ERP and Automation

of Information Flow
in a Diagnostic
Centre
Department of Information Technology

Submitted by:
Salman Khan
B.Tech-4th Year

1.0

INTRODUCTION

ERP and Automation of Information Flow in a Diagnostic Centre

ERP stands for Enterprise Resource Planning. It is an enterprise-wide

information system design to coordinate all the resources, information and
activities needed to complete business process such as order fulfillment or billing.
Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems integrate internal and
external management

information across

embracing finance/accounting,

manufacturing,

an

entire

sales

and

organization,
service, customer

relationship management, etc. ERP systems automate this activity with an

integrated software application. Its' purpose is to facilitate the flow of information
between all business functions inside the boundaries of the organization and
manage the connections to outside stakeholders. ERP systems can run on a variety
of hardware and network configurations, typically employing a database as a
repository for information.
An ERP solution is characterized by supporting a variety of business
functions such as manufacturing, supply chain management, financials, projects,
human resources and customer relationship management from a shared data store.
Information flow for the way information (meaningful data) flows in a
system. The system may be a single entity or a group of entities. Information rarely
organizes itself into something coherent, usable or enriching. It usually goes
through a series of filters before it reaches user. These filters are there to make
information relevant, to allow you to utilize data into a different form, perhaps a
blog post or a mental footnote to be retrieved when needed. However, sometimes
theres just too much information and too little time.
As we all know in present corporate culture even a single second is precious.
In this tight situation it is very hard to manage the flow of information manually
because the volume of information is too large and handling it efficiently is a
challenge. To solve this problem many system designs have come up.
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2.0

PROBLEM DOMAIN

This project is being designed for a dummy client named

ADVANCED LABORATORIES
The main aim behind the project is to create a software application that will
implement the basic principles of ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) for our
dummy client.
We have included the following broad requirements of our client in our project:
Better information flow.
Centralization of data.
Complete automation of the system.
Less paper work.

Features of the project

The main features of our project are centralized to the requirements put up by
our client. As discussed in the introduction part requirement of our client are as
follows:

Better information flow.

Centralization of data.

Complete automation of the system.

Less paper work.

As per requirements the main features of our project are:

Centralization of Data:
Centralization of data solves many problems faced by modern enterprise like:
Data Redundancy.
Data Duplication.
Mismanagement of Resources.

SMS Portal:
With the advancement of mobile technology in India, Mobile phones are not
just a way of talking. They have become a powerful medium of providing
information to the end user SMS (Short Message Service). Using SMSs have
following benefits:
Fast.
Accurate.
Easy.
Economical.

KIOSK:
An electronic KIOSK (or computer kiosk or interactive kiosk) houses a
computer terminal that often employs custom kiosk software designed to function
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flawlessly while preventing users from accessing system functions. Using KIOSK has
following benefits:
Self operation reduces work load on information desk
Economical
Better results

WEB PORTAL:
World Wide Web now has become an important source of information. Thus
we have added this as an additional feature which will be a website for our client
providing every little information to the end user.

3.0

OBJECTIVE OF THE PROJECT

The main objective of this project is to create an application that will

facilitate the user in organizing data and managing the flow of information in a
much efficient way. Projects main aim is implementing the basic rules and
principles of Enterprise Resource Planning (E.R.P.) in a Diagnostic Centre.

A diagnostic center is basically an enterprise which provides various healthcare

related services to its clients. The main services provided by a diagnostic center to
the client are:
1. Pathology Lab Services.
2. Regular Checkups.
3. Radiology Services. (X Ray, CT scan, MRI etc.)
4. Doctors Advice and Suggestions.
The project developed has all the above said features.

4.0

TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES

Languages: HTML, CSS, JSP, Servlet.

Server Query Language: Oracle.
Web-Server Software: Apache Tomcat 6.1
Technique: Modelviewcontroller (MVC).

HTML:
HTML,
which
stands
for Hyper
Text Markup
Language,
is
the
predominant markup language for web pages. HTML is the basic building-blocks of
web pages.
When a way was needed to share information easily, in 1980, Tim Berners-Lee
developed the initial program for linking documents with each other. Then after a
decade of developments came Hyper Text Markup Language.
HTML is written in the form of HTML elements consisting of tags, enclosed in angle
brackets (like <html>), within the web page content. HTML tags normally come in
pairs like <h1> and </h1>. The first tag in a pair is the start tag, the second tag is
the end tag (they are also called opening tags and closing tags). In between these
tags programmers can add text, tables, images, etc.
A HTML page consists of two sections, the head of the page and the body of the
page. Title of the page is defined in the head section. The body section contains the
tags that display the output on the browser screen other than the title. When we are
using HTML documents we need the interaction of http between the web browser
and the web server. Http stands for Hyper Text Transfer Protocol. Thus, HTML is a
special language in which web pages are written and stored on the server, while
http is a protocol which governs the dialog between the client and the server.
The purpose of a web browser is to read HTML documents and compose them into
visual or audible web pages. The browser does not display the HTML tags, but uses
the tags to interpret the content of the page.
HTML elements form the building blocks of all websites. HTML allows images and
objects to be embedded and can be used to create interactive forms. It provides a
means to create structured documents by denoting structural semantics for text
such as headings, paragraphs, lists, links, quotes and other items. It can embed
scripts in languages such as JavaScript which affect the behavior of HTML web
pages.

Web browsers can also refer to Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) to define the
appearance and layout of text and other material. The W3C, maintainer of both the
HTML and the CSS standards, encourages the use of CSS over explicitly
presentational HTML markup.
CSS:
Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) is a style sheet language used to describe the
presentation semantics (the look and formatting) of a document written in a
markup language. Its most common application is to style web pages written in
HTML and XHTML, but the language can also be applied to any kind of XML
document, including plain XML, SVG and XUL.
CSS is designed primarily to enable the separation of document content (written in
HTML or a similar markup language) from document presentation, including
elements such as the layout, colors, and fonts.[1] This separation can improve
content accessibility, provide more flexibility and control in the specification of
presentation characteristics, enable multiple pages to share formatting, and reduce
complexity and repetition in the structural content (such as by allowing for table
less web design). CSS can also allow the same markup page to be presented in
different styles for different rendering methods, such as on-screen, in print, by voice
(when read out by a speech-based browser or screen reader) and on Braille-based,
tactile devices. While the author of a document typically links that document to a
CSS style sheet, readers can use a different style sheet, perhaps one on their own
computer, to override the one the author has specified.
CSS specifies a priority scheme to determine which style rules apply if more than
one rule matches against a particular element. In this so-called cascade, priorities or
weights are calculated and assigned to rules, so that the results are predictable.

Oracle:
The Oracle Database (commonly referred to as Oracle RDBMS or simply as Oracle)
is an object-relational database management system (ORDBMS) produced and
marketed by Oracle Corporation.
Larry Ellison and his friends and former co-workers Bob Miner and Ed Oates
started the consultancy Software Development Laboratories (SDL) in 1977. SDL
developed the original version of the Oracle software. The name Oracle comes from
the code-name of a CIA-funded project Ellison had worked on while previously
employed by Ampex.
An Oracle database systemidentified by an alphanumeric system identifier or SID
[4]comprises at least one instance of the application, along with data storage. An
8

instanceidentified persistently by an instantiation number (or activation id:

SYS.V_$DATABASE.ACTIVATION#)comprises a set of operating-system processes
and memory-structures that interact with the storage. Typical processes include
PMON (the process monitor) and SMON (the system monitor).
The Oracle RDBMS stores data logically in the form of table spaces and physically in
the form of data files ("data files"). Table spaces can contain various types of
memory segments, such as Data Segments, Index Segments, etc. Segments in turn
comprise one or more extents. Extents comprise groups of contiguous data blocks.
Data blocks form the basic units of data storage.
Oracle database management tracks its computer data storage with the help of
information stored in the SYSTEM table space. The SYSTEM table space contains the
data dictionaryand often (by default) indexes and clusters. A data dictionary
consists of a special collection of tables that contains information about all userobjects in the database. Since version 8i, the Oracle RDBMS also supports "locally
managed" tables paces which can store space management information in bitmaps
in their own headers rather than in the SYSTEM table space (as happens with the
default "dictionary-managed" table spaces).

Servlets:
A Servlet is a Java class in Java EE that conforms to the Java Servlet API, a protocol
by which a Java class may respond to HTTP requests. They are not tied to a specific
client-server protocol, but are most often used with this protocol. Thus, a software
developer may use a servlet to add dynamic content to a Web server using the Java
platform. The generated content is commonly HTML, but may be other data such as
XML. Servlets are the Java counterpart to non-Java dynamic Web content
technologies such as CGI and ASP.NET. Servlets can maintain state in session
variables across many server transactions by using HTTP cookies, or URL rewriting.
A Servlet is an object that receives a request and generates a response based on that
request. The basic servlet package defines Java objects to represent servlet requests
and responses, as well as objects to reflect the servlet's configuration parameters
and execution environment. The package javax.servlet.http defines HTTP-specific
subclasses of the generic servlet elements, including session management objects
that track multiple requests and responses between the Web server and a client.
Servlets may be packaged in a WAR file as a Web application.
Servlets can be generated automatically from JavaServer Pages (JSP) by the
JavaServer Pages compiler. The difference between Servlets and JSP is that Servlets
typically embed HTML inside Java code, while JSPs embed Java code in HTML. While
the direct usage of Servlets to generate HTML (as shown in the example below) is

relatively rare nowadays, the higher level MVC web framework in Java EE (JSF) still
explicitly uses the Servlet technology for the low level request/response handling
via the FacesServlet. A somewhat older usage is to use servlets in conjunction with
JSPs in a pattern called "Model 2", which is a flavor of the model-view-controller
pattern.
JAVA Server Pages (JSP):
JavaServer Pages (JSP) technology provides a simplified, fast way to create dynamic
web content. JSP technology enables rapid development of web-based applications
that are server- and platform-independent. JavaServer Pages (JSP) is
a Java technology that helps software developers serve dynamically on HTML, XML,
or other document types, released in 1999 as Sun's answer to ASP and PHP JSP was
designed to address the perception that the Java programming environment didn't
provide developers with enough support for the Web.
To deploy and run, the Apache Tomcat Server is used. It
is an open source servlet container developed by the Apache Software Foundation
(ASF). Tomcat implements the Java Servlet and the JavaServer Pages (JSP)
specifications from Sun Microsystems, and provides a "pure Java" HTTP web server
environment for Java code to run.
In today's environment most web sites servers dynamic pages based on user
request. Database is very convenient way to store the data of users and other
things. JDBC provide excellent database connectivity in heterogeneous database
environment. Using JSP and JDBC its very easy to develop database driven web
application.
JSP syntax is a fluid mix of two basic content forms: scriptlet elements and markup.
Markup is typically standard HTML or XML, while scriptlet elements are delimited
blocks of Java code which may be intermixed with the markup. When the page is
requested the Java code is executed and its output is added, in situ, with the
surrounding markup to create the final page. JSP pages must be compiled to Java
byte code classes before they can be executed, but such compilation is needed only
when a change to the source JSP file has occurred.
Java code is not required to be complete (self contained) within its scriptlet element
block, but can straddle markup content providing the page as a whole is
syntactically correct (for example, any Java if/for/while blocks opened in one
scriptlet element must be correctly closed in a later element for the page to
successfully compile). This system of split inline coding sections is called step over
scripting because it can wrap around the static markup by stepping over it. Markup
which falls inside a split block of code is subject to that code, so markup inside
an if block will only appear in the output when the if condition evaluates to true;

10

likewise markup inside a loop construct may appear multiple times in the output
depending upon how many times the loop body runs.
Modelviewcontroller ('MVC):
Modelviewcontroller (MVC) is a software architecture, currently considered an
architectural pattern used in software engineering. The pattern isolates "domain
logic" (the application logic for the user) from the user interface (input and
presentation), permitting independent development, testing and maintenance of
each (separation of concerns).
MVC was first described in 1979 by Trygve Reenskaug, then working on Smalltalk
at Xerox PARC. The original implementation is described in depth in the influential
paper "Applications Programming in Smalltalk-80: How to use ModelView
Controller"
The model manages the behavior and data of the application domain, responds to
requests for information about its state (usually from the view), and responds to
instructions to change state (usually from the controller). In event-driven systems,
the model notifies observers (usually views) when the information changes so that
they can react.
The view renders the model into a form suitable for interaction, typically a user
interface element. Multiple views can exist for a single model for different purposes.
A viewport typically has a one to one correspondence with a display surface and
knows how to render to it.
The controller receives user input and initiates a response by making calls on
model objects. A controller accepts input from the user and instructs the model
and viewport to perform actions based on that input.
An MVC application may be a collection of model/view/controller triads, each
responsible for a different UI element. The Swing GUI system, for example, models
almost all interface components as individual MVC systems.
MVC is often seen in web applications where the view is the HTML or XHTML
generated by the app. The controller receives GET or POST input and decides what
to do with it, handing over to domain objects (i.e. the model) that contain
the business rules and know how to carry out specific tasks such as processing a
new subscription, and which hand control to (X)HTML-generating components such
as templating engines, XML pipelines, Ajax callbacks, etc.
The model is not necessarily merely a database; the 'model' in MVC is both the data
and the business/domain logic needed to manipulate the data in the application.
Many applications use a persistent storage mechanism such as a database to store
data. MVC does not specifically mention the data access layer because it is
11

understood to be underneath or encapsulated by the model. Models are not data

access objects; however, in very simple apps that have little domain logic there is no
real distinction to be made. Active Record is an accepted design pattern that merges
domain logic and data access code - a model which knows how to persist itself.

Model-view-controller concept. The solid line represents a direct direct association, the
dashed are direct association (via an observer)

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5.0

ANALYSIS

5.1

Information Gathering

The initial task of developing the project was to determine the requirements
of the client which was to have such software which is capable of managing large
number of resources throughout the entire organization, along with a strong
centralization of database to back up the aforementioned software to allow easy
availability of the data to all of the branches.
Research was done basically on finding the functionality of a diagnostic
centre i.e. knowing how a diagnostic centre works. Next step was identifying what
are the drawbacks and loop holes of software presently used in many of the
diagnostic centers. Another point kept under the research cover was knowing what
additional features can be added to the present system such that the system turns
out to be a good, efficient, economical and easy to use; but marinating the accuracy
of the presently working system.
Thus, after complete study the working system of a diagnostic center was
studied carefully and an approach to meet all the ends of the client was considered.
And was accordingly designed and was made entirely user-friendly keeping in mind
that the users are non-technical.

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5.2

REQUIREMENT AND SPECIFICATIONS:

5.2.1 Server-End Requirements

5.2.1.1 Hardware Requirements:

A robust web server

:-

Mandatory

CPU

:-

1 GHz or better

RAM

:-

1 GB Or Above

HDD

:-

1.6 GB of free space Or Above

Mouse

:-

Optional

Keyboard

:-

Mandatory

5.2.1.2 Server-End Software Requirements:

Platform (OS)

:-

Windows XP or Higher

Software

:-

JDK 1.6 and Tomcat 4.1

Database

:-

Oracle

Host-Server Software

:-

Apache Tomcat 4.1

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5.2.2 Client-Side Requirements

5.2.2.1 Hardware Requirements:

CPU

:-

1 GHz or better

RAM

:-

128MB Or Above

HDD

:-

100MB of free space Or Above

Mouse

:-

Optional

Keyboard

:-

Mandatory

5.2.2.2 Client-Side Software Requirements:

Platform (OS)

:-

Windows: XP Service Pack 2+ / Vista / 7

Or Mac OS X: 10.5.6 or later
Or Linux: Ubuntu 8.04 or later

Software

:-

A web-browser like Google Chrome etc.

15

5.3

Functional Requirements:

The software requirements, also called behavioral requirements describe the

functionality or service that software should provide. Also functional requirements
describe the interaction of software with its environment specify the inputs,
outputs, external interfaces and the functions that should not be included in the
software.
The functional requirements of this project were as follows:
1. The user of the company should be able to search the desired service to
available ones.
2. The user must be able to identify his category among the given ones and
proceed to login or to create a new account.
3. There should be appropriate documents for user to read. This implies that
when a user wants to register for the online services of the company, the
format must be available so that the user can register for online services.
4. While or after registration, the user should be provided with a unique username or registration-ID so that later can access the account later whenever
required.
5. While registration it is very important to identify that correct person is
registering for the correct user type a unique ID must be used provided
6. The data visibility and accessibility must be complete and informative as this
is the main aim of the project.
Thus these functional requirements were considered and an approach to meet the
ends of these requirements was made as under:
1. Registration:
The home page was developed such that it may contain the buttons separately for
each kind of users specified by the client, which are labeled as Register Patient,
Open Patient Account, and each button takes the user to the next page for loggingin or for registering as per the category of the user on the selection of the user.

2. Buttons (Register Patient/Open Patient Account):

The buttons are clearly labeled to make it user friendly and to make the user to
identify his category and proceed further as per his selection. This button takes the
user to next login page where the patient is registered or the complete details of the
patient are accessed and analyzed.
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3. Register Patient:
On the next page if the Patient is registered with the online facility of the lab he
can select the button labeled as Register Patient to enter next page which will
register him after filling all the required information and by accepting the terms
and services of the company service. If suppose user is not able to understand
anything about the information required he can opt for the help page by clicking
the link Help provided on the right top of the page which will provide
complete information about all the fields in the registration form.
4. Open Patient Account:
On clicking on this button the authorities of the laboratory can access complete
information of the patient which was regularly updated at required time and by
the required sections of the diagnostic centre and by the reference of which the
reception can charge the patient and even can generate printed reports for the
further uses.

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5.4

Non-Functional Requirements:

The non-functional requirement, also called quality requirement related to system

attributes such as reliable and response time. Non-functional requirements arise
due to user requirements, budget constraints, organizational policies etc. These
requirements are not related directly to any particular function provided by the
system.
Non-functional requirements (NFRs), on the other hand, are often simply a catch-all
term for all user requirements that are not explicitly functional. NFRs are
sometimes referred to as non-behavioral rather than non-functional to more closely
suit the process. In general, behavioral user requirements are of one of two types:
those that specify what is to be accomplished (functional requirements), and those
that specify how well the functions are to be accomplished (performance
requirements).
Non-functional requirements should be accomplished in software to make it
perform efficient. Non-functional requirement are usually global in nature. These
include such as:a) Performance
b) Reliability
c) Efficiency
d) Usability
e) Portability
f) Testability
g) Understandability
h) Modifiability
On the demand of the client to provide the a corporate look n feel to the site
structure some images are used on the home page, as well as small icons are also
used to make users to identify the links and buttons easily and make them familiar
to the structure of the site. On the other hand to make the site light enough and
efficient enough less textures are used so that the users dont have to download
much of bits to access the site.
The system is reliable enough as various security measures are taken throughout
the system of the site like the Unique PIN system password protection and
validation of user name through database to avoid the clash of having same username of two or more persons. The system is less complex and user friendly enough
to make the users fell easy to use the system
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The complete system is extremely portable as it can be accessed through any where
i.e. the system is free from geographical boundaries as it is accessed through
Internet and again it is platform independent too.
This system structure is designed in such a way that it can be used for any
professional website by adding some more constrain and features as per the
requirement of the company or client. This system is basically acting like a
container which is useful to secure any information system or structure by just very
simple modifications

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6.0

DESIGN

6.1 Data Flow Design:

Data flow design shows the flow of data across different part of the system. It
is the graphical representation of the complete working of application and hence
forms the most important element in system design.

Patient

Application

Registration
Desk or
Reception

Different
Diagnostic
Center
Departments

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6.2 Interface Design

Flowchart describing the working of a diagnostic centre

Start
Has Patient Come for
Booking

Register Patient

Book Patient
Collect Samples for
Patients Tests

Send Notification
through SMS

Accept Samples
Result Entry
Authenticate Result
Prepare Report
Dispatch Report

Stop
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As the flow chart notifies, the first step involves Registering of new patient.
After a patient is registered his/her permanent number is generated and sent
through SMS to his/her mobile number. After registration patient books an
appointment. A booking ID is generated at this step which is his/her mobile number
but in special cases separate booking ID is provided.
Next step is collected from the patient. This sample is forwarded t the lab for
acceptance. There sample is accepted and again forwarded to respective
department for testing. After results obtained are entered. Finally when the report
is completed it is generated and sent for dispatch. At this step another SMS alert is
sent to the patient notifying that his/her report is prepared.
Thus, the complete flow of information here will be automatic in spite some
entries are to be done and some forms are to be filled.

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6.3 Entity Relationship Diagram

LIS

Paramete
r

Booking

Test

Patien
t

Payments

User

Sampl
e

Acceptanc
e

Setting
s

Rejection

Availability
ER Diagram for a Diagnostic Centre

As shown in the diagram there is a main entity LIS which in turn has 6 child
entities named: Parameter, Test, Patient, User, Sample, Settings.
Patient has 2 sub entities: Booking, Payments and Sample has 2 sub entities
Acceptance, Rejection, Booking has a child entity of Availability.

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7.0

FUTURE ENHANCEMENT
ERP which stands for Enterprise Resource Planning is a basic software

assistance given by the IT Industries to enable the end user to maintain large
amount of data storage and managing the retrieval of the same at the time of
requirement.
Here, we have implemented the basic ideas and features of ERP which
automates the entire system of the information flow in Diagnostic center and the
same is centralized. But, the same cannot be retrieved by the end user or cannot be
referred in future if required. He has to visit the diagnostic center and collect the
information each time he needs the required reports.
So, the enhancement which can be made in this system is the entire system
may be able to maintain a web-site which could be used by the patients and may
contain all the information which are necessary to be referred each time he/she
visits any hospital or any other diagnostic center under some circumstances.
Thus, the system gets more independent and provides fast information flow
which is independent of physical contact to diagnostic center.

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8.0

CONCLUSION
An organization or an enterprise may be using computer for its operations,

but its not necessary that the system they are using is fully perfect. There is always
scope for betterment of the system.
ERP is a mechanism which is used for this purpose of enhancing the way
resources are used in a system.
ERP does not uses any extra resources. It just uses the resources available
and makes a new system using these resources to create a system which is far
ahead from the present system.
In this project we have used a dummy client which has a diagnostic center.
We implemented ERP here and tried to improve the way resources are used. We
found that apart from hardware (personal computers, printers, servers etc) ERP
also helps in utilizing the human resource very well.

25