STRATEGIC PLANNING AND CHANGE
PROJECT INITIATION DOCUMENT
Project Title: Epos Project
Change Record
Date
Author
29/09/2010
22/10/2010
30/11/2010
09/12/2010
Debbie Collins
Debbie Collins
Debbie Collins
Debbie Collins
Version Change Reference
V0.1
V0.2
V0.3
V0.4
Initial draft
Amended post Project Board comments
Amended post CSG feedback
Amended post Project Board comments
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Contents
1.
2.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY............................................................................................................................................................ 3
PROJECT OVERVIEW .............................................................................................................................................................. 5
a) Business Need .............................................................................................................................................................. 5
b) Benefits ........................................................................................................................................................................ 6
3. SCOPE ................................................................................................................................................................................ 8
a) In Scope ........................................................................................................................................................................ 8
b) Out of Scope ................................................................................................................................................................. 8
4. OBJECTIVES ......................................................................................................................................................................... 9
5. PLAN ................................................................................................................................................................................ 10
a) High Level Approach .................................................................................................................................................. 10
b) Project stages ............................................................................................................................................................. 10
6. RISK ANALYSIS.................................................................................................................................................................... 12
a) Risks ........................................................................................................................................................................... 12
b) Issues .......................................................................................................................................................................... 12
c) Assumptions ............................................................................................................................................................... 12
d) Dependencies ............................................................................................................................................................. 13
e) Constraints ................................................................................................................................................................. 13
7. PROJECT RESOURCES ........................................................................................................................................................... 14
a) Financial Resources .................................................................................................................................................... 14
b) Human Resources....................................................................................................................................................... 15
8. MANAGING THE PROJECT ..................................................................................................................................................... 16
a) Change Control .......................................................................................................................................................... 16
b) Project logs................................................................................................................................................................. 16
c) Communications ........................................................................................................................................................ 16
d) Benefits ...................................................................................................................................................................... 17
9. PROJECT CLOSURE............................................................................................................................................................... 18
a) ITIL Process (Acceptance into Operational Service) ................................................................................................... 18
b) Closure Procedure ...................................................................................................................................................... 18
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1. Executive Summary
The Campus Services management team require a campus wide Epos (Electronic Point of Sale)
system to make a substantial contribution to increased sales turnover, lower stock levels, and higher
gross profit % (GP). The Epos system will enable the control of sales and stock holding and offer a
set of comprehensive management Information reports. (follow link: Project Overview)
The new Epos system will encompass a wider range of Campus Services retail shops, catering and
bars, offering a merchandise and financial overview of the business at the touch of a button.
Campus Services needs to demonstrate their continuing competiveness, supporting the “More for
Less” initiative: increasing revenue, whilst driving costs down. (Follow link: Business Need)
The Epos trial within retail showed a number of proven benefits including:



The ability to monitor and control gross profit: any deviations from expected gross profit %
are reported for remedial action
Remote access leading to improved time management for users
Timed control for special offers enabling special offers to be run during set times of the day
or a set period: starting from and to
In addition to these benefits, a wider roll out of an Epos system will offer benefits in: turnover &
profitability, customer service, stock management, management benefits and technology.(Follow
link: Benefits)
The following are deemed to be in scope: the installation of 55 Epos tills across Campus Services; 30
for catering, 14 for bars, 11 for shops. (Follow Link : In Scope)
The following are deemed out of scope: Epos equipment on Cornwall campus, Guild outlets / other
non Campus Services outlets on Streatham and St Lukes campuses. (Follow link: Out of Scope)
The main objective is to increase gross profit by at least 2% (Follow link: Objectives)
The following diagram details the procurement plan and the implementation roll out plan:
3
There are no major risks or issues associated with this project. (Follow link: Risk
Analysis)
The original budget of £453,000 was approved by ISG in October 2009
(Follow link: Financial Resources)
The resources for the project board and the project team have been identified and agreed.
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2. Project Overview
The Campus Services management team require a campus wide Epos (Electronic Point of Sale)
system to make a substantial contribution to increased sales turnover, lower stock levels, and higher
gross profit %. The Epos system will enable the control of sales and stock holding and offer a set of
comprehensive management Information reports.
This project will be rolled out in 2 phases:


Phase I: The installation of the Epos system, creation of the data files and stock
control, staff training and implementation.
Phase II: The introduction of recipe management and the Aptos interface.
This project is an extension of a trial that was carried out on existing retail systems within Campus
Services to ascertain the full usage and benefits of a campus wide system. The trial began at St Lukes
shop in December 2009 with the Epos going live in January 2010. The initial trial was successful. The
other 4 shops went live in May 2010. The trial involved the purchase of an upgrade of the software
that was currently utilised. This allowed the reconstruction of the shops price files, ensuring that all
of the information was up to date, using a new pricing structure and ensuring all products met gross
profit (GP) requirements. The trial also involved a set of new reports to be generated on a weekly
basis, accompanied by revised on-site procedures and disciplines: including the weekly stocktake of
high value goods and rolling stocktakes of each shop to be completed every 2nd month.
The trial successfully demonstrated that consistent GP % could be achieved: in the period between
the “Live” date of May 3rd and July 31st the shops maintained an average of 33% GP. The turnover
figures remained in line with previous seasonal trends. The reports generated helped to drive profits
by showing any anomalies (within set parameters – e.g. products generating less than 15% and more
than 60% GP are flagged for manager explanation) whilst highlighting areas for improvements within
the price files.
The new Epos system will encompass a wider range of Campus Services retail shops, catering and
bars, offering a merchandise and financial overview of the business at the touch of a button. It will
cover 55 tills in 20 locations across Streatham & St Luke’s campuses, Westpoint & St David’s.
a) Business Need
Campus Services needs to demonstrate their continuing competiveness, supporting the “More
for Less” initiative: increasing revenue, whilst driving costs down. A campus wide Epos system will
enable commercial outlets to:

Be continually seeking to increase sales and reduce waste in support of the University’s
“More for Less” initiative.

Utilise modern technology to keep competitive: including the future implementation of
smart card technology.

Use of real time reporting to support responsive decision making: enabling the
introduction of additional special offers to drive sales if they are down during a particular
day/period.

Reduction of manual work to remove errors and increase speed.

Meet expectations of a demanding customer base – accustomed to high quality and
sophistication when being served.
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b) Benefits
The Epos trial within retail showed a number of proven benefits as listed below:

The amalgamated profit for the retail shops have maintained an average of 33% GP since
the “live” date of 03/05/2010. Any individual shop deviations are monitored and
reported for remedial action.

Managers can access the system remotely from any computer, enabling greater flexibility
and improved time management.

More special offers – Simplifies the process of which offers run and when promotions can
be date or time specific.
In addition to these benefits a wider roll out of an Epos system will offer benefits in:
Turnover & profitability

An increase in GP % through the calculation of optimum selling price and improved stock
holding mix.

Accuracy of selling prices due to the use of bar-code scanning at the till point.

The system will flag the need for price increases when goods are bought at higher cost
prices.

The identification of low margin lines will increase the control of margins at each outlet
and will allow for the agreed differentiation of selling prices.

The availability of customer accounts will lead to an increase in turnover. Not only will it
ensure the recording of sales that are currently written on paper transfers, it will
increase the number of departments that are able to use the facility.
Stock management

Epos decreases the incidents of theft because it eliminates under-ringing and label
switching. It provides tighter control of stock. Epos introduces a deterrent effect for theft,
by quickly identifying problem area/times, allowing close monitoring of shrinkage levels.
Improved stock control. Stock will be accounted for not only in terms of sales, but stock
holding, recipe management and rolling stocktakes will ensure that stock holding values
are accurate and up to date.

Purchase orders raised via the system will decrease the delivery input time. Once the
delivery has been confirmed as correct against the purchase order and invoice, the
delivery can be automatically put into stock at the touch of a button.
Management benefits

Administration will be streamlined: less paperwork and less dual reporting. This will be
apparent within Campus Services, the Cash Office and Finance & Systems. The interface
to Aptos will enable the direct transfer of predefined information from Epos.

Real time financial reporting: The head office system can offer a “live” business overview,
products sold, gross profit achieved, volume of sales per trading hour across the trading
accounts as a whole.

Increased management effectiveness, as processes are streamlined, managers can focus
on other aspects of the business.

Improved management information to aid decision making. Managers can review their
top sellers, allowing them to remove items that do not sell well and to increase volumes
of more popular lines. Promotions can be directed at products that achieve a high profit
margin to drive increase sales etc. With all of this information available through the
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system and formatted into easy to read reports will free up the managers’ time to focus
on other areas of the business.

Management control: The reports that are to be produced at “Head office” level will
highlight the performance in each area, allowing key personnel to set sales targets and
other KPIs.

Improved training: Staff that work at a number of different sites will only need to be
trained on 1 till and/or 1 back office computer, as the equipment and software
functionality will be the same at each site.
Technology

Interface to smart card technology: The system will be ready to offer a University smart
card solution, should the University choose to adopt a “cashless” system. This would
enable Campus Services the ability to offer “Cashless” sales to the students, staff and
visitors.

Linking technology systems to create an Interface to Aptos will save time and money. It
will alleviate double entry of data for both Finance & Services and the Cashier’s Office.
This would serve to automate the transference of the following information:
Supplier invoice costs - per supplier / per invoice.
Sales income – Breakdown of cash/card payment/cheques/on account/coupons.
Accounting data - Sales - VAT & cash overs/unders, wastage, stock losses & gains, stock
valuation.
Customer service

The introduction of integrated chip & pin will reduce card payment time from 49 seconds
to 10 seconds: reducing queuing time.

More efficient service at the till point: The service will be faster due to the ability to scan
each product within retail or press a preset button relating to the product for catering
and bars.

Better customer service, due to ability to add prompts – “good morning”, “that is on a
buy one get one free offer”.

The ability to “layaway” sales, especially in bars, enables staff to hold a customer's sales
information whilst they serve another customer then they can return to their previous
customer to complete the sale: reducing; queuing time.
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3. Scope
a) In Scope
The following are deemed to be in scope:
Location
 The installation of 55 Epos tills across Campus Services:30 for catering, 14 for bars, 11 for
shops.
 Electronic point of sale (Tills).
 Customer accounts.
 Stock control; the facilities to manage stock ordering, stock counts, range management
and planning, recipe management and nutritional analysis.
Operational
 Head office / multi level access back office system.
 Financial control and management information system. To provide stock information,
stock valuations, sales information, margin information, stock loss and wastage
information and sales and trend forecasting.
Technical

Interface to Aptos.

Recipe management (phase II).

Interface for University smart card solution.

Integrated chip and pin. To provide full cash control with the facility to include the ability
to accept credit and debit cards, smartcards and loyalty cards and to reconcile with the
cash taken.

Integrated scales for retail x 6.
b) Out of Scope
The following are deemed out of scope:

Epos equipment on Cornwall campus.

Guild outlets / other non campus services outlets on Streatham and St Lukes campuses.

Interface to other systems.

Implementation of a University smart card solution.
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4. Objectives
The project has the following objectives:

To provide full stock management in order to lower wastage and prevent under/over
ordering, especially in bars and catering.

Improved management information system to support decision making through the provision
of a consolidated view of all commercial activity across the University.

To provide consolidated information and interfaces to the central accounting system. (Aptos)

To increase GP by at least 2%.

To increase turnover due to targeted promotions and up selling. Also due to the recording of
customer account sales information and bar tabs etc.

The ability to improve customer service through the rapid scanning of items/preset till
buttons.
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5. Plan
a) High Level Approach
The following diagram details the procurement plan and the implementation roll out plan:
b) Project stages
Stage 1
Stage Title: Procurement
Scope:
Authorisation of PID, Publish tender, Workshops, Supplier appointed, Contracts officer
Dates/Duration:
18th Oct 2010 – 25th Feb 2011
Deliverables:
Contract with supplier for Epos software & hardware
Provided by:
Epos Project Manager
Stage 2
Stage Title: Project set up
Scope:
Plan approach / Order equipment
Dates/Duration:
Feb – March 2011
Deliverables:
Roll out plan / equipment ordered
Provided by:
Supplier
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Stage 3
Stage Title: Implementation
Scope:
Database creation / Training / Delivery / Implementation / Further development
Dates/Duration:
April – December 2011 Further Development January 2012
Deliverables:
Data set up, staff trained, system installed & tested, reporting developed, recipes agreed
Provided by:
Supplier / Epos Project Manager / Site managers
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6. Risk Analysis
a) Risks
The following risks have been identified:

A hardware, software or network failure during rollout leading to the inability of staff to
serve customers at the point of sale.
 The reluctance of existing staff to use the new system, or to make full use of the system
and the skills to harness the benefits through interpreting and acting upon the data.
 Cultural issues in the catering operation may have an impact on the training overhead, in
terms of management supervision and checking function, acceptance/support of the
systems benefits and the adherence to required procedure.
 The ability to harness the benefits of the system through using, interpreting and acting
upon the information may be affected by the availability of appropriate resource.
 The loss of key staff, especially if their specialist knowledge has not been transferred.
b) Issues
The following issue has been identified:
 The current incumbent, BCG, provides all of Campus Services’ tills, and maintenance. They
are not on the TUCO supplier list and therefore will be unable to tender. This project will
lead to the termination of their contract. There is a need to ensure that they continue to
provide a service to the University up to the point of changeover to the new supplier.
c)
Assumptions
The following assumptions have been made with regard to the roll out stage:

Supplier will not be contracted until February 2011 at the earliest.
The forum project imposes a number of deadlines on this project:

The new Forum catering within Devonshire House (DH) must be in place for March/April
2011.

Forum shops and bars to be complete by December 2011.

Phase II Business school may also impose a deadline. If Campus Services are successful
with the tender process catering must be in place for March/April 2011.

If Catering is not used as a pilot site we could install the till system and duplicate the
current till format. Recipe management will be completed in phase II.

Besides The Forum & Phase II Business School dates there are no other timing constraints
driving implementation.

Retail shops have Epos experience and a database, this would suggest rapid
implementation.

Catering will be most complex due to stock control and recipe management.
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The following assumptions have been made with regard to the interface to Aptos:



There is currently no interface to Aptos and so the development of the interface is not
critical to the initial implementation.
That not having the interface initially will not generate any additional workload or change
of process in Finance.
That development of the interface to Aptos would therefore be an overall improvement
and bring efficiencies.
d) Dependencies
Below are the dependencies that may impact on the project:
Related Project
How related?
Possible impact
Forum Project
Epos tills to be in place for
the opening of catering in
The Forum (DH) (March
2011) and retail in The
Forum (December 2011)
If Campus Services’ win the
tender for the Phase II
Business School’s catering
provision, a till must be in
place by March/April 2011
Successful implementation will
enhance customer service
If not complete staff will be
using outdated technology
Phase II Business School
Can supplier/managers manage
the workload across to sites
being implemented
simultaneously
e) Constraints
There are no constraints associated with this project.
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7. Project Resources
a) Financial Resources
Below is an estimate of costs, this is based on quotes gained from potential suppliers, the most
expensive quote has been used to represent the worst case scenario:
(All figures are inclusive of VAT at 20%)
Project Setup Costs
Hardware
Hardware Support
Software
Annual hosting fee
Installation costs
Network installation
Staff costs / Internal support
Staff costs - Project Manager for recipe mgmt
Staff costs - BISS Support for Aptos interface
Legal
Contingency
Year 0
£120
£12
£60
£5
£19
£17
£80
£3
£3
£2
£20
Year 1
Year 2
Year 3
Year 4
Total
£341
£0
£0
£0
£0
Total £
000's
£120
£12
£60
£5
£19
£17
£80
£3
£3
£2
£20
£341
The original budget of £453,000 was approved by ISG in October 2009, to be financed by an
interest free loan from Corporate Services reserves. The loan is to be repaid over an 8 year
period from Campus Services operational profits. The running costs incurred in year 1-4 will
also be funded by Campus Services’ operational profits.
CaS Running Costs
Hardware Support
Software
Annual hosting fee
Staff costs - Head Office
Total
Year 0
£0
Year 1
£12
£6
£5
£25
Year 2
£12
£6
£5
£25
Year 3
£12
£6
£5
£25
Year 4
£12
£6
£5
£25
£48
£48
£48
£48
Total £
000's
£48
£24
£20
£100
£192
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b) Human Resources
The following tables indicate the individuals who will be involved in this project:
i.
Project Board
Role
Name
School/Service
Agreed
Y/N?
Chair
Jilly Court
Campus Services
Y
Member
Member
Member
Member
Project Manager
Phil Rees-Jones
Paul lightowlers
Barry Clark
Tasmine Kose
Debbie Collins
Campus Services
BISS
Corporate services
Campus Services
Strategic Planning & Change
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
ii. Project Team
Job Title
Name
Days required
or % of time
Timescale
required
(Wks)
Commitment
agreed?
Project Manager
Debbie Collins
80%
64
Y
Food services Manager
Head of Infrastructures
Head of Networks
Contracts officer
Systems accountant
Manager Reed Hall
Manager Retail shops
Manager Bars
Manager DFS & Westpoint
Tasmine Kose
Steve Grange
Roger Snelling
Richard Price
Martin Henson
Helen Skinner
Mat Blee
Ben Smith
Julie Brown
10%
5%
5%
5%
10%
10%
10%
10%
10%
64
3
3
12
30
2
2
2
2
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
iii. Other Internal Resources

All stakeholders have been engaged to date. The support of other key personnel may be required on
an “ad-hoc” basis as the project progresses.

The involvement of 12 Key staff in being trained (managers and assistant managers from each area.)
Expect 2-3 days training maximum from the supplier over the period of the project tranches. This
will be followed by work place till training for cashiers by the Campus Services’ management team.

Technical development resource to develop the interface to Aptos.
iv. External Resources

The use of consultants provided by the supplier. Support and advice will be available at agreed times
daily.
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8. Managing the Project
The following reports will be produced when the project commences:





Project Initiation Document plus appendices
 Risk Log
 Issue Log
 Action Logs
 Budget
Communication Plan
Procurement Schedule
Project plan
Project status reports
The following reports will be produced throughout the life of the project for each of the
project board meetings:




Minutes from previous meetings
Risk/Issues/Actions Log
Communications Plan
Project Managers Report
The following reports will be produced when the project closes:


Support Strategy report
Post Project Evaluation report
a) Change Control
The standard University change controls will be exercised, with change requests presented to the
Project Board for consideration and decision. Given the time constraint and the danger of scope
creep, care will be taken to minimize the number of change requests that are accepted.
All change requests that are presented to the Board will be published on the project website.
b) Project logs
Project logs containing risks, issues and actions have been created and will be maintained
throughout the project – the emphasis will be on ensuring that none of the risks that are
recognized become issues that need to be overcome. The latest copy will be held on the project
website.
c) Communications
i.
Stakeholder Analysis
A stakeholder analysis has been created which will inform the communications plan and
actions. A copy will be held on the project website.
ii. Communications Plan
A communications plan will be developed as part of the project set when timescales
become clearer. The communications plan will be actioned throughout the
implementation and beyond. A copy will be held on the project website.
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d) Benefits
Benefits will be monitored throughout the project. For purposes of benefits tracking, the baseline
at the start of the project is shown below at year end August 2010:
Type of outlet
Year end GP %
Target GP %
August 2010
Retail
32.4
34.4
Catering
58.9
60.9
Bars
32.4
34.4
The target GP % shown in the above chart highlights the expected GP increase of 2%. This
increase shall be expected one full term after the last site’s “go live” date. (These dates will be
communicated when the supplier has been appointed and they have completed their approach
plan.)
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9. Project Closure
a) ITIL Process (Acceptance into Operational Service)
N/A
b) Closure Procedure
i.
On-going Support
The on-going support is to be provided by the supplier as part of a 5 year plan. This
includes: hardware support, software support, including upgrades and an annual hosting
fee for the use of the supplier’s web based system.
ii. On-going Training
Campus Services’ operational managers will undergo comprehensive training from the
supplier and disseminate relevant training to their teams.
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