The Pizza Dudes
Date
Spring 2006
Team
I was on a team of six Information Systems Majors at Singapore Management University.
My Role on the Team
Program Manager, Developer
The Scenario
The Pizza Dudes is a fictional pizza delivery chain in Singapore. There are five outlets and one call center. The Pizza Dudes needed a system to help them route and fulfill orders.
The Solution
My project team and I built a system that would help The Pizza Dudes take orders, route them to the correct outlet, cook pizzas and deliver to the customer. Our system was built around the five steps in the order process.
1. Customer calls in his/her order
When a customer calls The Pizza Dudes, their order is taken down into the central order system. This entry contains the contents of the customer's order (i.e. number of pizzas, toppings, address etc.).
2. Order is routed from the call center to the closest location
Depending on the customer's zip code, the system calculates which outlet location is the closest to the customer. A message for the kitchen is then generated and sent to the relevant location. The message contains only details on what needs to be cooked.
3. Pizza is cooked
Once the message is sent to the Kitchen, the pizza is cooked. The chef then marks the pizza as "cooked" and the system is notified.
4. Dispatcher is given a delivery
Once the chef marks the pizza as "cooked", a message is sent to the dispatcher letting him/her know that the order is ready to leave. The message contains only details on where the order needs to be delivered.
5. Pizza is delivered to the customer
Once the delivery boy leaves the outlet, the order status is marked as "en-route" in the system. This triggers an SMS message to be sent to the customer's mobile phone. The message notifies the customer that their order is on the way and an estimated delivery time based on the customer's proximity to the location.
Technologies Used
- ASP.NET
- Tibco BusinessWorks Middleware
- MS Access
- XML
- JMS
- Java (w/Swing)
- SOAP
- SMS
Unique Challenges
- Some of the technology we were using was new to all of us. Although we all had experience building web applications, none of us had any experience with Middleware, XML Messaging or Web Services. We all had to get up to speed on each of these technologies.
- There were many different components that needed to work together seamlessley. Although we spent time planning upfront and defining the specs for how things would integrate together, nothing worked at first. A significant amount of time was spent revising our specs and troubleshooting bugs.