GILCO

GILCO rents DVDs and DVD players (players) on a short term basis to airline passengers through GILCO locations at every large commercial airport all through the world.  A passenger could rent a DVD in any one of 50 popular languages and/or player at one location and return it at another GILCO location anywhere in world. GILCO rents player having special batteries that offer up to 24 hours of continuous viewing operation without recharging.  This is very well-situated on long international flights. DVDs are unique in which the customer specifies the movie and the language in which he/she choose the dialogue to be recorded.  GILCO system copies the movie with the dialogue in language to a blank DVD.

Customer should register with GILCO, before he/she could rent a DVD or player. Registration is free of cost, but each customer should hold a official major credit card in his or her own name to be eligible to join, as all payments should be made by credit card. To register, a customer enters the following information into the system at a terminal that is available at all GILCO  locations:

First name                                           Last name
Date of birth                                        Current date
Street address                                        City
State (or equivalent)                           Zip code (or equivalent)
Country                                             Phone number
Major credit card type                         Credit card number
Drivers license number (or equivalent)  Language in which the customer wantsinformation to be provided to him/her

The central GILCO system in Tulsa, OK  validates the credit card and the customer information during the accessing of a number of online databases.  If approved, the customer is directed to sign a digital signature pad.  The system then prints out a laminated GILCO registration card for the customer.  The account information becomes available online at all GILCO locations all through the world by the central information system at corporate headquarters in GILCO.  Now the customer might check out and return DVDs and players at any GILCO location in the world. If the registration is disapproved for any cause, a message informs the customer of this cause by a message on the terminal screen.

Customers are restricted to a total of  six DVDs being outstanding at any one time.  To rent a DVD, the customer browses the movie list at a GILCO location. The customer inserts the membership card into the terminal at the GILCO location.  A screen is pulled up containing customer’s information, together with any balance due.  If there are any late charges, they should be paid before any extra DVDs might be checked out. The screen also prompts for the serial numbers of up to six DVDs to be checked out, along with the language that the customer wants the dialogue to be in for each movie. As pointed out before, the maximum number of DVDs which can be outstanding to any customer at any one time is six from all GILCO locations. The system keeps track of the number of outstanding DVDs per customer.  The system find outs the balance due, including any outstanding late charges. The customer inserts his or her credit card into the terminal, enters any required codes (such as PIN) and authorizes the transaction.  Once the transaction is approved for the credit card, the system copies the movie(s) to blank DVD(s) in the language(s) specified by the customer.  When the copying process is complete, a message appears on the attendant’s terminal directing him/her to remove the DVDs from the DVD copier.  The attendant then places each DVD in a jewel case and delivers them to the customer.

When the customer returns the DVDs at any place, he/she puts them in a return bin. At a suitable time, the attendant erases them from the return bin and places them into the computer system as returned so the customer would not be charged for extra time. If the DVDs are late, a late charge is computed and added to the customer’s account balance.  Afterwards, the attendant removes the movie recorded on the DVD so the now blank DVD can be reused.

The checkout process for players is same to that for renting DVDs, but the customer has to sign a contract (as of the high value of the player).  The customer inserts his/her registration card into the terminal, and the customer record is pulled up.  The amount due is produced by the system. Then the attendant enters the number of the player and a contract is generated.  The customer signs a contract via an electronic signature pad. The electronic contract is maintained online in an active contract file. The player is retrieved from storage by the attendant and provided to the customer along with the copy of the contract. When the player is returned, the contract is accessed electronically, the return is annotated on the contract and a copy is provided to the customer. The annotated electronic copy of the contract is moved electronically from the active contract file to an inactive contract file.  Customer account is updated with the return information, and any late charges are added to the customer balance. The payment by credit card is handled just as with the rental of DVDs.

GILCO uses an online real time processing system. As each transaction is entered, from any place through out world, the master files are updated instantaneously at the central computer system located at the GILCO corporate headquarters in Tulsa.

The corporate information system generates 4 reports for management each week. The first report has all the unreturned DVDs and players alphabetically by customer name. One copy of this report is sent to the President and another copy to the Controller. The Controller department uses this report to manually prepare letters and send them to customers who have not returned items. The letter urges them to return the items to any GILCO location as soon as possible and spells out present and future charges and actions.  If the items have not been returned after two weeks from the date of the letter, the account is forwarded to a collection agency, the customer is dropped as a member, and notification is provided to the credit bureau (this affects the customer’s credit record).

The second report displays profitability by each airport location, geographic region and system-wide. One copy of this complete report is sent to the President, the Controller and the Vice President of Marketing. A report for each region and airport within the region is sent to the regional manager for the respective region.

The third report has the revenue produced by each movie title for the week, by language, airport location,  region and system-wide. One copy of this complete report is sent to the President, the Controller and the Vice President of Marketing. A report for each region is sent to the regional manager for the respective region.

PROJECT REQUIREMENTS

1. Make 3 column table, with the columns labelled from left to right as follows:
Inputs, Processes and Outputs. Recognize each of the processes involved in the Fly&Play system along with the inputs and outputs associated with each process.

2. Make a system flowchart, following good flowcharting practices including annotations, documenting the GILCO system as expalined above.  Use VISIO or another flowcharting tool of your choice.

3. Included in the system description are a number of items which are illogical, represent  inefficient operations, violate good  internal control procedures or just violate good business practices.  Identify these items and make recommendations for modifying the system to correct them. This may include, but is not limited to, recommending system design changes or additional reports for management to improve decision-making.  Make sure to justify your recommended changes.

4. Provide a modified 3 column table and system flowchart (items 1 and 2 above) reflecting your recommended changes from item 3.

5. If you have to make any assumptions (you will), make sure to document them and justify why you made them.

6. Make a title page with the class number & name along with your name and staple the package in the upper left hand corner.  A cover is not required nor desired.

ACCESSING VISIO

Download a free 60-day triall fully functional version of Microsoft Visio 2010 at the following link:
http://visio.microsoft.com/en-us/TryBuy/TryVisio2010forFree/Pages/Try_Visio_2010_for_Free.aspx