch is assembled and submitted. Second, the cars still remain unavailable for
re-rental while the process of converting data to information via the wipeboard is
completed. This process is seen in the lower left part of the following diagram.
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1.15 Functional Decomposition Diagram
Functional decomposition diagrams are drawn to divide the system into logical subunits,
subsystems, or subfunctions. In this case, the ABC Rental Company’s Vehicle Rental
System can be divided into two subsystems, which are called Rental and Maintenance.
This partition is represented in the diagram below:
1.16 Event Decomposition Diagram
An event decomposition diagram is a visual representation that further divides the system
into sub-processes. Large processes are broken down into constituent processes. The
relationships between the functions and events can be clearly seen. The consultants at
Acme use this type of diagram to discuss the processes and better understand the current
system. Also, this diagram can be shown to the users at ABC Rental and not overwhelm
them with details and complexity. It is a good modeling tool to bridge the gap between
users and analysts.
The event decomposition diagram for ABC Rental is on the next page.
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1.17 System Diagram
A system diagram looks at the big picture after decomposing a system into constituent
parts. How do the parts fit together? The diagram on the following page is a visual
representation of all processes involved when checking in a vehicle, checking out a
vehicle, and maintaining the vehicle.
Once again, the consultants at Acme are concerned about the role of Operations
Supervisor as rental agreements are collected and then submitted as a batch. Cars are not
available for re-rental during this time. Also, the consultants are concerned about the
time delay as the vehicle maintenance wipeboard is updated with new data and then
information is returned to the system.
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1.18 Candidate Matrix
Acme Consulting considered many technology options for ABC Rental for the
conversion from manual to automated systems. The consultants have close working
relationships with many vendors, including Oracle, Sybase, Microsoft, and Novell.
Additionally, the consultants have a working knowledge of publicly available solutions
such as MySQL and Linux. Several factors emerged as primary factors as candidate
solutions were considered:





Is the solution scaleable?
Is the solution easily supported?
Does the solution enhance other business processes at ABC Rental?
Can the solution be implemented and tested quickly, with a final solution in place
by Thanksgiving?
Do other solutions exist that are equally effective but at a lower price?
Microsoft Access is a good database for small businesses. However, it has problems with
scalability. ABC Rental is expecting moderate growth in the coming years, which makes
Access an unacceptable choice.
Oracle and Sybase are excellent products, but they carry a higher price tag. They are
more suitable for larger corporations or for businesses expecting unusually rapid growth.
Other solutions are available for ABC Rental at a lower price.
MySQL is an excellent database for a range of business sizes. The software is free, and
MySQL is compatible with most database tools. Accordingly, MySQL is a serious
contender for this job. The one weak aspect of MySQL is training and support. Acme
Consultants recommends solutions to all customers with the expectation that customers
may want to eventually support the systems internally rather than relying on the
personnel at Acme. MySQL does not have the certified training infrastructure that other
potential database candidates enjoy. Candidate 3, which has the lowest startup costs of
all candidates, relies on MySQL as the central software for the database, but the lack of
certified training options limits the role of MySQL to Candidate 3 only.
Microsoft SQL Server carries a lower price tag than Oracle and Sybase. It is a stable
product for small and medium businesses. Training options for ABC Rental personnel
are easily available at many Omaha locations. For these reasons, it is the conclusion of
the consultants at Acme that SQL Server provides the optimum solution for ABC Rental.
On the network side, Novell once was the first choice for LANs. However, their current
products are more difficult to support than Microsoft, and the presence of Novell might
limit scalability in the coming years. Other contenders for the network server market
include Linux and UNIX. However, it is easier to support the Microsoft products that are
aimed at the small and medium business market. The users at ABC Rental are familiar
with Microsoft, training options can be provided quickly and cheaply, and support for a
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Microsoft network is relatively easy to arrange. Accordingly, Acme Consulting bases all
three candidates on Microsoft products.
Acme Consulting recommends Candidate 1 from the table below. The LAN and database
succeed in automating the processes involved in vehicle check-in, check-out, and
maintenance while at the same time extending the benefits of the LAN investment to all
aspects of ABC Rental. The other candidates are presented as lower-cost solutions that
are scaleable for future expansion up to the level of Candidate 1. The extra costs for
Candidate 1 are for dedicated phone lines and extra servers. The costs of file servers,
email servers, and phone lines are easy quantify, but it is not as easy to assign a dollar
value to the benefits. Nevertheless, it is the firm conclusion of Acme Consulting, based
on 20 years of experience in data communications, that these costs are more than offset
by the benefits of extending the LAN and the database to real-time, company-wide
communications.
A central feature of all three candidates is the role of wireless devices for the attendants.
Acme checked with the federal government to make sure that wireless network devices
are permissible for a site such as ABC Rental that is relatively close to airports. Cell
phones present special problems because of their range, but these devices are Ethernet,
which has a very limited range. The wireless devices in these candidates present no
problems. The limited range of the devices allow ABC Rental to use them, and the
mobility of the devices make them an ideal choice for the roving Attendants as vehicles
are checked in and out.
Characteristics
Portion of System Computerized
Brief description of that portion of
the system that would be
computerized in this candidate.
Benefits
Brief description of the business
benefits that would be realized for
this candidate.
Candidate 1:
SQL Server and Full LAN
Solution
The business processes
involved with vehicle check in,
vehicle check out, and vehicle
maintenance.
Candidate 2:
SQL Server and Email
Solution
The business processes
involved with vehicle check
in, vehicle check out, and
vehicle maintenance.
Candidate 3:
MySQL Database Only
Solution
The business processes
involved with vehicle check
in, vehicle check out, and
vehicle maintenance.
The current manual system
will be replaced with an
automated system, resulting in
faster turnaround time for
vehicle re-rental.
This solution extends the
advantages of the LAN to file
sharing and email, which will
enhance information sharing
and decision making within the
company.
This solution allows the
company to rely on the easily
supported Microsoft packages.
All intra-company processes
related to vehicle check-in,
check-out, and maintenance
are performed in real-time.
Real-time transactions are
possible due to the presence of
dedicated phone lines.
Data is centralized data, which
is less complex than
distributed data. This will aid
in maintaining the integrity of
The current manual system
will be replaced with an
automated system, resulting
in faster turnaround time for
vehicle re-rental.
This lower-priced solution
also enables email for all
employees, which will
enhance information
sharing and decisionmaking within the
company.
This solution allows the
company to rely on the
easily supported Microsoft
packages.
The solution is scaleable
when a larger investment is
possible.
Dial-up phone lines save on
communications costs while
still allowing the two hour
turn-around goal to be met.
The current manual system
will be replaced with an
automated system, resulting
in faster turnaround time for
vehicle re-rental.
This lowest-cost solution
focuses exclusively on
automating the business
processes involved with
vehicle check in, vehicle
check out, and vehicle
maintenance. However, the
solution is scaleable when a
larger investment is
necessary.
Dial-up phone lines save on
communications costs while
still allowing the two hour
turn-around goal to be met.
This solution allows the
company to customize the
freeware MySQL as its
database while still using
the easily supported
Microsoft array of software
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Servers and Workstations
A description of the servers and
workstations needed to support this
candidate.
Software Tools Needed
Software tools needed to design and
build the candidate (e. g., database
management system, emulators,
operating systems, languages, etc.).
Not generally applicable if
applications software packages are
to be purchased.
Application Software
A description of the software to be
purchased, built, accessed, or some
combination of these techniques.
Method of Data Processing
Generally some combination of: online, batch, deferred batch, remote
batch, and real-time.
Output Devices and Implications
A description of output devices that
would be used, special output
requirements, (e.g. network,
preprinted forms, etc.), and output
considerations (e.g., timing
constraints).
the database.
The file server allows users to
back up their local files
quickly and easily.
The solution is scaleable.
Existing workstations will be
used.
Three new servers will be
purchased and used as an
email server, file server, and
database server.
Network printers plug directly
into the network rather than
using a separate print server.
packages for other aspects
of the solution.
The standard operating system
for all PCs is Windows 2000
Professional.
The email server uses
Microsoft Exchange.
The file server uses Microsoft
2000 Server.
The database server uses
Microsoft SQL Server.
Developers use Visual Studio.
Existing workstations will
be used.
Two new servers will be
purchased and used as an
email server and database
server.
Network printers plug
directly into the network
rather than using a separate
print server.
The standard operating
system for all PCs is
Windows 2000
Professional.
The email server uses
Microsoft Exchange.
The database server uses
Microsoft SQL Server.
Developers use Visual
Studio.
All PCs already have Office
2000 and a web browser.
Purchases include the server
software for Exchange, 2000
Server, and SQL Server.
Developers will use Visual
Studio to add any necessary
user interfaces to the server
software.
All PCs already have Office
2000 and a web browser.
Purchases include the server
software for Exchange and
SQL Server.
Developers will use Visual
Studio to add any additional
user interfaces to SQL
Server.
Data from Rental Agents and
the Maintenance Office is
processed in real-time from
PCs.
Data from Attendants is
processed in real-time via
wireless devices that
communicate directly with the
LAN.
Data from Ashley Ford is
processed as batches as the
data arrives in the Maintenance
Office.
Data from remotes sites is
processed in real time over
dedicated phone lines.
Data from Rental Agents
and the Maintenance Office
is processed in real time
from PCs.
Data from Attendants is
processed in real-time via
wireless devices that
communicate directly with
the LAN.
Data from Ashley Ford is
processed as batches as the
data arrives in the
Maintenance Office.
The database is distributed
based on geographic
location. Data from remote
sites is synchronized hourly
with the database as batches
over dial-up phone lines.
Rental agreements are
printed with impact printers
on pre-printed forms, with
one copy still going to the
customer and one copy still
going to the Operations
Supervisor as a backup
paper copy for archive and
tax purposes.
One laser network printer is
available to each
workgroup, with an average
of ten employees per
workgroup.
Rental agreements are printed
with impact printers on preprinted forms, with one copy
still going to the customer and
one copy still going to the
Operations Supervisor as a
backup paper copy for archive
and tax purposes.
One laser network printer is
available to each workgroup,
with an average of ten
employees per workgroup.
The Attendants use wireless
devices to display vehicle
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Existing workstations will
be used.
One new server will be
purchased and used as a
database server.
Network printers plug
directly into the network
rather than using a separate
print server.
The standard operating
system for all PCs is
Windows 2000
Professional.
The database server uses
Microsoft 2000 Server as
the operating system and
MySQL as the database
software.
Developers use Visual
Studio.
All PCs already have Office
2000 and a web browser.
Developers will use Visual
Studio to create the user
interfaces for MySQL.
Data from Rental Agents
and the Maintenance Office
is processed in real-time
from PCs.
Data from Attendants is
processed in real-time via
wireless devices that
communicate directly with
the LAN.
Data from Ashley Ford is
processed as batches as the
data arrives in the
Maintenance Office.
The database is distributed
based on geographic
location. Data from remote
sites is synchronized hourly
with the database as batches
over dial-up phone lines.
Rental agreements are
printed with impact printers
on pre-printed forms, with
one copy still going to the
customer and one copy still
going to the Operations
Supervisor as a backup
paper copy for archive and
tax purposes.
One laser network printer is
available to each
workgroup, with an average
of ten employees per
workgroup.
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Input Devices and Implications
A description of Input methods to
be used, input devices (e.g.,
keyboard, mouse, etc.), special
input requirements, (e.g. new or
revised forms from which data
would be input), and input
considerations (e.g., timing of
actual inputs).
Storage Devices and Implications
Brief description of what data
would be stored, what data would
be accessed from existing stores,
what storage media would be used,
how much storage capacity would
be needed, and how data would be
organized.
information the point of check
in and check out.
Email is used to communicate
information and decisions not
normally handled by the
database.
The Attendants use wireless
devices to display vehicle
information the point of
check in and check out.
Email is used to
communicate information
and decisions not normally
handled by the database.
Rental Agents use standard
PCs at the counter to input data
for rental agreements and
request information on vehicle
availability.
The Maintenance Office uses
standard PCs to access the
database.
Attendants input vehicle
information using wireless
devices connected directly to
the LAN.
The database is stored on the
hard drives of the database
server. This server is equipped
with redundant hard drives for
extra security.
All servers are backed up to
tape nightly.
The hard drives for the servers
are adequate for the size of the
company and the database.
The hard drives for the clients
are adequate for the client
software required.
Users back up their files on the
C: drives to the home
directories on the file server.
The database includes all
information about customers,
rental agreements, and
vehicles. The relational tables
are centrally located. The
presence of dedicated links
between sites, the small size of
the tables and the relatively
infrequent accessing of records
allow for a centralized
database rather than
distributing it between
locations.
Each location has its own fleet
of vehicles to minimize
problems with the shared data.
Rental Agents use standard
PCs at the counter to input
data for rental agreements
and request information on
vehicle availability.
The Maintenance Office
uses standard PCs to access
the database.
Attendants input vehicle
information using wireless
devices connected directly
to the LAN.
The database is stored on
the hard drives of the
database server. This server
is equipped with redundant
hard drives for extra
security.
All servers are backed up to
tape nightly.
The hard drives for the
servers are adequate for the
size of the company and the
database.
The hard drives for the
clients are adequate for the
client software required.
The database includes all
information about
customers, rental
agreements, and vehicles.
The relational tables are
distributed between the two
locations. The tables are
synchronized via dial-up
phone lines hourly.
Each location has its own
fleet of vehicles to
minimize problems with the
shared data.
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The Attendants use wireless
devices to display vehicle
information the point of
check in and check out.
Telephones, paper
messages, and personal
visits are used to
communicate information
and decisions not normally
handled by the database.
Rental Agents use standard
PCs at the counter to input
data for rental agreements
and request information on
vehicle availability.
Attendants input vehicle
information using wireless
devices connected directly
to the LAN.
The database is stored on
the hard drives of the
database server. The server
is equipped with redundant
hard drives for extra
security.
The server is backed up to
tape nightly.
The hard drives for the
server are adequate for the
size of the company and the
database.
The hard drives for the
clients are adequate for the
client software required.
The database includes all
information about
customers, rental
agreements, and vehicles.
The relational tables are
distributed between the two
locations. The tables are
synchronized via dial-up
phone lines hourly.
Each location has its own
fleet of vehicles to
minimize problems with the
shared data.
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1.19 Physical Data Flow Diagram
As discussed previously, the batch of rental agreements that is collected and submitted
each day is a bottleneck in the current system. The consultants at Acme recommend that
the Attendants update the database directly from the field via their wireless devices.
Attendants can then be immediately notified about the re-rental status of each vehicle.
Also, Acme recommends that the processes of checking the wipeboard against the rental
agreements be automated as much as possible. However, the Maintenance Office
continues to play a key role in decisions on maintaining the fleet of vehicles. In order to
automate the various processes, the following recommendations are made:






Attendants will enter data on vehicles directly into the database.
Attendants will be notified immediately about the re-rental status of the vehicles.
The Maintenance Office will receive reports on vehicle maintenance needs and
then contact Ashley Ford accordingly.
Notification of when a vehicle warranty has expired will be included in the
reports on maintenance needs.
The Maintenance Office will convert all paper records from Ashley Ford to the
database.
The Maintenance Office will enter all data for new vehicles into the database.
These changes are reflected in the Physical Data Flow Diagram on the following page.
One aspect of the diagram deserves special note. The decision of whether or not to send
a vehicle to Ashley Ford depends on the mileage of the vehicle at check-in, the date of
the last maintenance, the mileage interval for maintenance, and the monthly interval for
maintenance. All of these factors are attributes in the database.
One of the jobs of the programming interface is to examine these attributes and alert
ABC Rental personnel that a vehicle needs maintenance. The vehicle will remain
unavailable for re-rental until the Maintenance Office updates the date of the last
maintenance.
The special business rules that interact with existing database attributes and result in a
vehicle being sent to Ashley Ford for maintenance are as follows:


Monthly maintenance intervals are converted to days for more precision.
If a vehicle’s mileage is equal to or greater than the recommended maintenance
mileage interval minus 200 miles, then the vehicle goes for maintenance.
However, this is only when it is also true that the date of last maintenance is
greater than the recommended monthly maintenance interval. This will prevent a
car being maintained twice during one maintenance cycle.
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

If the last date of maintenance for a vehicle on the lot is equal to the current date
minus the recommended monthly interval for mileage, then the car goes for
maintenance.
The Maintenance Office enters all data from Ashley Ford for vehicle
maintenance. The vehicle is available for re-rental when the date of the last
maintenance is updated.
The physical data flow diagram is on the following page:
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1.20 Database Design
The scope of this project requires four tables in a relational database. The first table is
the Customer table. The attributes are listed in the database schema below. It is
important to note that these attributes are involved in the processes of checking in and
checking out a vehicle. Other attributes are necessary to use the table for other aspects of
vehicle rental such as payment method or marketing information.
The second table is Vehicle. The list of attributes involved in re-renting a vehicle is
surprisingly small. However, it is important to note that we are not tracking all
information on the vehicles. Once again, other attributes are necessary to use the table
for other aspects of the business such as marketing category, billing category, setting a
resale price, or a history of major repairs.
The third table is Rental Agreement. The TIME attributes for this entity are included in
order to track the degree of success in meeting the goal of a two hour turnaround time for
vehicle re-rental. The other attributes assist in automating the process of check-in and
check-out.
The fourth table is Maintenance. The attributes allow decisions to be made about
maintaining the vehicles without duplicating a lot of data in the Vehicle table. This table
was added during the third form of the normalization process
The ERD for the database was created in the DeZign tool. This tool is limited to six
attributes per entity, but the diagram provides a helpful way to visualize the database:
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The scripts below were created from the ERD above using the DeZign tool, with the
output set for SQL databases. This script is compatible with both Microsoft SQL Server
7.0 and MySQL.
CREATE TABLE Customer(
Customer Number INT NOT NULL,
First Name CHAR(20),
Last Name CHAR(20),
Street Address CHAR(40),
City CHAR(25),
State CHAR(2),
Zip Code CHAR(10),
Phone Number CHAR(15)
Credit Card Number CHAR(25),
Credit Card Type CHAR(25),
Credit Card Expiration Date DATE,
PRIMARY KEY (Customer Number));
CREATE TABLE Maintenance(
Maintenance Schedule INT NOT NULL,
Make of Vehicle CHAR(20),
Model of Vehicle CHAR(20),
Mileage Maintenance Interval INT,
Monthly Maintenance Interval INT,
Warranty Time Length INT,
PRIMARY KEY (Maintenance Schedule));
CREATE TABLE Vehicle(
Vehicle Identification Number INT NOT NULL,
Maintenance Schedule INT NOT NULL,
Vehicle Color CHAR(15),
Mileage INT,
Date Purchased DATE,
Date of Last Service DATE,
FOREIGN KEY (Maintenance Schedule) REFERENCES Maintenance (Maintenance
Schedule),
PRIMARY KEY (Vehicle Identification Number));
CREATE TABLE Rental Agreement(
Rental Agreement Number INT NOT NULL,
Vehicle Number INT NOT NULL,
Customer Number INT NOT NULL,
Date Rented DATE,
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Date to be Returned DATE,
Actual Date of Return DATE,
Miles at Checkout INT,
Miles at Return INT,
Time of Return TIME,
Time Rented TIME,
FOREIGN KEY (Customer Number) REFERENCES Customer (Customer Number),
FOREIGN KEY (Vehicle Number) REFERENCES Vehicle (Vehicle Identification
Number),
PRIMARY KEY (Rental Agreement Number));
The physical database schema is a combination of the ERD, the attributes, and the
properties of the attributes. It is an effective way to visualize the database. The physical
database schema is below:
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1.21 User Interface Screens
Screen one is used for attendant to track car inventory, period of rental agreement,
mileage of car rented and track payment. Damage description section is for the attendant
to mark or note. Any significant damage to the vehicle, this information is then used to
assign the cost of damage to customer and refer vehicle to chief maintenance if required.
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Screen two is used for Maintenance of all returned vehicles. This screen shows the
mileage of the vehicles upon departure and return. This screen also notes any damage
that has occurred during the rental agreement, the location and the severity of the damage
to vehicle. Upon review of the attendants’ remarks and visual assessment of damage,
then the decision is made to send the vehicle through to Ashley or stay for maintenance.
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