Get Homework/Assignment Done

Homeworkping.com
Homework Help
https://www.homeworkping.com/

Research Paper help

https://www.homeworkping.com/

Online Tutoring
https://www.homeworkping.com/

click here for freelancing tutoring sites

A MAJOR PROJECT REPORT
ON
A study on optimization of billing process in Coupon Mall,
Bhilai

Submitted in fulfilment for the award of the degree

Master of Business Administration
Chhattisgarh Swami Vivekanand Technical University, Bhilai

Submitted by,
AMARNATH DHAMGAYA
MBA Semester IV
(Session 2010-11)

Approved By,
Dr. Sumeet Gupta
Head of the Department

Guided By,
Dr. Sumeet Gupta
HOD MBA, SSITM

Shri Shankaracharya Institute of

Technology and Management
Junwani, Bhilai (C.G.) - 490020

ANNEXURE II: DECLARATION BY THE CANDIDATE

I the undersigned solemnly declare that the report of the thesis work entitled A study
on optimization of billing process in Cupon Mall, Bhilai is based on my own work
carried out during the course of my study under the supervision of Dr. Sumeet Gupta.
I assert that the statements made and conclusions drawn are an outcome of my
research work. I further declare that to the best of my knowledge and belief the report
does not contain any part of any work which has been submitted for the award of MBA
degree in this University of India.

_________________
(Signature of the
Candidate)
Amarnath Dhamgaya
Roll No:5353609003

ANNEXURE III: CERTIFICATE FROM THE SUPERVISOR

This is to certify that the work incorporated in the thesis A study on optimization of
billing process in Cupon Mall, Bhilai is a record of research work carried out by
Amarnath Dhamgaya bearing Enrollment No.: 55353609003 under my guidance and
supervision for the fulfillment for the award of MBA Degree of Chhattisgarh Swami
Vivekanand Technical University, Bhilai (C.G.), India.
To the best of my knowledge and belief the thesis
i) Embodies the work of the candidate him/herself,
ii) Has duly been completed,
iii) Is up to the desired standard both in respect of contents and language for
external viva.
______
___________
(Signature of the
Supervisor)
Dr. Sumeet Gupta
HOD MBA, SSITM

ANNEXURE IV: TABLE OF CONTENTS (SAMPLE FORMAT)

Declaration by the Student

Certificate from the Supervisor / Company
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1.
Introduction to the study
Chapter 2.
Company Profile
Chapter 3.
Literature Review
Chapter 4.
Research Methodology
Chapter 5.
Data Tabulation, Analysis and Results
Chapter 6.
Findings of the study
Chapter 7.
Recommendations
Chapter 8.
Limitations
Chapter 9.
Conclusions
References
Appendices
a. Research Progress Report
b. Questionnaire used
c. Any other appendix

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

Abstract: This essay is intended to introduce general idea about queuing theory and
its simplest model M/M/1 to first year undergraduate students with some calculus and
basic probability distribution background. In this essay I first try to provide the reader
the basic sense of the queuing theory and its applications in practice. The second major
body of this essay presents M/M/1 model the simplest in queuing theory. Optimization
is used to find out the best possible alternative way for doing anything with some
given constraints. Queuing theory is applied to optimize the number of servers in the
billing process so that the queue length, waiting time of customer and the ideal time of
the server is minimized. By this study we try to suggest the best suitable shift for the
server at billing process and the number of billing counter required to open during that
shift so that the queue length is minimized and hence the waiting time of the customer
in the queue is reduced.

CHAPTER 2: COMPANY PROFILE

Introduction of Company
Prateek Lifestyle opens Coupon mallBangalore, June 27 Prateek Lifestyle, the retail arm of Prateek (a player in apparel
manufacturing and design), has announced its first retail venture Coupon, a chain of
value lifestyle malls. The first Coupon mall has been set up in Bangalore.
Spread over four floors, the 50,000-sq. ft mall promises to offer around 140 brands in
categories such as apparel, footwear, accessories and home furnishing at discounted
prices. Mr Pradeep Agarwal, Managing Director, Prateek, said, Through this venture
we will provide the best of national and international brands across categories at the
best of prices with discounts ranging from 30 per cent to 55 per cent. We will also soon
launch our private label. Mr Agarwal said the plan is to open a chain of Coupon malls
across the country to tap the organised value retailing segment, which is currently
estimated at Rs 6,000-8,000 crore.
The second Coupon mall will come up in Ahmedabad by mid-August. Prateek Lifestyle
will roll out 12 malls by March 2008 in 10-12 cities such as Kolkata, Chennai,
Hyderabad, Mumbai, Delhi and Pune. It hopes to have 50 malls by 2010. By the end
of March 2008, with 12 malls, we hope to have revenues of Rs 250-300 crore, said Mr
Agarwal. The total investment in this venture is about Rs 500 crore.
Prateek Lifestyle also has plans to enter other apparel verticals kidswear and
lingerie. After Coupon, the companys next retail project will be the launch of
kidswear range Kanz from Germany, followed by a tie-up with a European lingerie
brand. Prateek Lifestyle aims to have 100 retail outlets by the end of this financial year
in all three retail verticals. Prateeks other divisions are Prateek Apparels, which

supplies apparel to the domestic market for clients like Westside, Arvind and Madura
Garments and Munch Design Worx.
Mumbai : Prateek Lifestyle, the only domestic player in the apparel design,
manufacturing and retail space has announced the launch of its ''Coupon'' mall in
Raipur.
Coupon is a unique venture by Prateek Lifestyle, the newly formed retail arm of
Prateek.
Established in 1995, Prateek today is the largest manufacturer of apparel for the
domestic players, and according to the company is also one of the most successful
enterprises of the Phulchand group. The group is managed by Pradeep Agarwal,
managing director, with CEO''s responsible for each vertical of Prateek Lifestyle,
Prateek Apparels and Munch Design Worx.
On the anvil are plans for entering other apparel verticals during this fiscal. Prateek
has entered the kids wear segment with the European kids wear brand Kanz, and plans
to enter the lingerie segment this year through tie-ups with leading European brands.
Prateek Lifestyle aims to have over 100 retail outlets by the end of this financial year
across these three retail verticals.
The Raipur store is the second in a chain of Value Lifestyle Malls, the first one having
launched earlier in Bangalore in June 2007.
According to Pradeep Agarwal, managing director, Prateek, the company has been
synonymous with international quality and standards of service, and that shall be
extended to Coupon as well.
He said, "Through this venture, we will provide the best of national and international
brands across categories at the best of prices. We have already tied up with all major
apparel brands in India. We are also the first to get the popular My Dollar Store into

Raipur. Having been known as an apparel & fashion powerhouse, it is this unparalleled
understanding of the industry that has enabled us to venture into this space. Raipur is
an important market for us as it has been showing a lot of potential on the retail front.
The consumers here are educated and wield strong buying power. We aim to expand
our presence across India. We will not restrict ourselves only to metros."
Adding further, Agarwal said Prateek Lifestyle intends to revolutionise the retail
industry in India with this new concept. Other than an international shopping
experience, consumers also get to participate in various unique and exciting offers and
promotions that would be held regularly. He says that unlike other malls, at Coupon
customers get the best of products at discounted prices throughout the year.
According to a release by the company, it plans to ramp up operations and will roll out
10 to 12 outlets nationally in six months.
Coupon will cater to men, women and children with its range of apparel, footwear and
accessories, and will have separate sections for home furnishings and general
merchandise.
Spread over 2 floors with a total floor space of around 20,000sq feet, Coupon will offer
an unparalleled international retailing experience with the best of brands at best
discounts across categories under one roof.

CHAPTER 3: LITERATURE REVIEW

Introduction

In general we do not like to wait. We would like to be served instantly as we enter a

service system. But from the managers point of view, reduction of the waiting time
usually requires extra investments. To decide whether or not to invest, it is important to
know the effect of the investment on the waiting time. So we need models and
techniques to analyse such situations. Queuing systems constitute a central tool in
modelling and performance analysis of e.g. production systems, transportation and
stocking systems, communication systems and information processing systems.
Queuing models are particularly useful for the design of these systems in terms of
layout, capacities and control.

What are queue models?

Queuing models are often represented by diagrams like the one below. A source (the
population) generates new customers which arrive in the system, join the queue in
front of a server (grocery store, clinic, etc) where they wait until they are served by the
server. After being served they leave the system at the sink.
The basic queuing model can be used to model, e.g., machines or operators processing
orders or communication equipment processing information. Among others, a queuing
model is characterized by:

The arrival process of customers.

Usually we assume that the inter arrival times are independent and have a common
distribution. In many practical situations customers arrive according to a Poisson
stream (i.e. exponential inter arrival times). Customers may arrive one by one, or in

batches. An example of batch arrivals is the customers once at the security door where
ID card of new arrivals has to be checked.

The behaviour of customers.

Customers may be patient and willing to wait (for a long time). Or customers may be
impatient and leave after a while without being served. For example, in call-centers,
customers will hang up when they have waited too long before an operator is available,
and they possibly try again after a while.

The service times.

Usually the service times are assumed to be iid (independent and identically
distributed), and that they are independent of the interarrival times. For example, the
service times can be exponentially distributed. It can also occur that service times are
dependent of the queue length. For example, the processing rates of the machines in a
production system can be increased once the number of jobs waiting to be processed
becomes too large.

The service discipline.

Customers can be served one by one or in batches. We have many possibilities for the
order in which they enter service. We mention:

-- First come first served, i.e. in order of arrival;

-- Random order;
-- Last come first served (e.g. in a computer stack or a shunt buffer in a production
line);

-- Priorities (e.g. rush orders first, shortest processing time first);

-- Processor sharing (in computers that equally divide their processing power overall
jobs in the system).

The service capacity.

There may be a single server or a group of servers helping the customers.

The waiting room.

There can be limitations with respect to the number of customers in the system. For
example, in a data communication network, only finitely many cells can be buffered in
a switch. The determination of good buffer sizes is an important issue in the design of
these networks.

A three-part code a/b/c notation was introduced by Kendall to characterize a range of

these queuing models. The first letter specifies the interarrival time distribution and the
second one the service time distribution. For example, for a general distribution the
letter G is used, M for the exponential distribution (M stands for Memoryless) and D for
deterministic times. The third and last letter specifies the number of servers. Some
examples are M/M/1, M/M/c, M/G/1, G/M/1 and M/D/1. The notation can be extended
with an extra letter to cover other queuing models. For example, a system with
exponential interarrival and service times, one server and having waiting room only for
N customers (including the one in service) is abbreviated by the four letter code
M/M/1/N.

In the basic model, customers arrive one by one and they are always allowed to enter
the system, there is always room, there are no priority rules and customers are served

in order of arrival. It will be explicitly indicated (e.g. by additional letters) when one of
these assumptions does not hold.

Occupation rate:

In a single-server system G/G/1 with arrival rate and mean service time E(B) the
amount of work arriving per unit time equals E(B). The server can handle 1 unit work
per unit time. To avoid that the queue eventually grows to infinity, we have to require
that E(B) < 1. Without going into details, we note that the mean queue length also
explodes when E(B) = 1, except in the D/D/1 system, i.e., the system with no
randomness at all.
It is common to use the notation = E(B). If < 1, then

is called the occupation

rate or server utilization, because it is the fraction of time the server is working. In a
multi-server system G/G/c we have to require that E(B) < c. Here the occupation rate
per server is = E(B)=c.

M/M/1 model

Before touching the M/M/1 queue, we need to first have a look at the Markovian
system. All Markovian systems have a common characteristic that the distribution of
the interarrival times and the distribution of the service times are exponential
distributions. Therefore, the memoryless property can also be applied for the Markovian
systems. From this property we have two important conclusions:

The state of the system can be summarized in a single variable, namely the
number of customers in the system. (If the service time distribution is not memoryless,
this is not longer true, since not only the number of customers in the system is needed,
but also the remaining service time of the customer in service.)

The M/M/1-Queue has iid interarrival times, which are exponentially distributed with
parameter and also identically independent distribution (iid) service times with
exponential distribution with parameter . The M/M/1 system is a pure birth-death
system, where at any point in time at most one event occurs, with an event either
being the arrival of a new customer or the completion of a customers service. What
makes the M/M/1 system really simple is that the arrival rate and the service rate are
not state-dependent.
The M/M/1 model is characterized by the following assumptions:
-- Jobs arrive according to a Poisson process with parameter t, or equivalently, the
time between arrivals, t, has an exponential distribution with parameter , i.e., for t
0, the probability density function is f(t) = e-t
-- The service time, s, has an exponential distribution with parameter , i.e., for s 0,
the probability density function is g(t) = e-t
-- There is a single server.
-- The buffer is of infinite size; and
-- The number of potential jobs is infinite.

Littles Formula. In a steady state, the average time spent waiting in the queue,
Wq = Lq/, and the average time spent in the system (in queue or process), W = L /
Appling Littles formula we can get W = 1 / ( - ) and Wq = / ( - )
We can now have a look at the following simple example to better understand how
M/M/1 model can be used in practice. Assume a drive-up window at a fast food
restaurant. Customers arrive at the rate of 25 per hour. The employee can serve one
customer every two minutes. Assume variable arrivals and variable service rate.

Other Types of Queueing Models

M/M/m exponential arrival rate and service times, with m servers (like grocery store
with many checkout lanes).

M/M/m/m exponential arrival rate and service times, with m servers, but nobody
waits in queue (if all m servers are busy when a customer arrives, that customer gives
up and leaves).

M/M/ exponential arrival rate and service times, with unlimited number of 8 servers
(customers never wait in queue).

M/D/1 service times are deterministic (e.g. a constant, fixed service time regardless
of customer).

M/G/1 exponential arrival rate, but service rate has a general (arbitrary) probability
distribution, and a single server.

M/G/m same as M/G/1, but with m servers.

CHAPTER 4: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Section A.
Objective
1. To study the current billing process.
2. To optimize the billing process using queuing theory
Section B.

RESEARCH PLAN
Research Design:

Descriptive

Research Method Used

Observation

Research Technique Used

Queuing Theory

Data Collection

Coupon Mall, Bhilai

Sampling Plan

Convenience

No. of samples collected

14 days

CHAPTER 5: DATA TABULATION AND ANALYSIS

Data Tabulation

Analysis
4
1
2
3
4
0.0 0.19
0.0 0.0 0.21
0.0
4 0.23
4
4 0.27
3
0.56
0.0 0.0 0.0 0.67
0.0
5 1.23
4
4 1.27
3
3.02
3.13
0.2 0.2 0.2 0.1
7 0.81
4
5 0.79
9
1.0 1.0
1.0 1.0
Customer
Ls ( 1/1-)
5
4
4
3
6.1 6.0
6.0
Ws (Ls/)
2
8 6.1
3
1. As we see that the queue length is less and waiting time is0.9
more0.9
it shows
that
0.9 0.9
idle time (1-)
6
6
6
7
there are less customer/product in the queue but they have to wait more to be

Counter No
1
Traffic intensity (/)
Lq (/1-)
Wq (Lq/)
Ls ( 1/1-)
Ws (Ls/)
idle time (1-)
Product

3
Counter No
0.21intensity
0.22
Traffic
0.26
0.28
(/)
0.64
0.7
1.26
Lq
(/1-) 1.28
3.1
3.16
0.79(Lq/) 0.78
Wq

served.
2. Waiting time in the system is very high as compare to waiting time in the queue
which indicates that the service time is very high.
3. As the idle time is much greater then traffic intensity it shows that the number of
server is more than the requirement.
4. In case of customer we see that the difference between waiting time in the
system and waiting time in queue is very high i.e. waiting time in the system is
greater than waiting time in queue shows that the customer have to wait more
in the service window because of high service time whereas the queue length is
very small due to that the maximum utilization of the server is not possible.
5. The analysis also tells that the arrival rate of customer is very low but due to
high service time the customer in the system is high.

CHAPTER 6: FINDINGS

On the basis of this observational study the following are the findings:
1. The service time of the billing server 4 is slow as compare to other server.
2. Numbers of billing counter are more than that are required.
3. The delay in service is mainly due to following reasons.
a. Manual entry of the discount offered in the products.
b. The men at the server are unaware about the discount available in certain
product.
c. Product barcode in not stored in the database so the manual entry of the
product is required.
d. Barcode tag is not there in many products.
e. Product change is done in the billing counter although there is an extra
counter for exchange.
f. Feedback is taken in the billing counter.

CHAPTER 7: RECOMMENDATIONS

There are some recommendations for the coupon mall on the basis of my study to
improve their billing process.
1. The database must maintain properly so that the problem of missing product or
change in discounts or offer is available at the time of billing.
2. Exchange related matter should be handled in separate counter. And the person
of counter number 4 is placed in exchange counter
3. Number of counter should be reduced from 4 to 3 to get efficient utilization.
4. Feedback is taken at the time of exit not in the billing counter.
5. The entire product must have barcode tag. To minimize the delay at the time of
billing.

CHAPTER 8: LIMITATIONS

Limitations of this study are:

1. Time for this study is the major limitation.
2. It is very difficult to observe all the counters and the entire customer
individually, alone.

CHAPTER 8: CONCLUSION

This study helps me a lot to understand about the practical implementation of queuing
system and also to understand the problem facing by the coupon mall in their billing
system. By this study I try to find the problems in the billing process of coupon mall,
bhilai, and try to suggest some ways to minimize those problem so that the level of
customer satisfaction increase. For any organized retail shop customer satisfaction is
the most important factor and it helps a lot in customer retainsion.
Queuing Theory tries to answer questions about the performance of a system like e.g.
the mean waiting time in the queue, the mean system response time (waiting time in
the queue plus service times), mean utilization of the service facility, distribution of
the number of customers in the queue, distribution of the number of customers in the
system and so forth. Actually the most operations systems are much more complicate
to be analyzed for which more complex models or networks of queue could work pretty
well. However, to clearly understand these queue models requires readers more
advanced calculus and probability preparation.

ANNEXURE VI: REFERENCES

Citation from journals:
G. D. Gopen and J. A. Swan, The Science of Scientific Writing, J. of American
Scientist, vol. 78, pp. 550558, 1990.
C. H. Lee and Y. K. Lee, An Adaptive Digital Image Watermarking Technique for
Copyright Protection, IEEE Trans. on Consumer Electronics, Vol. 45, No. 4, pp.
1005-1015, November 1999.
Citation from proceedings of conferences/Seminars/Workshops:
[A] C. K. Yang, D. C. Wu, C. S. Huang, A study of Robust Watermarking Using
Block Based and Determinant Concept, Proceedings of 2001 IPPR Conf. On
CVGIP, Ken-Ding, Taiwan, pp.201-209, 2001
[D] R. G. van Schyndel, A. Z. Tirkel, and C. F. Osborne, A digital watermark,
Proc. IEEE Int. Conference on Image Processing, vol. 2, pp. 86- 90, 1994.
[F] D. Smith (Ed.), "Information Overload," Second International Workshop, IH'98,
Portland, Oregon, USA, April 1998, Proceedings. Lecture Notes in Computer
Science, vol. 1525, Springer-Verlag (1998)
Citation from Technical report:
[AA] Caulkin, S. (Ed.). (1990). Drucker, Ohmae, Porter & Peters. Management
briefings. (Management Guides. Special report No.1202). London: The
Economist.
[BC] I. M. Boier Martin and D. C. Marinescu, Graphics for Macromolecular
Crystallography and Electron Microscopy, Technical Report, Department of
Computer Sciences, Purdue University, CSD TR-96-009, 1996.
Citation from Patent:
[DD] A. Sibbald, Method and Apparatus for Fingerprint Characterization and
Recognition using Auto-correlation Pattern, U S Patent 5633947, 1994.
Citation from Thesis:
D. Kundur, Mulitresolution Digital Watermarking: Algorithms and Implications
for Multimedia Signals, Ph.D. Thesis, University of Toronto, 1999.
Citation from Books:
D. Thompson, ed., The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Current English. Oxford, UK:
Oxford University Press, 9th ed., 1995, ISBN No.: 0987654.
D. Lindsay, A Guide to Scientific Writing, Melbourne, Chapter 2, Australia:
Addison Wesley Longman Australia, 2nd ed., 1997, ISBN No.: 12345678.
H. White. Economic Prediction using Neural Networks: The case of IBM Daily
Stock Returns. In Neural Networks in Finance and Investing, chapter18, pages
315328. Probus Publishing Company, 1993, ISBN No.: 987789987.
Citation from Website:
Anonymous, unZign, Tool for Evaluating a Variety of Watermarks,
http://altern.org/watermark/, (23rd September 1997)
Publication of the University of Geneva (on digital watermarking): <http://
cuiwww.unige.ch/vision/Publications/watermarking_publications.html>
(Browsing Date: 4th January 2006)
ADEC (1999). ADEC Distance Education Consortium. [On-line]. Available:
http://www.adec.edu/ [2000, January 17].