Point of Sale and Inventory Management System with

Predictive Analytic and Apriori Algorithm

Members:
Galvan, Jason
Llamas, Matt Andrei F.
Vicendario, Gillian Chayi
Rodriguez, Eduard
 CHAPTER 1 - Setting
The Organization/The Company: Overview
The proposed system will provide easy-to-use and easy-accessed system. It gives more
accurate and secure records of sales and list of products.
The business is just depending on their manual listing of products and inputs of data
which is possible to commit errors. The business can’t view their proper records of sales or
income. It also doesn’t have its proper listings of product. In some instances, lost items are just
being ignored by the owner.
As the company prospers, it is important to have a system that will help keep track of the sales

activity and the number of inventory of the products being sold everyday. However, the

growing sales of the company is hard to monitor and they are still using a traditional system in

which inflows and outflows of goods are only manually recorded. This has led to the

disorganization and sluggishness of the selling process of Milktealicious. Oftentimes, the

company runs out of inventory.

With these, the researchers decided to build a powerful tool which the company will

trust upon and rely on. The Sales Prediction with Data Mining for Milktealicious is to highlight

their business transactions. This tends to develop an automate point-of-sale and inventory

system that will function more efficiently and effectively. This proposed system will help the

company ease the entire problem encountered in their manual procedures through the

propose system. It focuses especially on the Inventory, POS, information of the employees,

suppliers records and purchase orders of the company.

According to the study of POS and Inventory Control System of Digital Carmen

Warehouse, automated system can be used in inventory processing and this could minimize or

solve problems. In addition, the viability in filling, recording, retrieving, classifying, storing and
searching can be provided by a new system which improves the company’s performance.

(Quibuyen, 2011)

The proponents decided to come up with the system in order to end the company’s

issue, and to produce a computerized inventory system that has a faster, better and more

systematic way of tracking inventory flows. The company will also have a background of the fast

moving items that needs a restock from time to time. It will also gives the customers the

satisfaction of having a much faster business transaction.

System Flaw (or System Void)

Milktealicious general problem is that it’s growing sales and fast-moving item of

which monthly report will cover, and the integration of loyalty points to their loyal

customer to give the customer new level of experience when it comes to points and

how they will redeem an item. Also, to give convenience for the crew and owner on

taking inventory and monthly daily sales.

The purpose of the research is to develop inventory system, point of sale service, and

loyalty mobile application with delivery mapping for Milktealicious. Particularly, it

sought to answer the following questions:

1. What are the problems encountered in the existing manual procedures of

Milktealicious in the areas of:

a. Inventory

b. Report Generation

c. Decision Making
2. What are the features to be adopted in the proposed Sales Prediction Using

Analytical Techniques?

3. What is the assessment of IT experts on the developed Sales Prediction Using

Analytical Techniques in terms of:

a. Functionality

b. Reliability

c. Portability

4. What is the assessment of users on the developed Sales Prediction Using Analytical

Techniques in terms of:

a. Functionality

b. Reliability

c. Portability

Objectives of the Study

• To design, develop and implement a module that will handle the security for the system.
• To design, develop and implement a module that will handle billing and order
processing for the client and customer
• To design, develop and implement a module that will handle sales reports, stock
reports, analyze and predicts inventory demands for the client.
Significance of the Study
With the implementation of the proposed system, Milktealicious will be able to closely monitor

its inventory and sales flows, accurate and updated reports, systematic record keeping and

other intangible advancement thus providing quality service to its clients. This will allow them

to have good and faster reporting of item and will boost their productivity and lessen the jobs

of the crew.

The “Sales Prediction Using Analytical Techniques” will not only be beneficial to the

company but also to the clients and the suppliers. In undertaking this, the researchers also take

in consideration the other beneficiaries as well. Specifically, the proposed system would be

greatly beneficial to the following:

Clients. This system will provide them an accurate information, fast transaction and

accessibility. It will take less time for them to wait for the receipt because the computation will

be done easily and it will avoid wrong computation of items.

Suppliers. This system will help the suppliers trace all invoices and reports of the

products. This simplifies their work in locating purchased order. Through its updated inventory,

the supplier will be able to determine the product needed to be delivered.

Cashier. This system will help the cashier by taking less time doing business transactions

because the calculation of the product is easy to compute by the proposed system. It will lessen

human errors on the cashier’s side by providing accurate computation of the items sold when

doing transactions with customers.

 Inventory Clerk. This system will help in the effective and efficient performance of

tracks more specifically in the recording and monitoring of sales and inventory transactions,

keeping and retrieving of files in an efficient and reliable way as well as the preparations of

reports. It will also lessen their time in organizing client’s records and errors will be avoided.

General Manager. This system will help provide accurate, speedy and updated

information and reports, keep track with the movements of inventories and efficient flow of

sales transactions used in decision making.

Company Owner. This system will hence help the owner to make right decisions

because information will be rightly available and in correct format. It also brings the potential

for the administration for improving sales and profits through better analysis of inventory

trends, including patterns of delivery and demand.

Company. The system will help the company progress their products, lessen multiple errors and exert

less efforts concerning transaction workflow.

Researchers. Through this research, the researchers will be able to learn not just by theories but

through application.. It will also help them broaden their understanding, knowledge and skills towards

research, software development, analysis and design. The research also allowed the researchers to

determine the appropriate methodology, tools and features in developing the system.

Future Researchers. The researchers also take in consideration future researchers who will

undertake the same research and use for future references. The system can be a start-up basis for

future development.
Definition of Terms
The following terms are defined operationally and conceptually to give the reader a clear

understanding of the terms used in the study.

Technical Terms

Computer Program. A list of instructions that tell a computer what to do. 

Computer. A machine or device that performs processes, calculations and operations based on

instructions provided by a software or hardware program.

Database. A data structure that stores organized information so that it can be easily accessed,

managed and updated.

Find Inventory Item. This task will find inventory known to the system given either a part

number or partial match on a short description.

Inventory System. It is one of the most important systems on process of any business because it

involves the management of products, materials, and equipment’s which is vital on production

management.

Item Profile. These are data that describes the characteristics of an item. May include physical

characteristics such as size and weight, transactional characteristics such as times consumed and units

consumed or group characteristics such as commodity, hazardous classification, etc.

Maintenance, Repair and Operating Inventory (MRO). Inventory used to maintain equipment

as well as miscellaneous supplies such as restaurant cleaning supplies.

Order Profile. A data describing the characteristics of inbound, outbound, or internal orders.
 Point-of-Sale System (POS System). A system that can help reduce your paperwork, track

inventory and market to your customers through one easy-to-use process, making more time for you to

manage your business rather than staying bogged down in details. It is where a customer makes a

payment in exchange for goods or services. Payment terminals, touch screens, and a variety of other

hardware and software options are used to enable the transaction.

Purchase History. A page lists documents that you have purchased. It contains documents,

confirmation ID or an identifier for the document, and the date of purchase.

Software. A set of instructions, data or programs used to operate computers and execute

specific tasks.

System. A set of detailed methods, procedures and routines, established and formulated to

carry out specific activity, perform task or solve a problem.

Operational Terms

Cashier . The employee who handles the financial transactions of a company.

Company. It is any entity that engages in business. It is a business organization which makes

goods in an organized manner and sells them to the public for profit.

Customer. The person or company that receives, consumes or buys a product or service and can

choose between different goods and suppliers.

General Manager. An executive who has overall responsibility for managing both

the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit and loss (P&L)

responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of the firm's marketing and sales functions

as well as the day-to-day operations of the business. Frequently, the general manager is responsible for
effective planning, delegating, coordinating, staffing, organizing, and decision making to attain desirable

profit making results for an organization.

Inventory Clerk. Responsible for managing incoming and outgoing supplies and products within

a business. They are record keepers for materials, report creators and supply trackers.

Inventory Management. It is the direction and control of activities with the purpose of getting

the right inventory in the right place at the right time in the right quantity in the right form at the right

cost.

Inventory Report. A summary of items belonging to a business, industry, organization, or home.

It provides a comprehensive account of the stock or supply of various items.

Inventory. It is often called merchandise, refers to goods and materials that a business holds for

sale to customers in the near future. In other words, these goods and materials serve no other purpose

in the business except to be sold to customers for a profit.

Invoice. A document issued by a seller to the buyer that indicates the quantities and costs of the

products or services provided by the seller.

Item. Any tangible or intangible, visible or invisible thing.

Physical Inventory. Refers to the process of counting all inventories in a warehouse.

Product. It can be a service or an item offered for sale. It can be physical or in virtual or cyber

form. Every product is made at a cost and each is sold at a price.

Purchase Order. A document use to approve, track and process purchased item. A purchase

order is used to communicate a purchase to a supplier. It is also used as an authorization to purchase. a

purchase order will state quantities, cost and delivery dates.

 Quantity on Order. Include quantity on open purchase orders or manufacturing orders. May or

may not include quantities or transfer orders from other branches.

Sales. Activities related to selling or the number of goods or services sold in a given time period.

Supplier. An entity that supplies goods and services to another organization. This entity is

part of the supply chain of a business, which may provide the bulk of the value contained within its

products. A supplier is usually a manufacturer or a distributor. A distributor buys goods from

multiple manufacturers and sells them to its customers.

Technology. Refers to methods, systems, and devices which are the result of scientific

knowledge being used for practical purposes.

Transaction. It is an occasion when someone buys or sells something, or when money is

exchanged or the activity of buying or selling something. It is a business event that has a monetary

impact on an entity's financial statements, and is recorded as an entry in its accounting records.

Workflow. It is the definition, execution and automation of business processes where tasks,

information or documents are passed from one participant to another for action, according to a set of

procedural rules.
 CHAPTER 2 - REVIEW OF EXISTING PROCESS
Inaccurate projection of demand and supply
Inventory needs to be replenished in a timely manner or else your business experiences a severe
backlog. Inaccurate need analysis can lead to stock piling or inventory shortage. Manual inventory
management system fails to identify gaps, predict future needs, or streamline data to produce analytical
trends.

A system that doesn’t provide visibility and accuracy to a business function does more harm than good.

Decentralized control
A system that doesn’t incorporate all aspects of business function can prove ineffective. Manual
inventory system follows a decentralized approach; this means your data isn’t updated in real-time, and
inventory levels are updated periodically.

On the other hand, inventory management software is connected with all aspect of the business. It’s a
real-time inventory management system that updates stock levels as soon as a sale is incurred at the
Point-of Sale. This improves accuracy and allows businesses to replenish stock level on time, and
without delays.

Lack of optimization
Manual inventory system might seem like the right choice, but in the long-run, this system has limited
growth opportunities.

Cost-control methods, predictive analysis, or process efficiencies can’t be incorporated in a hard-to-

manage manual system. On the other hand, an automated inventory system provides room for growth
and expansion. If your small business is making sales, the inventory system will grow with it.
 CHAPTER 3 - THE PROGRAM PROPOSAL

Coverage of the Program

Scope

The research will focus on the development of sales inventory system and

loyalty application for Milktealicious. The research focuses on the fast analysis of

bestselling item, available stocks and items to be ordered, and identifying time and

season where items are mostly in demand. It will help the company in terms of

decision making. This will be possible through creating sales inventory system and

providing a GUI or graphical user interface that used to input data in the following

transaction such as purchasing of orders, recording of items, and creating database

for the items. It provides a record to the user for maintenance and security purposes

and will create a mobile app for the points of the customer the mobile device will be

done using hybrid apps using responsive bootstrap and Cordova for conversion.

Some Features are:

Demand forecasting: Through this feature, you can draw on past data to identify

future demand. It isn’t necessarily offered by all platforms, so if forecasting is

important to you, be sure to ask the vendors on your shortlist about this capability.

Inventory optimization: Maintain just the right amount of inventory for each

product, without over- or under-stocking any item. It’s especially useful if you deal in
products that experience a seasonal rise and fall in demand.

Stock notifications: Receive alerts and notifications when there’s over- or under-

stocking beyond a defined threshold. This helps you to place orders or offer
promotional discounts to clear out extra stock.
Report generation: View sales history in the form of a list of your most popular
products. This feature also enables you to manage items in your inventory that have
not reached the sales levels you expected, for example, by offering discounts on them.

Multilocation management: Manage multiple warehouses and points-of-sale (POS).

All locations can be integrated within a single inventory management system.

Stock returns handling: Manage returns more effectively by reducing time-to-return

through automation of the entire process.

Material grouping: Group inventory into predefined categories and ensure you’re

always updated about quantities of components and specifications that make up your
product stock, and manage their reordering schedules as required.

Purchase order records: Create a single view of purchase order records. You can
easily identify which products are in demand, both perpetually and seasonally, and
prepare to meet your customers’ needs.

The study would use the concept of wireframe as its methodology in designing

and developing Milktealicious Cabuyao Inventory and Point of Sale Service. In

addition, the researchers use MySQL (to be used as back-end), Php and Bootstrap 4.0

and CSS 3 (to be used as front end).

Limitations

The system was not operating payment through credit card. Only the sales and

few parts of inventory are generated. Other transaction and operation of Milktealicious

such as payroll system or employee information system is not included in the system.

And the system cannot receive amounts on credit card basis.

The system cant verify if the online order is legit or fake , the system can only

focus on clients requirement

Diagram of the Program Processes

An Inventory Management gives detailed reports or records of things in one’s

possession, especially a periodic survey of goods and materials in a stock.
Real time inventory provides comprehensive information’s in a format you
currently use within a minute of the physical audit to be completed.  Real-Time
Inventory Control Software package allows you to manage all aspects of your
inventory including costing, reorder lead times, inventory turnover and
projected run-rates. FIFO is an acronym for first-in, first-out and means that
the oldest inventory items are recorded as sold first. Essentially, FIFO
assumes that inventory items are sold in the order in which they are acquired.

                The final cost assumption method for Mega Irrigation to consider is

the weighted average. The weighted average method, also known as average
cost, involves computing the weighted average cost per unit of inventory sold
at the time of sale; it assumes that inventories are sold simultaneously.
Program Requirements
Hardware Requirements

The minimum requirements for the hardware specification for the installation of the game are
the following
User Side
Table 3.1 User Side Hardware Requirements
Hardware Capacity / Speed

Processor Dual Core or higher

Memory 500MB or higher

Monitor LCD Flat Screen with 1024 x 768

resolution or higher
Developer Side
Table 3.2 Developers Side of Hardware Requirements
Hardware Capacity / Speed

Random Access Memory (RAM) At least 4gb or higher

Video Card 5gb or higher

Monitor Any type that has 1024 x 768 screen

resolution or higher

Mouse Any type that has right and left keys

Keyboard Any type that has standard keys.

Processor Dual Core or higher

Memory 500MB or higher

Software Requirements
The following software programs are required to operate and play the game.
User Side

 Latest Browser – Such as google chrome

Developer Side

 Bootstrap Studio – code and design of the apps

 CORDOVA – Converting
Program Features
Demand forecasting: Through this feature, you can draw on past data to identify

future demand. It isn’t necessarily offered by all platforms, so if forecasting is

important to you, be sure to ask the vendors on your shortlist about this capability.

Inventory optimization: Maintain just the right amount of inventory for each

product, without over- or under-stocking any item. It’s especially useful if you deal in
products that experience a seasonal rise and fall in demand.

Stock notifications: Receive alerts and notifications when there’s over- or under-

stocking beyond a defined threshold. This helps you to place orders or offer
promotional discounts to clear out extra stock.

Report generation: View sales history in the form of a list of your most popular
products. This feature also enables you to manage items in your inventory that have
not reached the sales levels you expected, for example, by offering discounts on them.

Multilocation management: Manage multiple warehouses and points-of-sale (POS).

All locations can be integrated within a single inventory management system.

Stock returns handling: Manage returns more effectively by reducing time-to-return

through automation of the entire process.

Material grouping: Group inventory into predefined categories and ensure you’re

always updated about quantities of components and specifications that make up your
product stock, and manage their reordering schedules as required.

Purchase order records: Create a single view of purchase order records. You can
easily identify which products are in demand, both perpetually and seasonally, and
prepare to meet your customers’ needs.

The study would use the concept of wireframe as its methodology in designing

and developing Milktealicious cabuyao Inventory and Point of Sale Service. In addition,

the researchers use MySQL (to be used as back-end), Php and Bootstrap 4.0 and CSS

3 (to be used as front end).

Execution Timeline

The following table details our projected execution timeline for your website development project.

Stage Completion Date

Project Kickoff Meeting 3days after acceptance

Initial Design Wireframe Can be presented during initial meeting

Mobile Copy & Images Milktealicious should provide contents on the images
and the write ups

Mobile Development Complete 5 month

Testing Immediately after completion

Mobile Launch Immediately after testing

Disclaimer: The dates in the table above are estimates based on our experience with similar website
development projects. While we strive to accurately estimate project timelines in every proposal, we
reserve the right to move delivery dates in response to unforeseen delays or changes to project
requirements.
 CHAPTER 4 - THE PROGRAM

Ownership of the copyright in software code is important because the copyright owner controls the
ability to copy, distribute, sell, or modify the code, and generally controls the ability to profit from the
code. Under copyright law, the author of a line of software code is the owner of the copyright in that
code. That is, the person who physically puts fingers to the keyboard and types out the sequence of
words and symbols that constitutes a line of software code is the "author" and owns the copyright to
the code. A copy-right is created by federal law and consists of six rights the owner of a "work" has to
the exclusion of any other person or business. Four of these rights are applicable to software code.
Those are:

1. The right to reproduce the code

2. The right to create "derivative works" based on the code, such as the screen display that the
code generates, future versions of the software, or other software programs into which the code is
integrated
3. The right to distribute copies of the code
4. The right to "display" the code, for example by posting to a web site.
5. Applying the basic law of copyright to software development, if you personally write a class or a
module, you own the copyright to that class or module. If you write a website in html, or a website
display script in a scripting language like PHP or ASP.NET, you own the copyright to those lines of code
you wrote. You are free to re-use that code in any way you like, and no other person or entity can legally
use that code without your permission.

The basic rule is subject to several exceptions. In the software world, there are three exceptions so
common they swallow the rule. A more nuanced and practical understanding of the role of copyright in
re-usable code requires as much understanding of the exceptions as the basic rules. The three
exceptions to the basic rule of copyright ownership most prevalent in the context of software
development are the "work-made-for-hire" rule, the "License or Assignment" clause in a development
contract, and the unique situation encountered when developing on an "Open Source" platform.

The "work-made-for-hire" doctrine generally defines the relationship between a software developer and
his or her client.

A segment of software code is a "work-made-for-hire" if it is either:

a) A work prepared by an employee in the scope of his or her employment; or

b) a work specially ordered or commissioned for use as [1] a contribution to a collective work, [2] as a
part of a motion picture or [3] other audiovisual work, [4] as a translation, [5] as a supplementary work,
[6] as a compilation, [7] as an instructional text, [8] as a test, [9] as answer material for a test, or [10] as
an atlas, if the parties expressly agree in a written instrument signed by them that the work shall be
considered a work made for hire.

In either situation, the author of the code does not own the copyright in the code, as would be expected
under the basic copyright framework. Rather, the person or business that employs the author or that
commissioned the software owns the copyright in the code.
When a developer creates software as an employee, determining ownership of that software under the
"work-made-for-hire" rule is relatively straightforward. Any work a developer creates within the scope
of his or her employment is owned by the employer. Analysis of whether work is "within the scope of
employment" can be extremely complex. However, at its most basic, if a developer writes a particular
piece of software for work, his or her employer owns the copyright to that software.

When a developer creates software as a contractor, analyzing who owns the copyright in code created
as a result of that relationship becomes both more complex and more important. Courts and legal
analysts use a three-part test to determine whether the developer or the client owns a particular
segment or module of code. First, the work must have been specially ordered or commissioned. Second,
the work must specifically fall within one of the ten categories enumerated in part (b) of the "work-
made-for-hire" rule. If the work at issue does not fall within one of the enumerated categories, it cannot
ever be a "work-made-for-hire." Almost all software code is consumer-facing code and will fall under
category three, audio-visual work, although some software without a human-readable interface may not
fall under any of the ten enumerated categories. Third, and most significant, a commissioned and
copyrightable work will only be considered "work-made-for-hire" owned by the client if the parties have
a written agreement signed by the developer that explicitly states that the work is "work-made-for-
hire."

If a particular piece of software is a "work-made-for-hire," the employer or client that commissioned the
code owns the copyright in it. In order for the developer to have any right to use the software later or in
different projects, the developer must negotiate a license to the software in the same way any third-
party would.

Outside of "work-made-for-hire," almost every development engagement includes some arrangement

for the ownership, assignment, or licensing of the software.

The original author or any other owner can also transfer or share copyright rights to or with others
through an assignment of the copyright or a license of the copyright. These two concepts should not be
confused. An assignment is a grant of all of the rights of the author in the copyright to another party. If
the developer assigns his rights to code he or she has written, the developer no longer has any right to
the code, and must license the code from the new owner to have the right to re-use it. Additionally, for
an assignment to be binding, it must be made in writing, and must be signed by the developer. Any
alleged verbal assignment of copyright rights will be considered a license of those rights and not an
assignment.

A license, in contrast, is a grant of permission to use the code without giving up ownership of the code.
If assigning copyright in software is like selling your house, licensing copyrighted software is like renting
your house. A license can range from a mere right to use the software, module, script, or class in the
completed software, to granting rights to re-write the software or create derivative software from it, all
the way up to all of the rights to the code that the original creator has. A license can be exclusive in the
sense that the author agrees not to license the code to anyone else in a particular geographic region,
industry, for a period of time, or at all, or it can be non-exclusive in the sense that the licensee is only
one of several concurrent licensees, each with the same or overlapping rights. Importantly, the terms of
licenses are interpreted according to the contract rules of your local jurisdiction. Therefore it is
extremely important that the parties understand exactly what they are agreeing to before coming to an
agreement.

Licenses and assignments are the two building blocks of software development agreements, and should
be a part of every software development contract. If software is not a work-made-for-hire, or the
software copyright is not either expressly assigned to the client or licensed to the client at the end of the
development project, then the client will infringe the developer's copyrights in the code every time the
client uses that code. Therefore, every well written software development contract will contain a clause
designating the code a work-made-for-hire, assigning the code to the client on completion, or granting
the client a license to use the code on completion.

Terms of Agreement

1. Authorization
Milktealicious., is engaging researcher , as an independent contractor for the Milktealicious., website
development, deployment, hosting, & support.

2. Completion
researcher and Milktealicious must work together to complete the project in a timely
manner. researcher agrees to work expeditiously to complete the project

3. Assignment of Project
Researcher reserves the right to assign subcontractors to this project to insure the right fit for the job as
well as on-time completion.

4. Revision During Execution

Milktealicious may be charged additional fees if it decides to make changes to the agreed upon project
scope and objectives.

5. Copyrights & Trademarks

Milktealicious represents to researcher and unconditionally guarantees that any elements furnished
to Doorgift Unlimited for inclusion in the project are owned by Milktealicious., or that Alpha Insurance &
Surety Co has permission from the rightful owner to use each of these elements, and will hold harmless,
protect, and defend Doorgift Unlimited and its subcontractors from any claim or suit arising from the
use of such elements furnished by Alpha Insurance & Surety Co.
6. Copyright to Project
researcher guarantees that all aspects of design and construction of the project will be disclosed
to Milktealicious upon completion, and full code, copyrights and ownership will be the sole property
of Milktealicious researcher retains the right to display graphics and other design elements as examples
of its work in its portfolio.
 CHAPTER 5 - PROGRAM EVALUATION & RECOMMENDATION

Compare
Difficulties in the Manual Inventory System

The current system operates manual inventory system, from stocks, products, ordering and purchases etc
recorded in a book. This is faced with errors, incompleteness, and insufficient data for analysis.
Information regarding stocks, products, sales and purchases are still in black and white which is not
properly organized and managed. From the wholesalers to retailer bills, tickets, vouchers, receipts of
products are recorded in a book but further operations are not being properly handled. As a result it is
difficult in processing, updating and managing. The factors for these difficulties are:
1. Time Consumption: Manual inventory systems are time consuming, as the business owner must keep
track of inventory sales on a daily basis, while updating the system manually at the end of the day.
2. Poor Communication: A manual inventory requires employees and managers to write down each time
an item is removed from the inventory. If one employee forgets to mention that the last coffee product has
been removed from the inventory, a manager expects the item to still be available for a customer during a
sale. Compared with a technical inventory system, a manual inventory system does not help the
communication in the workplace.
3. Physical Counts: A manual inventory system does not provide any number, as all numbers from the
inventory are gained through physical inventory counts. One of the difficulties of running a manual
inventory system is that physical inventory counts must be performed frequently to control the items in
the inventory. This is time consuming and can cost the business money, if employees must come in to
help out outside of business hours.
4. Daily Purchases: Keeping track of daily purchases is another difficult controlling measure with manual
inventory systems. A manual inventory system requires the employees to write down the items sold
during a single work day. This can be a difficult task, as one employee may lose the list of items sold or
another may forget to write down a sale.
5. Ordering Supplies: A manual inventory system does not update at the end of the day with updated
inventor

Advantage: Automated Reordering and In-Stock Information

Computerized inventory informs employees and customers within seconds whether an item is in stock.
Because the inventory is synced with sales, there is a running tally of what is in stock and what isn't.
This helps flag reordering needs and provides better service to customers. As inventory drops below a
specific threshold, new orders are placed with vendors and tracked to let customers know when the new
products will arrive.

Advantage: Integration With Accounting

Many of the computerized inventory platforms integrate with accounting software to track cash
flow. This makes the process of transferring inventory costs and assets between programs seamless and
reduces the need for additional bookkeeping costs. Financial statements are more easily generated with
shared data between inventory and bookkeeping

Advantage: Forecasting and Planning

Inventory management software does more than track where inventory is located and when to reorder
it. A data collection system is used to create needed forecasting and strategic planning reports.
Business owners review trends regarding which products do well in certain months or during specific
cyclical seasons. Business owners use this data to plan for growth and order inventory intelligently to
best utilize cash flow resources.

Disadvantage: System Crash

One of the biggest problems with any computerized system is the potential for a system crash. A
corrupt hard drive, power outages and other technical issues can result in the loss of needed data. At the
least, businesses are interrupted when they are unable to access data they need. Business owners should
back up data regularly to protect against data loss.

Disadvantage: Malicious Hacks

Hackers look for any way to get company or consumer information. An inventory system connected to
point-of-sale devices and accounting is a valuable resource to hack into in search of potential
financial information or personal details of owners, vendors or clients. Updating firewalls and anti-
virus software can mitigate this potential issue.

Disadvantage: Reduced Physical Audits

When everything is automated, it is easy to forego time-consuming physical inventory audits. They
may no longer seem necessary when the computers are doing their work. However, it is important to
continue to do regular audits to identify loss such as spoilage or breakage. Audits also help business
owners identify potential internal theft and manipulation of the computerized inventory system.

Software Evaluation Form

Criterion Yes/No
Is the level of language that the program offers clearly indicated?
 Is it easy to start the program?

Is the user interface easy to understand? (For example, is the screen

layout clear and easy to interpret?)
Is it easy to navigate through the program?

Are icons that are used to assist navigation (e.g. back to the homepage,
exit) clear and intelligible?
Is it always clear to the learner which point s/he has reached in the
program?
Does the program include scoring?

Ease or difficulty of administering the program

Ease or difficulty of knowledge transfer (teaching others how to use)
Ease or difficulty of maintaining the program
Storing data (life of data, memory required, time to process, access to
data)

Opinion/Comment

Having difficulty of building the system and many changes due to the No. 1 factor that
caused software projects to become challenged was "Lack of User Input". The owner of
milktea shop often have new way of changing the process that will affect the whole
development and the people behind him have different way of executing the process

Reasons for this can include:

 The system is being promoted by the management and so the business users
have no buy-in
 The users are too busy and have “more important” things to do
 Relations between the user community and the I.T. team are poor
 User don’t have knowledge in using system due to the limited training conducted
by the owner and the researcher

Without the involvement and input of a user representative the project is doomed to
failure. This person should be a subject domain expert with the authority to make
decisions and a commitment to the project timescales.
So assuming there is good user input then the challenge of translating requirements
into a design begins.

Recommendation
You’ll want to make sure that you’re using the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that apply specifically
to your unique business sector, but in general, you should be able to answer the following questions after
your analysis:
 Are there items your customers frequently demand that are consistently out of stock? While
creating a demand for your bestsellers is important, every customer you turn away is a lost sale. By
understanding which of your products are your customers’ most wanted, you’re able to effectively
adjust your orders to match their needs.
 What are your overall costs due to an excessive stock of particular items? If you’ve ever had
a product sit on the shelves for weeks or even months at a time, you know how frustrating it is to open
a new inventory shipment and realize you accidentally re-ordered a poor performer. Not only will that
product be harder to sell, but your money is also further tied up in that stock when it could be used
elsewhere.
 How much time do you spend maintaining your inventory system? This will vary wildly
depending on if you have a barcoding system in place or are still relying on manual pricing stickers.
However, if your answer to this is “not much time at all,” you probably need to rethink your approach
to your inventory.
 What level of sales data do you get out of your inventory system? If you’re still relying on
trusty pen and paper method, you’re probably not receiving much insight, if any, from analyzing
inventory trends. Understanding your sales data on a deeper level helps you adjust your inventory in
real-time and saves you money while you do it.
 How easy is your reordering and restocking process? Can you set up automated inventory
alerts to trigger an order? Imagine the ease of your stock being handled for you. No more pacing the
back room with a clipboard trying to get an accurate tally of each product. No more phone calls to
your distributor. No more clumsy online order forms. Sounds nice, doesn’t it?
And if you really want to get ahead: how does your inventory process stack up against your competition?
This is one area where you not only want to “keep up with the Joneses”, but to surpass them in terms of
inventory management and efficiencies. If your funds aren’t tied up in common inventory mishaps,
you’re able to spend more money on gaining that precious competitive edge. After you have taken a deep
dive into how your current inventory process works and how it holds up against other small businesses,
then you have a better opportunity to improve how your business functions.

When running a retail shop, you are faced with a multitude of choices in your typical day-to-day.
Reducing the amount of time spent on inventory control, while increasing the cost-effectiveness of
precise stock management is an easy one for any of us to make. But with hundreds of inventory
management solutions out there, getting help to make the correct choice for is crucial for yourself and
your business. Luckily, the choice is clearer than you might think.