CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1.1          BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

The world is said to be a global village. People need to interact with and share things with counterparts in different parts of the world with ease and less trouble. Information and communication technologies are improving on a daily basis, making sharing of information easier and more effective. But it is not only data or information that needs to be shared; other material items also require distribution. It is said that we are in the jet age; hence, everyone desires speed in everything they do. Courier services help in ensuring that these material goods are transferred from one source location to the destination, with ease on the part of the sender, and at a much faster speed.

Now, not only can one enjoy the benefits of a global market, with a wider range of varieties and available options from which to choose, but also people in different parts of the world have the chance to share in the experience of the rich cultural, technological and even economical heritage peculiar to other areas, distance not been a barrier. Business transactions are enhanced and better results are achieved.

The courier company, vested with this responsibility on ensuring safe and speedy transfer of items from one part of the world to the other, invariably needs to employ adequate technology in ensuring that this goal is met. Each courier company has its area of coverage, and will have a branch office in every major city within its scope. Currently there are those that cover almost all, if not all, parts of the world. But whether or not the coverage area is just within a particular country or the world, the need arises for an efficient system with which to manage the daily business of receiving, transferring and delivering items from one place to another.

1.2          STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Efficiency and effectiveness are the keywords for every organisation. They are what ensure the growth and prosperity of business endeavours. Therefore it is important that each organisation will put in place an efficient and effective system, and the courier company is not left out of this. The job of a courier company, when looked at superficially, might seem simple: movement of goods from one place to another. But when studied closely, one will discover it is more complex than one would think. Hence, it is highly imperative that a proficient courier management system be developed for managing the activities of the courier company in order to ensure increased productivity, efficiency and effectiveness.

DHL is one of the world’s largest logistics companies. It is the global delivery wing of Deutsche Post-DHL. Originally founded in 1969 to deliver documents between San Francisco and Honolulu, the company expanded its service throughout the world by the late 1970s.

DHL in Nigeria had very humble beginnings in 1978. Within 12 months DHL had opened its second office in Warri in response to the needs of the Oil & Gas Industry. It has further opened branch offices in eleven (11) other cities including Port Harcourt.

1.3          AIM AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

Haven seen some of the constraints of manually handling a courier company, this study is geared toward one objective, and that is to develop a computerised courier management system. This system promises to be able to overcome most (if not all) of the limitations posed by a manual system.

Some of the features to be enjoyed from the new system include;

1. Quick computation of rates
2. Fast access to records

iii.            Bill issuing procedure becomes faster

1. Easy duplication of documents without refilling them
2. Reduction in workload and increase in speed and accuracy
3. Better storage options

vii.          Easy update of information

viii.         Better platform for providing online services

1.4          SCOPE OF THE STUDY

This work is limited to the confines of DHL Port Harcourt, but can also be used in any other branch of DHL. With some modifications, where necessary, it can be made to serve any other courier company in general.

1.5          SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

A Courier Management System, when developed will help increase and improve the efficiency, effectiveness and productivity of a courier company. By simplifying the work process of recording details of consignments received, dispatched, record keeping and other necessary operations of the company will be adequately handled. This, of course, will yield more returns to the courier company and help serve customers better.

1.6          LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

During the study, I was confronted with a lot of constraints that inadvertently posed some sort of inconvenience on me during the project work some of which include:

             Lack of financial backup to fund the project.

             Time constraint: time is a commodity man will always long for it, due to the limitation of time; some few features which will have been added to the project were eliminated.

             Electricity: the power sector of the economy has over time diminished its provision of adequate service and hence, I had to limit myself to working on the project when electricity was available and when the computer hard battery power. And this reduced the already limited time available for the project work.

             Internet access: the internet service in Nigeria can be erratic sometimes, especially during the rainy season, and as such I had to go the cyber café a number of times to have adequate access to the internet.

1.7          RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The Object Oriented analysis and design methodology (OAD) is adopted in this study. This analysis will be done under the following sub heading which include: methods of data collection, analyses of the existing system, advantages of the existing system, disadvantages of the existing system, analyses of the proposed system, advantages of the proposed system, disadvantages of the proposed system, system plan and database design.

1.8          PROJECT LAYOUT

The analysis, design and implementation of the proposed system will be carried out in five chapters ranging from chapter one to five respectively. Chapter one contains the introduction of the research work, chapter two is where we are going to carry out the literature review of what others have done in relation to this research work, in chapter three, the analysis and design of the proposed system will be done, chapter four is where the actual implementation of the proposed system will be carried out using the appropriate programming language and finally, chapter five will contain the summary, conclusion and recommendations.

1.9          DEFINITION OF KEY WORDS

COURIER: An agent or company that delivers messages, packages, and mail.

LOGISTICS: The management of the flow of resources between the point of origin and the point of consumption in order to meet some requirements

CONSIGNMENT: a batch of goods destined for or delivered to someone

CONSIGNEE: is the person to whom something, such as goods or merchandise, is to be delivered

CONSIGNOR: Person who delivers a consignment to a courier for transporting it to a consignee

SOURCE: The city or courier branch from where a consignment originates

DESTINATION: The city or courier branch where a consignment is to be delivered

SHIPMENT: This is the same as consignment.

SHIPPER: This is the same for consignor.

DESK OFFICER: This is the worker at the courier company that accepts the consignment from the consignor.

MANIFEST: A document containing the list of all the consignments being transported at a particular time from a courier branch to another.

DELIVERY RUN SHEET: A document carried along by a delivery worker of a courier company containing details of the parcels to be delivered, with a provision for where the receiver will sign to show receipt of items.

REFERENCE NUMBER: This is a number given to all the consignments by the courier company for unique identification and record purposes.

COURIER MANAGEMENT SYSTEM: A computer application created to automate most of the processes of the courier company especially as concerned with the recording of receipts and delivery of goods.