CHAPTER I I.

INTRODUCTION

In todays innovating generation, various kinds of modern technology had helped built and shaped the lives of different individuals. These technologies play a very important role in reducing workloads and making life much easier. Such technologies and/or electrically powered machines like home appliances are essential to manage household chores and everyday tasks which helped in saving time and money. Different sets of appliances have improved its way of rendering services to humans which some persons are not capable of doing or fulfilling. Electronic appliances unquestionably made life more comfortable for people. Even though appliances are of great help to people in their everyday lives, they too also need repairing when they are overused from functioning daily. Different service centers helps in fixing appliances for them to function properly and also to serve their purpose well. Service Centers provides clients with on-time schedule of their appointments which prioritizes them in their needs.

II.

BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

The Whirlpool Corporation today is the world's leading manufacturer and marketer of major home appliances. Whirlpool realizes annual sales of approximately $17 billion in 2009, has 67,000 employees and maintains 67 manufacturing and technology research centers around the world. They market Whirlpool, Maytag, KitchenAid, Jenn-Air, Amana, Brastemp, Consul, Bauknecht and other major brand names to consumers in nearly every country around the world.

Their beginnings, though, were much h more humble, based on a business failure and the vision of one family. In 1908, Lou Upton invested his savings in a venture to manufacture household equipment. When that company failed to materialize, Upton was offered the opportunity to select something of value from the failed venture as a return on his investment. He chose the patents on a hand washing machine that he thought might be electrified.

Lou Upton brought the patents and his innovative vision home to St. Joseph, Michigan. In 1911, Lou joined his uncle Emory and brother Fred to produce motordriven wringer washers as the Upton Machine Company.

III.

IT INNOVATIONS

Foreign Websites

Figure 1.0 http://www.shiftboard.com/

Shiftboard, Inc. was founded in 2002 as a web and mobile scheduling service of Coverage Systems, to provide a new and flexible online software platform that could efficiently manage diverse people, communications, and contracts across multiple locations, all within a chaotic, often critical healthcare staffing environment.

Figure 1.1 http://www.timetrade.com/

TimeTrade is the world leader in online appointment scheduling systems used by businesses to create new customers, accelerate the sales and service process and make it easy and fast to respond to customers24/7. Our scheduling software solutions are built on the flexible TimeTrade Appointment Cloud SaaS platform that has the power to scale up to meet the real-time scheduling demands of the

largest deployments.

Figure 1.2 http://www.alliedworldwide.com/index.aspx

Allied Worldwide Limited was established in the UK in 1992 and it is a company that have continuously challenged traditional business models and kept ourselves "ahead of the curve". Our clients and employees have always guided our basic strategy and direction; so much so that we named the company after our most basic principles. We are, and always will be "Allied" to our client's needs and objectives.

Local Websites

Figure 1.3 https://www.bnrs.dti.gov.ph/web/guest/home

Business Name (BN) Registration is one of the principal front-line services of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI). It aims to maintain a nationwide registry of business names mainly Sole Proprietorship.

Figure 1.4 http://www.philsite.net/ Philippine travel destinations guide gives you an overview of popular tourist spots in the Philippines. On each of the featured tourist destination on this travel guide, you will find places of interest on each destination, things to do and how to get there. We have included a page of travel tips, a list of fascinating Philippine festivals that runs year round, a collection of underwater scuba diving pictures, and a map of the Philippines for your reference.

IV.

RATIONALE

The students chose this study to develop a more efficient and effective system for service center/s and to apply its advance program for future use. Also, it modernizes the old or manual system of the service center.

The online system is developed in order to modernize the service center that is old and manual-based. This helps the Whirlpool franchisers to cope with the technology used today. Like other appliance services that already have their computerized system, AC Appliance Service Provider also needs to be automated as well. With such interest, the students must successfully accomplish the things required to complete the development of the Online Service Request System for Whirlpool Appliances.

V.

HISTORY OF THE BUSINESS

In 1908, Lou Upton invested his savings in a venture to manufacture household equipment. When that company failed to materialize, Upton was offered the opportunity to select something of value from the failed venture as a return on his investment. He chose the patents on a hand washing machine that he thought might be electrified. In 1911, the Upton Brothers (Louis, Frederick, and Emory) created the Upton Machine Company in St. Joseph, MI to produce electric, motor-driven wringer washers. Joined with Sears, Roebuck and Co. in 1916, the Upton-manufactured washers sold

faster than the brothers could manufacture them, thus creating the mutually beneficial relationship between Sears and Whirlpool. The Horton Manufacturing Co. of Fort Wayne, Ind., was credited with the first registration of the Whirlpool brand name in 1907 for a washing machine. The handoperated product was known as the Horton Whirlpool Washer, a brand name first used on July 5, 1906, about one year before the first electric-powered wringer washer would appear on the market. The Whirlpool brand name was primarily attached to washing machines until the late 1940s, when Nineteen Hundred introduced an automatic dryer to compliment its washers. In 1949, the company embarked upon a major campaign to boost the Whirlpool brand name in the United States by using the swirl design with a "W" below it. In 1950 Nineteen Hundred was renamed Whirlpool Corporation. In 1967 the Whirlpool logo changed when the swirl was moved above the brand name. In 1981 the modern Whirlpool logo's ring element was developed and first appeared in 1982. Since the 1970s, Whirlpool has been a pioneer of energy and water efficiency measures in its research and development practices. Today the Whirlpool Corporation remains the largest North American supplier of major appliances to Sears under the Kenmore brand. Internationally, Whirlpool is also recognized for energy efficient appliances, as well as for their commitment to environmental packaging, production, and design. Whirlpool is the world's leading manufacturer and marketer of major home appliances, becoming a trusted household name all over the world.

VI.

PRODUCTS AND SERVICES

Product Categories: a. Laundry o HE Front-Load Washers, HE Top-Load Washers, HE Dryers, Traditional Washers, Traditional Dryers, Laundry Pairs, Washer-Dryer Combos b. Refrigeration o French Door, Side-by-Side, Bottom Freezer, Top Freezer c. Cooking o Ranges, Wall Ovens, Cooktops, Microwaves d. Dishwashers and Cleaning o Dishwashers, Compactors, Disposers e. Accessories and Whole Home o Water Heaters, Water Softeners, Water Coolers, Water Filters, Central Heating & Air Conditioning, Water Filtration Systems

Services: a. Extended Service Plans o 24/7 toll-free calls support, comprehensive coverage, authorized service technicians, and repair or replace. b. Replacement Parts o Make small do-it-yourself repairs and touch ups with panels, paint, kits and other replacement parts.

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VII.

VISION MISSION OF THE COMPANY

Vision: Every Home Everywhere with Pride, Passion and Performance Our vision reinforces that every home is our domain, every customer and customer activity our opportunity. This vision fuels the passion that we have for our customers, pushing us to provide innovative solutions to uniquely meet their needs. Pride... in our work and each other Passion... for creating unmatched customer loyalty for our brands Performance... that excites and rewards global investors with superior returns

We bring this vision to life through the power of our unique global enterprise and our outstanding people... working together... everywhere.

Mission: Everyone, Passionately Creating Loyal Customers for Life Our mission defines our focus and what we do differently to create value. We are a company of people captivated with creating loyal customers. From every job, across every contact, we will build unmatched customer loyaltyone customer at a time.

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VIII.

ORGANIZATIONAL CHART

GENERAL MANAGER

TECHNICAL SUPERVISOR

SERVICE SUPERVISOR

SERVICE COORDINATOR

SHOP TECHNICIAN

SALES TECHNICIAN

DRIVER

HELPER

Figure 1.5 Figure 1.5 shows that the owner is also the general manager of the company. All the employees are under the supervision of the general manager. The technical and service supervisor has the same level of responsibilities which is to manage and direct the shop and sales technicians to each of their tasks.

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IX.

FUNCTIONS OF PEOPLEWARE It shows the diverse functions of each and every member of the service center and

how their roles and tasks differ from one another.

a. General Manager Owner of the service center and functions in the daily operations of the business.

b. Technical Supervisor They are the ones responsible for monitoring their team to ensure that they are putting out quality work. They may also create time sheets for their employees and make adjustments if necessary to their schedules. c. Service Supervisor They are the ones who guarantee that their employees are doing their work right, create schedules, create and review reports, and interact with other departments. d. Service Coordinator They are the ones who schedule appointments for clients and responsible for updating every information of each customer. They file customer records; make copies of receipts and other transactions, and photocopies documents for clients and staff. e. Shop Technician They are the employees that pull-out the reviews.

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f. Sales Technician They are the ones that go to the customers residence for troubleshooting and repairing appliances. g. Driver They are the ones who drive the sales technician to their destination.

h. Helper They are the employees who help assist other employees in the service center.

X.

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The general objective of this study is to create an online system that helps the customers schedule for an appointment in repairing their appliances. The customers can request for a service repair online without the actual need to go to the physical store.

Specific Objectives: 1. To be able understand the business processes involved in the existing manual based system. 2. To identify, analyze, and be acquainted with the problems encountered in the existing manual based system.

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3. To design an online service request system that guides customers to an easy and simple transaction. 4. To be able to develop and enhance the online system that presents the desired features of the Online Service Request System. 5. To be able to provide profiles for customers where they can view and be updated of their service request transactions. 6. To enable customers to pay online through PayPal and using their credit cards.

XI.

METHODOLOGY

System Development Life Cycle (SDLC) System Planning the developers have conducted an interview with the company to gather specific data and information needed in making the system. In this phase, it identifies the problems encountered by the existing system. Upon gathering of data, it includes the companys business processes, products and services offered by their organization, their vision mission and also the aims and goals of their business for their customers.

System Analysis in this phase, the requirements given by the company was examined carefully and has been analyzed to know how the performance of the existing system be developed. Ideas and other suggestions of each member are important in this phase to give a vision of the initial look of the system.

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System Design the developers had begun working on the initial design of the system. It describes the steps on how to create the blueprint of the online system and its forms. It includes the processing of the data/information and procedures of the business processes of the company. After which, coding phase is next wherein the designs for the system are converted in codes.

System Testing after applying the codes on the system design phase and once the system is built, the developers had tested possible errors on the system and had checked the codes for possible problem/s to see if the codes meet the functional purpose of the system. After debugging errors, the developers again tested the system to ensure that it is working properly as expected it to be.

System Implementation the developers had implemented the new system and have been following the steps in SDLC correctly. In this phase, it installs the needed components of the new system. The formed system is given to the customers and the developers look forward to have a positive feedback.

System Maintenance in this phase, maintenance of the system is needed to see that it is working appropriately within the standards set. The developers needed to maintain the system by removing the defects of flaws occurred. The new system should be updated regularly.

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GANTT CHART
TASKS JAN SYSTEM PLANNING SYSTEM ANALYSIS SYSTEM DESIGN SYSTEM TESTING SYSTEM IMPLEMENTATION SYSTEM MAINTENANCE FEB MAR MONTHS (YEAR 2012) JUN JULY AUG SUCCEDING TERMS

Figure 1.6

XII.

IMPORTANCE OF THE STUDY

The significance of creating this system is to provide the customers with sufficient knowledge of the various products of Whirlpool and also to offer them repair services that comprises customer care. Its importance is to ensure that the system helps to communicate better with clients everywhere and to respond faster to their requests. It is beneficial to users because they can approach for follow-up repairs for free within a limited period of time.

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In addition, it offers appliance owners the convenience of scheduling an appointment online for repairs for all of Whirlpool products including appliances with and without warranty, through our preferred and secure network of preferred local contractors.

XIII.

SCOPE AND DELIMITATIONS

The study is focused in creating an online service request system that takes into account customer service assistance of locally available appliance network mainly in the Metro Manila area. The system primarily caters scheduling of service request repair for defective appliances with or without warranty. The online system is only for scheduling service requests and not for purchasing Whirlpool products. The system also allows customers to pay online though PayPal and/or using their credit cards providing that they will fill up necessary information for an online payment transaction.

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