INVENTORY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

Presented

To the Faculty of Effat University ,

Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements

for the Degree of Bachelor of Science in

Department of Information Systems

Supervised By :
Dr Zain Al Balfagih ,

Dr Khulood Rambo

Written By:

Ayesha Fawad,

Information System Department , College of Engineering, Effat University,

Jeddah-KSA

On Sunday, APRIL 19 ,2015

I
 INVENTORY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

Presented

To the Faculty of Effat University ,

Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements

for the Degree of Bachelor of Science in

Department of Information Systems

Supervised By :
Dr Zain Al Balfagih ,

Dr Khulood Rambo

Written By:

Ayesha Fawad,

Information System Department , College of Engineering, Effat University,

Jeddah-KSA

On Sunday, APRIL 19 ,2015

II
III
 Signature Page

Approved by the Project Reviewing Committee:

Course Instructor

_____________________________________

NAME OF INSTRUCTOR

Committee Member

______________________________________

NAME OF COMMITTEE MEMBER

Committee Member

______________________________________

NAME OF COMMITTEE MEMBER

Approved by the Chair of Department:

_____________________________________

NAME OF DEPT. CHAIR

Approved by the Dean of the Engineering College:

NAME OF COLLEGE DEAN

IV
V
ABSTRACT

This project is done entirely by a student of Information System at Effat

University for the senior course. The project mainly aims to demonstrate the
knowledge gained through the different courses taken and the independent
learning ability as well as the experience of students.

Online inventory management system is a website that is implemented for the

Hashem Contracting Company. The purpose of this study is to implement a
system for the inventory manager to check the inventory information supplier
information and related information that will enhance their experience.

The system will be created to be used by the users and the managers. The
system created to be part of the Hashem company manual inventory system
which makes the system accessible at all times and anywhere simply by using a
web browser and Internet connectivity.

This research project present all the steps that led to the creation of the system
starting from gathering data about different systems that were implemented in
different business applications earlier .then specifying the requirements of the
system and using use case and DFD analysis method that is needed to
accomplish the design and development phase of the system.

As a result of developing the application , I was able to learn new software

language ,use new tools ,and acquire the sense of system development life cycle
in a real life project .

I can say that the application was successfully implemented, and the aim of the
project was achieved.

VI
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I am grateful to Allah Almighty , who gave me the knowledge ,strength ,skills

and patience to be able to work and complete the senior project ,and guided ,
through this difficult and stressful time .

Many people have helped , supported and encouraged me during the stressful
time ,when I was working on the senior project .

In this respect, a great debt of gratitude goes to our wonderful supervisor Dr

Zain al Balfagih , Dr Khulood Rambo whose encouragement ,guidance
,valuable feedback helped to understand the senior project much better .

I would also like to thank my family for their affection , prayers ,patience and
support. They gave me the comfort and stress which was needed to motivate me
.Their motivation and encouragement gave me the strength to do our best and
finish the project successfully.

Also , I would like to thank my client which I was lucky in this case ,the client
was my father who provided with me all the necessary information and
suggestions needed to complete the project.

Written By Ayesha Fawad

19 April 201

VII
1
Table of Contents
Abstract 5
Acknowledgement 6
List of tables 11
List of Figures 12-14
Chapter 1 Introduction 15
1.1 Introduction 16
1.1.1Background of the Company 16
1.1.2 Organization Review 17
1.2 problem Statement 18
1.3 Research Scope 18
1.4 Research objectives 19
1.4.1 General Objectives 19
1.4.2 Specific objectives 19
1.4.3 Learning objectives 20
1.5 Research Methodology 20
1.6 Required Tools 22
1.6.1Microsoft SQL Server 22
1.6.2 Microsoft Visual Studio 22
Features 22
1.6.3 C# 23
Features 23
1.6.4 Microsoft ASP.Net 23
Key Advantages 23
1.7 Gantt Chart 24
1.7.1 Timeline 24
1.7.2 Task identification 25
1.8 Report Outline 29
1.9 Conclusion 29
Chapter 2 Literature Review 30
2.1 Introduction 31
2.1.1 What is Inventory Management System? 31
2.2 Types of inventory management systems 31
2.2.1 Perpetual inventory systems 31

1
2.2.2 Periodic inventory systems 32
2.3 Objectives and Tasks 32
2.4 Components of Inventory Management Systems 32
2.4.1 Barcode reader (barcode scanner) 32
2.4.2 Radio frequency identification (RFID) 33
2.4.3 Order management 33
2.4.4 Asser tracking 33
2.4.5 Service management 33
2.4.6 Product identification 34
2.5 Principles of inventory management systems 34
2.5.1 Demand forecasting 34
2.5.2 Warehouse flow 34
2.5.3 Inventory Turns /Stock Rotation 35
2.5.4 Cycle Counting 35
2.5.5 Process auditing 35
2.6 Advantages of inventory management system 36
2.6.1 Cost savings 36
2.6.2 Increased efficiency 36
2.6.3 Warehouse organization 36
2.6.4 Updated data 36
2.6.5 Data Security 37
2.6.6 Insight into trends 37
2.7 Disadvantages of Inventory Management Systems 37
2.7.1 Cost 37
2.7.2 Complexity 38
2.7.3 Risk of fraud 38
2.7.4 Accuracy Issues 38
2.8 Similar systems 39
2.8.1 Vendor management systems 39
2.8.2 Traker systems 39
2.8.3 Warehouse management systems 40
2.8.4 Supply Chain management systems 41
2.8.5 ERP systems 42
2.8.6 Operations management systems 44
2.9 Software tools 45

2
2.9.1 Inflow inventory software 45
2.9.2 Pro Active Inventory Manager by Accuware 47
2.9.3 Pos Maid Software 47
2.9.4 ABC inventory software 48
2.9.5 BS1 Enterprise Accounting Free Edition 49
2.9.6 Chronos e Stock Card Inventory Software 50
Conclusion 51
Chapter 3. System Analysis 52
3.1 Introduction 53
3.1.1 Resource allocation 53
3.2 The client’s current system 53
3.3 Information Collection 54
3.4 User requirements 55
3.4.1 System requirements 56
3.4.2 Non-functional requirements 56
3.5 System activities 58
3.5.1 Use cases 59
3.5.2 Use cases description 62
3.5.3 Data Flow Diagram 65
3.5.4 Functional Decomposition Diagram 66
Conclusion 66
Chapter 4.0 System design 67
4.1 Introduction 68
4.1.1ER 68
4.2 ER Diagram 69
4.3 Data Dictionary 71
4.4 Physical database 75
4.5 System environment 75
4.5.1 Hardware specifications 75
4.5.2 Software specifications 76
4.6 Sitemap 77
4.7 Prototypes 77
4.7.1 Login page 77
4.7.2 Inventory manager dashboard 77
4.7.3 Supplier information page 78

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4.7.4 Message page 78
4.7.5 Inventory information page 79
4.7.6 Product information page 80
4.7.7 Order information page 81
4.7.8 Admin manager dashboard 82
4.8 Conclusion 82
Chapter 5. System Implementation 83
5.1 Introduction 84
5.2 Review of the changes in requirements 84
5.2.1 Development of the project 85
5.2.2 Tools selection 85
5.3 Creating the database and the tables 86
5.3.1 Tables 86
5.3.2 Implementation issues 86
5.4 Creation of Master page 87
5.4.1 Creating the Pages and the Contents 87
5.5 Database connection 87
5.6 Creation of User interfaces 88
5.7 Screenshots of the interface of the application 102
5.8 Testing 102
5.8.1 Testing Methodology 102
5.8.2 Mapping use cases to system requirements 104
5.8.3 Mapping Scenarios to Use Case 104
5.8.4 Mapping Scenarios to Test Cases 105
Chapter 6.0 Conclusion 107
6.1 Introduction 108
6.2 Check objectives 109
6.3 Requirements that were not met 109
6.4 Challenges and Difficulties faced 110
6.5 Future works 110
6.6 Recommendations 111
6.6.1 Application Recommendation 111
6.6.2 Course Recommendation 111
7.0 References 113
Appendix 116

4
LIST OF TABLES

Table 1 source of information collection 54

Table 2 edit supplier’s information use case description 63

Table 3 send alerts use case description 64

Table 4 update inventory status use case description 64

Table 5 Inventory Table 69

Table 6 product table 69

Table 7 material table 70

Table 8 order table 70

Table 9 supplier table 71

Table 10 staff table 71

Table 11 Software and tools used 75

Table 12 Hardware specifications 75

Table 13 Software and tool used reviewed 85

Table 14 Hardware specifications reviewed 86

Table 15 Mapping use cases to system requirements 103

Table 16 Mapping Scenarios to Use cases 104

Table 17 Test scenarios and test cases 105

Table 18 Check Objectives 109

5
LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1 SDLC development cycle 22

Figure 2 Gantt Chart part 1 26
Figure 3 Gantt Chart part 2 26
Figure 4 Timeline 26
Figure 5 Tasks identification 27
Figure 6 Warehouse management system 42
Figure 7 Warehouse management functionality 43
Figure 8 Supply Chain Management system 44
Figure 9 Supply Chain Management System 44
Figure 10 ERP system (Enterprise Resource Planning) 45
Figure 11 ERP system 46
Figure 12 Operations and Information Management System 46
Figure 13 Operations and Information Management System 47
Figure 14 In flow software 47
Figure 15 In flow software 48
Figure 16 In flow software 48
Figure 17 Pos Maid Inventory Software 49
Figure 18 ABC inventory Software 50
Figure 19 ABC inventory software 50
Figure 20 BSI Accounting free edition software 51
Figure 21 e Stock card inventory software 52
Figure 22 e Stock card inventory software 52
Figure 23 All actors use case 61
Figure 24 All users use cases 61
Figure 25 Admin use case 62

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Figure 26 Manager’s use cases 63
Figure 27 Inventory manager use case 64
Figure 28 Data flow diagram 67
Figure 29 Functional Decomposition Diagram 68
Figure 30 Entity Relationship Diagram 70
Figure 31 Products Table 75
Figure 32 Orders Table 76
Figure 33 inventory table 76
Figure 34 supplier table 77
Figure 35 materials table 77
Figure 36 Staff table 78
Figure 37 Site Map 79
Figure 38 System login page 80
Figure 39 System Dashboard 80
Figure 40 Supplier information page 81
Figure 41 Message page for inventory manager 81
Figure 42 inventory information page 82
Figure 43 product information page 83
Figure 44 order information page 84
Figure 45 Admin manager dashboard 85
Figure 46 Updated ERD 87
Figure 47 Visual studio 2012 with SQL Server 2008 connection 90
Figure 48 Screenshot of part of the database connection 91
Figure 49 Login page 91
Figure 50 Master page / Dashboard of the system 92
Figure 51 Screenshot of the code of the Master page 92

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Figure 52 First web page of the application 93
Figure 53 About us page 93
Figure 54 mission page of the company 94
Figure 55 what we offer page 94
Figure 56 value addition page 95
Figure 57 corporate responsibilities page 96
Figure 58 contact us page 96
Figure 59 product page 97
Figure 60 supplier information page 98
Figure 61 orders page 99
Figure 62 orders page 100
Figure 63 Staff page 101
Figure 64 Messages page for the inventory manager 101
Figure 65 Admin manager dashboard 102
Figure 66 send messages page 103
Figure 67 view information page 104
Figure 68 product evaluation of vendor’s page 104

8
INTRODUCTION

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 Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION

1 INTRODUCTION

Inventory management is the process of efficiently monitoring the constant flow

of units into and out of an existing inventory. This process usually involves
controlling the transfer in of units in order to prevent the inventory from
becoming too high, or dwindling to levels that could put the operation of the
company into difficulties. Inventory management is very important for big
business and private owned organizations especially where there are a lot of
orders are being placed everyday and there are lot of materials and the
maintenance is really important which the system will do and also will record
the time taken to process an order and this system is really important as it can
help the organizations to be alerted when the level of inventory is very low .and
focuses on the three aspects of inventory management and prevent from failures
in the future .

Inventory management also demands a solid understanding of how long it will

take for those materials to transfer out of the inventory to be established. By
Knowing these two important lead key aspects makes it possible to know when
to place an order and how many units must be ordered to keep production
running smoothly.

The two common inventory-management strategies are the just-in-time method,

where the companies plan to receive items as they are needed rather than
maintaining high inventory levels, and materials requirement planning strategy,
which schedules material deliveries based on sales forecasts. Inventory
management forms a part of the project management.

1.1 Background of the Company

1.1.1 Organization Review

Hashem Contracting and Trading Co was established on 25 March 1979 and

the company has 3 owners namely Mr. Ghiath Eldin Mehdi Kabbani ,Mr.
Suleiman Saleh Al-Rajhi and Mr. Abdul Rehman Ghiath Eldin Kabbani
Hashem Contracting invests in real estate development projects including
residential, commercial and mixed-use real estate projects through its real estate
division. It also engages in the planning of development projects in

10
collaboration with other partners and in the implementation stage through
contracting and finance.

As a general contractor, Hashem Company provides the following turnkey

services:

Civil works

• Structural works

• Architectural works

• Mechanical work

HVAC

• Plumbing works

• Electrical works

• Special works

Subcontracting

• Fire Fighting

• Landscaping

• Specialized works

• Other value addition services

Hashem Aluminum Systems Factory

• Aluminum products ( Doors, Windows, Facade Cladding )

• Skylight

Projects & Furnishing

A sister company for wood works

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1.2 Problem Statement:

The process of manually looking for the inventory available in stock is really
time consuming and cumbersome that includes the person responsible to see
how many materials are in the inventory , how many materials have been
ordered and received and keep the record of the time that will take for the
suppliers to process orders and other various tasks included in inventory .

At current the inventory is managed and update on an excel spreadsheet which

has been an outdated form of recording and maintain the inventory of materials
as it is really difficult to enter the data and then update the data on daily basis
.the inventory management system will solve the problems as everything about
the inventory will be stored in a database which will be much easier to
marinating and update and this will also save time and cost effective for the
organization and will automate many inventory related tasks.

The project will implement a database for inventory management which will
include the vendor analysis performance of the products and calculate the cost
of materials at the end of the project .Online inventory management system will
provide all the information needed and required for inventory related in
understanding in easy way and that will reduce the time taken for the inventory
manager to record all the products that are in inventory which takes too much
time. This will help the inventory manager to list out all the details using the
system or search all the inventory information.

1.3 Research Scope

The aim of the research is to develop a web based inventory management

system that will be implemented within the company to help the inventory
manager record the details of the inventory and the details of the inventory
including the product ,supplier ,order and all information shall be stored in the
database .the system will provide all of the information needed for inventory
manager ,display the product information ,the supplier info which will enable
the inventory manager to create /delete inventory or add new inventory or send
alerts when the inventory levels are low in stock and will enable to track order
history of vendor.

12
The research covers the planning, analyzing and designing phases of the system.
A prototype is also created to describe how to use the system. Implementation
and testing is also included in this research.

1.4 Research Objectives

This section illustrates the three types of objectives general, specific and the
learning objectives that are required in order to complete this project.

1.4.1 General Objectives

The following points are considered the general objective of the research

 Conduct and research the real life workflow and be able to understand
and identify real life and business problems.
 To propose a solution to the problems identified.
 Analyze and design a solution that fulfills the client’s needs .

1.4.2 Specific objectives

The research will help to cover the following objectives

 Understand the company Hashem construction and trading current way of

inventory tracking.
 Identify the problems.
 Identify the type of system that would help solving the problem.
 Study and search about similar systems.
 Similar soft wares that is used to help in solving the problems.
 Understand and specify the requirements of the system.
 To specify the tools needed to build the system and how to use them.
 Design the architecture and the interfaces for the proposed system
 Implement a functional system and the test the system.

1.4.3 Learning Objectives

After doing the literature review and conducting the research about the system,
there are some expected deliverables on these following topics:

13
  Understand what the task management system are , how they work ,and
their importance in today’s business world.
 Identify the data, processes and knowledge involved in the problem.
 Prepare system requirements analysis.
 Learn how to design and implement a system into real life workflow.

1.5 Research Methodology.

This section identifies the steps that were followed to achieve the goal of this
research. The methodology that I have chosen and intend to use for this project
is the Systems development life cycle .This methodology is chosen because it
has all the steps that will be followed that must be performed for the
development of a successful and better system .This project based on the SDLC
methodology will reduce errors and produce better results at the end of the
project. The system development life cycle (SDLC) categorizes the
development of any system into the following: planning, analysis, design,
implementation and testing. This is the division that will be followed throughout
this project as Figure1 shows the five main stages in an SDLC.

Figure1 SDLC

System Development Life Cycle

The common stages are :

Project planning , feasibility study: In this phase the team establishes a high
level view of the project and specify its goals.

System analysis: System analysis emphasizes on the identifying the problem .

It is the process of examining and existing information system and its

14
environment to identify possible environment .There are further sub steps in the
analysis phase and they are :

 Prepare for system analysis.

 Determine business requirements.
 Define process models.
 Define logical data.
 Reconcile business requirements with models.
 Gather and produce functional requirements.
 Produce the nonfunctional requirements.

System Design:

This phase emphasizes on the technical or implementation concerns of the

system .and also includes identify alternative solutions and chose the best .Then
design the chosen solution. The specification of a computer based solution also
called physical design .There are further steps involved in the design phase and
they are :

 Prepare for system design.

 Define the technical architecture.
 Define system standards.
 Create the physical database.
 Prototype system components.
 Produce technical specification.

System Implementation

This phase includes the coding and the implementing the system for the use of
the client.

System Testing

The team will test the system and checks for error, bugs and interoperability.

Acceptance, installation and deployment : This is the final stage of initial

development.

15
Maintenance:

What happens through system entire life , the changes ,correction, addition,
move to a different computing platform or say migration and porting and more.
This is the least valuable perhaps the most important stage at all.

1.6 Required Tools

This section provides a brief description of the major software tools to be used
in developing the application. This includes Microsoft SQL Server, Microsoft
Visual studio and c#.

1.6.1 Microsoft SQL Server

Microsoft SQL Server is a relational database management system that uses the
structured query language SQL to access and manipulate the stored data
developed by Microsoft. It is software product whose primary function is to
store and retrieve data as requested by software applications. Its scope includes
data query and data update , schema creation and modification and data access
control. In SQL server , the RDMS is integrated within the visual studio IDE to
simplify data access from windows applications.

It can install the database in separate server with the same data and it can install
it with the same server .The servers must be in the same network. Their version
of the SQL based on the applications and the size of the business.

1.6.2 Microsoft Visual Studio

Visual studio is a software development or integrated development

environments, it used to develop the graphical user interface and the console
based on the windows form applications like the website, web services and web
applications of all code for all platforms supported by Microsoft like windows
mobile and Net framework (Microsoft Visual Studio ,N.D.)

Features:

Visual studio can edit the code easily by the code editor. Also it has two levels ,
which are machine level and source level debugger. For the designing, it has
many designers like Windows Form Designer, WPF designer and Web
designer. Additionally visual studio supports other products.

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1.6.3 C#

C# is an object oriented programming language from Microsoft that aims to

combine the computing power of C ++ with the programming ease of Visual
basic .C# contains features similar to those of Java. Its syntax is similar to C and
C++ syntax and C# is designed to be an object oriented language (Hans-Petter
Halvorsen, N.D).Services .

Features

 Variables in C# are automatically initialized by environment.

 Strong Exceptions Handling.
 Suited well for building Web services.
 The language is intended for use in developing software component
suitable for deployment in distributed environments.

1.6.4 ASP.NET

ASP. NET(Active Server Pages ) is a web development framework that helps in

creating dynamic pages and websites with HTML , CSS, JavaScript and Server
scripting. It was developed by Microsoft to allow users to produce dynamics
websites, web applications and web services.ASP.NET web pages are known as
web forms , those are the main building black for application development.
Web forms contained files with”.aspx” extension; these files contain HTML,
user controls and web controls where developers place all the content for
webpages .The dynamics code, which runs the code on the server ,can be placed
in the page with a block. (ASP.NET , 2013).

ASP.NET key advantages are :

 It is built on .NET framework and it allows users to use any languages

that supports .NET framework while creating applications.
 ASP.NET has the concept of code-behind ,which means code and
HTML markups are separated Which make the code readable and
easier for developer to maintain and update.
 It comes along with a comprehensive set of Web Controls (Button,
Data Grid).This helps developer to focus on business requirements.

17
  ASP.NET has built-in authentication and authorization tools that
provide a developer with the ability to create highly secured
applications.
 Support of Mode-View-Controller concept.

1.7 Gantt chart:

Fig 2 Gantt Chart part 1

Fig 3 Gantt chart part 2

1.7.1 Timeline:

Fig 4 Timeline (1)

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1.7.2 Task identification:

Figure 5 SDLC phases and the tasks for each phase.

The tasks that were carried out during each phase are then illustrated in the
diagram above.

And

The tasks that were carried out in each of the phases of system development life
cycle are identified and explained as below:

The first stage in the system development life cycle is Planning and following
were the tasks that were carried out in the Planning phase are as follows:

Planning Phase:

 Established the goals of the project.

 Identify some main objectives for the project and some general and
research objectives that are used in all the projects.
 Identify the problem and also provide a solution as is written in the
problem statement .This statement gives a general overview of how the
problem would be solved.
 Identified some tasks and functionalities that would be carried out by the
different users after implementing the application.

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  Specify some user requirements for the different users which will later be
explained in the system analysis phase of the system development life
cycle.

System Analysis:

The second stage was the System analysis and following were the tasks that
were carried out during this phase of the system development life cycle and are
as follows:

 User requirements were defined that were categorized in to functional and

non –functional requirements : These requirements specify the
functionalities of the system by the different users and for the non-
functional requirements the requirements are normally the same that
would be applied in all the projects regarding the accuracy ,disaster
recovery handling ,design of the application interface the GUI and all
other requirements . Business requirements were also identified through
the meeting with the client in the form of questionnaires.

The process models that were created in the analysis phase are explained
as below :

 Use cases Diagrams : These diagrams were developed on the basis of the
system functional requirements and the description of the use cases were
also provided with the function of the actor with the use case and what
the system will interact with the user and the function of the system in
response to that particular use case.
 Data flow Diagram : This diagram was developed to show how the data is
linked in between the different users of the system and what are the data
sources if any from where the data will be needed for the databases.
 Functional Decomposition Diagram: This diagram was developed in
order to establish the link between the different users and their common
functionalities.

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System Design Phase:

There were some tasks that were carried out in the system design phase that are
explained as below:

 ER Diagram : This diagram was developed to tell how the different

entities in the system are linked to each other entity with their attributes
also listed.
 Data Dictionary: This dictionary is really important for the creation of
database .Before the database creation it is really important to know how
many tables will the database contain and with their primary keys and
foreign keys specified for each table that would be created in the
database.
 Physical Database :This database is the result of the actual creation of the
database using the software SQL server. The tables are created to be used
for the database and the SQL server database is linked to the visual studio
database.
 System Environment : The hardware and the software specifications were
then specified further as displayed in the tables.
 Sitemap : The sitemap was also developed as part of this phase to give an
idea of how the application will look when implemented including how
many main pages and how many sub web pages will be there in the
application and how each sub web page is connected to the main home
page of the system.
 Different prototypes of each webpage was then created to give the idea of
the look of each page before implementing the system.

Implementation phase:

The last phase of the system development life cycle is the implementation
and testing phase and following are the tasks that were carried out during this
phase and are described as follows:

 Review of the changes in requirements : There were some requirements

that were reviewed and changed after getting the feedback from senior1.
 ERD was updated : This was updated as part of the changes in
requirements from the senior 1 part of the project .

21
  Development of the project : How the project will actually progress
further .This listed out some of the tasks to be carried out in the
implementation phase .
 Selection of tools : The tools and softwares specifications and the
hardware specification that were used in developing the application was
then displayed .
 Screenshots of the application and the screenshots of each of the web
page that was created was also included as part of this phase.

Testing phase:

The tasks that was carried out in the final stage of the system development life
cycle is explained as below:

Three different types of testing methodology that was used for implementing
the application and are as follows:

 Unit testing: after coding in the implementation phase, a unit test was
performed upon on the code.
 User acceptance testing: was performed by the client to check that the
application meet the requirements.
 System Integration Testing: making sure that all different webpages of
the application is well able to communicate with each other.

Following were the different tables that were included in this phase which are as
follows:

 Mapping system requirements to use cases :Use cases were then mapped
to the system requirements (functional requirements).
 Mapping scenarios to use cases: Some scenarios were provided and these
were then mapped to the use cases.
 Test scenarios and test cases: Test scenarios were provided and some test
cases were provided with the result of applying the test cases.

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1.8 Report Outline:

Chapter one : includes the introduction, problem statement ,statement of

purpose ,research objectives ,research methodology and report .

Chapter two: literature review which includes general information about

inventory management ,similar systems . In addition a review of the software
and tools required to develop the application are introduced to support and give
a good understanding about the research.

Chapter three: includes the analysis of the proposed system.

Chapter four: provides the architectural design of the system to be developed.

Chapter five: provide details about the implementation and the testing phase.

Chapter six: provides the limitations, challenges faced and the conclusion.

1.9 Conclusion

This chapter clarified an identification of current problem and states the possible
solution for this. In addition and exemplification of research methodology,
research scope, objectives of the research and the software tools that will be
used to develop the application are included.

23
LITERATURE REVIEW

24
 CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Introduction

In the previous chapter 1 discussed earlier the main objective of the senior
project is to implement an inventory management system for reducing the errors
and workload of employees in the Hashem Construction and Trading Co .This
chapter will be cover the content that will include the different types of
inventory management systems , similar systems how is it used , different soft
wares used for the inventory management etc.

2.1.1What is Inventory management system?

This is a computer based system for tracking inventory levels, sales , orders and
deliveries. Companies use this system to avoid the overflowing of products and
prevent product outage .This tool is used for organizing inventory data that was
previously stored in excel sheet manually which was really cumbersome process
and time consuming. This tool can be associated which is similar to distribution
software, as distributors that can compete with less cash tied up in inventories
have a distinct advantage over their competitors.

2.2 Types of inventory management systems

There are two main types of inventory system which can then be classified in
two categories namely:

2.2.1Perpetual inventory systems:

Is one in which inventory data is updated after a specific interval of time ,

usually once a year . Information is not consistently up to date.

25
2.2.2 Periodic inventory systems:

Unlike the periodic inventory method where data is updated consistently as

sales occur.

2.3 Objectives and tasks

Companies often use inventory management software to reduce their carrying

costs. The system is used to track products and parts as they are transported
from a vendor to a warehouse, between warehouses, and finally to a retail
location or directly to a customer.

Inventory management system is used for a variety of purposes, including:

 Maintaining a balance between too much and too little inventory.

 Tracking inventory as it is transported between locations.
 Receiving items into a warehouse or other location.
 Picking, packing and shipping items from a warehouse.
 Keeping track of product sales and inventory levels.
 Cutting down on product obsolescence and spoilage.
2.4 Components of Inventory management systems

The Inventory Software is the base with components like Barcode or RFID
scanner, Barcode or RFID label printer. There is Retail Inventory System,
stockroom inventory, warehouse Inventory System, and fixed asset inventory.
For the most efficient Inventory System should be integrated with the rest of
your operations like sales, shipping and receiving, accounting, and billing. You
still can isolate the inventory tracking if that is critical to your operation.

2.4.1 A barcode reader (or barcode scanner) is an electronic device for

reading printed barcodes. Like a flatbed scanner, it consists of a light source, a
lens and a light sensor translating optical impulses into electrical ones.

26
Additionally, nearly all barcode readers contain decoder circuitry analyzing the
barcode's image data provided by the sensor and sending the barcode's content
to the scanner's output port.

2.4.2 Radio-frequency identification (RFID) is the wireless non-contact use

of radio-frequency electromagnetic fields to transfer data, for the purposes of
automatically identifying and tracking tags attached to objects. The tags contain
electronically stored information. Unlike a barcode, the tag does not necessarily
need to be within line of sight of the reader, and may be embedded in the
tracked object.

Inventory management is made up of several key components that work

together to create a cohesive inventory for inventory organizations .These
features include:

2.4.3 Order management: This helps to decide should inventory reach a

certain threshold, a company's inventory management system can be
programmed to tell managers to reorder that product. This helps companies
avoid running out of products or tying up too much capital in inventory .

2.4.4 Asset tracking

When a product is in warehouse or stock , it can be tracked via barcode or any

RFID or any other tracking criteria such as serial number, lot number or
revision number. Nowadays most companies uses the barcode or RFID
technology or other wireless technology for tracking the products.

2.4.5 Service management

Companies that are primarily service oriented other than product oriented uses
the inventory management software to calculate the cost of materials that is
used to provide services such as cleaning supplies.

27
2.4.6 Product identification

Barcodes are the often used means to whereby the data on the products and the
orders is inputted in the inventory management software. A barcode reader is
used to read barcodes and look up information on the products they represent.
Radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags and wireless methods of product
identification are also becoming more popular.

2.5 Principles of inventory management systems

 Demand forecasting
 Warehouse flow
 Inventory turns/stock rotation
 Cycle counting and
 Process auditing
2.5.1 Demand forecasting: This depends on the industry, inventory ranks in the
top five business costs. Accurate demand forecasting has the highest potential
savings for any of the principles of inventory management. Both over supply
and under supply of inventory can have critical business costs. Whether it is
end-item stocking or raw component sourcing, the more accurate the forecast
can be.

Establishing appropriate max-min management at the unique inventory line

level, based on lead times and safety stock level help ensure that you obtain
when you need it. This also avoids costly overstocks. Idle inventory increases
incremental costs due to handling and lost storage space for fast-movers.

2.5.2 Warehouse flow: the old concept of the warehouse being dirty and in
unorganized form is outdated and costly. Lean concepts including the S5 have

28
found way in warehouse. Sorting , setting order, systematic leaning and
ensuring discipline makes sure that money is worth spent in all these processes.

The principles of any inventory management are not different form other
system. Each process from housekeeping to inventory transactions requires a
proper, formal standardized process to ensure correct results.

2.5.3Inventory Turns/Stock Rotation

In certain industries, such as pharmaceuticals, foodstuffs and even in chemical

warehousing, managing inventory can be critical especially to minimize
business costs. Inventory turns is one of the key metrics used in evaluating how
effective your execution is of the principles of inventory management.

Defining the success level for stock rotation is critical to analyzing your demand
forecasting and warehouse flow.

2.5.4Cycle counting

One of the accurate methods of maintaining accurate inventory is cycle

counting. This helps measure success of your existing processes and maintain
accountability for potential error success. Some industries require 100%
periodic counts .this can be achieved through perpetual inventory maintenance
or full building counts.

2.5.5 Process auditing

Proactive source error identification starts with process auditing .One of the
most important principles of inventory management is to process auditing which
should be done often .Process auditing should take place at every transactional
steps from receiving and to shipping inventory including all the inventory
transactions that takes place in between the processes.

29
2.6 Advantages of inventory management system

The some of the advantages of inventory system are thus summarized below
which can prevent the organization /firm from suffering from big financial loss
and other problems that may occur during the daily operations of the firm that
can be viewed as the materials being out of stock or machine failures and many
other operations happening on daily basis.

There are several Advantages of using the inventory management in a business

setting are :

2.6.1 Cost savings: In many cases companies inventory is one of the largest
investments along with its workforce and locations. inventory management
systems helps the companies to cut the expenses by minimizing the amount of
unnecessary products and materials in storage.it also helps companies keep lost
sales to a minimum by having enough stock to meet demand .

2.6.2 Increased efficiency: the inventory management system allows for may
automated inventory task for example the system can automatically collect data
, calculate costs .this also reduces in costs saving and time saving and thus
consequently leading to increase in business efficiency.

2.6.3 Warehouse organization: Inventory management system help

distributors, wholesalers, manufacturers and retailers optimize their warehouses.
If certain products are often sold together or are more popular than others, those
products can be grouped together or placed near the delivery area to speed up
the process of picking.

2.6.4 Updated data: provides up to date and real time data on inventory levels
is and advantage of inventory management system. Company executives can
usually access the software through their mobile devices , laptop for checking

30
current inventory numbers this automatic updating of inventory allows the
business to make informed decisions.

2.6.5 Data security : by accompanying with the restricted user rights,

company managers can allow many employees to assist in inventory
management. They can grant employees enough information access for tasks
such as receiving products, making orders, transfer products and perform
other tasks without compromising company security. This can speed up the
inventory management process and save managers’ time.

2.6.6 Insight into trends this helps tracking the products which are in stock
and from which suppliers do they come from and the length of the time they are
stored is made possible with inventory management system by analyzing this
data the company can optimize their inventory levels and maximize the use of
warehouse space. Additionally firms are more prepared for the demands and
supplies of the market, especially during special circumstances such as a peak
season on a particular month.

2.7 Disadvantages of Inventory Management System

The disadvantages of using the inventory management systems where there are
pro’s to suing a particular system will be automatically followed by some of the
drawbacks or the cons of using the system .

2.7.1 Cost

Cost can be a major disadvantage to suing the inventory management system.

Many large companies can use the system but small business may find it
difficult to afford the huge expenses of buying the system. Barcode readers and
other hardware can compound this problem by adding even more cost to
companies. The advantage of allowing multiple employees to perform

31
inventory-management tasks is tempered by the cost of additional barcode
readers.

2.7.2 Complexity:

Inventory management system is not necessarily easier to learn , remember and

use. A company’s management team must dedicate a certain amount of time to
learning the new system, including both software and hardware, in order to
implement for usage .Most inventory management software includes training
manuals and other information available to users. Despite its apparent
complexity, inventory management software offers a degree of stability to
companies.

2.7.3 Risk of fraud

Any computerized system carries the risk of intrusion, and with a computerized
inventory management system comes the risk of fraud as well. A dishonest
vendor could hack the system to receive payment for products never delivered,
or a dishonest employee could redirect checks to themselves.

2.7.4 Accuracy Issues

A computerized system alone does not ensure accuracy, and the inventory data
is only as good as the data entry that created it. Companies that plan to use a
computerized inventory management system need to have a system in place to
validate their data and check the numbers reported by the system. A select
hand count or targeted audit may be necessary to ensure the integrity of the
system.

32
2.8 Similar systems

A comparative study

2.8.1 Vendor management systems

This system is a new trend for inventory management system. With this system
the distributors can control inventory management for customers .The reports
are calculated on daily basis and are transferred from the customer to the
vendor. The data gathered from these reports lets the vendor knows when to
recalculate the stock of the customers merchandise. This method significantly
reduces the load of paper work /the cost and the labor .There are few drawbacks
of using this method which is this will be difficult for the distributor/suppliers to
keep up with demand of the product that is popular and is demanded by the
customers from all around the world. Companies believe that the money saved
in time and labor is worth the risks involved.

2.8.2 Traker systems

Traker system is an inventory management system allowing you to control your

inventory with this software management system the you can you can track and
control purchasing, invoicing, product recalls, shipping and receiving, ordering
and all other aspects of inventory management. The software comes with full
system of reports allowing you to have the status of your inventory available at
your fingertips. Some of the forms available with Traker Systems include
packing slips, invoices and inbound receipts. Analysis reports include analysis
summary, allocation reports, products lists, inventory summary and inventory
history. The operating system required to use Traker Systems is Windows 2000,
Windows XP or Windows Vista.

33
2.8.3Warehouse management systems:

WMS (warehouse management system ) is a software application that supports

day to day operations in the warehouse of company. The system enables
centralized management of tasks such as tracking inventory levels and stock
locations .WMS systems may be standalone systems or integrated with the ERP
system.

Warehouse management system used previously could only store the data of
stock locations .the current systems are so complex and data intensive that they
require a dedicated staff to operate the system. High end system may include
routing and tracking technologies such as RFID and voice recognition.

It does not matter how complex the system but the goal remains the same that to
provide the management for information that it needs to move efficiently and
control the movement of the materials within warehouse.

Figure 6: Warehouse Management system

34
Figure 7 : Warehouse Management Functionality

2.8.4 Supply chain management systems:

Is the active management of supply chain activities that maximizes customer

value and achieves a sustainable competitive advantage .Supply chain activities
covers everything from product development ,pricing ,logistics to the
information system that is needed to coordinate these activities.

The organizations that make up the supply chain are “linked” together through
physical flows and the information flows. Physical flows involve the
transformation, movement, and storage of goods and materials. They are the
most visible component of the supply chain. But is equally important as the
information flows. Information flows allow the various supply chain partners to
coordinate their long-term plans, and to control the day-to-day flow of goods
and material up and down the supply chain.

35
Figure 8 : Supply Chain Management

Figure9 : Supply Chain Management

2.8.5 ERP (enterprise resource planning) systems :Is business management

software that can be best describe as usually a suite of integrated applications
which the company can use to store and manage data from every stage of
business, including:

 Product planning, cost and development.

 Manufacturing.
 Marketing and sales.

36
  Inventory management.
 Shipping and payment
ERP provides an integrated real-time view of core business processes, using
common databases maintained by a database management system. ERP systems
track business resources including cash, raw materials, production capacity and
the status of business commitments: orders, purchase orders, and payroll. The
applications that make up the system share data across the various departments
(manufacturing, purchasing, sales, accounting, etc.) that entered the data. ERP
facilitates information flow between all business functions, and manages
connections to outside stakeholders.

Organizations consider the ERP system a vital organizational tool because it

integrates varied organizational systems and facilitates error-free transactions
and production. However, ERP system development is different from traditional
systems development. ERP systems run on a variety of computer hardware and
network configurations, typically using a database as an information repository.

Figure 10 :ERP system

37
Figure 11 : ERP system

2.8.6 Operations management system:

Operations Management Systems (OMS) is an integrated collection of

technologies that provides a two-way communication between the operating
data generated on the shop floor and the software systems used by plant
management to monitor the performance of one or multiple facilities.

Figure 12: Operations and information Management System

38
Figure 13 : Operations and Information Management System

2.9 Similar Softwares

Inflow software helps to organize and inventory system to track and control the
stock with the help of executive dashboard helps to generate nice reports as the
end result.

2.9.1 Inflow Inventory Software

Fig 14 Inflow Inventory Software

39
Figure 15 : in flow software

40
Figure 16 : In flow Inventory Software

2.9.2 ProActive Inventory Manager by Accuware

Is a Web based Inventory Management solution. Can be customized to your

unique work flows. Hosted on ProActive servers or can be hosted on your
server. Option to use barcodes and Mobile computing. . Built on Microsoft
ASP.net and Microsoft SQL server database Data available for clients to use
Adhoc reporting. Low cost Standard version, or full blown Enterprise version.
Extensive set of versions for many Vertical industries.

2.9.3 Pos Maid Software

Pos Maid is free software for inventory management and control which is very
helpful in merchandise retail sale like in provision store, super market store,
electronics goods store etc. POS stands for Point of Sale. This program has
many good features like you can easily fill in your inventory and has complete
control over it; customer and employee management, financial report
generation, account management, low stock alerts etc. This software is
recommended for small business stores.

41
Figure 17 : POS Maid Inventory Software

2.9.4 ABC Inventory Software:

ABC Inventory Software is a freeware inventory management application which

should be an absolute choice for small and middle level business groups
because it works like a professional. This program is jam packed with multiple
features like purchase order management, complete inventory track along with
barcode, sale and shipping order management, scheduling warehouse
appointments, automatic stock report generation, sale quotations, unlimited
database record, mailing labels and so on.

Figure 18 : ABC Inventory Software

42
Figure 19: ABC Inventory Software

2.9.5 BS1 Enterprise Accounting Free Edition

BS1 Enterprise Accounting Free Edition is a freeware program for inventory

control and management which is useful for small business section. This
program has a very simple interface with very easy to use design. It has
different department like accounting, distribution and manufacturing department
which have further sub terms like sales orders, purchase orders, accounts
payable, accounts receivable general ledger, inventory and much more.

43
Figure 20 :BSI Accounting Free edition software

2.9.6 Chronos eStock Card Inventory Software

Chronos e Stock Card Inventory software is a freeware inventory management

application which keeps the complete track of your sales, purchase and
warehouse inventory. It supports barcode system. Its features include detail
inventory tracking, customizable interface, email alerts, complete inventory
management, stock transfer, report generation, multi- currency conversion and
many more.

44
Figure 21 : e Stock Card Inventory Software

Figure22 : e Stock Card Inventory Software

Conclusion

This report clearly shows the introduction to the system with a detailed
description of the advantages and disadvantages of the system and also presents
a detailed comparative study of the similar systems and the similar softwares
that are used to develop inventory management system applications in business
settings.

45
SYSTEM ANALYSIS

46
 Chapter 3 Analysis phase

3.1 Introduction

The primary goal of the system analysis to improve and enhance the efficiency
of the current system .Therefore it is very important to study the specifications
and the requirements of the system.

The objective of the chapter is to focus on the analysis phase of the system by
providing a detailed description of the system activities which includes the
functional and nonfunctional requirements .It will include a Use Case Diagram
that defines the functional requirements of the system as well as a Data Flow
Diagram that describes the flow of t the actors and the different processes
involved. In short,this chapter focuses on the analysis phase of the system
development life cycle .

3.1.1 Resource allocation:

People:

 Mohammad Fawad : project manager of Hashem Company and client for

the project.
 Ayesha Fawad.
 Dr Amer Al Badarneh: Academic Supervisor.
 Dr Zain Balfagih: Academic Supervisor.
 Dr Khulood Rambo: Academic Supervisor.

3.2 The client’s current system

The current system at the company is being operated manually using Excel
Spreadsheets as a database for collecting information ,which has many
drawbacks and limitations such as lack of centralized information and updating
of data takes time .At this time the company does not have an independent
system that satisfies their requirements and can better deliver the process from
the shipment order is placed till the time the order is received .The processes
involved in the current system are then described below:

47
When we receive the Purchase Order we prepare a bunch of document:

Starting with filling a Work Order Form which contains all the information
regarding the Customer and Project attached with material list to be delivered,
Copy of Purchase Order, and Copy of Quotation.

Take the signature of procurement Manager and Finance Manager to process the
delivery.

Submit it to Stock & Doc. Controller, who enter all these information in Oracle
System which allows our Yard team to see booked Work Order in the system.

Based on the Work Order booked in system the Yard Team issue a Delivery
Ticket and arrange the delivery to the customer. After receiving the Customer
signed Delivery Ticket it has been forwarded to Finance Department to attach
this Delivery Ticket to the Invoice.

The collected data is not organized which means the data is scattered in soft and
hard copy files or emails between the employees which means updated
information about the inventory system us not always delivered at the
appropriate time when needed between the employees and the other vendors.

3.3 Information Collection

Sources

Internal sources External Sources

Stakeholders Journals
Advisors Books
Forms & Documents Similar systems
Information System manuals Internet
Table 1 source of information collection

Data collection techniques and tools

 Structured interviews
 Unstructured interviews

The success of the system depends mainly on identifying and understanding the
client’s needs in system and addressing the right way of delivering information.

48
In this phase , it is important to obtain the requirements from the client and
understand their needs of the system .Consequently, meeting and questionnaires
was conducted with client in order to understand the complete processes and
activities they would like to be included in the system. Users of the system were
identified through this phase as well and how each user is involved with the
system was recognized and understood. All the provided information from the
client was important and more helpful that was required to move on the next
step of analysis phase ,which is stating the system requirements.

The following demonstrates the system functional and non - functional

requirements .

3.4User Functional requirements

This section illustrates the user requirements of the system.

1. All Users should

a. Interact with the application

b. Be able to login to their accounts using their username and password
provided
c. Be able to logout from their profiles.

2. Admin should

a. Be able to modify the structure of the webpages

b. Be able to add, delete and modify database
c. Be able to add and remove users and set authority
d. Be able to monitor the system

3.Admin –managers

a. Be able to view all tasks

b. Be able to view the list of suppliers
c. Be able to list all the users tasks
d. Be able to create, edit and delete information
e. Be able to search for information
f. Be able to notice the editings and changes made by the users

49
System Requirements

3.4.1 Functional Requirements

System:

1. The system should display a login screen where users can access the
system by entering their username and password .
2. The system should store information about the customers, products,
suppliers, orders , delivery order .All the users should have a profile
page. The page shall include all the necessary information about them.
3. The system shall keep track of all processes and changes happening to the
data between login and logout times of the users.
4. The system should provide authentication to the users by verifying the
user name and password before accessing the system.
5. The system should inform the inventory manager about the low levels of
inventory and send alerts to the user when the inventory levels is low.
6. The system shall allow the new users to be added or delete the users .
7. The system shall provide a feedback/evaluation of the products from the
vendor.
8. The system should be able to calculate the cost of materials that will be
used for different stages of the project.
9. The system shall be able to update the inventory data including the order
data, supplier data, customer data etc.
10.The system should enable the users to logout after using the system when
the user clicks on the logout button.

3.4.2 Non Functional Requirements

Usability

The system should be available by all the authorized users from all the
respective departments .In order to accomplish this objective the system should
have a simple and well-designed interface that provides and easy navigation
through the webpages.

50
Accessibility

The system should be made accessible to the people outside the company as
well which mean the system should be made globally accessible that everyone
can use and anyone can use the system regardless of the location and can get the
information they acquire .

Performance

The performance of the system should be fast and efficient in searching

creating new users , updating inventory status and generating different kind of
reports. The system should be available for user in real time and always up to
date.

Speed

The system response time is a significant requirement because the action cannot
be postponed or delayed. The system should be fast enough to satisfy the
user’s needs and should not waste their time.

Security

The data and information about customers is the main asset in the company;
therefore the system must be highly secured from external threats and
unauthorized users. In order to access the system users should login with
authorized user name and password to ensure authentication.

Availability :

The system should operate 24 hours a day.

Data currency:

The system should have real time updates , delays are not acceptable.

Data retention:

The system should be able to store only the useful data , and data that will used
later on.

51
Accuracy

The new system should try to reduce errors that are in the existing system .The
accurate system will improve and ease all the processes from searching to
updating customer information to generating inventory reports and many other
services. Consequently this will lead to improved customer satisfaction.

Friendly GUI’s

The users of this system have different types of roles in the company and
different levels of technical skills, therefore the system should be accessible by
all the users. Consequently, the system should provide an easy to use , friendly
Graphical User Interface (GUI).

Maintability

The system should be maintained in order to perform the best of its ability.

Extensibility and Scalability

The system should be flexible enough to allow improvements for the future and
should be able to adapt any additional future change in activities; the system
components can be modified for more changes and features allow the addition
of new features without disturbing the main functionalities of the system.

Disaster recovery:

The system should be able to recover from an unsuitable problem .and should
back up data.

Error handling:

The system should be able to handle unexpected errors quickly and easily.

3.5 System activities

When developing a system , a use case modeling is essential in order to define

the functional requirements of the system .A use case diagram outlines the
system’s usage requirements and it contains actors and use cases which describe
a specific usage of the system by one or more actors. The use case descriptions

52
are used to describe the sequence of events and interactions between the actor
and the system.

3.5.1 Use Case Diagram

Figure 23 All Actors

In the inventory management system there are 3 actors , which are ;

 Admin
 Admin-managers
 Users

2.All users :

Figure 24 (all users) use case

53
All users in inventory management system can :

 Interact with the system.

 Login with their username and password.
 Logout.

The following figure shows the use case diagram

Figure 25 Admin’s use cases

Admin can do the following tasks:

 Modify structure of webpages.

 Delete, add and modify database.
 Manger user access.
 Grant access rights.
 Monitor system.

54
Figure 26 Manager’s use cases

Admin-managers can

 View all tasks.

 View list of all users’ tasks.
 Create , edit and cancel information .
 Search for information.
 View user actions.
 View list of all staff members.

55
Figure 27 inventory manager use cases

Inventory manager can do the following tasks:

 Checks inventory.
 Add product detail with prices.
 Updates inventory status.
 Send alerts.
 Create, edit supplier data.
 Create, edit product data.
 Create, edit order data.

3.5.2 Use Case Description

The following section will mention a description of the sequence of events and
interaction between the system and actor of some of the essential use cases:

56
1-Use case : Edit the supplier’s information

Goal: The inventory manager wishes to enter or update the customer’s

information in the system.

Actor: Inventory Manager

Scope: Inventory Management System

Actor : Inventory Manager Inventory Management System

1.IM opens the system 2.System displays the login page

3.SM enters the username and 4.System verifies the username and
password password then opens the main
system menu

5.IM selects the suppliers list 6. System displays list of suppliers

8.System displays page where the

7. IM selects the update option user can edit information about the
supplier

9. IM edits some of the information 10.System displays the updated

and selects save information of the supplier

Table 2 : Use Case : Edit Supplier’s Information

2- Use Case: send alerts

Goal: the inventory manager wishes to send alerts about the inventory status

Actor: Inventory Manager

Scope : Inventory Management System

57
Actor: Inventory manager Inventory system
1- IM login the system 2-System displays the login page

3-IM enters user name and 4- System verifies username and

password
5- IM checks the inventory status
7- IM checks if the inventory
status is low
password and then opens the systems
main page
6- System displays the page for
inventory status
8- System send alerts of warning

9 the message is issued that the

inventory level is low

Table 3 : Use case: Send alerts

3-Use Case: Add product details and prices

Goal : The Inventory Manger wishes to add the product details with their prices

Actor: Inventory Manger

Scope: Inventory Management System

Actor: Inventory manager Inventory System

1- IM opens the system 2-System displays the login page

3-IM enters the username and 4- System verifies username and

password password

5- IM selects add product details 6-System displays the products

with their prices page

7-System displays a page where user

8-IM updates the information of the can add the product details
products
9- System displays the edited
product information with
their prices
Table 4 : Use Case: Update Inventory Status

58
3.5.3 Data Flow Diagram (DFD)

Data flow diagram (DFD) is a graphical representation of the flow of data

between the system processes there are three people involved in the system:

1. users

2. Inventory manager

3. Admin –manager

Figure 28 data flow diagram

59
3.5.4 Functional Decomposition Diagram

Figure 29 Functional Decomposition Diagram

3.6 Conclusion

This chapter provided with the use cases and the use case description for the use
cases and also data flow diagram with the functional decomposition diagram is
also included in this chapter .

60
SYSTEM DESIGN

61
 Chapter 4 System Design

4.1 Introduction

This system will include the system design, which includes the entity
relationship diagram (ERD), the data dictionary of the system and the system
interface

The data entities and relationships were presented to give an understanding

about the system structure So ,by using the Entity Relationship Diagram (ERD)
as well as the data dictionary it will help in designing the database and
demonstrate a clear view of what will look like.

The objective of this chapter is to provide and insight in the user interface that
shows how the system will actually look like and the different pages include in
the system.

4.1.1 ER Diagram

Figure 30: Entity Relationship Diagram

62
4.2 Data Dictionary

He data dictionary includes the database fields and relationships , as well as the
types of data .This helps in creating the database of the system and to
understand how data is related to each other in the system database

Inventory Table

Field Name Data Field Required Primary Foreign

Type size Key key
Inventory Id Integer 10 Yes Yes Yes
Inventory Type Varchar 20 No No No
Inventory Name Varchar 20 Yes No No
Product_ id nchar 10 Yes Yes Yes
Material_ id nchar 10 Yes Yes Yes
Order_ id nchar 10 Yes Yes Yes

Table 5: Data Dictionary : Inventory Table

Product Table

Field Name Data Field Required Primary Foreign

Type Size Key Key
Product Id nchar 10 Yes Yes Yes
Product name Varchar 20 Yes No No
Product type Varchar 20 Yes No No
Product Varchar 20 No No No
specification
Product ordered Date - Yes No No
date
Product Date - Yes No No
Manufactured
date
Quantity nchar 10 Yes No No
Price nchar 10 Yes No No

material_id nchar 10 Yes Yes Yes

Supplier_ id nchar 10 Yes Yes Yes
Inventory_id nchar 10 Yes Yes Yes
Table 6 : Product Table

63
Material Table

Field Name Data Field Required Primary Foreign

Type Size key Key
Material Id nchar 10 Yes Yes No
Material Varchar 20 Yes No Yes
Name
Material Type Varchar 20 No No No
Manufactured Varchar 30 Yes No Yes
by
Delivery date Date - Yes No No
Price Integer 10 Yes No No
Quantity Integer 10 No No No
specification char 10 No No No
Product_id nchar 10 Yes Yes Yes
Inventory_id nchar 10 Yes Yes Yes
Supplier_id nchar 10 Yes Yes Yes

Table 7 : Data Dictionary : Material Table

Order Table

Field Data Type Field Size Required Primary Foreign

Name Key key
Order Id nchar 10 Yes Yes Yes
Order date Date - Yes No No
Error msg Varchar 20 No No No
Product_id nchar 10 Yes Yes Yes
Material_id nchar 10 Yes Yes Yes
Supplier_id nchar 10 Yes Yes Yes

Table 8 : Data dictionary : Order Table

64
Supplier Table

Field Name Data Field Required Primary Foreign

Type Size Key key
Supplier ID nchar 10 Yes Yes Yes
Supplier Varchar 50 Yes No No
Company
Name
email Varchar 20 No No No
position Varchar 20 No No No
Order Date - Yes No No
supplied date
Order Date - Yes No No
manufactured
date
Product_id nchar 10 Yes Yes Yes

Material_id nchar 10 Yes Yes Yes

Order_Id nchar 10 Yes Yes Yes

Table 9: Data Dictionary: Supplier table

Staff Table

Field Name Data Field Size Required Primary Foreign

Type Key key
Staff ID varchar 10 Yes Yes Yes
Staff first Varchar 50 Yes NO No
name
Staff last Varchar 50 Yes No No
name
Gender Varchar 10 Yes NO No
birthdate Date - Yes No No
password nchar 50 No NO No
Inventory_id nchar 10 Yes Yes Yes

Table 10 : Data Dictionary :Staff Table

65
4.3 Physical Database:

As shown in the tables below , physical database has been created ; each table
has the needed attributes and the foreign keys and the primary keys for each
table is clearly shown.

Products Table:

This is the first table which is the : Products Table .It can be clearly seen the
primary key for the table is “product id” and the attributes assigned for each row
when it comes to data entry .The table has foreign key which are related to the
material, supplier and inventory table below which are “material id”, “supplier
_id” and “inventory_ id “.

Figure 31 Products Table

Orders Table:

Orders Table is the second table ,it contains few attributes related to order .the
primary key is of course order id and the table contains three foreign keys that is
connected to the supplier table,product table and the material table namely as
“supplier id”,”product_id” and “material_id”.

66
Figure 32 Orders Table

Inventory Table :

Inventory Table is the third table ,it contains all the related information to the
inventory .the primary key is “inventory id” and the table also contains three
foreign keys which is related to the products and the materials table namely as
“product id” and “material id” and “order_ id”.

Figure 33 inventory Table

Supplier Table:

This is the fourth table .The primary key is of course “Supplier id” and the table
has three foreign keys which are related to the material , product and order
tables namely as “material id”, “product id”, and “order id”.

67
Figure 34 :Supplier Table

Materials Table :

This is the fifth table and the primary key for the Materials table is of course
“material id” .The table has three foreign keys which are related to Supplier
table, inventory table and product table namely as “supplier id” , “inventory id”
and “product id “.

Figure 35 Material Table

Staff Table:

This is the sixth table and it shows all the attributes for the staff. The primary
key for the table is of course “Staff id” and the table has one foreign key that is
“inventory _id”.

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Figure 36 Staff table

4.4 System environment :

4.4.1 Hardware specifications:

Processor Dual Pentium

RAM 4 MB
Hard disk drive 110 MB
Monitor Resolution 1024x768
Mouse
Keyboards
Printers HP
Table 11 Hardware specifications

4.4.2 Software specifications:

Processor Dual Pentium 4/1.6 GHz

RAM 4 MB

Hard disk drive 110 GB

Monitor Resolution 1024x768

Table 12 Software specifications

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4.5 Site Map

Figure 37 SiteMap

This section presents and initial storyboard for the proposed system .Each page
was designed to provide the functions of the system. The first iteration is based
on the website structure layout .

70
4.6 Prototypes

4.6.1 System’s Login page

Figure 38 System Login Page

The first page of the system is the login page where the users will enter their
username and password in order to access the system. The page includes the
client logo and provides a link to retrieve the password in case of forgetting it.

4.6.2 Inventory manager dashboard

71
Figure 39 System Dashboard This is the dashboard for inventory manager .

4.6.3 Supplier Information page

Figure 40 Supplier Information Page

This page shows the supplier information and vendor product evaluation and the
order history as the sub pages

4.6.4 Message page

72
Figure 41 Message page for inventory manager

The inventory manager can send messages and update inventory status and send
alerts when inventory levels in stock is low

4.6.5 Inventory information page

Figure 42 inventory information

The page displays the inventory information which the inventory manager can
then choose to either add/delete the inventory .

73
4.6.6 product information page

Figure 43 Product information

The inventory manager can add products with the details like the price of the
product and can also chose to remove the products and can also update the
product categories .

74
4.6.7 order information page

Figure 44 Order information

The inventory manager can then choose to add /remove orders and also update
orders and orders list.

75
4.6.8 Admin manager dashboard

Figure 45 Admin manager functionalities

The admin manager can then choose to search for information or view
information.

4.7 Conclusion

This chapter provides detailed description about the different tables to be used
in the database and the sitemap for the interface of the applications that provides
generalized view of the whole interface and also provides with the detailed
description of prototypes for the interface.

76
Implementation and Testing

77
 Chapter 5 Implementation and Testing

5.1 Introduction

This chapter provides all the detailed information regarding the both
implementation and testing phases of the system. For the implementation there
are four parts ,the first one is reviewing the requirements from senior 1 and the
tools, the second part is the details of the creation if database, the third part is
the details of the creation of the interfaces, and the last part is about the database
connection, it will also include some parts of code explanations and user
interfaces .

5.2 Review of the changes in the requirements

Below are the changes that occurred

 The database was updated , some tables were removed which were not
needed
 The ERD was updated
 The interfaces was slightly changed
 The inventory manger can send messages
 The admin manager can also send messages

5.2.0 Updated ERD

Figure 46 Updated ERD.

78
Some of the requirements were not accomplished , therefore these will be listed
in chapter 6.

5.2.1 Development of the project:

Objectives:

 Look at the available tools for developing the application

 Create the physical database
 Develop the application
 Create the application and interfaces and contents
 Integrate the application with database
 Test the features of the application with each development

Some of the new concepts, required features ,and the application development
area in general are new experience for me ,in order to develop this project
successfully ; I alone have conducted literature review in senior 1 and research
about inventory management and the most used software tools . And in senior 2,
I also have read and look at tutorials on some of the features like how to
develop the application and connecting database with the interface or vice versa

5.2.2 Tools Selections

I had evaluated the tools and have chosen the most suitable tool that supports
the applications requirements

Operating System Windows XP/windows 7

Browser Internet explorer/google chrome

Tools Visual studio professional 2010/2012 ,SQL Server

2008
Langauge Tools ASP.NET,C#,HTML

Database Language SQL

Supporting Tools Gliffy / Edraw Max / Windows

Axure/SmartDraw/SmartSheet/MatchwareMindView
Table 13 Software Specifications

79
 Processor Dual Pentium 4 /1.6 GHz

RAM 4 MB

Hard disk drive 110 GB

Monitor Resolution 1024x768

Table 14 Hardware Specifications

5.3 Creating the Database tables:

5.3.1 Tables:

The database was created in SQL server 2008 and also in visual studio which
was connected with SQL server 2008 and was named as database. The tables
were created by the design view in the SQL server and were executed there .The
application needs products, Orders, Inventory, Supplier, materials and Staff
tables.

5.3.2 Implementation issues:

Some of the challenges that I faced while creating the tables before in the same
application file in visual studio but then it was recommended that it is better to
use SQL server for database creation ,one of the first problems was
downloading the tool itself I downloaded the 2008 version which was not
compatible with visual studio 2010 and installation of the tool took time
because of slow internet connection and some errors in installation process this
tool was installed and uninstalled several times till the tool was completely
installed successfully without any errors. Secondly it was not the first time
using the tool as I already used this tool for my internship project /work , I
created a database and for that there needs to be connection which took time
because of some errors it was successfully completed after so much of trials. I
created the database and then added the tables and named as database and
inserted some data into the tables creating relationship between the tables was
so much confusing the foreign keys and the primary keys which I had created in
visual studio 2012 application then I recreated database in SQL server 2008
and connected with visual studio 2010.

80
Figure 47 visual studio with SQL server 2008 connection

5.4 Creating user interfaces

The creation of the user interface starts with the creating the master page ,then
creating the other pages and creating the contents in these pages .The master
page is to be linked with the rest of the content pages

5.5 The Database connection

5.5.1 SQL Database Connection

As the database is in the SQL server and we need to read the data from the
server to the webpages , and also store new added data to the database, we need
to connect the database to the application. So in the server name I typed the
name of the server and connect to be created Database which is Inventory
Management System. This is the code that connects the application with the
database. Below is the code that connects the application with the database.

Some of the items such as the inventory and Dashboard ,test boxes need to read
the data from the database ,so I had added the Grid View and the SQL Data
Source and was emphasized by me that the queries will return the required data
in each item.

81
Figure 48 screenshot of the part of the database connection with one of the
webpage

5.6 Screen shots of the user interface /application

Main page:

Figure 49 Login page The user can then type in username and password and
then granted access to the system for use .this is the page that links to the
dashboard of the system.

82
Dashboard for inventory manager:

Figure 50 The master page /dashboard of the system

This dashboard has three pages that is the admin manager portfolio and the
inventory manager portfolio and all of these pages link to the web pages namely
by clicking on the login page and the other IMS page that is where users can
learn more about the application.

Figure 51 Screenshot of the part of the code of masterpage

83
The above code shows the part of the master page and the connection with the
sql server with the website and the webpages .

Introduction page :

Figure 52 The first page of the application that is the homepage which is a brief
description about the company .this page displays the introdcution of the
company giving few details about the company .

About us page:

Figure 53 The About us page which contains five hyperlinks which are linked
to each webpage of it’s name like the mission page is linked to the misssion and

84
so on.

Figure 54 The mission page of the company which is created from hyperlink
the page with the page of the name .The page displays the mission of the
company and is listed in bullet form.

What we offer page:

Figure 55 What we offer page.This page displays what we offer including the
goals of the company.

85
Value addition page:

Figure 56 Value addition page

This is the page that displays information about the value addition of the
company.

86
Corporate Responsibilities page:

Figure 57 corporate responsibilities page

This is the page that has six hyperlinks and each hyperlinks points out to the
associate links respectively as the user clicks on each link.

Contact us page:

Figure 58 Contact us page

87
This page displays information about the contact details including the telephone
,fax and email address of the company.

Product page:

Figure 59 product page .

This page displays information about the product and requires the user to input
some basic information about the product .

88
Supplier information page

Figure 60 Supplier information page

The page displays information about supplier and has options of edit ,delete
and insert information .

89
Figure 61 Orders page

This page displays the vendor details incluidng name ,contact and details . The
page also includes add new item by vendor address and remove item by filling
the details.

90
Orders page:

Figure 62 Orders page

This is the same page as the above page but the page displays the product order
details where the users can choose to either delete,edit and insert the
information.

91
Staff page

Figure 63 Staff page

This page displays information about the staff page where users can edit, delete
and insert information by filling in the required fields as shown.

Messages page:

Figure 64 Messages page for the inventory manager

92
The inventory manager can send messages by writing the messages in the text
box and can also chose to send alerts and update inventory status as part of the
usability options by the inventory manager.

Admin manager dashboard:

Figure 65 Admin manager dashboard

This is the dashboard for the admin manager where the manager can send
message and view information about the different categories .

93
Send messages page:

Figure 66 Send messages page

The admin manager sends message to the inventory manager about the
inventory status and update the inventory manager when the inventory level is
low and needs to be replenished.

94
View information page:

Figure 67 view information of inventory /product /supplier page

The page displays the table where user can view inventory details including
inventory id , inventory name etc.

Product evaluation of vendor’s page:

Figure 68 product evaluation of vendors page

95
This page displays the product evaluation of vendor’s where vendor can
evaluate the product by filling in details like vendor ,vendor product code and
other details of vendor etc.

5.7 Testing

5.7.1 Testing Methodology

Different types of testing have been applied on the application which are as
follows:

1. Unit testing : after coding in the implementation phase ,I will start a unit
testing for the code .Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome were
the platforms in which the code was tested .

2. System integration testing : making sure that all different parts of the
application is able to communicate with each other.

3. User Acceptance testing : test performed by the user/client to see the

application is built as required .

5.8.2 Mapping use cases to system requirements:

The table below map the use cases that were done with system requirements, to
check if the requirements are fulfilled

96
 Delete, Create,edit create,edi create,edi
Req Create, edit Create,edit create,edit
View View and and delet t and t and
Login product and delete and delete send messages
dashboard information modify inventory delete delete
Use Case data staff data supplier data update inventory statussend inventory alerts
DB data order material
Login(emp/u
ser)
Login(mana
ger)
Delete,add
and modify
DB
View
information
(admin)
View
information(
emp /user)
View
dashboard
(manager)
Createdit
and delete
product
data
Create,edit
and delete
inventory
data
Create,edit
and delete
staff data
Create, edit
and delete
order data
Create, edit
and delete
material
data
create,edit
and delte
supplier
data
send
messages
updates
inventory
status
send alerts
97
Table 15 Mapping use cases to system requirements

5.8.3 Mapping scenarios to use cases

The table below provides the use vases and gave some scenarios , and what is
expected from the system to behave if this scenario occurred

Table 16 Mapping Scenarios to use cases

Use Case Scenario Expected system behavior

Login (Employee) Enter username="Ayesha" and password ="456789"Access as an "Employee " user The system will allow this user to view
Login Enter username="Abdullah" and password ="456464"Access is not granted to user
Delete,Add and modify DB (Admin) The admin will add ,modify and delete columns The system will allow the admin to modifications to the DB
view tasks (Manager) The manager wants to see all information The system will display all the information
view tasks(Employee) The employee can view his own information The system will display his information
view dashboard (Manager) When the manager opens the home page he will seeThea dashboard
manager can see the dashboard in the homepage
create,edit and delete product data
The manager selects product data The manager can create,edit and delete the product data
create,edit and delete inventoryThedatamanager selects inventory data The manager can create,edit and delete the inventory data
create,edit and delete staff dataThe manager selects staff data The manager can create,edit and delete staff data
create,edit and delete order dataThe manager selects order data The manager can create,edit and delete order data
create,edit and delete material The
datamanager selects material data The manager can create,edit and delete material data
create,edit and delete suplier data
The manager selects supplier data The manager can create,edit and delte supplier data
send messages(emp) The emplloyee will send messages to the manager The message will be sent by the manager
update inventory status(manager) The manger will update inventory status The system displays the updated inventory status
send alerts (manager) The manager will send alerts to the system The system will display the alerts
view information The manager will view information The system displays the data of the selected category

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5.8.4 Test Scenarios and Test cases

Use Case Scenario Expected Actual System Result

system Behavior
behavior
Login Enter Access as an Access as an Success
(Employee) username="Ayesha" "Employee " "Employee "
and password user The user The
="456789" system will system will
allow this user allow this user
to view and to view and
edit edit
information information
Login Enter Access is not Access is not success
username="Abdullah" granted to user granted to user
and password
="456464"
Delete,Add and The admin will add The system will The system will success
modify DB ,modify and delete allow the allow the
(Admin) columns admin to admin to
modifications modifications
to the DB to the DB
view tasks The manager wants to The system will The system will success
(Manager) see all information display all the display all the
information information
view The employee can The system will The system will success
tasks(Employee) view his own display his display his
information information information
view dashboard When the manager The manager The manager success
(Manager) opens the home page can see the can see the
he will see a dashboard in dashboard in
dashboard the homepage the homepage
create,edit and The manager selects The manager The manager success
delete product product data can create,edit can create,edit
data and delete the and delete the
product data product data
create,edit and The manager selects The manager The manager success
delete inventory inventory data can create,edit can create,edit
data and delete the and delete the
inventory data inventory data

99
create,edit and The manager selects The manager The manager success
delete staff data staff data can create,edit can create,edit
and delete staff and delete staff
data data
create,edit and The manager selects The manager The manager success
delete order order data can create,edit can create,edit
data and delete and delete
order data order data
create,edit and The manager selects The manager The manager success
delete material material data can create,edit can create,edit
data and delete and delete
material data material data
create,edit and The manager selects The manager The manager success
delete suplier supplier data can create,edit can create,edit
data and delte and delte
supplier data supplier data
send The emplloyee will The message The message success
messages(emp) send messages to the will be sent by will be sent by
manager the manager the manager
update The manger will The system The system did failed
inventory update inventory displays the not display the
status(manager) status updated updated
inventory inventory
status status
send alerts The manager will send The system will The system will failed
(manager) alerts to the system display the not display the
alerts alerts
view The manager will view The system The system success
information information displays the displays the
data of the data of the
selected selected
category category
Table 17 Test scenarios and test cases

The table above is the same as before it provides the use cases and gave some
scenarios , and what is expected from the system to behave if the scenario
occurred ,and what is the result after testing the scenar

100
CONCLUSION

101
 Chapter 6

6.1 Conclusion

Online inventory management systems are used in many business application

settings but within the KSA region the use of this system has not been
implemented by many organization s/companies yet which can track inventory
in an effective way .This research is designed to be implemented within one
such company in Saudi Arabia Jeddah named Hashem Contracting and Trading.

This part of the research paper (senior 2) consists of seven chapters. Chapter
one present’s the project’s scope ,problem statement and the project objectives
is also included in this chapter. Chapter two ,a review of many similar online
inventory systems that have been implemented in different companies and
some of the advantages and disadvantages of using the system and review of
similar soft wares is also included in this chapter .In the third chapter ,the
gathered requirements were analyzed and presented in a way that assists in
designing the required application and also Functional Decomposition Diagram
,DFD and use cases of the system is included .In the fourth chapter this presents
the logical database and the physical database and the ER diagram showing the
attributes and the relationships between the entities carrying the attributes and
the design of the system is illustrated. This includes the initial site map ,and the
storyboard(prototypes) of the system’s interfaces .Finally chapter 5 concludes
the first phase of the research and chapter 6 will include the conclusion with the
with the difficulties faced and Chapter 7 includes the references .

102
6.2 Check Objectives

Objective Complete:
Look at the available tools in market
based on the project requirements
Select the suitable tools for developing
the Inventory Management system
Develop the application
Create the physical database
Create the application interface and
contents
Integrate the application with the
database
Test the features of the application
within each development
Table 18 Check objectives

6.3 Requirements that were not met and limitations:

After implementing the application IMS , we discovered a number of

requirements and important limitations that need to be considered:

1. Due to the shortage of time as part of the dashboard for the inventory
manager displaying product details in charts could not be created
2. I could not create an option for calculation of cost of materials at the end
of the project as part of the dashboard for the inventory manager.
3. I also could not create a dashboard for the employee as was stated in the
functional requirements.
4. For the inventory manager the usability option of sending messages to the
manager relating to the inventory status no proper form of email /sms
system is implemented as part of the inventory manager dashboard .This
was created very abstract to give an overview about it.
5. There was not much options for the admin manager as the tasks were the
same as inventory manager .There could have been more of these tasks
added as part of admin manager dashboard that could not be
implemented.

103
6.4 Difficulty faced:

While working on the project I had faced lot of problem and difficulties that
were handled with proper time management and research .

1. Selecting the group for the project which was the difficult phase that took
some time as the other students from senior 1 already had their project
with their groups .
2. Selecting a particular topic for project also took some time. The idea of
the project was completely changed from the CS 390 research seminar
course to be implemented in senior 1 and senior 2 project.
3. Selecting the sub topics and modules to be developed.
4. Took so much time in review of literature.
5. Gathering requirements and analyzing them.
6. Face difficulties in developing the data flow diagrams.
7. The ER diagram was recreated after reviewing requirements in senior1.
8. Time management in between the project and the rest of the courses as in
senior 1. I was taking 17 credits each course with 3 credits and all
important courses . As I was alone so I had to focus on all tasks by myself
but was handled successfully.
9. Designing an appropriate application interface: The interface was
recreated to meet the requirements of the application. I had spent ample
time researching the best application interface.
10. Searching the best tools and platforms to build the application .The
initial start to the project was difficult as I was tempted to depend upon
previous knowledge .However, I spent time learning new tools ,
programming languages and database platforms.
11. Lacking knowledge of the technical support and resources for the
implementation and testing phase.

6.5 Future works

This research covers the enhancing of currently used inventory management

system as compared to other similar systems. The future work of this research,
is replacing of the current manual way of tracking inventory with a fully
integrated and supported inventory management system to have a better

104
technology and more powerful and would be more helpful for the inventory
managers at the companies.

6.6 Recommendations

6.6.1 Application Recommendations:

 To implement the proposed system and integrate it with the current

database of the Hashem company.
 Include more Management options for different positions in the company.
 To be able to be accessed from the people by outside the company.
 To be able to implement within other departments of the company.
 Enhance the interfaces and make the application more dynamic.
 Create a mobile application that can access the application.
 Enhance the messages and alerts system .
 Integrate the application to other departments in Hashem Construction
and Trading Co.

6.6.2 Course Recommendation:

I suggest from my experience that the department should encourage the students
from both the Computer Science and Information System to team up for senior
projects .This will develop a strong blend of capabilities of the project. Also
provide technical support for the students and offer the required tools and
tutorials.

105
BIBLIOGRAPHY

106
 Chapter 7.0

REFERENCES

1."Types of Inventory Systems: The Periodic Inventory System." Ordoro Blog.

N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Dec. 2014. <http://blog.ordoro.com/2012/01/12/types-of-
inventory-systems-the-periodic-inventory-system/>.

2."Inventory Management Software." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 12

Nov. 2014. Web. 12 Dec. 2014.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inventory_management_software>.

3."Inventory Control System." Inventory Control System. N.p., n.d. Web. 17

Apr. 2014. <http://www.barcodesinc.com/articles/inventory-control-
system.htm>.

4."Top 5 Principles of Inventory Management." Http://www.purchasing-

procurement-center.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Apr. 2014.
<http://www.purchasing-procurement-center.com/principles-of-inventory-
management.html>.

5."Inventory Management Software". Retrieved 23 November 2012

6."Warehouse Management System." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 12

Nov. 2014. http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/E/ERP.htmlWeb. 15 Apr. 2014.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warehouse_management_system>.

7."Enterprise Resource Planning." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 12 Dec.

2014. Web. 12 Apr. 2014.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enterprise_resource_planning>.

8."Operations Management." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 12 Nov. 2014.

Web. 12 Apr. 2014. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operations_management>.

9."Supply Chain Management." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 12 Dec.

2014. Web. 12 Apr. 2014.

10.<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supply_chain_management>.http://www.trake
rsystems.com/

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11."Vendor Management System." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 12 Nov.
2014. Web. 12 Dec. 2014.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vendor_management_system>.
12."Top 5 Best Free Inventory Management Software For Windows." Top 5
Freeware RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Apr. 2014.
<http://www.top5freeware.com/inventory-management-software-for-windows>.

13."Over 718,236 Small Businesses Use InFlow Inventory." InFlow Inventory

Blog RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Apr. 2014. <http://www.inflowinventory.com/>.

14."INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE GridView W ASP.NET." YouTube.

YouTube, n.d. Web. 12 Dec. 2014.
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOR7QEt7B3U>.

15."Walkthrough: Creating and Using ASP.NET Master Pages in Visual Web

Developer." Walkthrough: Creating and Using ASP.NET Master Pages in
Visual Web Developer. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Nov. 2014.
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16. “GridView Examples for ASP.NET 2.0: Deleting a GridView's Underlying

Data." GridView Examples for ASP.NET 2.0: Deleting a GridView's Underlying
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17. Hashem Construction and Trading Co

https://ww/hashem-contracting.com/Home.aspx

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Appendices

109
 APPENDICES
APPENDIX A : SURVEY
1 What is your role within and organization?
 Manager
 Developer
 Accountant
 Engineer
 Others
2 What is the current way of tracking the inventory at the organization?
3 Do you use inventory management application?
 Yes, for my personal use.
 Yes , for my professional use .
 Yes ,for both.
 No , I don’t know how to use it.
 No , because I don’t know what is it.
4 If yes, what software or application do you use?
5 If yes ,how often do you use the inventory management application?
 Daily
 Weekly
 Monthly
6 On which platform would you prefer to use the application?
 Desktop /laptop using Web application.
 Mobile application.
 Both.
 Others.
7 About the low levels of inventory in the inventory, how do you manage
the inventory?
 Email
 SMS
 Call the manager
 Update inventory status
 Others

110