Implementing Dental Practice Management System & ERP For Bulla Diary Foods, An Essay.

Your group has project management responsibility for organising the implementation of a Dental Practice Management System (DPMS) in a newly developed area for AAA Dentistry.

Background

AAA Dentistry is a dentist practice that was set up 2 years ago to accommodate dental care in a newly developed commercial and residential area. The practice opened its doors with a dentist, a dental assistant and an administrative assistant. The systems and processes they had and still maintain to date are largely manual and heavily reliant on paper-based records.

During the two years of operation, the patient base has grown as the residential and commercial development in the area and surrounding suburbs has grown. This has resulted in the addition of two new dentists consulting in the practice and the appointment of two new dental assistants to support the new dentists. Two new administrative assistants have also been employed to support the Practice Manager who was the only originally appointed administrative assistant when it opened.

As a result of this expansion in patients and staff, there have been a number of issues arising in the Practice including:

Inefficient processes
Increased waiting times for patients waiting to see a Dentist
Incorrect appointments and double bookings being made
An increase in people not turning up to appointments without prior notification
Dentist’s time not being used effectively for appointment bookings
Inefficient and increased time spent of administrative tasks
Inefficient billing processes
Incorrect issuing of invoices
Inefficient stock purchasing and monitoring of stock levels
Decreasing product sales

These issues have been brought to the attention of the owner and multiple Dentists by the administrative staff, through verbal patient complaints as well as complaints via social media. In order to address the growing concerns, the Practice Manager has discussed the idea of implementing a Dental Practice Management System to facilitate the day-to-day operation, product sales and records management of the Practice. The owner has taken this suggestion on board and decided to go ahead with the project, which will see the implementation of a system that will improve the efficiency of the administrative staff and dentists and as a result improve service within the Practice.

The resulting system to be installed will include a series of computers installed in the Practice as well as other hardware as deemed necessary to support the operations.

The key functions to be automated by the new system include:

Appointments
Reminders
Patient Records
Accounts and billing
Sales

Background

1. Project Definition

1.1 Background

Bulla Diary Foods wants to adopt ERP system to improvise their business. They appoint a project manager. The project manager will prepare the plan which will help to Bulla Diary Foods to implement the ERP software in their premises. 

1.2 Project Objectives

The primary objective of the project is to develop the project plan for the ERP software. The software implementation will be carried out using PRINCE2 methodology.

1.3 Desired Outcomes

Bulla Diary Foods with the implementation of the ERP project can be able to monitor the employees. The software will help them to know the behaviour of the customers. Their purchase history will be recorded by the software. They can be able to know the customers’ demands.

1.4 Project Scope and Exclusions

• Developing IT software
• Developing beta versions of software that will be tested and evaluated before it go live
• Training and assistance to the staff
• Offering operational support as well as assistance for both the hardware resources and the software resources

1.5 Constraints and Assumptions

Constraints

• Bulla Diary Foods will have to spend heavy for adopting the ERP software
• The employees of Bulla Diary Foods do not have the necessary skills and expertise so initially they will face issues while using the software and the company can suffer loss

Assumptions

• The project manager prepares the project plan and they can expect that the project will offer them significant benefits
• The project is assumed to complete within stipulated deadline and budget

1.6 User(s) and any other known interested parties

Bulla Diary Foods will be largely benefitted with the implementation of the system. The software development team will earn money. The project manager will work for the project and will earn money

1.7 Interfaces

The ERP software has been planned to build user friendly. It will facilitate the customers and the employees of the company.

2. Project Approach

2.1 Purpose

The main purpose of the project is to build ERP software for Bulla Diary Foods. The software will help them in improvising the business. It will also help them to improvise the business. The customers will be facilitated. The employees can work fast, smoothly and effectively.

2.2 Project Approach Description

The project manager will prepare the project plan. The plan consists of the list of the activities in details. Initially the ERP software will be planned, after that a prototype will be built for the software. Later the development team will start working on the software. The tester will test the software. The entire project will be completed using the PRINCE2 methodology.

2.3 Recommendation Approach

The project manager before initiating any major project task should review the software from Bulla Diary Foods. If they approve the software development must be carried on.

2.4 Reason for the Recommended Approach

The software must be built it in accordance to the needs of Bulla Diary Foods. If the software does not suit the needs of the software then the software program will be treated completed failure. That is partial work must be submitted to the client and must be reviewed, in this way the project manager can assure the at the project is in the right track.

Issues Faced by AAA Dentistry

3. Business Case

3.1 Executive Summary

Bulla Dairy Foods has been chosen as case study for this project. They are planning to adopt information system to facilitate their business. They are planning to develop software that will help them to keep track of the inventory. Bulla Dairy Foods with the help of the software can be able to track the employees’ records, they can be able to track the behaviours of the customers.

3.2 Reasons

They conduct the business operations manually. They calculate the financial data all by manually. They need a lot of time to perform the business operations. Moreover, they make mistakes or commit errors. For this reason, they need an information system so that they can calculate the data accurately. They can carry out the business operations fast and effectively.

3.3 Business Options

The information system will give them several business options. The information system will aid to calculate the financial data. The ERP software will help them to track the stock products. The ERP software will let them know the purchase history of the customers. The customers’ shopping behaviours can be predicted with the aid of ERP software. Also, the software will be helpful to predict the employees.

3.5 Expected Benefits

There are several benefits associated with the information system and the software-

• Bulla Diary Foods can enhance their business operations
• Bulla Diary Foods can be able to predict the customers’ behaviours
• The company can keep track of the products they manufacture and sell
• The company can be able to monitor the employees

3.6 Expected Dis-benefits

The information system and the software comes with several dis-benefits and they are-

• Bulla Diary Foods will have to pay heavy to adopt the software
• The company will have to pay loads of money to the cloud vendor
• The cloud vendor will have control over the data and they can view the data, thus there is privacy and security issue
• They will have to depend upon the cloud vendor and they will have little privileges

3.7 Timescale

Task Name	Duration	Start	Finish
Bulla Diary Foods’ ERP Software Project Plan	57 days	Tue 05-06-18	Wed 22-08-18
Project Scope	5 days	Tue 05-06-18	Mon 11-06-18
ERP Software Configuration for Bulla Diary Foods	5 days	Tue 05-06-18	Mon 11-06-18
In-detail analysis of ERP Software	19 days	Tue 12-06-18	Fri 06-07-18
Draft preparation for ERP Software	6 days	Tue 12-06-18	Tue 19-06-18
ERP Software Specifications Detailed Review	8 days	Wed 20-06-18	Fri 29-06-18
Acquiring approvals for further proceedings	5 days	Mon 02-07-18	Fri 06-07-18
Developing ERP software keeping alignment with the ERP software	15 days	Mon 09-07-18	Fri 27-07-18
Coding of the application	5 days	Mon 09-07-18	Fri 13-07-18
Database Setup	4 days	Mon 16-07-18	Thu 19-07-18
Detailed Testing of software	6 days	Fri 20-07-18	Fri 27-07-18
ERP Software in alignment with the business	18 days	Mon 30-07-18	Wed 22-08-18
Accumulating data from the database server	5 days	Mon 30-07-18	Fri 03-08-18
Checking Stock availability	5 days	Mon 06-08-18	Fri 10-08-18
ERP software go-live	6 days	Mon 13-08-18	Mon 20-08-18
Project Closure	2 days	Tue 21-08-18	Wed 22-08-18

3.8 Costs

Task Name	Resource Names	Cost
Bulla Diary Foods' ERP Software Project Plan		$12,808.00
Project Scope		$1,000.00
ERP Software Configuration for Bulla Diary Foods	Project Manager	$1,000.00
In-detail analysis of ERP Software		$3,696.00
Draft preparation for ERP Software	Project Manager	$1,200.00
ERP Software Specifications Detailed Review	Software Developer	$1,536.00
Acquiring approvals for further proceedings	Software Developer	$960.00
Developing ERP software keeping alignment with the ERP software		$2,880.00
Coding of the application	Software Developer	$960.00
Database Setup	Software Developer	$768.00
Detailed Testing of software	Software Tester	$1,152.00
ERP Software in alignment with the business		$5,232.00
Accumulating data from the database server	IT Support Department,Software Tester	$1,840.00
Checking Stock availability	IT Support Department,Software Tester	$1,840.00
ERP software go-live	Software Developer	$1,152.00
Project Closure	Project Manager	$400.00

4. Project Management Team Structure

Resource Name	Type	Max. Units	Std. Rate
Project Manager	Work	100%	$29.00/hr
Client	Work	100%	$0.00/hr
Software Developer	Work	100%	$24.00/hr
Software Tester	Work	100%	$26.00/hr
IT Support Department	Work	100%	$23.00/hr

5. Role Descriptions

Resource Name	Role
Project Manager	Project Manager will prepare the project plan and will direct the business operations to the stakeholders
Client	Client or the sponsor will provide funding for project
Software Developer	Software developer will code the software
Software Tester	The tester will test the software
IT Support Department	IT support department will provide support to the developer

6. Quality Management Strategy

6.1 Quality Management Procedure

Quality management procedure will help to know whether the project is meeting the deliverables or not. The quality management assures that the project is being carried out ethically and every criterion of Bulla Diary Foods has been met.

6.2 Tools and Techniques

There are several techniques by which the quality of the software is detected. The project manager will have to make sure that the project manager by adopting quality standards can accomplish the project successfully. The project manager must also conduct the quality planning, quality assurance, quality control and the quality validation technique to assure the success of the project.

6.3 Records

The project manager will keep record of the quality test results. The client and the project manager can assure that the project is going well.

6.4 Reporting

If any issues incur, the issues must be documented and reported to the respective stakeholders. The stakeholders will have to look after the issues and will have to do the rework.

Solution: Implementing the DPMS

6.5 Timing of Quality Management Activities

The quality must be checked after every major activity is completed. Quality must be checked after the design, quality must be checked after the development and finally after the testing of the software

6.6 Role and Responsibilities

The project manager is responsible to check the quality of the software

7. Configuration Management Strategy

7.1 Configuration Management Procedure

The ERP software must be configured in every system of Bulla Diary Foods enterprise. The system must have latest windows operating system installed and a browser.

7.2 Issue and Change Control Procedure

The issues or bugs generated must be taken into consideration. The client may also want some changes. The developer must fix the bugs and must make the desired changes.

7.3 Tools and Techniques

The software must be tested several times by tester. The tester must test the software on several occasions on several, machines and must solve the bugs.

7.4 Records

The changes recommended by the client must be documented. Also the software bugs must be documented.

7.5 Reporting

The changes must be reported and the developers will make the appropriate changes. This will help them in future.

7.6 Timing of Configuration Management and Issue and Change Control Activities

The configuration management issues must be analysed at the time of software development and the software testing.

7.7 Roles and Responsibilities

The software developer and the software tester must take the responsibility and must carry out the configuration.

8. Risk Management Strategy

8.1 Risk Management Procedure

There are several risks management procedures by which the software development process can be carried out smoothly, ethically and efficiently. The project manager must analyse the risks, must prepare suitable strategies to mitigate the risks. The must analyse the risk first, and then they must analyse the risk. After that they must treat the risk response planning.

8.2 Tools and Techniques

There are several tools and techniques for analysing the techniques and they are information gathering techniques, root cause analysis, diagramming techniques, SWOT analysis.

8.3 Records

All the risk analysis must be analysed and must be documented. The stakeholders must work in accordance to the risk management strategy set up by the project manager.

8.4 Reporting

All kinds of risks must be documented. It will help the stakeholders in knowing the exact risks and mitigate the risks accordingly.

8.5 Timing of Risk Management Activities

The risk management activities must be conducted after every major project operations or activities.

Bulla Diary Foods: an Introduction

8.6 Roles and Responsibilities

The coders, testers will have to take the responsibility to mitigate all the risks associated with the software. The software developer will have to code the application in such away such that the application may work flawlessly. The tester will have to test the software in multiple scenarios and it will ensure that it meets the demands of the client. The project manager is liable to detect the schedule risk, budget risk. He will have to consider all the risks and will have to mitigate all of them. The management team of Bulla Diary Foods will have to look after the operational risks and they must take appropriate actions.

8.7 Risk Categories

The schedule risks, budget risks, technical and the operational risks are categorised in the form of below matrix-

9. Communication Management Strategy

Communication management strategy involves the communication between the stakeholders and the project manager. Effective communication will help them to carry out the project activities ethically and efficiently. The project manager and must communicate with the project sponsor and must understand the deliverables of the project. The project manager must conduct meeting with the stakeholders and must explain in details about the deliverables of the project. In this way the project can be successfully completed fast and effectively.

9.1 Timing of Communication Activities

The project manager must communicate with the stakeholders initially and must discuss about the details of the project. Before and after every major activity the project manager must conduct a meeting and must analyse the progress of the project. The stakeholders may have some issues with the activities and they can communicate with the project manager and can solve the issue. 

10. Project Plan

10.1 Plan Description

Task Name	Duration	Start	Finish	Predecessors	Resource Names	Cost
Bulla Diary Foods' ERP Software Project Plan	57 days	Tue 05-06-18	Wed 22-08-18			$12,808.00
Project Scope	5 days	Tue 05-06-18	Mon 11-06-18			$1,000.00
ERP Software Configuration for Bulla Diary Foods	5 days	Tue 05-06-18	Mon 11-06-18		Project Manager	$1,000.00
In-detail analysis of ERP Software	19 days	Tue 12-06-18	Fri 06-07-18			$3,696.00
Draft preparation for ERP Software	6 days	Tue 12-06-18	Tue 19-06-18	3	Project Manager	$1,200.00
ERP Software Specifications Detailed Review	8 days	Wed 20-06-18	Fri 29-06-18	5	Software Developer	$1,536.00
Acquiring approvals for further proceedings	5 days	Mon 02-07-18	Fri 06-07-18	6	Software Developer	$960.00
Developing ERP software keeping alignment with the ERP software	15 days	Mon 09-07-18	Fri 27-07-18			$2,880.00
Coding of the application	5 days	Mon 09-07-18	Fri 13-07-18	7	Software Developer	$960.00
Database Setup	4 days	Mon 16-07-18	Thu 19-07-18	9	Software Developer	$768.00
Detailed Testing of software	6 days	Fri 20-07-18	Fri 27-07-18	10	Software Tester	$1,152.00
ERP Software in alignment with the business	18 days	Mon 30-07-18	Wed 22-08-18			$5,232.00
Accumulating data from the database server	5 days	Mon 30-07-18	Fri 03-08-18	11	IT Support Department,Software Tester	$1,840.00
Checking Stock availability	5 days	Mon 06-08-18	Fri 10-08-18	13	IT Support Department,Software Tester	$1,840.00
ERP software go-live	6 days	Mon 13-08-18	Mon 20-08-18	14	Software Developer	$1,152.00
Project Closure	2 days	Tue 21-08-18	Wed 22-08-18	15	Project Manager	$400.00

10.2 Schedule

11. Project Controls

11.1 Monitoring and Control

The project must be monitored and controlled on regular basis by the project manager. The manager is liable to check the status of the project after every major activity. The project issues must be taken into consideration and must take appropriate actions.

12.References

Arslan, A., 2016. The Second Jewish Migration: From Europe to the Ottoman State. iUniverse.

Babovic, M., 2014. Last Call at the Oasis: Modifying the Noninteractive Webcast Royalty System to Support Sustainability. Ent. & Sports Law., 31, p.3.

Banaszak, Z. and Bocewicz, G., 2016. Declarative Modeling Driven Approach to Production Orders Portfolio Prototyping. In New Frontiers in Information and Production Systems Modelling and Analysis (pp. 141-168). Springer, Cham.

Brewer, K.R.W., 2014. Reconciling some apparently incompatible approaches to statistical inference.

Johnson, V.C. and Hall, S., 2014. Community energy and equity: The distributional implications of a transition to a decentralised electricity system. Victoria, 8(3).

Kovacs, G.L. and Haidegger, G., 2006, July. Agent-based solutions to support car recycling. In Mechatronics, 2006 IEEE International Conference on (pp. 282-287). IEEE.

Mir Cantarellas, A., 2018. Competitive power control of distributed power plants.

Paladini, S. and Anoyrkati, E., 2015. Environmental Threats and its Effects on the Innovation Landscape in Thailand: Toward a Quintuple Helix?. In The Entrepreneurial Rise in Southeast Asia (pp. 285-308). Palgrave Macmillan, New York

Pham, N.L., 2013. Effective working capital management in small and medium enterprises in Vietnam (Doctoral dissertation, Dublin Business School).

Xiao, X., Shufang, W., Zhizhong, L. and Biqing, H., 2014, May. Enterprise Service Composition Method Based on Collaboration. In Service Sciences (ICSS), 2014 International Conference on (pp. 53-59). IEEE.