2012-14

MIS Project on
New Customer Registration

Submitted By

SUBMITTED TO
Prof. ZeshanAhmer
Institute of Business Administration
University of the Punjab

Khalid Mahmood (2012-054)

ShahzadHameed (2012-057)
Muhammad Saleh (2012-063)
Usman Hassan (2012-073)
Muhammad Naeem (2012-079)
AsifIqbal (2009-015)

TABLE OF CONTENT

COMPANY PROFILE .....................................................................................................................3

PROBLEM DEFINITION ................................................................................................................4
STUDY OF EXISTING SYSTEM ..............................................................................................................4
REQUIREMENT ANALYSIS ...................................................................................................................5
DATA GATHERING ..............................................................................................................................5
SYSTEM PROCESS DOCUMENT SP-SAL-01 ................................................................................................ 5
New Customer Registration - Domestic................................................................................................ 5
1. Overview ........................................................................................................................................... 5
1.1 Business Process Description ...................................................................................................... 5
2. Process Activities............................................................................................................................... 6
2.1 Activity Summary ........................................................................................................................ 6
2.2 Activity Narrative ........................................................................................................................ 7
2.2.1 Receive application form ..................................................................................................... 7
2.2.2 Issue Acknowledgement Letter............................................................................................ 7
2.2.3 Select customers for survey ................................................................................................. 8
2.2.4 Technical Vetting (If Applicable) .......................................................................................... 8
2.2.5 Note details if application is Non-Feasible........................................................................... 8
2.2.6 Proposal Letter/ Demand Note is issued ............................................................................. 8
2.2.7 Bill is issued to the customer ............................................................................................... 8
2.2.8 Customer pays and produces the proof of payment ........................................................... 8
2.2.9 Field Activities raised for Distribution .................................................................................. 8
2.2.10 Ditching is done by Contractor .......................................................................................... 9
2.2.11 Service Lines are laid by Welding Team ............................................................................. 9
2.2.12 Meter is installed at customer site .................................................................................... 9
2.2.13 Gas SA is activated ............................................................................................................. 9
2.2.14 ToDo for Service Point without Meter Read Cycle ............................................................ 9
2.2.15 First gas bill is generated.................................................................................................... 9
3. APPENDICES .................................................................................................................................. 9
4. Document Information and Revision History ............................................................................. 10

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PROBLEM IN EXISTING SYSTEM ........................................................................................................ 10

PROPOSAL FOR THE NEW/IMPROVED SYSTEM ................................................................................. 10
SUGGESTION FOR THE PROBLEM IN EXISTING SYSTEM ...................................................................... 10
ORGANIZATIONAL CHART ................................................................................................................ 11
LIST OF ENTITIES OF THE SYSTEM: .................................................................................................... 12
External Entities: ..................................................................................................................................... 12
Internal Entities:...................................................................................................................................... 12
LIST OF PROCESSES IN THE SYSTEM .................................................................................................. 13
DATA FLOW DIAGRAMS ................................................................................................................... 13
Context Level Diagram ............................................................................................................................ 14
Zero Level Diagram ................................................................................................................................. 15
Level One Diagram .................................................................................................................................. 16
Entity Relationship Diagram ................................................................................................................... 17
ACTIVITY PLANNING AND CONTROL ................................................................................................. 18
OVERLOADING OF WORKER ............................................................................................................. 20
GANTT CHART .................................................................................................................................. 21
PERT DIAGRAM................................................................................................................................ 22

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COMPANY PROFILE
Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) was incorporated as a private limited Company in
1963 and converted into a public limited company in January 1964 under the Companies Act
1913, now Companies Ordinance 1984, and is listed on all the three Stock Exchanges of the
Country.
The Company took over the existing Sui-Multan System (217 miles of 16 inch and 80 miles of
10 inch diameter pipelines) from Pakistan industrial Development Corporation (PIDC) and
Dhulian-Rawalpindi-Wah system (82 miles of 6 inch diameter pipeline) from Attock Oil
Company Limited. The Company's commercial operations commenced by selling an average of
47 MMCFD gas in two regions viz. Multan and Rawalpindi, serving a total number of 67
consumers.
Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) is the largest integrated gas company serving more
than 4.2 million consumers in North Central Pakistan through an extensive network in Punjab,
Khyber PakhtoonKhwa and Azad Jammu & Kashmir and is certified against ISO 14001:2004
& OHSAS 18001:2007 Standards. SNGPLs 11 sites have been registered under the
"SMART2" Program by Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency (PAK-EPA).. The
Company has over 49 years of experience in operation and maintenance of high-pressure gas
transmission and distribution systems. It has also expanded its activities as Engineering,
Procurement and Construction (EPC) Contractor to undertake the planning, designing and
construction
of
pipelines,
both
for
itself
and
other
organizations.
SNGPL transmission system extends from Sui in Baluchistan to Peshawar in Khyber
PakhtoonKhwa (KPK) comprising over 7,654 KM of Transmission System (Main lines & Loop
lines). The distribution activities covering 2,494 main towns along with adjoining villages in
Punjab & Khyber PakhtoonKhwa are organized through 13 regional offices. Distribution system
consists of 87,796 KM of pipeline. SNGPL has 4,174,342 consumers comprising Commercial,
Domestic, General Industry, Fertilizer, and Power & Cement Sectors. Annual gas sales to these
consumers were 597,056 MMCF worth Rs. 216,652 million during Jul 2011 - Jun 2012.

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PROBLEM DEFINITION
The SNGPL is operating its activities in two provinces (Punjab and KPK) in Pakistan. There are
12 main regions from where all the activities are being monitored. Each Region containing
multiple Sub Offices and activities performed under these Sub Offices are being controlled. For
the MIS purpose, we are taking a small part i.e. from the New Customer Registration to the
Installation of Meter only.
The new customer registration process is initiated with the submission of gas connection
application by the customer at Sales department along with necessary documents and ends with
the installation of meter at customer site by Distribution department. After receiving the
application, usually the customer is informed of a tentative period when the survey will be
performed. When the turn of customer comes according to first come first serve basis, survey of
the site is conducted to determine if the connection is feasible or not. In case the connection is
not feasible a regret letter is sent to the customer. The sketch of service lines is made along with
details of lines that are required to determine cost of service line. Proposal Letter/ Demand Note
is generated. After the customer acknowledges the letter, payment is made after which request to
lay service lines and install meter is sent to Distribution department. After meter installation and
commissioning of gas, Billing is notified to create the Book No. and Route for the customer to be
billed.
The management of SNGPL is required to get the MIS to monitor/control the progress of these
activities so that the company would perform its operations as per Oil and Gas Regulatory
Authority (OGRA)s rules and regulations i.e. to maintain the progress defined by the OGRA
with respect to Meter Installation.

STUDY OF EXISTING SYSTEM

The existing system is partially manually and partially computerized. The company has
purchased a Billing System from ORACLE which is designed for the billing purposes only. This
system captures all the required data but its architecture does not support the proper MIS.
However some reports are being generated for this purpose using the schema of Billing System.
As the architecture does not support MIS and the reports developed are not efficient enough to
produce the results, however these reports meet the requirements.
To improve the MIS of the company we have to develop a separate schema so that the
management of the company could get reports efficiently and accurately. For this we have
studied the existing reports generated from the Billing System.

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REQUIREMENT ANALYSIS
Due to the shortage of Gas, there is a huge backlog of gas connection application. To maintain
the queue on first come first serve basis, there is a requirement to develop a Management
Information System.
The main requirement is to determine the turn of the issuance of the demand note and to
determine the turn for the installation of meter on merit basis. Also the efficiency as well as
accuracy should be considered.
Currently the company is getting the information from the Billing System to whom the architect
is not supporting MIS, due to which such reports are taking too much time to execute. It took 2
days to complete. Also these reports are using the resources of the system which resulting slow
other billing and daily processes.

DATA GATHERING
Data gathering activity is done based on the process document available in the company. The
extract of the document is given below:

SYSTEM PROCESS DOCUMENT SP-SAL-01

New Customer Registration - Domestic
1. Overview
1.1 Business Process Description

The new customer registration process is initiated with submission of gas connection application
by the customer at Sales department along with necessary documents and ends with the
installation of meter at customer site by Distribution department. After receiving the application,
usually the customer is informed of a tentative period when the survey will be performed. When
the turn of customer comes according to first come first serve basis, survey of the site is
conducted to determine if the connection is feasible or not. In case the connection is not feasible
a regret letter is sent to the customer. The sketch of service lines is made along with details of
lines that are required to determine cost of service line. Proposal Letter/ Demand Note is
generated. After the customer acknowledges the letter, payment is made after which request to
lay service lines and install meter is sent to Distribution department. After meter installation and
commissioning of gas, Billing is notified to create the Book No. and Route for the customer to be
billed. The same procedure is followed if a customer requests for additional meter with the only
difference that the Person, Account and Premise already exist. Also the waiting time is not as
much as it for new customers. Similarly the process for Address change is same as new customer
registration process. Process Owner: Regional Sales Department:

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2. Process Activities
2.1 Activity Summary
Process
Activity

Description

1.

Receive application
form

Responsible
Customer submits the application form along with the
required documents at Sales Department/ Customer Service
Centers.
Sales rep creates a customer contact and issue the
Acknowledgement letter to the customer.

CSR/Sales
rep.

Using Report, cases where the turn has reached are selected
and field activity for survey is generated.

Regional
Sales

3.

Issue
Acknowledgement
Letter
Select customers for
survey

4.

Technical Vetting (If

Applicable)

Distribution dept. technically vets the application after sales

visit.

Distribution
Dept.

5.

Note details if
application is NonFeasible/offline

Regional
Sales

6.

Proposal Letter/
Demand Note is
issued.

After survey, if application cannot be further processed due

to non-feasibility, its details are recorded and through
customer contact, regret/Intimation letter is sent to
customer.
A Proposal Letter/ Demand Note is issued to the customer.
A preprinted House Line Contractors Listis enclosed
along with the Proposal Letter / Demand Note. Service line
and security deposit charges would be assessed, outside
CC&B, by the contractor.

Bill is issued to
customer

When customer comes back acknowledging the proposal

letter, a bill is issued so that he can pay the service line
charges and deposit amount. Document Vetting is
performed outside of CC&B.

Regional
Sales

Customer pays the

amount, raised in
Bill.

The customer makes payment at any bank / post office or

any other payment center. Customer presents the proof of
payment at the SNGPL. CMC would not be maintained,
after CC&B. Rather all the information of the customer and
premise will be maintained in the CC&B. Consumer
number and account number would be maintained by the
CC&B, in order to keep the track of the consumer.

Customer

9.

Field Activities raised

for Distribution

After receiving proof of payment, Gas SA is created in

CC&B that creates a field activity for Distribution.

Regional
Sales

10.

Ditching is done by
Contractor

After the Field Activity is generated for Distribution,

ditching is done by Contractor.
If Field Activity cancels, a ToDo would be generated
intimating about the further actions to be taken.

Third Party
Contractor

2.

7.

8.

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Regional
Sales

Regional
Sales

SP-SAL-01 New Customer Registration v 1.3

11.

Service Lines are

laid

Service Lines are laid after ditching is completed by the

Contractors. If Field Activity cancels, a ToDo would be
generated intimating about the further actions to be taken

Welding Team
Development
Section

12.

Meter is installed
at customer site

Meter is installed after the service lines are laid and Field
Activity is completed. If Field Activity cancels, a ToDo
would be generated intimating about the further actions to
be taken and Gas SA would not be activated.

Fitting Team
Development
Section

A batch job of CC&B activates the Gas SA after meter is

installed and FA is completed.

CC&B

13.

Gas SA is
activated
ToDo for Service
Point without
Meter Read Cycle
First Gas bill is
generated

A ToDo is generated if the service point does not have

Meter Read Cycle and Book Route.

CC&B

After bill cycle on account is populated, the system will

generate the gas bill when that cycle is scheduled.

CC&B

14.

15.

2.2 Activity Narrative

2.2.1 Receive application form

Customer submits the application form along with the required documents at Sales Department/
Customer Service Centers. In CC&B, go to Order + and select the appropriate campaign. Details
of name, phone, NIC, appropriate customer class and address are entered. Press the Save
Information button. This will create the Person, Account and Premise of the customer in
CC&B. CC&B would navigate to Case Management screen. Select the appropriate Case Type
and save. Note: Account No. is generated for the customer that should be used as the reference
for all future correspondence.
2.2.2 Issue Acknowledgement Letter

Select the existing case to create customer contact and print the Acknowledgement letter for the
customer. Suggestion: Pre-printed stationary should be used to save time and resources.

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2.2.3 Select customers for survey

Using Report, cases where the turn has reached are selected according to First-Come-First-Serve
basis by the Sales Rep. In CC&B, search for the customer using Account ID. Using dashboard,
go to Premise (if premise does not appear, go to Account and using the Mailing Premise ID on
Main
Page,
go
to
SP-SAL-01 New Customer Registration v 1.3

Premise). To create field activity for survey, go to Field Activity + using service point menu.
Select the appropriate FA Type and save. Go to the existing Case to update the status of the
application.
2.2.4 Technical Vetting (If Applicable)

If technical vetting is required from the distribution dept. a field activity by sales dept. is created
for distribution. The distribution dept. completes the field activity and a ToDo is created for
sales.
2.2.5 Note details if application is Non-Feasible

After survey, if application cannot be further processed due to non-feasibility, the details are
recorded on Case. A customer contact is created and regret/intimation letter is sent to the
customer.
2.2.6 Proposal Letter/ Demand Note is issued

A Proposal Letter/ Demand Note is issued to the customer. Preprinted House Line
Contractors Listis enclosed along with the Proposal Letter / Demand Note. Service line and
securit y deposit charges would be assessed, outside CC&B, by the contractor.
2.2.7 Bill is issued to the customer

When customer comes back acknowledging the proposal letter, a bill is issued so that he can pay
the service line charges and deposit amount. Document Vetting is performed outside of
CC&B.
2.2.8 Customer pays and produces the proof of payment

After making the payment at bank, customer comes back with the proof of payment so that
application can be further processed. Note: Refer to Payments.doc for Online Cashiering if Pay
Orders are accepted at Sales Department.
2.2.9 Field Activities raised for Distribution

After receiving proof of payment, Gas SA is created in CC&B that creates two field activities,
for Distribution
i- Ditching and Service Line installation.
ii- Install Meter.

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2.2.10 Ditching is done by Contractor

The field Activity for service line installation will be created by the system. Ditching is the first
step of the FA. It is done by Contractor, outside of CC&B. Only Date of Completion and
Contractor Reference is updated on Field Activity steps for Service Installation after ditching is
complete.
2.2.11 Service Lines are laid by Welding Team

Service Lines are laid by the Welding Team of Development Section after ditching is complete.
After the work is done, information is updated on the Field Activity for Service Installation and
FA is completed.
2.2.12 Meter is installed at customer site

This activity will always be generated. Meter is installed by the Fitting Team of Development
Section after service lines are laid. This information is updated on the Field Activity for Meter
Installation and FA is completed.
2.2.13 Gas SA is activated

A batch job of CC&B activates the Gas SA after service installation and/or meter installation
field activities are completed.
2.2.14 ToDo for Service Point without Meter Read Cycle

A ToDo is generated by CC&B if the service point does not have Meter Read Cycle and Book
Route. Once this information is provided, the Bill Cycle on account is populated from the SPs
meter read cycle. ToDo for accounts without bill cycle is also generated.
2.2.15 First gas bill is generated

After bill cycle on account is populated, the system will generate the first gas bill when that cycle
is
scheduled
to
be
billed.
3. APPENDICES
Configuration:

Identifier Type Phone Type Person Relationship Type Customer Class Service Point Type SA
Type

Algorithms:
Reports:
Interface:
Batch Job:

Report of mature applications where survey has to be performed

SAACT

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4. Document Information and Revision History

File Name
Original Author(s)
Version
V1.0
V1.1
V 1.2
V 1.3

SP-SAL-01 New Customer Registration

Nadia Hasnain

Date
07-Oct-2008
04-Dec-2008
22-Dec-2008
29-Jan-2009

Author(s)
Nadia Hasnain
Nadia Hasnain
AtifSaleem
MobeenRiaz

Revision Notes
Original
Updated document with Case as part of design
Updated document with Pipeline Extension Process
Updated document with reference to Domestic only.

PROBLEM IN EXISTING SYSTEM

The problem in existing system is only the efficiency of the reports for the management which
needs to be fixed in the proposed system.

PROPOSAL FOR THE NEW/IMPROVED SYSTEM

1. Currently Sales system is the part of Billing System and the Billing Data is increasing
day-by-day. Separate the Sales system from the Billing System to increase the efficiency
on the part of Sales System.
2. We proposed that a separate database is to be developed which should be populated with
the data extracted from the Billing System on a daily basis. The data will be extracted
through the auto scheduled scripts. Because of the simple structure of the database the
reports will be executed efficiently.

SUGGESTION FOR THE PROBLEM IN EXISTING SYSTEM

As the Sales System is the built-in part of the billing system and it cannot be used
separately, so we cannot use the option 1.
The option 2 is the best that a separate database is to be developed and data should be
extracted and populated the new database for the selected records on daily basis. This
will probably be helpful to resolve the issue.

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ORGANIZATIONAL CHART

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LIST OF ENTITIES OF THE SYSTEM:

The entities of the system are categorized in two groups External Entities and Internal
Entities:

External Entities:
In the current system External Entities are used to show sources and recipient of data for
the operation of the business. We extracted the following External Entities from the context
level diagram. These are:
1. Customer
a. Customer will interact with the system for the submission of his Gas
Connection Application, Receiving Letters and Receiving Bills etc.
2. Collection Agency
a. The collection agency will interact with the system when it will provide data
of all the payment collected from the customers on behalf of the company and
will submit the data for further processing in the system.
3. Regulator/OGRA
a. The Regulator/OGRA will need some reports from the system based on the
customers and payment data.
4. Management
a. The management will require some MIS for the decision making.

Internal Entities:
The following entities will be used directly by the System.
1. Agency(This entity will be used to maintain the main collection agencies like, NADRA,
Post Offices and Banks)
2. CollectingAgent(This entity will be used to maintain the information of Collecting
Agent like if the Agency is BANK then collecting agent may be MCB, ABL, HBL etc.
3. Branch(This entity will contain the detail of the branch of the collecting agent).
4. Financials(This entity will contain the Financial Information like charging against any
bill or received any payment from the customer via Collecting Agent).
5. Bills(This entity will contain the Billing Information sent to the customer).
6. Region(This entity will contain the information of all the regional offices).
7. SubOffice (Any information related to sub-office will be maintained in using this entity).
8. DemandNote (This entity will be used to store the amount of demand note against the
size of plot)
9. CustAccount (This entity will maintain the customer information)
10. Staff (This entity will store the detail of staff who are responsible to complete the field
activities)
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11. Activity (This activity will store the data regarding activities to be performed for the
customer like Survey of the Demand Note, Installation of Service Line and Installation of
Meter)
12. ActivityStatus (This entity will store the descriptions of the status)
13. ActivityType (This entity will store the Type of Activity)
14. ServicePoint (This entity will maintain the activities performed on the service point from
time to time)
15. Meters (This entity will be used to store the meter information to be installed on the
customers service point)
16. Reading (This entity will store the meter reading information)

LIST OF PROCESSES IN THE SYSTEM

Following are the processes in the system:
1. New Customer Registration
a. Creation of Account
b. Perform Survey
c. Issuance of Proposal Letter
d. Acceptance of Document and Issuance of Demand Note
e. Verification of Payment
f. Service Line/Meter Installation
g. Activation of Customer
2. Meter Reading
3. Billing
4. Collection

DATA FLOW DIAGRAMS

A data-flow diagram (DFD) is a graphical representation of the "flow" of data through an
information system. DFDs can also be used for the visualization of data processing (structured
design).
On a DFD, data items flow from an external data source or an internal data store to an
internal data store or an external data sink, via an internal process.

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Context Level Diagram

CONTEXT DIAGRAM
Customer Making Payment
COLLECTION AGENCY

CUSTOMER

Outstanding Balance Data

Issuance of invoice

Transferring Payment info

App./Doc Submission
SNGPL

(NEW CUSTOMER
REGISTRATION)

REGULATOR/OGRA
Reports

Reports

MANAGEMENT

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Zero Level Diagram

SUI NORTHERN GAS PIPELINES LIMITED

ZERO LEVEL DIAGRAM

Customer Making Payment

COLLECTION AGENCY

CUSTOMER

App./Doc Submission

1.3
1
1.4
COLLECTION

SNGPL
METER
READING
(NEW CUSTOMER
REGISTRATION)

1.2
Reports
MANAGEMENT
BILLING
Reports
REGULATORY/OGRA

INTERNAL
DEPARTMENTS

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Clean Meter Reading Data

Level One Diagram

LEVEL-ONE DIAGRAM

CUSTOMER

1.1.1
SNGPL
DATABASE

(NEW CUSTOMER
REGISTRATION)

1.1.2
DATABASE

PERFORM
SURVEY
YES

1.1.3
DATABASE

ISSUANCE
OF
PROPOSAL LETTER

Demand Note Bill

1.1.4
DATABASE

ACCEPTANCE,
DOCUMENT
SUBMISSION AND
ISSUANCE OF
DEMAND NOTE

1.1.6

DATABASE

SERVICE
LINE/METER
INSTALLATION

1.1.5
VERIFICATION AND
POSTING OF
PAYMENT
AGAINST
CUSTOMER

1.1.7

ACTIVATION OF
CUSTOMER

PAYMENT AT BANK BY
THE CUSTOMER

DATABASE

DATABASE

DATABASE

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Entity Relationship Diagram

Financials
Agency
PK,I1

CollectingAgent

Branch

AgencyID

PK,I3

AgencyDescription

FK1,I2,I1 AgencyID
AgentName

AgentID

PK,I3

PK,I5

Bills

FinancialID

PK,I2

BillID

I1

GenerateDate
IssueDate
DueDate
AccountID

BranchID
TransactionDate
Amount
ArrearsDate
FinancialType
FK1,FK2,I3,I2,I6 SiblingID
FK3,I4,I1
AccountID

FK1,I2,I1 AgentID
BranchAddress

DemandNote
PK,I1

PlotSizeID
PlotSizeDesc
DemandNote

CustAccount
SubOffice
Region
PK,I1

PK,I3

PK,I1

AccountID

FK1,I2
FK2,I3

CustName
CustAddress
CustCNIC
CustPhone
AccountSetupDate
PlotSize
SubOffice

SubAreaID

RegionID
RegionName

Meters

ServicePoint
PK,I7

FK1,I2,I1 RegionID
SubAreaDescription

PK,I1

ServicePointID

MeterID
BadgeNumber

FK1,I3,I1 AccountID
FK2,I5,I4 MeterID
InstallDate
I2
InstallReadID
RemovalDate
I6
RemovalReadID

Reading
PK,I3

ReadID

FK1,I2,I1 MeterID
ReadDate
Reading
Activity
Staff
PK,I1

StaffId
StaffName
StaffDesignation

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PK,I2

ActivityID

ActivityStatus
PK,I1

ActivityStepSeq
ActivityCreateDate
FK1,I3
ActivityStatusID
ActivityCompleteDate
ActivityDependSeq
FK2,I4,I1 AccountID
FK3,I6,I5 StaffID
ActivityTypeID

StatusID
StatusDesc
ActivityType
PK

ActivityTypeID

FK1

ActivityTypeName
ActivityID

ACTIVITY PLANNING AND CONTROL

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OVERLOADING OF WORKER

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GANTT CHART

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PERT DIAGRAM

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