1.1 Introduction
An inventory management system is a software-based business solution used to simultaneously track sales activity and inventory. Manufacturers and trade resellers can both benefit from a thorough solution, where single transaction entry records necessary details on the customer, products purchased, price and date while also updating inventory levels. Computerized sales and inventory systems allow for much greater accuracy in stocking and product management. They encourage ease of interaction between employees and shoppers as transactions are processed and items move from the business to the consumer. Computerized sales help provide better insight into which products are most popular. It also allows for enhanced marketing, stocking and oversight of critical sales objectives. Computerized sales and inventory systems save time for businesses by speeding up transactions while raising accuracy. This allows for confidence in accounting and accountability among employees as it is easy to verify how much money and what time transactions took place.
As a prelude to other parts of this study, this chapter will discuss the background upon which this study was initiated, the statement of problems that led to this study, the Aim and Objectives of the study. Others are Significance of the study, Scope of work, Limitations of the Study and Definition of technical terms.
1.2 Background of the Study
The company Beverly Hills Supermarket is a small store that is managed by one person, the owner. The business sells different items or products like household equipment, drinks, grocery and other items that we can see everywhere. Like some other convenience store, the business does their physical counting of stocks manually. Technically, Beverly Hills Supermarket is only using a manual system that may cause to duplication of documents and work redundancy. The business is just depending on their manual listing of products and inputs of data which is possible to commit errors. The business cannot view their proper records of sales or income in a given time of the year. It also does not have its proper listings of product. In some instances, lost items are just being ignored by the owner. Beverly Hills Supermarket does not have any extra employee today. But before, the business had one cashier on that time. And basically, introduced the income and force to remove employees. How, the owner is the one who does all work in the business.
Computerized sales and inventory systems save time for businesses by speeding up transactions while raising accuracy. This allows for confidence in accounting and accountability among employees as it is easy to verify how much money and what time transactions took place. They also allow for consistent experiences in terms of customer service. People know there is always a uniform interaction at the register that requires tendering payment, taking a receipt and transition of ownership of products and services. This generates confidence in a business and ensures ongoing consumer relationships. Computerized systems are the most common method of inventory control and sales processing in retail markets.
1.3 Statement of the Problem
Investigation revealed the problems of the existing Inventory Management System for Sports Equipment which is stated as follows:
- The recording of sports equipment sales and cash received are done manually on the book that appears rough.
- It is difficult to know when certain items need to be restocked
- The manual system of inventory system is stressful and time consuming
- Inaccuracies in record keeping due to human errors.
1.4 Aim and Objectives of the Study
The aim of the study is to design and implement an Inventory Management System for Sports Equipment. In achieving this aim, the following specific objectives were laid out as follows:
- To create a database that will help store sports equipment sales records
- To develop an independent user application software
- To capture the sports equipment sales and inventory activities
- To automate sports equipment sales and inventory task/activities.
1.5 Scope of the Study
The scope of the study focuses on the Design and Implementation of an Inventory Management System for Sports Equipment. The system is targeted to the small or medium organization which does not have proper record of their product as Beverly Hills supermarket.
1.6 Significance of the Study
The significance of this study is to Beverly Hills that will provide easy-to-use and easy accessed system thus transactions will be more reliable and faster that they do not have to hire another employer to do the job. It gives more accurate and secure records of sales and list of products.
Admin: manages the adding of stocks, updating the inventory, and determining the users of the system.
Customers: have the benefits of the printed receipts right after purchasing an item.
Future Researchers: would see the possibilities of upgrading the system.
Researcher: student, teacher, programmer and web-developer can benefit in this system through a detailed document
1.7 Limitations of the Study
Some of the constraints encountered during this project design include the following:
- Financial Constraint: The design was achieved but not without some financial involvement. One had to pay for the computer time. Also the typing and planning of the work has its own financial involvements.
- High Programming Technique: The programming aspect of this project posed a lot of problematic bugs that took us some days to solve. Problem such as database connections using PHP, MySql, posed a lot of challenging.
- Time: The time frame given for the research in this semester was short and combining it with studies was tedious.
1.8 Definition of Terms
Inventory: It is the goods and materials that a business holds for the ultimate goal of resale.
Inventory Management: a discipline primarily about specifying the shape and placement of stocked goods.
Inventory Management System: the combination of technology (hardware and software) and processes and procedure that oversees the monitoring and maintenance of stocked products.
Sales: an exchange of goods or services for currency or credit.
