Assignment Specification

SWE5106

Systems Analysis and Design

NOTE: THIS WILL BE THE ONLY FULL ASSIGNMENT. PLEASE JUST FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS AND DO AS IT SAYS.

THERE ARE TWO (2) TASKS, AND EACH ONE OF THEM NEEDS TO BE IN A SEPARATE .DOC FILE.

Course/Program BSc (Hons) Computing

Module Name SWE5106: Systems Analysis and Design

Assessment Number 1 of 1

Assessment Type (and weighting) Case Study (100%)

Assessment Name Information System Analysis and Design project with documentation

Issue Date 2 November 2020

Assessment Submission Date Case study Task – 27 November 2020 by 23:55

Learning Outcomes Assessed

LO1: Apply a structured method to the analysis and design of an information system.

LO2: Investigate, document and understand an information system.

LO3: Analyse an information system defining requirements, problems and solutions.

LO4: Apply analysis and design methods to varied scenarios.

LO5: Appraise the underpinning principles of structured methods.

SCENARIO

Case Study: Knott End Marine Engineering

Knott End Marine is owned and run by the Arkwright family. They build and repair a wide variety of small craft, from fishing boats to racing yachts. There are three boat yards:

Knott End Yachts on the Isle of Wight,

Durham Trawlers in the North East,

Arkwright Barges on the Manchester Ship Canal.

Customer loyalty is important in marine engineering. Knott End’s customers rarely have to depend on a different company in an emergency because there is a Knott End yard within towing distance of most of the busiest waterways in England. If Knott End are to retain this advantage, each of their yards must be able to repair any small craft.

Each yard has a small chandler’s shop supplying bottled gas, rope, life jackets and other necessities. Any chandler is expected to stock a wide range of items as a service to customers, so they tend not to be very profitable.

Each yard employs several skilled craftsmen, each with an apprentice. Most apprentices move on to larger companies, so experienced craftsmen are in short supply. They are well paid, and often treated as part of the Arkwright family. Students and semi-skilled workers are employed on a temporary basis during the summer.

Each yard has a PC and printer. They communicate with each other by phone, sometimes by email using the owners email account. Knott End Yachts use a computer-aided design system, mostly to impress customers. There is a group-wide stock control system for all four chandlers. The last formal stock-take (15 months ago) found that actual stock levels were 28% lower than those in the computer. Golez Financial services keep ledgers and prepare accounts using a standard accountancy package. All three yards use the same basic bill-of-materials package when estimating costs and printing contracts. All employees are paid weekly by hand-written cheque. Their wages are calculated, and payslips printed by Golez Financial Services. Each yard specialises in building a different type of boat.

Knott End Yachts is the largest, most prestigious and least profitable of the three yards. They build yachts to order for wealthy customers. Broughton Cole-Smythe has run this yard for over forty years. He claims that their customers are more demanding, which is why profit margins are so low. Their customers insist on a lateness penalty clause in their contracts, so any yacht that is delivered late will make a loss. They normally have enough work to keep the yard occupied, but Broughton has not yet won any contracts in the lucrative market of sailing schools that maintain a fleet of cheap standard yachts. Ten years ago, Broughton established Knott End Yacht Chandlers in the centre of Portsmouth. This outlet has become highly profitable by supplying inexperienced amateur yachtsmen and canoeists with expensive books and clothing.

Durham Trawlers is a small yard that has suffered from the drastic decline in the fishing industry. They only built two vessels in the last three years. In that time, they broke up seventeen old vessels. Most of their work is repairs and that is highly seasonal. The last competitor in the area went out of business this year. They now have orders for two more vessels, so it looks as if they have survived the worst. To keep the yard in work, Stephen Arkwright signed a contract to repair Navy frigates, but the competition was so fierce that profits had to be cut to the bone. Government work often does make a loss.

Arkwright Barges is the oldest yard. Their order books are always full. They contract as much work as they can out to the other yards, but canal barges are highly specialized and there is a long history of bitter quarrels about the quality of fittings provided by the other two yards. When Elizabeth Arkwright inherited this yard from her grandfather, she asked the family for capital to move to a larger site. They stalled for five years until eventually she raised enough money on her own account to buy a large derelict yard near the Mersey Boat Museum. ICI have offered to buy the old yard if the move is completed in the next three months. Haamera Elmufti, the family solicitor, eventually persuaded the family to sell the old yard to ICI and to buy the new one from Elizabeth, but they resent the fact that she made quite a profit on the deal.

For all vessels, the hull is the largest and most expensive component. Knott End Marine do not manufacture their own hulls, but they have a stake in each manufacturer that supplies them with hulls:

Richard Arkwright-Jones owns 10% of Inscoe Rail plc. in Sheffield, who manufacture the expensive steel hulls.

Richard also owns the site in Runcorn where Presco Plastics manufacture the cheaper fibreglass hulls.

Ellwood Oak Ltd. always supplied large pieces of seasoned hardwood that are needed to repair the oldest vessels. Paul Arkwright owns the local sawmill that buys most of their timber and stores it for at least three years. If wood is not stored for long enough, it may split or warp.

Knott End’s board of directors is chaired by:

Richard Arkwright-Jones, group director

The directors of the three yards are:

Broughton Cole-Smythe (husband of Amelia Arkwright) for Knott End Yachts

Stephen Arkwright for Durham Trawlers

Elizabeth Arkwright for Arkwright Barges

Also, on the board are two professional advisors:

Trevor Hinton representing the group’s solicitors

Ankha Golez, the accountant.

The board meets in Manchester every fortnight to discuss:

The transport of large items between the yards,

News about customers, suppliers and competitors,

Progress with negotiating contracts to build new boats.

The professional advisors are out-numbered by family members. However, sometimes they find an ally in the family solicitor, Haamera Elmufti. Hameera consistently refuses any official involvement in business decisions. However, if Trevor and Ankha convince her that the family should take a major decision, she can usually get everyone to agree.

Task

You have been tasked with undertaking a Systems Analysis with the aim of providing the board with more accurate management information which allow them to accurately assess the profitability of the group.

Be aware that there may be other information which may inform your decision that you may need to obtain.

You will have the opportunity to spend 15 min questioning members of the board on any aspects of the company operation you wish to clarify.

Deliverables

You are to analyse the Case Study scenario and produce the following standard systems analysis artefacts.

Case Study Task 1: LO2 Weighting 20%

A feasibility study for the proposed system which includes a justified conclusion.

Task 1 should be presented in a single word document titled XXXXXXXXSWE5106.doc where XXXXXXX represents your student ID.

Case Study Task 2: LO 1, 3, 4 & 5 – Weighting 80%

1. A list of derived functional and non-functional requirements. With relevant supporting arguments for inclusion.

2. Five representative use case diagrams for the proposed system.

3. An activity diagram for the existing system.

4. A class diagram for the existing system.

5. An object diagram for the existing system.

6. A proposed high-level solution to the case study.

7. A project diary detailing and appraising the analysis and design methods used to obtain the standard artefacts. Also, justify any assumption you have made.

Task 2 should be presented in a single word document titled XXXXXXXXSWE5106-21.doc where XXXXXXX represents your student ID. Failure to submit the document in the required format i.e. a zip file will result a mark of 0

Reference:

Please familiarise yourself with appropriate mechanisms for referencing using Harvard and please ensure that you understand that plagiarism of any kind in your degree will be taken very seriously. If in doubt, ask your tutor.

Submission Instructions:

See the Moodle page for guidelines for the preparation and submission of written coursework, which will give you details on how to submit your work electronically. You are required to submit only electronic copies of your written assessments, unless your Module Tutor advises you otherwise.

Advice:

Do not cut and paste phrases or paragraphs from published sources. You should seek to use your own words to explain concepts and theory.

If you wish to refer to specific quotes from published sources, then you must use full Harvard presentation. See BISSTO for clear guidance.

Do not share work with other students.

If you require assistance, speak to your module tutor.