DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF AN
ONLINE INVENTORY SYSTEM
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.0 Introduction
Inventory is a
list for goods and materials, or those goods and materials themselves, held
available in stock by a business. Inventory management is the active control
program which allows the management of sales, purchases and payments. Modern
inventory management systems must have the ability to track sales and available
inventory, communicate with suppliers in near real-time and receive and
incorporate other data, such as seasonal demand. They also must be flexible,
allowing for a merchant’s intuition and, they must tell a store owner when is
time to reorder and how much to purchase.
Inventory
management is primarily about specifying the size and placement of stocked
goods. Inventory management is required at different locations within a
facility or within multiple locations of a supply network to protect the
regular and planned course of production against the random disturbance of
running out of materials or goods. The scope of inventory management also
concerns the fine line between replenishment lead time, carrying costs of
inventory, asset management, inventory forecasting, inventory valuation,
inventory visibility, future inventory price forecasting, physical inventory,
available physical space for inventory, quality management, replenishment,
returns and defective goods and demand forecasting. Balancing these competing
requirements leads to optimal inventory levels, which is an on-going process as
the business needs shift and react to the wider environment. (Tim, 1998).
Inventory to
many small and medium business owners is one of the more visible and tangible
aspects of doing business. Raw materials, goods in process and finished goods
all represent various forms of inventory. Each type represents money tied up
until the inventory leaves the company as purchased products. Likewise,
merchandise stocks in a retail store contribute to profits only when their sale
puts money into the cash register (Barnes et al., 2009).
In a literal
sense, inventory refers to stocks of anything necessary to do business. These
stocks represent a large portion of the business investment and must be well
managed in order to maximize profits. In fact, many small and medium businesses
cannot absorb the types of losses arising from poor inventory management.
Unless inventories are controlled, they are unreliable and inefficient (Frank
et al., 2009).
This study
covers the design and implementation of an Inventory control for pharmacy
system.
1.1 Background
of the Study
Small retail
outlets owners have little or no interest in inventory, this is because most
owners feel that getting an up to date management system is usually costly and
time consuming and there is usually a tendency for them to avoid talking about
such things. Therefore, this project is geared toward providing a cheap
inventory control management system for small and medium scale pharmacy
outlets.
1.2 Statement
of the Problem
When customers
purchase items, details of the purchase such as item bought, quantity, cost
price/selling price, etc. are put down in a notebook. Being a small-scale
business, the owner keeps no records of customer identity, neither are receipts
prepared after a transaction. At the end of the day, the sales records are
assessed to check profit, most items bought, etc. When the shop is close to
running out of a particular item, the manager goes to the market to purchase
such an item, and this is usually done on a weekly basis. Stock-taking is
usually done daily, by comparing quantity of goods bought in the month, with
those sold and those remaining. Profits and losses over the day are also
calculated.
This study is
an attempt to develop a system which will automate this whole process, cutting
down on the manual input and processing involved in it. With a database of
items linked to a sales module, which carries out Point of Sale activities, the
stock is monitored more efficiently, and records over a period can easily be
compiled in a few seconds. Also, receipts can be easily generated for the
customer, based on the Point of Sale service.
1.3 Objectives
of the study
This project
is aimed at developing an Inventory Control for a pharmacy system for a small
scale enterprise. The development is done using MySQL as the DBMS, and Java to
create the User Interface. The design has the following objectives:
·
Make sales to customer.
·
It checks for items that have been sold, the items that are
left, and the items that should be bought.
·
It lists out the items that have been sold, the item that are
left, and the items that would be bought.
1.4 Significance
of the Study
Inventory
control systems are the rules for large enterprises, but smaller businesses and
vendors use them. The Inventory control System designed for a small scale and
medium scale enterprise can be used to store the details of the inventory,
update the inventory based on the sale details, produce receipts for sales,
generate sales and inventory reports periodically etc.
1.5 Scope of
the Study
Although
different stores and enterprises have different modes of operation in terms of
inventory and sales management, there are certain basic features common to all
such stores such as sales, stock keeping and cash management. Such features are
identified and implemented in the design, such that the system can only be
implemented in small-scale business enterprises.
1.6 Limitation
of the Study
Constraints
are inherent in any effort directed towards providing solution to perceived
problem, as such, limitations encountered includes
•
Availability of data and information; Every detailed
information on how a small scale enterprise (superstore, electronic,
stationeries etc) needs to run effectively and efficiently are highly
confidential to the store managers. Due to the nature of this study, there was
need to visit these store to have an overview of how they operate. But most of
these managers approached seemed rather unenthusiastic in providing this
information. However, the little gotten proved to be adequate.
•
Time also served as a constraint as it was never a friend,
the only time had which was my free time was torn between making research and
reading for my exams. Internet access also proved to be a problem.
1.7 Definition
of Terms
DATABASE:A computerized record keeping system for easy access
and retrieval of information.
DBMS:Database management system is a suite of programs that
manages all access to a database.
MANAGEMENT:This can be defined as the process of
strategically putting resources together in other to achieved desired/set
objective/goals.
SALES:This is an act or process of selling something.
SME: Small and medium scale enterprise ranging from 20-250
workers.
STOCK:They are basically goods bought and stored in the
warehouse as well as product being sold in a superstore.
PURCHASE:This is the act of buying or the process of making
sale.