The part ordering and inventory system was implemented using 3-tiers architecture approach with a back-end database (MYSELF), a middle tier of Hypertext Pre-processor (PH) and Java script and a Webster (Apache) as front end client_The methodology adopted in this study is the Structured Systems Analysis and Design Methodology (SCADS). The expected output of this research work is to manage Automobile products, Stock Levels, sales Management, Employee and Supplier Information Management, effective, efficient and timely automobile part ordering mechanism, tracking order capabilities and generating report.
The era of information technology has brought a new dawn to the running Of inventory in organizations that deals With merchandise, warehousing and egoistic bringing forth new ideas and products which are designed to make a huge and imperative impact and a better decision on the activities of the organization in a positive way. Web based Automobile part ordering and inventory system is an effective tool that is implemented to perform important inventory operations for Lizard Motors Nigeria Limited which Will improve on the old ways of carrying out their inventory required task. . 1 BACKGROUND OF STUDY Inventory is the stock of any item or resource used in an organization. An Inventory system is the set of policies and controls that monitors levels of inventory and determines what level should be maintained, when stock should be replenished and how large orders should be. By convention, manufacturing inventory generally refers to items that contribute to or become part of a firm’s product output. Manufacturing inventory is typically classified into raw materials, finished products, components parts, supplies and work-in process.
In services, inventory generally refers to tangible goods to be sold and supplies necessary to administer the service. The basic purpose of inventory analysis in manufacturing and stock keeping services is to specify when items should be ordered and how argue the order should be. Many firms are tending to enter into longer-term relationships With vendors to supply their needs for perhaps the entire year. This changes the “when and how to ordeal to “when and how many to deliver. A key element in reducing inventory is better information.
The better the information concerning what we have and what we need, the fewer inventories needed. The economic benefit from inventory reduction is evident from the following statistics: The average cost of inventory across all manufacturing in the United States is 30 to 35 percent of its value. For example, if a firm carries an inventory of $20 million, it costs the firm more than $6 million per year, These costs are due to obsolescence, insurance, opportunity costs and so forth.
It the amount of inventory could he reduced to SIS million for instance, the firm would save over $3 million which goes directly to the bottom line. I. E. The savings trot reduced inventory has increased profit. An inventory system provides the organizational structure and the operating policies for maintaining and controlling goods to be stocked. The system is responsible for ordering and receipts of goods, timing he order placement and keeping track of what has been ordered, how much and from whom, The system must also follow up to answer such questions as; has the supplier received the order?
Has it been supplied? Are the dates correct? Are the procedures established for reordering or returning undesirable merchandise? A web-based Automobile part ordering and inventory management system allows restricted users to access, monitor, and maintain the company’s inventory from any web browser either from their offices, homes, laptops and even phones(black berries). They can also check stock evils, order replacement ,monitor distributions, generate and print reports etc.
This project is a business solution application that is intended to solve Lizard automobiles ordering and inventory management problems,so constant communication between the client and the developer of the system wastage n into serious consideration for the requirement to be fully understood and for it to be analyzed Nina way that the client will expect it to be achieved because intends to redesign their business process they have been using in the past which is proving robe a problem to them now.
For the project to be Successful yachted project management strategy had to be carried out and software development lifestyle was also incorporated in the development. Lizard automobile part ordering and inventory management is used to monitor and manage the stock to their products used in the organization. An Inventory system is the set of policies and controls that monitors levels of inventory and determines what level should be maintained, when stock should be replenished and how large orders should be, I . STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEMS An issue that always comes to mind is how we apply technology to minimize sots and maximize profit. This project recommends a greater application of computers and Information Technology to replace manual inventory systems. Some of the drawbacks in the manual system are; time wastage in taking stocks and the inventory, delay in purchase ordering, inconsistent sales, employee and supplier management, Inaccuracy report constituted, Inadequate use of resources, Monotonous work done by some members of staff of the organization etc.
Hence, leading to the design Of an automated web- based Lizard Automobile part ordering and Inventory system. 13 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY The aim of this project is to carry’ out a web-based design and implementation of a Lizard Automobile part ordering and inventory management system based on the information given from the company. The Objectives of the study are: Design a web based inventory system for Lizard Nigeria Limited. To ensure quick and accurate inventory, To enhance better and easy Atmospherically ordering mechanism.
Unique, secure logins for all user and administrators Design better sales, Employee and Supplier management system. To effectively link part ordering, inventory, and sale management all in one easy to use web- eased platform. 1. 4 SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY It is not always easy to manage a large firm manually. Keeping tracks of records or products manually could take a long time. There is a need for accurate record keeping. For example, keeping tracks of all goods i,e, sold goods, remaining goods in the store, when to order for raw materials, has the supplier received the order, has it been supplied, are the dates correct etc.
I _S SCOPE POP STUDY The project will focus on some of the products and activities of Lizard Nigeria Limited. It is going to involve the management Of their products, suppliers and employee management, making purchase orders, track order, generate and print reports and receipts suppliers and the entire inventory management. 1. 6 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY The application Will work perfectly for top level (direct procurement) department of the organization but with a little work and networking done on it, it could work for other departments in the organization.
Certain factors could act as a hindrance to the design of the system. These factors are: Finance Inadequate inventory data 1. THE DEFINITION OF THE TERMS Inventory: A complete list to items, a quantity of goods in stock Stock: Supply f goods or materials available for sale or use. System: A system is a set of interrelated parts that work together to achieve a common goal. Inventory system: A set of policies and controls that monitors level of inventory or determines what levels should be maintained. Database: Any collection of data or information that is specially organized for rapid search and retrieval by a computer.
Web-based Application: it is a software package that can be accessed through the web browser. Business Solution Software: is generally any software program that helps business increase productivity or measure their productivity. Apache: commonly referred as Apache HTTP server, is a web server software notable for playing a key role in the initial growth of the world vivid web. Inventory system: A set Of policies and controls that monitors level Of inventory or determines what levels should be maintained.
Supply chain: A supply chain or logistics network is the system Of organizations, people, technology, activities, information and resources involved in moving a product or service from supplier to customer. Stock-cut: A situation where stock runs out. Logistics: is a channel of the supply chain which adds the value of time and place utility. Automobile: A vehicle. CHAPTER TWO 2. 0 RELEVANT LITERATURE REVIEW There are many background studies that are basic to the issue examined by this study: therefore, thorough examination of related literature seems appropriate. Review work, in this case is divided into these sections: 2. INTRODUCTION TO BUSINESS PROCESS RE. ENGINEERING (BPR) The concept of business process re-engineering (BPR) came into existence from the observation and the practices of highly successful organizations in the asses and early asses(Davenport, 1993,’ Hammer, 1990; Hammer & Champs, 1993) as tied in Jaguar and Spinally(1999), although to truly understand PR one has to learn from the world of organizational experience. That is, to look at what other organization have done, their feedback, mistakes, results and probably their approach to re-engineering Jaguar and spinal (1999). . 1. I Business process Re-Engineering Definition: There are so many authors with different definition for the word business process Re-Engineering because of their various understanding. For Prepared and Rowland (1995) BPR is the improvement in performance by redesigning the processes through which an organization operates, maximizing their value-added content and minimizing everything else. While Davenport and Short (1990 cited in Herzog et al. , 2007, p. 5813) described BPR as the analysis and design of work flows and processes within, and between, organizations.
Hammer and Champs (1993) as cited in Herzog et al (2007) further illustrated it as the ‘fundamental rethinking and radical redesign of business processes to achieve dramatic improvements in critical, contemporary measures Of performance, such as cost, quality, service, and speed’. The Author understands BPR as the process of restructuring an organization entire business processes or individual processes as a result Of flans in services in other to elevate their production and gain a competitive edge With the aid Of Information Technology.
Over the years, so many organizations have implemented business process re-engineering(BPR) into their business activities for so many reasons, either for cutting competitive edge through the use of Information technology for automation of various business processes while some organization have rejected BPR due to lack of knowledge on the effective strategic way of implementing BPR to achieve success (Collusion-Thomas t a’, 1996). This is further illustrated with the diagram below: Fig. 2: The flow of Business Process (Totally and Gunner, 2008, p. 745) Business Process is reviewed here by the author in other to illustrate that the critical study on how an organization business process flows is very essential and effective for the implementation of BPR through I. T. 2. 2 AUTOMOBILE PART ORDERING Automobile Part ordering is the process of making orders of automobile products from the manufactures or any other dealers E. G. Spare parts of some automobile products. It can be ordered online or direct to from dealer’s warehouse through electrification devices. 2. RIDER ENG MANAGEMENT SYSTEM An order management system, or MOMS, is a computer software system used in a number of industries for order entry and processing activities. Orders can be received from businesses, consumers, or a mix Of both, depending on the products. Offers and pricing may be done via catalogs, websites, or broadcast network advertisements. An integrated order management system may encompass these modules: Product Information (descriptions, attributes, locations, quantities) Inventory management Vendors, Purchasing, and Receiving
Marketing (Catalogs, promotions, pricing) Customers and Prospects Order Entry and Customer Service (including Returns and Refunds) Financial Processing (credit cams, billing, payment on account) Order Processing (selection, printing, picking, packing, shipping) Data Analysis and Reporting Financial (Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, General Ledger) There are several business domains which use MOMS for different purposes but the core reasons remain the same: l) Telecoms – To keep track of customers, accounts, credit verification, product delivery, billing etc 2) Retail – Large retail companies SE MOMS to keep track of orders from customers, stock level maintenance, packaging and shipping. 3) Pharmaceuticals and Healthcare. 4) Automotive – to keep track of parts sourced through Memos 5) Financial services Order Management requires multiple Steps in a sequential process like Capture, Validation, Fraud Check, Payment Authorization, Sourcing, Backorder management, Pick, pack, ship and associated customer communications. Order management systems usually have workflow capabilities to manage this process. Recent advancements in order management systems saw the emergence Of mobile phone based order capture. Mobile sales order management systems like Fieldsman enables capture of sales order information using simple mobile phones 23. PURCHASE ORDER A purchase order (POP) is a counterarguments issued by a puberty a seller, indicating types, quantities, and agreed prices for products or services the seller will provide to the buyer, Sending a purchase order to a supplier constitutes a legal offer to buy products or services. Acceptance of a purchase order by a seller usually forms a one-off contraceptive the buyer and seller, 50 no contract exists until the purchase order is accepted. There are several reasons why companies use purchase orders, Purchase orders allow buyers to clearly and explicitly communicate their intentions to sellers, and sellers are protected in case of a buyer’s refusal to pay for goods or services. Purchase orders also help a purchasing agent manage incoming orders and pending orders.
Purchase orders also are an economical choice for a business because they streamline the purchasing process to a standard procedure. An Electronic Purchase Orders Many Purchase Orders are no longer paper-based, but rather transmitted electronically over the Internet. It is common for electronic purchase orders to be used to buy goods Or services online for services or physical goods Of any type. 2. COMPUTERS AND INVENTORY Inventory control systems maintain information about activities Within firms that ensure the delivery of products to customers. The subsystems that perform these functions include sales, manufacturing, warehousing, ordering, and receiving.
In different firms, the activities associated with each of these areas may not be strictly contained within separate subsystems, but these functions must be performed in sequence in order to have a well-run inventory control yester. In today’s business environment, even small and midsized businesses have come to rely on computerized inventory management systems. Certainly, there are plenty to small retail outlets, manufacturers, and other businesses that continue to rely on manual means of inventory tracking (Reference for business inventory, 2010). Automation can dramatically impact all phases of inventory management, including counting and monitoring of inventory items; recording and retrieval of item storage location: recording changes to inventory; and anticipating inventory needs, including inventory handling requirements.
This is true even of stand-alone systems that are not integrated with other areas of the business, but many analysts indicate that productivity and profitability gains that are geared through use of automated systems can be increased even more when a business integrates its inventory control systems with other systems such as accounting and sales to better control inventory levels (Reference for business inventory, 2010). As Dennis Askew noted in PC Week 1995, business executives are “increasingly integrating financial data, such as accounts receivable, with sales information that includes customer histories”. Godwin Dud (1993) described telecommunications technology as a critical organizational asset that can help a company realize important competitive gains in the area Of inventory management. He noted that companies that make good use of this technology are far better equipped to succeed than those who rely on outdated or unwieldy methods of inventory control. 2. STOCK MANAGEMENT Stock management is the function of understanding the stock mix of a company and the different demands on that stock. The demands are influenced by both external and internal factors and are balanced by the creation of Purchase order quests to keep supplies at a reasonable or prescribed level. 2. 6 LOGISTICS Logistics is the management of the flow of goods, information and other resources, including energy and people, between the point of origin and the point of consumption in order to meet the requirements to consumers (frequently, and originally, military organizations). Logistics involves the integration of information, transportation, and inventory, warehousing, material- handling, and packaging.
Logistics is a channel of the supply chain which adds the value of time and place utility. 2. 7 LOGISTICS MANAGEMENT Logistics management is that part of the supply chain which plans, implements and controls the efficient, effective forward and reverse flow and storage of goods, services and related information between the point of origin and the point of consumption in order to meet customers’ requirements. A professional working in the field of logistics management is called a logistical. 28 SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT Supply chain management (SCM) is the management Of a network Of interconnected businesses involved in the ultimate provision of product and service packages required by end customers (Harlan, 1996). Supply Chain
Management spans all movement and storage of raw materials, work-in-process inventory, and finished goods from point-of-origin to point-of-consumption 2. 81 Activities,’functions Supply chain management is a cross-functional approach to manage the movement of raw materials into an organization, certain aspects of the internal processing of materials into finished goods, and then the movement of finished goods out of the organization toward the end-consumer. As organizations strive to focus on core competencies and becoming more flexible, they have reduced their ownership of raw materials sources and distribution channels. These functions are increasingly being outsourced to other entities that can perform the activities better or more cost effectively.
The effect is to increase the number of organizations involved in satisfying customer demand, while reducing management control of daily logistics operations, Less control and more supply chain partners led to the creation of supply chain management concepts. The purpose of supply chain management is to improve trust and collaboration among supply chain partners, thus improving inventory visibility and improving inventory velocity. SWAB BASED INVENTORY SYSTEM Though many users may balk at the idea of leaving the familiar world of desktop software, the benefits of Secure Storage, sharing files and accessibility makes managing data with secure web applications a smart move. 2. 9.
View Based System This is an online software that can be installed on a web server or network server and runs on a web browser. A web application is an application that is accessed over a nonvoter such as an internet or an intranet. Web applications are popular due to the ubiquity few browsers and the convenience of using the web browser as a client. 2. 9. 2 Why use A Web Based System? A web based system is the future medium for nearly all small and medium sized business software applications. Web based software will continue to become more pervasive in the coming years and the reasons are simple: Familiar Interface: The internet browser is the most commonly used software today.
Its high level to use results in an inherent familiarity with users Platform Independence: Inventory can be accessed from a desktop, a laptop, a PDA or even a cell phone which makes it platform independent user Management: Managing information security within organizations and outside organizations s of paramount importance. Web based software affords organizations the freedom to set a multi-leveled user workspace environment and accordingly restrict the access to information each browser is granted. Security: Online inventory allows password protected access to authorized users and data is stored and encrypted. Support: The web based system can be updated remotely so the organization does not incur costly charges for on-site visits.
Information Backup: When using a web based software, backups are performed automatically at regulated intervals Vichy spare members of the organization the responsibility f performing time-consuming procedures. 2. 1 THE FUTURE OF INVENTORY SYSTEMS In the latter part of the asses, many businesses invested heavily in integrated order and inventory systems designed to keep inventories at a minimum and replenish stock quickly. But business owners have a variety of system integration options from Which to choose, based on their needs and financial liquidity. At the same time that these integrated systems have increased in popularity, business observers have suggested that “stand-alone” systems are falling into disavow.
A 1996 study by the International Mass Retail Association (MIRA), for example, included that stand alone Inventory Management System (AIMS) packages acquired to perform individual functions will soon become obsolete because they do not integrate well with other systems. (Reference for Business Inventory, 2010) CHAPTER THREE METHODOLOGY AND SYSTEM ANALYSIS In the dynamic world, the subject system analysis and design mainly deals with the software development activities. In this chapter, the necessary Steps in developing the software will be discussed. 3. METHODOLOGY This is denned as a framework that is used to Structure, plan, and control the recess of developing an information system (Wisped, 2008). It is used to refer to a specific series of steps or procedure which governs the analysis and design of a particular project.
Methodology includes the methods, techniques and procedures which are used to collect and analyze information. Various methodologies include: SCADS, prototyping and DOME. In this project work, the methodology to be employed will involve the design and implementation of a user-friendly application. PH will be employed as the programming language for the design of the interface and Myself will be used as the Database. This project will also be carried out through; Project research topics had to be considered in order to aid the development Research on existing inventory systems must be considered. Analyzing the subject matter and identifying the drawbacks.
Deployment of a web-based part ordering and inventory system using wampum server and PH programming language. Visit to some departments such as IT department, Supply chain, logistics and warehouse of Lizard Nigeria Limited (Lagos Factory). 3. 1 STRUCTURED SYSTEMS ANALYSIS AND DESIGN METHODOLOGY (SCADS) The methodology adopted in this study is the Structured Systems Analysis and Design Methodology (SCADS). It is a systems approach to the analysis and design of information systems. SCADS is a waterfall method by which an information systems design can be arrived at. SCADS starts With a definition Of problem or current System problems and Feasibility studies. An analysis of the present system is performed before the design of the new system.
