BAUHINIA is a clothing brand in Sri Lanka, founded in 2018, which has come a long way, offering
Sri Lankans with great designs of a variety of clothing. Currently, BAUHINIA is handling orders
through social media networks such as Facebook and Instagram. Customers can message
BAUHINIA requesting an item/s by sending the item code, size and required quantity. If the item
is available, the customer is required to send the delivery address, contact number to confirm the
order. The package with the required item/s will be delivered to the customer's doorstep within
3 to 5 working days, after which he/she must pay cash on delivery.
Over the years, BAUHINIA has grown steadily mainly due to its popularity over social media.
However, they are finding it increasingly difficult to cope up with paperwork associated with
inventory management due to the increased of number of orders through message requests. The
Managing Director is frustrated by the problems associated with inventory management and has
decided that BAUHINIA will consult a Software Development Company to automate the workflow
of BAUHINIA Clothing.
AKL Software (AKL) is a software development consultant. AKL has purpose-built rooms for
Facilitated Workshops and Agile software development projects. The Managing Director of
BAUHINIA has decided to contract AKL for the development of the new order tracking system
using an Agile development approach.
The new online solution will replace the old approach and islikely to include some of the following
functionality:
Customer Registration and sign-in : Allow customers to register free. At the time of
registration, customers need to provide name, email address, delivery address, password
and two working telephone numbers. Registered customers can sign-in using email
address and password
Browse for products: through product catalog, check availability and add products to
cart.
Checkout products: Total amount to be paid will be shown. Customer will be redirected
to confirm billing details: Name, delivery address, email address, two contact numbers.
Payment method will be cash on delivery.
Staff registration and sign-in.
Create a daily report of orders that have been requested - carried out by the Production
Manager.
Create a daily report of product availability- carried out by Production Manager.
Add new items to inventory, update existing item details - carried out by Inventory
handling Clerk.
Create a monthly Income report- carried out of chief Accountant.
The new online solution should have the following levels of access:
Report only
Update only
Update and delete
Complete system access
1.1 Produce a well-defined Problem definition statement supported by a set of user and System requirements for the above scenario. Identify areas (if any) of risk that might affect the successful completion of the application.
1.2 Produce a well-structured Software Design Document that defines a proposed solution for BAUHINIA by exploring and analyzing their business problem. Include relevant details on requirements, system analysis, system design. (propose a suitable language)
Investigate the use of software development tools and techniques for the chosen software solution. Compare the investigated tools and techniques and justify the chosen tools, technique and methodology that you may use for the development of an Inventory Control Application for BAUHINIA .
3.1 Create a presentation to review followings;
Business application
Problem definition statement
Proposed solution
Development strategy
Conduct a peer-review and identify opportunities that were not previously considered by interpreting the recorded feedback.
3.2 Develop a business application with support documentation, based on the Software Design Document produced in activity 1, along with supportive evidence for using the preferred tools, techniques and methodologies investigated in activity 2. Assess new ideas or possible improvements to the system developed while justifying the reasons for including/not including them in the application developed.
Conduct a critical review for the design, development, and testing stages of the Inventory Control application by analyzing the factors that influence its performance against the problem definition statement and initial requirements. Conclude the review by reflectively discussing the risks identified at the beginning and critically evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of the application developed. Identify and justify the opportunities for improvement and further development of the application you developed.
5W1H is the abbreviation summarizing the following six questions: What? Who? Where?
When? Why? How? This method consists of asking a systematic set of questions to collect
all the data necessary to draw up a report of the existing situation with the aim of identifying
the true nature of the problem and describing the context precisely.
Within a critical and constructive analysis process, it is essential to compile exhaustive quality
data. Hence the use of open questions requiring supported answers, thereby helping to
pinpoint, clarify and delineate the problem.
Better knowledge of all the dimensions of a problem will then make it possible to suggest
appropriate measures to take the right corrective actions. Sometimes the method is referred
to as the “five Ws” only, with “How” ignored as it does not fit the pattern, but nonetheless
used. (humanpurf 2019)
Implementation and applications of the 5W1H method
The 5W1H method breaks down into three main stages:
1. Describe the initial situation;
2. Determine the key factors and prioritise them;
3. Propose fitting and, importantly, effective, actions.
The 5W1H questions are used to establish the situation (phase 1). On the basis of the answers
and overview obtained, it is possible to find the critical factors (phase 2) and then offer
solutions (phase 3).
Keeping it simple, a list of sample questions and explanations follows
Explanation: Description of the task, the activity, the problem, the project purpose.
Targets: Purpose, actions, procedures, machines, etc
Sample questions: What is the problem or risk? What is the situation? What are the
product characteristics? How does the service work?
Explanation: Describe the place or location involved
Targets: Premises, workshop, workstation, etc.
Sample questions: Where does the problem apply? Are the premises easy to access? On which machine is the
problem located?
Explanation: Determine the time when the situation took, takes or will take place3
Targets: Dates, duration, frequency, etc.
Sample questions: How long does it take? When is the installation date? How often does the problem
arise?
Explanation: Determine the way to proceed, the steps and method employed.
Explanation: Determine the way to proceed, the steps and method employed.
Targets: Procedures, organizational methods, the actions, means and techniques used, etc.
Sample questions: Under what conditions or circumstances? How is the department organized? What are the
methods used? What resources are employed?
Explanation: Determine the resources and equipment needed.
Targets: Quantities, budget, etc
Sample questions: What is the cost? What resources are needed? How many mandays?