Koibatek poultry farm is amongst the fastest growing farms in Rift valley province. It’s located within Koibatek District. The main purposes of poultry farms are to; Provide High quality eggs in the rapidly growing eggs industry. Promote the customer confidence Have regard to the social and economic interests of the area It’s only the effectively managed, high performing and better performance farms in the current society have been accorded their status.
The effective management and quality productivity of the farm is a central concern to the management in improving the performance of the farm. The departments include reception, personnel department, layers records, treatment and vaccinations, customers department and administration point where the login eligibility of any system to use the system.At the present, the farm system is paper based, constituting the manual file keeping and the use of manual record books. The farm employs a number of employees who perform the manual record work within the organization. The time spent in the access of the records is a very precious resource and hence it will be very important if the information could be quickly retrieved with a lot of ease, data easily updated and capable of analysis and display.1.
2 Background.For most businesses, there are a variety of requirements for information. Senior managers need information to help their business planning. Middle management needs more detailed information to help them control and manage business activities.
Employees with operational roles need information to help them carry out their duties.As a result, businesses tend to have several “information systems’’ operating at the same time.A system that is designed to capture, transmit, store, retrieve, manipulate, and or display information used in one or more business processes.Managers, IT specialists and other users must understand the true role of information technology in organizations. They must cut through the hype and mystique usually associated with computer technology.1.
3 Problem statement.At the present, the farm system is paper based, constituting manual file keeping and use of manual record books. The farm employs a number of employees who perform the manual record keeping work within the organization. The time spent in accessing the records is a very precious resource and hence it would be very important if the information could be quickly retrieved with a lot of ease, data easily updated and capable of analysis and display.1.4 Suggested solution.
The research aspect of the project will review the current practice in use of information system in the farm management. This will seek to provide a broader understanding of the contribution and importance of computerized information system in this field. Following this review will be a focused investigation into the design and customization of the Computerized Information System. A critical evaluation of the Computerized Information System design1.5 Problem justification.
To enable consumers to get improved services. To enable consumers’ records to be effectively kept and maintained. To enable improved means of financial records keeping. To enable twenty four hours, seven days access to farm records without any inconvenience i.e. incase of record keeper’s absence.
To enable better be and effective analysis of farm records. To improve competitiveness between the farm and other farms1 .6 Objectives.Research the use of Computerized Information System (CIS). Investigate current practice in the design and customization of the CIS for farm management. Critically evaluate a number of complete working systems which have either customized a CIS or those which have linked an external database.
Design and develop a data base to contain poultry data.Design and develop a prototype poultry farm system, built around the findings from the research review ensuring close liaison with potential users. Perform user trials on prototype system, evaluate results and redesigns system. Implement a functional prototype poultry farm system that allows the farm’s records to be stored, displayed, searched, updated, and provides printing facilities to obtain hard copies of the data.1.7 Research questions.
What is an Information System? What are the benefits and limitations of an Information system? How is an Information System classified? What is Database Security?1.8 Limitations.A limitation of time will restrict the system development work. Clear definition concerning the time scope of and utilization of the project and utilization of the project management techniques will attempt to ensure that the project is completed successfully.
The availability of the management and staff for consultation and the associated time may be limiting due to their tight work schedules. The staff is based within the farm boundary, which is some distance from the headquarters. This poses restriction on contact and consequently may limit user involvement with the system development.For most businesses, there are a variety of requirements for information. Senior managers need information to help with their business planning. Middle management needs more detailed information to help them monitor and control business activities.
Employees with operational roles need information to help them carry out their duties. As the result, businesses tend to have several “information systems” operating at the same time. This revision note highlights the main categories of information system and provides some examples to help you distinguish between them.2.0 IntroductionAn information system can be defined as a set of interrelated components working together to collect, retrieve, process, store, and disseminate information for the purpose of facilitating planning, control, coordination, and decision making in businesses and other organizations (Laudon & Laudon, 1993)It is any equipment or interconnected system or subsystems of equipments that is used in the automatic acquisition,storage,manipulation,management,movement,control,display,switching,interchange,transmission,transmission, or reception of data and that includes computer software, firmware, hardware. Include are computers, word processing systems, networks, or other electronic information handling systems and associated equipment.
In a traditional business information system, the set of interrelated components are usually referred to as hardware, software, data, processes, and people (Shelly, 2001). However, it is necessary to consider a few additional components that are significant to information systems in the global context. These specific components are functional architecture, Internet technology, intranet and extranet infrastructures, middleware technology, groupware technology and indeed the global information systems management.The history of information systems (IS) only span five decades. Yet from its inception, IS has done more to expand business and industry into global markets than any other convention in history.
Today the backbone of IS is known as the World Wide Web, Internet, or with a business a Local Area Network, along with lists of acronym buzz word; EDI, EIS, ERP, SCM and host of others to describe new ways in which IS can be employed to grow business.Contrary to the speed of information today, just over forty years ago, the business climate in United States was experiencing post-war growth much like it had never seen. Much of the experience that grew the economy had been learned during World War Two in tooling up the nations industries into producing an effective war machine. The field that developed out of this push to win the war was Operations Research (OR).When the war end those involved with OR were released from government work, thus unleashing an experienced and highly skilled field, like no other in history, into business and industry, which launched the US into a era of prosperity and growth that lasted over twenty-years. World War Two also saw the birth of the first practical computers or Turing Machines, which were responsible for cracking the German codes and giving the allies advanced warning of enemy movements.
By today's standards these first practical computers were not that practical, half a million dollars and far less powerful than a pocket calculator which today purchased for under ten dollars. However these first computers gave Operations Researchers the power they needed to begin simulate larger and more complicated systems which in business and industry help greatly to hone uses capital expenditures into profitable ventures. This background from the early days of simulation, OR, and new technologies birthed studies into the areas of what became known as Information Systems.Basically an Information System handles the flow and maintenance of information that supports a business or some other operation. It contains information about significant people, places and things within the organization or in the environment surrounding it.
Information is derived from meaningful interpretation of data. Data consists of the raw facts representing events occurring in the organization before they are organized into an understandable and useful form for humans. An Information System can therefore be defined technically as a set of interrelated components that collect (or retrieve), process, store and distribute information to support decision making and control in an organization. Another definition of an Information system (by Buckingham et al (1987b) is :A system which assembles, stores, processes, and delivers information relevant to an organization (or to a society), in such a way that the information is accessible and useful to those who wish to use it, including managers, staff, clients and citizens.
An information system is a human activity (social) system, which may or may not involve the use of computer systems. Also, in addition to supporting decision-making, information systems help workers and managers to analyze complex problems, to develop new products and to integrate the various modules and departments. Moreover the 'transmission losses inter-departmental communication are reduced considerably leading to better coordination and improved transparency (information sharing) within the organization as a whole.Three activities provide the information that organizations need. These activities are Input, Processing and Output. 'Input' consists of acquisition of the 'raw data', which is transformed into more meaningful packets of 'Information' by means of 'Processing'.
The processed information now flows to the users or activities also called as 'Output'. The shortcomings are analyzed and the information is sent back to the appropriate members of the organization to help them evaluate and refine the input. This is termed as 'feedback'.Examples of 'Information Inputs' would be Transactions, events which would undergo 'processing' in the form of sorting, listing, merging and updating resulting in 'outputs' such as detailed reports, lists and summaries.
Another example would be in the manufacturing environment with 'information inputs' such as design specs material requirements and the SOPs (standard operating procedures). These would be 'processed' by the information system by modeling and simulation techniques and would result in standard production models along with the overall cost of the production process which is calculated by the information system from the knowledge base containing material costs, hourly labor costs and other indirect costs. Hence almost totally eliminating a distinct costing function in the scheme of things.2.1 Information System versus Information TechnologyAt the heart of the issue Information systems should not be confused with information technology.They exist independent of each other and irrespective of whether they are implemented well.
Information systems use computers (or Information Technology) as tools for the storing and rapid processing of information leading to analysis, decision-making and better coordination and control. Hence information technology forms the basis of modern information systems.As mentioned earlier, every company to start with, has an information system already in place, be it a file card and pencil based system, a computerized system or an intermediate of the two. Hence the IS development process involves work on an existing system - mapping the system, automating it and making sure that it functions according to user requirements. Hence in its first phase the process attempts to determine the scope and type of new system that the user wants.
The next phase analyzes the above requirement in two parts to facilitate detailed verification and validation before the system is actually designed and implemented.2.2 Beginning with the UsersIn fact the entire concept of Information systems development revolves around the users - their needs, performance expectations, requirements and other specifications. The very success or failure of an information system may be measured by the level of satisfaction of its basic users in the organization. It is very essential that the database satisfy the requirements of the user, otherwise he or she will continue with his or her own system and thereby defeat the purpose of the central database.
The key element in this concept is that each subsystem utilizes the same database in the satisfaction of its information needs. This will yield an additional significant advantage - the integration of departments and functions. Thus each department, through its access and interface with the total information resources of the company, gains a greater understanding and appreciation of how its actions and plans affect others throughout the organization.
