CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.0 Introduction

In the technology age, storing information becomes one of the required methods in organization as the tool to provide complete analysis, details for particular activity or events. Having the database is the essential key for managing information, even in small or large industrial organization. Most bus station luggage service use manual method for conducting their business; they do not have any secure element to protect this service from missing information, It also does not register any information about the user and the luggage, the description of the luggage, etc. This information is very vital to the management and user in the case of theft or verification of luggage information. The transport company also needs to check the locker status manually, and also need to register the user information manually. The manual method used may increase the time taken to complete all the process.

According to this situation, the development of Luggage Record System (LRS) can solve the manual problem. It can increases the efficiency of the previous method by computerizing the manual system and with other extra feature that automatically can revolutionize the current system. This system consist two users which are admin and staff. The staff is also the main user for the system which staff can insert, delete, update, search, print out receipt and perform several operations.

According to Odugbemi (2000) luggage billing is an executive information system (EIS) that helps to calculate a customer luggage bills  which will be computed based on the weight of the luggage and the distance the customer will travel. Technological advances have been incorporated into transport companies as well, for example Akwa Ibom State Transport Company (AKTC) has introduced mobile booking, which is faster and offers a much more convenient means of booking and paying for transportation bills online.

In the traditional system, customers luggage is billed based on the size and the distance of the journey. The manual system cannot accurately compute the bill, and the system consumes a lot of time. This time consuming evaluation coupled by the huge maintenance problem leads to erroneous result in most cases. In addition these manually maintained files make it difficult to retrieve information . thus less durability, reliability, privacy, prioritization and efficiency is experienced. A computer-based luggage billing system is necessary for calculating accurate bills for customers luggage. The new system will facilitate the prompt preparation of customer luggage bills, easy retrieval of information and security.

1.1 Theoretical Background

Technological advancement has brought about development because the computer system is fast  and accurate. In addition, it can store large volume of information thereby eliminating the need to record information manually with pen and paper. Most transport companies have recognized the benefits of computer system and they have applied it to facilitate their operations such as recording of relevant transportation and luggage billing information.

Information that would have ordinarily required much time can be achieved quickly using the computer system. The manual way used to process information in the company is always time consuming, stressful and subject to errors. It is very important that computers are applied for information management of transport companies as it will save time and make the job faster. Transportation companies are in need of computerized systems that that can be used to record passenger information to aid the presentation of reports and to make confirmation of transportation transactions carried out. It is in view of this need that this study is set to develop a luggage billing system that can be used to record luggage bills and related transportation billing details.

1.2 Statement of Problems

History of the billing system of luggage in AKTC has been characterized by several factors based on the current manual process. the problems encountered by the manual system can be summarized as follows; it is difficult to compute the actual amount a passenger is supposed to pay based on the weight of the luggage and distance covered, improper documentation of transportation information, inability to confirm billing transactions, absence of a database system that holds the information of billing records for easy confirmation of passenger details. It is the need to solve these problems that has given rise to this study to provide a possible solution to the problems.

1.3 Aim and Objectives of the Study

The aim of this research is to design and implement a luggage billing system with the following objectives:

• To easily store passenger and luggage bill information
• To develop a system that will accurately compute luggage bills
• To develop a system that can be queried to retrieve needed information based on data inputted.
• To provide a system that can replace the manual way of computing and recording luggage and transport bills.

1.4 Significance of the Study

The significance of the study are:

1. It will provide Akwa Ibom Transport Company (AKTC) an effective way of managing luggage billing information.
2. It will eliminate the problem of inaccurate computation of bills and provide a better system for managing passenger details daily.
3. It will solve the problem of wastage of time thereby boosting the operations of AKTC.

1.5 Scope of the Study

This research study covers luggage billing of passengers in AKTC Park. The study also covers the recording of other transportation details alongside the luggage billing information.

1.6 Organization of Research

This research work is organized into five chapters.

Chapter one is concerned with the introduction of the research study and it presents the preliminaries, theoretical background, statement of the problem, aim and objectives of the study, significance of the study, scope of the study, organization of the research and definition of terms.

Chapter two focuses on the literature review, the contributions of other scholars on the subject matter is discussed.

Chapter three is concerned with the system analysis and design. It analyzes the present system to identify the problems and provides information on the advantages and disadvantages of the proposed system. The system design is also presented in this chapter.

Chapter four presents the system implementation and documentation. The choice of programming language, analysis of modules, choice of programming language and system requirements for implementation.

Chapter five focuses on the summary, conclusion and recommendations are provided in this chapter based on the study carried out.

1.7 Definition of Terms

Bill: the amount of money owed for items or services provided.

Luggage: Suitcases, bags, and other items for carrying personal belongings during a journey.

System: A combination of related parts working together to achieve a set goal.

Transportation: the act or business of carrying somebody or something from one place to another, usually in a vehicle.