The structure and features of GCC

 

Assignment Requirements
1. Discuss the criteria to consider in specifying the structure and features of
GCC's new system.
2. Identify the data that should be incorporated into GCC's new system to
provide adequate planning capability. Explain why each data item it is
important and the level of detail needed for the data to be useful.
2. Diagrams and tables clearly labeled and explained.
3. Ensure all materials are correctly referenced. Plagiarism will be severely
penalized.
4. Submission deadlines are strictly enforced and late submission incurs
penalties of 5 (five) % of the assessed value per calendar day.
5. All assignments must be submitted electronically using a word processor,
uploaded to Blackboard via SafeAssign. You must print and attach the full
SafeAssign report with the Holmes Institute Cover Sheet to the printed
assignment (hard copy).Note: ONLY one member of the group will submit
the assignment to Blackboard via SafeAssign.

 



Introduction

 


Citizen’s Gas Company (CGC) wants to introduce an information system that can be beneficial in providing a solution to the on-going issues which are directly related to gas utilization, report generation and the right balance between the demand and supply. Therefore, a capable and effective information system is required which can handle a large customer base. The paper discusses all the necessary features which must be incorporated in the conceptual design of the intended system by keeping all the necessities and requirements of the company in mind.
Criteria responsible for deciding upon the New Features of the New System of CGS

 

Market Information

 

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The company needs to collect all the market data which will be beneficial in providing insight regarding all the elements which affect demand and supply of the gas. Gas demand exactly like economic situation does not fluctuate in isolation. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the company to comprehend all the necessary factors along with its impact on gas demand and supply.
Data Accuracy
Annually the company pays various gas suppliers along with a fixed increment in the cost as mentioned in the case study. Therefore, it is vital to evaluate the accuracy which is required in implementing the information system. The accuracy of data, system logic, and the input data quality are all dependent on the system details. Further, it is the responsibility of the company to comprehend that all the resources should not solely be invested in evaluating the accuracy of data.
System Usage Frequency
This factor is subjective in nature and solely is dependent on system usage. For example, in case the company uses the system once in fifteen days then the company does not require any higher level of automation. As the customer range served by the company is not on the higher side, the company should at first assess the complexity level present in the system. The usage frequency should provide criteria related to the level of automation required. In case all the assumptions regarding the rise of demand from customers are highly accurate then the company can look out for the online system where the details of customers are present. The system should have to ability to be updated real-time without intervention manually.

Turnaround time
Over 2 lakh customers have been estimated by the company in various sectors. Therefore, the reporting schedule for each and every category has to be reviewed by the company. Therefore, the company should maintain and create reports on a monthly basis so as to have a better understanding regarding the complexity level and the level of automation needed. The company needs to utilize the system for monthly planning of all the household customers along with the multi-year planning for various suppliers and contract providers. Therefore, the company should evaluate the turnaround time of the system. A system which has the ability to generate various reporting level with all the necessary details should be focused upon. Finally, for keeping a high level of optimization for the system, the input data should be minimized.
Data processing environment
The company needs to assess all the computing resources and the database solutions on the basis of the users and their number with the amount of data system that needs to be captured. The processing of the database must be highly optimized for avoiding any delay and must be fast. Additionally, server availability and scalability are vital factors in case the company wants to opt for building a web solution. Processing of the data is considered difficult and critical and. Therefore, companies should focus on this part. However, as per data storage is concerned, it can be handled easily and it requires less attention.
Cost/benefit analysis
All the benefit related to the automation must be reviewed by the company. As mentioned in the case study, the prime objective is to be away from the gas management problem. In case the company makes any investment then the company is responsible for justifying them. This cost benefit analysis will be highly beneficial in determining the accurate balance between investment and accuracy. 
Technical and Business Support
The company is also responsible for looking after the need for supporting the operations of the system. For example, the company needs to hire people for data entry as the system will require people for performing this function on the day to day basis as the system needs to generate various reports on monthly basis. Furthermore, this system will require the generation of analytics for demand and supply therefore market data is highly imperative for the company to a standard administration side. These reports and data were also given to the other departments for strategic operations members of the team.
The system must be capable of handling excessive data. For example, the system should not encounter any failure in case the data exceeds in a given month. Further, the reports produced must be credible. Because the cost of fixing of incorrect data is estimated to be higher than the cost of implementation for the system. Therefore, the implemented system must be equipped with a buffer for increasing number of customers and generation of reports for the system and must able be highly scalable for sustaining against this increased data..
System Data for Planning Capability of CGS
The reports generated in the system depend solely on the data stored in the system. Therefore, the input data must be stored appropriately for coming up with the realistic forecast for the gas Utilization Company. The parameters required by the company for providing to the system are mentioned below:
Registered customers Count
The customers must be counted as the company has been overlooking the consumption factor for every single factor. This can be explained by taking the example of the fact that the customers for the industrial class are around 1,000 whereas for the residential class is around 80,000. Therefore, despite this tremendous gap between the customers belonging to different classes, there is a need for the company to assess the amount of gas being consumed by these classes.  
Therefore, the projection of the customers must be done on the basis of their class and then the factors that affect the demand like commercial, heating, residential and non-heating must be evaluated.
Weather data
With the change in weather, the heat consumption also varies. Therefore, the company should also keep a check on the change weather patterns while supplying the data to the system. Initially, the company needs to perform data collection from the metrological department for various seasons and months for seeing the total utilization of the gas in the initial year. Then, later on, the company needs to average out the consumptions of which was recorded earlier for the previous period and then should create a monthly bill on the basis of the usage. This will be highly beneficial for the company without any change or modification in the data on a monthly basis. In the end, the company compile the data for all the seasons and then in the following period should create these changes as per the change in weather. In the later period, this system will generate a compiled study and do a predictive analysis on each customer types on the basis of weather data. 
Unit demand on the basis of the customer
The monthly consumption then should be averaged out and finally be recorded for the following
?    Commercial
?    Non-heating Industrial customers
This demand can either be considered as a constant consumption data or as a fluctuating data. Therefore, there is a need for the company to make deductions regarding the variation in the consumption on the basis of the season on a longer run. Additionally, the non-heating demands of the commercial class will be projected using the non-heating data.
Prioritizing system and requirements of the customer
As provided in the case study, the company curtain services of the gas supply because of the insufficient supply from the contractors. Therefore, the system should be enabled for prioritizing the people services, and their class must be curtailed. The company will need to collect all the data on the demand for the gas using all the unit demand, number of customers and weather data. Therefore, it is very easy for the company so as to judge the balance between the various classes of supply and its impact. But it is not correct to curtail services which will impact a higher customer base for the company and will further impact the higher section of people. 
Heating Data
The weather data and heating data are correlated. Taking the example of the fact that in the winter season the gas is consumed in a higher amount due to the higher heating need of the customers. But it is important for to classify the heating data on the basis of the class of the customers like residential, industrial, and commercial heating by the company. There is a need for the company to create a smart unit plan for this information system so as to generate bills and for maximizing profits.. 
Sales forecasts
The sales are going to be higher if there should arise an occurrence of industrial class when contrasted with all the other classes regarding rate. Henceforth, the organization needs to forecast gas utilization on the month to month premise for the mentioned class for an initial couple of years. These following years might be considered on the yearly ascent premise. The other sales data, which ought to be anticipated on the basis of revenue class is regarding heating and non-heating.
Customer rate structure
This customer rate structure must be given a month to month rate data at the revenue class level which is mentioned as given, commercial, residential and industrial. Information and data must be given on a month to month basis to accommodate intermittent rate changes by revenue class.
The capacity of the Storage field
Storage capacity ought to be indicated so the organization can accept an approach to the gas withdrawal for satisfying the interest and demand of some other class. The system ought to keep a watch that demonstrates the percentage fullness of the capacity field on September first. It ought to be 100% full on September first.
Terms of Supplier contract 
The company has ten pipeline organizations from where it purchases natural gas. Henceforth, the dates of the contract showing the beginning and the consummation date of the agreement, number of suppliers, Volume of the gas utilization on the month to month premise, general terms and conditions for the settlement toward the end of consistently and the cost of one unit of gas. Moreover, the expense ought to either be fixed or fluctuating relying upon the business sector circumstance at the given purpose of time. The floating rate of gas cost rise doesn't appear to be a plausible choice in light of the fact that with the inclination in the customer base and the utilization of gas (Standaert, 2007), the organization may need to spend significantly more in case rate goes further high. Henceforth, there ought to be a choice in the system for acknowledging the kind of legitimate contract organization is selecting.
New System and its Features 
The different parts the system requires for forecasting and generation of the required reports for the organization have been outlined. In any case, the other aspects of the information system design are listing down the components that the system must offer.

 


Analytics

 


On the basis of input data along with the comparing results, the system ought to have the capacity to produce the reports that can represent the data as pie diagrams and charts. It incorporates data representation on the premise of non-heating per class, heating information per class, utilization per unit clients in various classes. It will give the organization a lot of data that will be highly beneficial during their decision-making process for curtailment of gas.
Report Generation for the Users
There must be a connection between the logical report generation and bolstering them to the framework. For instance, if any administrator creates a report regarding the utilization of gas in winters for various classes of individuals, it ought to be noticeable to the clients that how they have expanded the electricity. In case the customers give the information of the family unit with the goal that framework can get the continuous utilization information for the residential class.
Typical reports will be produced for the customers that will give insights about the unit utilization, and it's number on the month to month premise along with the related bill. The prescient element of the system will be that it can likewise recommend a billing cycle to the customer with an estimated add up to be given out toward the end of consistently independent of the measure of gas being utilized. 

 


System Diagram

 


There are two diverse sides of this information system. To begin with is the administrator side where processing of information happens for the decision-making process and the logical reports for the gas usage are generated each month annually. 
Administrator Side Information System Flow
 
The data will be fetched on the basis of the unique identification number, in the administrator side of the data system design. The number depends on the distinctive class types of individuals as recognized in the quantity of customers in later part of the report. This will help in procuring data and information for a particular class and will run a prescient model and further forecast and determine the calculation taking into account the historical information accessible to the organization. The output information will be generated in the reports. It is the fundamental flow of the model and critical exercises, and information preparing exercises are not depicted. For instance, the output of the information processing on heating data and climate information in the system has not been sketched out.
Consumer Side Information System Flow
 
The organization will make use of another portal for the contractors. Further, the organization will pay to the pipeline and gas suppliers from this portal only. This portal will reflect the computerized prerequisite of the gas on the basis of the customer’s utilization on the customer side. The database continues as before where a typical information is spared in the customer side data stream. Because of the indexing, it is conceivable to retrieve information quicker for generating analytics and reports. The Same UIN is utilized by the client, for the consumer side, yet an alternate client interface is rendered by the system inside. Another method for doing is to ask the customers to log in to "commercial class,"residential class" or "industrial class."  
The internal working of the Industrial class can be provided with a choice where the administration of factories and industries can impart information and data in advance regarding the gas consumption as per business' nature. Consequently, the system of CGS will be seen in an established state for determining the prime need for gas curtailment at the end of the month.

 


Summary

 


CGS needs to consider different components, for example, frequent use of the portal, the number of clients, data accuracy, cost benefit analysis, turnaround time, and data and information of market before building up the business solution. Aside from this component, the organization needs to decide the proper and appropriate information for the system on which whole data will be produced. Some of the input data parameters are weather data, heating data, contractors data, storage data, unit consumptions per consumer information, sales forecast, etc. When these two solutions are utilized to make both administrator and customer side application that can be coordinated.

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