Project – Formulate and implementation of a hotel ordering system

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1    Background to the Study

Technology is such a term which can change the complete operation of a particular system. In today’s world we find that each and every field is based on the use of some kind of technology. In such a world wherein developments are being taking place in many field, but we find that the most commonly visited place by every person that is a hotel, is still the same. No advancements have been made in the ordering system of a menu in the hotel.

The term Hotel was used for the first time by the 5^th Duke of Devonshire to name a lodging house in London around 1760 AD, The term Hotel is derived from French word hotel meaning town house. Asian United Kingdom, Ireland and many other countries, in earlier time town house was the residence of a peer or aristocrats in the major cities. The word hotel has also derived from the word hostel which means a place to stay for travelers. British law defined Hotel or Inn as a Place where a bonafid traveler can receive food and shelter, provided he is in a position to pay for it and is in a fit condition to receive it. Bonafid traveler receive in a fit condition i.e. hotel will provide fooding and lodging to the guest on payment but can refuse if he is not presentable (drunk, immoral) or not in a position to pay for it Campbell-Smith (2020).

Alternatively, Hotels may also defines as an establishment who‘s business is to provide fooding and lodging to a genuine traveler on a chargeable basis and sometimes recreational facilities also that too on chargeable basis The Oxford English Dictionary (2020). Thus hotels are the establishments that provide paid fooding and lodging generally for short duration of time. hotels often provides a number of additional facilities such as restaurants, coffee shops, bars, swimming pool, banquet halls, board rooms etc.

People visit a hotel in order to have a tasty food in less time and of their desired choice. The customer requirements are very necessary while considering the hotel business. It analyze the different types of customer requirements, it is almost the same. The customer needs a good service, good quality food, less time consumption, no confusion in placing and receiving an order, quick billing with no errors. All this can be made possible with a new type of system named as the ordering system for hotels (Anderson, 2021).

For this system there will be a system administrator who will have the rights to enter the menu with their current prevailing prices. The system administrator can enter anytime in the system by a secured system password to change the menu contents by adding or deleting an item or changing its price. Now when the customer enters the restaurant, customer will place his order with the help of the touch screen using the intuitive graphical user interface, right from the selection of menu items, confirming the order and viewing offers. The customer will select from the food options according to his choice and the system will display the payment amount customer has to make once finished with the order (Sun and Qingqing 2019).

To get order of each table waiter requires more attention to all tables. If he do not get attained one of customer on time, the customer get bored and angry, so we develop system to this system to place order from table customer itself place order from table customer itself. People visit a hotel in order to have a tasty food in less time and of their desired choice. The customer requirements are very necessary while considering the hotel business. If we analyze the different types of customer requirements, we will find that they are almost the same. The customer needs a good service, good quality food, less time consumption, no confusion in placing and receiving an order, quick billing with no errors. All this can be made possible with a new type of system named as the keypad based ordering system for hotels.

There are two types of units, one in kitchen which displays (indicates) item ordered & table number. Another is at each table from which customer can place order by using up, down, enter, shift, keys & LCD display. Once order placed customer, if customer wants to cancel it, can be cancelled within 1 minute only. After item gets ready in the kitchen, the waiter cancels its status. Bill is automatically generated when order placed. At the other end, a LCD interface is designed for taking the order from different table and to give the confirmation (Hashim, et al. 2019). Reservation is the most important part of any hotel system, this process should be efficient so it can serve the commercial goals of the hotel. The most important entity in the reservation process is the rooms, reserving rooms in a hotel should be dynamic, and the whole process should be done in an effective way to maximize the hotel profits.

In the ancient business days, the main focus was marketing products to customers. However, according to current trends, businesses have shifted towards enhancing customer satisfaction as the pivotal point to drive sales (Farooq & Salam, 2019). Currently, more focus has been drawn towards consumers compared to product marketing and consumption. Customer satisfaction is built on the quality of services offered by an enterprise (Sharma & Srivasta, 2019). With a better service quality in place, the organization is assured of increased sales because their consumer base shall be reliable and stable. This factor results in constant profits for the organization, which in the long run boosts overall performance.

1.2    Statement of the Problem

In today’s world it is discovered that each and every field is based on the use of some kind of technology. In such a world wherein developments are being taking place in many field, but it is found that the most commonly visited place by every person is the hotel, is still the same. No advancements have been made in the ordering system of a menu in the hotel. It is still the usual of paper based systems in many of the hotels. People visit a hotel in order to have a tasty food in less time and of their desired choice. However the system tend to solve the following problems:

1. Lack of customer consideration in the hotel business.
2. Lack of immediate information storage

• Lack of prompt update

1. Lack of preparation of accurate and prompt reports

On this backdrop the study to formulate and implement hotel ordering system.

1.3    Aim and Objectives of the Study

The aim of the study is to formulate and implementation of hotel ordering system. While specific objectives are to:

1. design an interactive user-friendly interface for hotel ordering system
2. create a system that include customer consideration in hotel business
3. analyze a system that has prompt storage mechanism
4. implement a system that promptly update information
5. test a system that displays accurate reports

1.4    Significance of the Study

This study will benefit the following groups and sector in the society.

Hospitality Stakeholder: it will benefit the stakeholders in the hospitality business because it will facilitate and drive revenue to them.

Public: The study is of great benefit to the public for easy reservation and ordering of meals when booked in a hotel.

1.5    Scope of the Study

The scope for this study is formulate and implementation of hotel ordering system. The study is limited to the following:

1. it uses PHP for frontend development of the program.
2. the system is interacting with database through MYSQL for the backend design

1.6    Limitations of the Study

Carrying out research of this magnitude it is required to note some of the limitations that could hinder or slow down the success of the project work.

1. Paucity of Fund: Secondly, there was paucity of fund. A lot of fund was involved to gather data. However, the research was able to make judicious use of the available data in order to conclude the research.
2. Software Development: Writing codes for database can be time consuming, designing the software or program is challenging and it is still in progress.

• Time Factor: Time constraints towards design of the system.

1. Lack of Data generation: data collectors were also involved in the operation of the system, so some level of subjectivity is likely. For about half the duration of the data collection, a hike in fuel pump price resulted in transportation difficulties, as well as in challenges in reaching facility personnel.
2. Code Bugs: in the course of designing the program there were lots of bugs that delayed the perfect finishing of the program. 

1.7    Project Layout

The project layout for this research are chapter one which discussed the introduction and background to the study, chapter two discussed the literature review, chapter three explained the system analysis and design of the program, chapter four explained  the system implementation and chapter had the summary, conclusion, recommendations, contribution to knowledge and Suggestions for further studies.

1.8    Definition of Terms

Apache: Apache is an open source HTTP server for UNIX, Windows NT, and other platforms.

Browser: A program which allows a person to read hypertext. The browser gives some means of viewing the contents of nodes (or “pages”) and of navigating from one node to another.

Customer: It seen as someone who patronizes a hotel or books for a lodge.

Formulate: It is defined as to develop or codify a research topic

Food: It is defined as a material consisting essentially of protein, carbohydrate, and fat used in the body of an organism to sustain growth, repair, and vital processes and to furnish energy

Hotel: It is defined as an establishment that provides lodging and usually meals, entertainment, and various personal services for the public.

Implementation: it is defined as the execution or practice of a plan, a method or any design, idea, model, specification, standard or policy for doing something.

MYSQL: It is defined as an Open Source, Fast and Reliable Relational Database Management System (RDBMS) software like Oracle, Sybase, MS SQL Server and more.

Ordering System: It is defined as the programs that take our forecasts, actual orders, safety stock, and, and order quantities, and turn them into purchase orders or production orders.

PHP: It is known as Hypertext Preprocessor, is a programming language that allows web developers to create dynamic content that interacts with databases.

Profit: It is seen as the money you have left after paying for business expenses.

Report: is seen as an account or statement describing in detail an event, situation, or the like, usually as the result of observation, inquiry, etc

Room: it is a room priced for accommodations in a hotel or guest house does not include the cost of food

System:  It is defined as a group of interacting or interrelated elements that act according to a set of rules to form a unified whole.

Waitress: it is seen as someone who serve food and drinks to customers in restaurants and cafes, take orde;rs and handle payments.

Project – Formulate and implementation of a hotel ordering system