Background

The idea for the project came from a team member who had previously worked at a job that dealt with work orders in the following way:

1. If a manager had a need for a supply/service, then he/she would contact the vendor (by phone or email).
2. The vendor would then get back to the manager with a quote.
3. If the manager approved of the quote, he/she would then contact the finance department.
4. Finance would then approve/disapprove payment and notify the manager.
5. If approved, the manager would then contact the vendor to finalize the order.
6. The work order information would then be archived into a MS Access database or filing system.

Although this approach worked, it had some limitations:

1. Quotes would only get recorded if they were successful. History for rejected quotes was not archived.
2. With no official way to record each step in the process, this information would very often be written down on paper where it could be easily lost or forgotten.
3. Communication delays between the manager and vendor due to the non-real-time nature of the system.

Our proposed solution was a Work Order Automation System that would overcome these limitations and work in the following way:

1. When the manager had a need, he/she would access their portal, select an appropriate vendor and fill out a form. Once submitted, this would cause a quote request to be created in the system.
2. The vendor would now be able to view the manager's submitted quote request and at the same time complete the quote by filling out a form with prices for each item/service with tax rates and shipping fees.
3. The system would then inform the manager about the quoted work order that he/she could then approve or reject.
4. If approved, someone from finance would notice that an update had occurred in their portal. They would then approve or reject it. Once approved, an email would be sent to the manager and vendor so that the order could be processed by the vendor.
5. Regardless of whether it was approved or rejected, the work order would be placed into history.

Development Process

During the analysis and design phases, our team continuously prepared and revised entity-relationship diagrams, data-flow diagrams, and user interface screens until all of the requirements were met. As a group, we decided to develop the project using ASP.NET with VB.NET code-behind and an Oracle database.

Due to my previous experience with ASP.NET, I acted as the lead developer implementing business logic for the login and administration screens, working on the CSS/JavaScript, and providing my time to help team members with ASP.NET-related questions.

The Result

The project was showcased in front of the class and a number of our professors. It was well received and our final grade for the project reflected that.