INTRODUCTION
A hybrid system is basically one that is flexible and structurally encompasses a large category of systems. Automobiles (motor cars) majorly deal with machines that are designed to operate on roads, have four wheels and are basically used for transport purposes. This proposal is going to deal with a hybrid system for automobiles for a company of my own called Ferry Automobiles Company. This company deals majorly in automobiles of various brands like Ferraris, Porsches, Toyotas, and Isuzu among others (Sperling, Daniel, 2004).
Research has shown that management of these company customers and automobiles in terms of development and sales has not been so efficient due to lack of a proper system. This inefficiency has led to lack of profitability and poor running of the automobiles. This has consequently led to the need to develop a proper hybrid system that would ensure proper management of these automobiles and so enhance the profitability of the company. This proposal contains the background to the project, potential solutions, project descriptions, supplemental sections and the conclusion.
BACKGROUND TO THE PROBLEM
Generally, The Ferry Automobile Company deals with the development and sale of automobiles as discussed above. These need to be managed well to enhance efficiency and profitability. These management issues involve keeping a database of all automobiles available, having a record of daily sales, job orders, purchases, material issues, the state of available automobiles among others.
It also involves retrieving these records and generating reports accordingly for instance on a daily basis. This company however has no computerized system for carrying out these management issues but instead still uses traditional files. This has resulted in a lot of inefficiency in keeping track of and retrieving all the available automobiles of the company, managing purchases, and job orders, among others things mentioned above. This has resulted in the company loosing a lot money, customers and other resources like the automobiles themselves because of no proper record management. There is therefore a serious need to develop a hybrid automobiles information system that will be used by the Ferry automobile company for general management so as to increase its efficiency and profitability (Dhameja, Sandeep, 2001)
POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS
The system, through its fastness, efficiency and reliability, is geared towards providing a number of solutions to these numerous problems to make the company meet its goal. It will have a database of all the available automobiles allowing users to keep track of and easily retrieve them. It will also have a provision for allowing users to check or retrieve the various purchases of automobiles, retrieving the job orders for the automobiles, keeping a record of all purchases for management, keeping track of all the materials that are needed for the management of development and sales of all the automobiles, and keeping track of all the types of automobiles that the company deals in among others (Rugh, J.; Farrington, 2008).
The hybrid automobile system will also have a website interface that is connected to the database that will allow the users to know more about the company. This will be in terms of the goods and services that are offered and the various details of the same. There are quite a number of solutions to problems created by lack of a proper system that this system will actually provide also. This will generally ensure efficiency and effectiveness of management leading to the increase in the profitability of the company (IEEE Xplore, 2001).
PROJECT DESCRIPTIONS
The project description includes or covers the type of project, scope, methodology among other things. This project is actually a management system based development project. It will generally cover a database of all the automobiles and services pertaining to the same that are offered by this company. It also will involve an interface that will allow users or customers for that matter to access all relevant information they need about the company pertaining its business. In order to achieve the objectives that have been set aside, a good methodology needs to be chosen for the project. The one that will be used for this case is the Software Development Life Cycle methodology which involves the processes below.
The purpose for choosing this model is to allow additional features or make changes that could not be conceived during the requirements and design phase since the project has high risks in user interface and performance requirements.
Some of the hardware resources needed for this project is a personal computer, storage devices for back up purposes, a LaserJet printer for printing the project documentation, and a digital camera for taking the pictorial views of various automobiles and uploading them in the system (Yuk-sum, 2008).
Some of the software requirements are Windows XP operating system to provide a platform for the project work, MySQL database software for building the database, Adobe Photoshop for editing the photos, Macromedia Suite (include Dreamweaver, Fireworks and Flash) needed to design and develop the system using HTML, CSS, JavaScript and PHP among others. Stationary and other company literature and records are also required to build the system.
SUPPLIMENTAL SECTIONS
This section involves other activities that will be involved in the project like the schedule, budget among others. The project schedule basically deals with the time allocations for the various activities carried out during the project period. This project will take an appropriate period of three months and will be allocated to the various activities, outlined in the life cycle discussed above, accordingly. The project will also need quite some financial resources for activities like information research, project documentation, needed hardware and software, travelling, miscellaneous among other things.
CONCUSION
The Ferry automobiles Company performs various activities as it deals in automobiles. It has a number of resources or facilities that are very instrumental in its achieving its goal. The categories of automobiles that it deals in are already discussed above. Currently, these resources and activities are managed manually has proved inefficient hence reducing the general performance of the company. For instance it is generally difficult and time consuming to retrieve records and produce reports of various automobiles.
This automobile dynamic management system is therefore going to be developed basically using suitable database design software and PHP for database linkage to a given site. Achieving this system will go a long way in helping this company efficiently manage its resources, automobiles and activities hence save on time and provide quality/satisfactory services to its customers.
Sources
- Wong, Yuk-sum. System design and energy management. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University press, 2008.
- IEEE Xplore. Vehicle Power and Propulsion. Berkshire: IEEE, 2006.
- Dhameja, Sandeep. Electric vehicle battery systems. Boston: Newnes, 2001.
- Sperling, Daniel. Cannon, James Spencer, vehicle electronics. Boston: Elsevier, 2004.
- Rugh, J.; Farrington, Rob B. Vehicle ancillary load reduction project. NY: National Renewable Energy Laboratory, 2008
