A PROJECT REPORT

On

INVENTORY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

(General Store)
SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT FOR THE

AWARD OF THE DEGREE OF

B.TECH (Comp. Sc.)

OF THAPAR UNIVERSITY

SESSION: 2010

UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF

Mr. Vinay Arora,

Lecturer, Computer Science Department

Thapar University ,

Patiala, Punjab

SUBMITTED BY

1)Pankaj Dadral Roll no. 100803064

2)Rachit Gupta Roll no. 100803073

3)Raghav Goel Roll no. 100803074

4)Ranjan Singh Roll no. 100803077

 B Tech(C.S.E.) 2nd yr, Group 4,

Acknowledgement

I take this opportunity to express my profound sense of

gratitude and respect to all those who helped me throughout
the duration of this project. I express my sincere gratitude
and thankfulness towards Mr. Vinay Arora, Computer Science
Depatment, of TU, Patiala, Punjab for his valuable time and
guidance throughout the B .Tech .

I am grateful for the co-operation & valuable suggestions

rendered by all the staff members of Easy Day Chain.

I am grateful to all our friends for providing critical

feedback & support whenever required.

I regret any inadvertent omissions.

- PANKAJ DADRAL
- RACHIT GUPTA
- RAGHAV GOEL
- RANJAN SINGH
1. INTRODUCTION

Inventory is a physical resource that a firm holds in stock with the

intent of selling it or transforming it into a more valuable state.

Inventory System is a set of policies and controls that monitors

levels of inventory and determines what levels should be maintained,
when stock should be replenished, and how large orders should be.

There are many items in a departmental store, which are sold to

customers and purchased from suppliers. An order is placed by the
customer-required details , which are listed below:

 Item name
 Quantity
 Delivery time

The order processing executes, look up the stock of each item

available or not then order is fulfilled by the management of
departmental store. The system periodically checks the store stock
of each item if it is found below the reorder level then purchase
order is placed to the supplier for that item, if the supplier is
not able to supply whole order then rest of quantity is supplied by
another supplier.

After fulfilled the formalities, a bill is generated by the system

and send to the customer.

Item details are maintained by the management and this whole

process is done manually. Our work area is to automate the above
process and to generate more efficient system.
1.1 TYPES OF INVENTORY

Following are the 5 possible ways of inventory control

 Raw materials – In this type of inventory raw material is

bought from the producer ,followed by processing to get
finished products for sale in the market .
For eg. Pencil manufacturing industry requires wood and
graphite as raw materials

 Purchased parts and supplies – In this type of inventory

finished products are bought from the manufacturer and
sold to the customers.
For eg. Any General Store sells the products it buys from
its manufacturers .

 Work-in-process (partially completed) products (WIP) – In

this type of inventory partially processed products are
further modified and sold .
For eg. Steel industry buys the cast iron to further
process it and improve.

 Items being transported – In this type of system products

are transferred from one location to another .
For eg. Any Courier firm

 Tools and equipment – In this type of system

1.2 INVENTORY CONTROL SYSTEMS

Inventory Control is broadly classified into 2 main

systems –

 Continuous system (fixed-order-quantity)

 Constant amount ordered when

inventory declines to predetermined
level
 Periodic system (fixed-time-period)

 Order is placed for variable amount

after fixed passage of time
1.3 TYPES OF DEMAND
Inventory system encounters the following 2 types of demand –

 Dependent Demand

 Demand for items used to produce final products

 Tires stored at a Goodyear plant are an example of a

dependent demand item

 Independent Demand

 Demand for items used by external customers

 Cars, appliances, computers, and houses are examples

of independent demand inventory

1.4 DISADVANTAGES OF OLD SYSTEM

As we know the manual processing is quite tedious, time
consuming, less accurate in comparison to computerized
processing.
The present system is not is exception consultant
encountering all the above problems.

 Time consuming.

 It is very tedious.

 All information is not placed separately.

 Lot of paper work.

 Slow data processing.

 Not user-friendly environment.

 Difficult to find records due to poor file management.

1.4 ADVANTAGES OF NEW SYSTEM
In new computerized system we tried to give these facilities

 Ensures an adequate supply of materials

 Minimizes inventory costs

 Facilitates purchasing economies

 Eliminates duplication in ordering

 Better utilization of available stocks

 Provides a check against the loss of materials

 Facilitates cost accounting activities

 Enables management in cost comparison

 Locates & disposes inactive & obsolete store items

 Consistent & reliable basis for financial statements

1.5 Balance in Inventory Levels
Replenish Point is level of inventory at which order is placed

The company replenishes its stock using mainly 2 methods

 AUTOMATIC Replenishment

o In this system a mimimum stock is always maintained

(called the Safety Stock) and as the stock goes
below a certain level ( called the Reorder Point )
the system places the order.
o As depicted by the graph below

Fig. 1

 MANUAL Replenishment –In this system the store manager

places the order as per the observed demand and seasonal
availability. For eg. Vegetables,fruits,etc

o This method is based on anticipation and idea ,hence

it may lead to big profits or in some cases huge
loss.
2. OBJECTIVES
 Improve customer service – As the system is automated
customers shall have less of problems and more of help
when the shop.

 Economies of purchasing- As the purchase system of the

store is planned it becomes economical ,planned and
systematic ;with minimum possibilities of wasteage.

 Economies of production – Here any product being

processed is done more systematically.

 Transportation savings – As the purchase order is well

planned, transportation cost is minimal or optimized.

 Hedge against future – Stock is always maintained to deal

against future problems in supply if any.

 Unplanned shocks (labor strikes, natural disasters,

surges in demand, etc.)- The stock maintained shall
always be helpful in any case encountered above.

 To maintain independence of supply chain – System which

is automated is a well planned and a flourishing system
in itself.

 Maximize the level of customer service by avoiding

understocking.

 Promote efficiency in production and purchasing by

minimizing the cost of providing an adequate level of
customer service.

 To meet unforeseen future demand due to variation in

forecast figures and actual figures.

 To average out demand fluctuations due to seasonal or

cyclic variations.

 To meet the customer requirement timely, effectively,

efficiently, smoothly and satisfactorily.

 To smoothen the production process.

 To facilitate intermittent production of several products
on the same facility.

 To gain economy of production or purchase in lots.

 To reduce loss due to changes in prices of inventory

items.

 To meet the time lag for transportation of goods.

 To balance costs of inventory such as order cost or set

up cost and inventory carrying cost.

 To balance the stock out cost/opportunity cost due to

loss of sales against the costs of inventory.

 To minimize losses due to deterioration, obsolescence,

damage, pilferage etc
3. SYSTEM ANALYSIS
System analyses is carried out in the following phases.

3.1 IDENTIFICATION OF NEED

Without automation the inventory control system suffered
from the following shortcomings -

1. Time consuming.

2. It is very tedious.

3. All information is not placed separately.

4. Lot of paper work.

5. Slow data processing.

6. Not user-friendly environment.

7. Difficulty in finding records due bad file management.

The features desired by the owner were as follows –

1. Manually system changes into computerized system.

2. Friendly user interface.

3. Time saving.

4. Save paper work.

5. Connecting to database so we use different type of

queries,data report.

6. Give facility of different type of inquiry.

7. Formatted data.

8. Data is easily approachable.

3.2. SCOPE DEFINATION
The “Ineventory control system of General store” software
is being developed as an accurate and efficient software
for the users. In this system the record of the each
request details are preserved along with their status and
transaction related to them. The system is also made
secured as all the updation of the item and transaction
can be done by the authorized person i.e. the
administrator only.

3.3 FEASIBILITY STUDY

The feasibility report of the project holds the advantages

and flexibility of the project. This is divided into three
sections:

 Economical Feasibility
 Technical Feasibility
 Operational Feasibility
 Schedule Feasibility
 Political Feasibility
 Behavioural Feasibility

3.3.1 ECONOMIC FEASIBILITY

A systems financial benefit must exceed the cost of

developing that system. i.e. a new system being developed
should be a good investment for the organization.
Economic feasibility considers the following

 The cost to conduct a full system investigation.

  The cost of hardware and software for the class of
application.
 The benefits in the form of reduced cost or fewer costly
errors.
 The cost if nothing changes (i.e. The proposed system is
not developed).

The proposed “Invenory control system of General store of

Easy Day” is economically feasible because

 The system requires very less time factors.

 The system will provide fast and efficient automated
environment instead of slow and error prone manual
system, thus reducing both time and man power spent in
running the system.
 The system will have GUI interface and very less user-
training is required to learn it.
 The system will provide service to view various
information for proper managerial decision making.

3.3.2 TECHNICAL FEASIBILITY

Technical feasibility centers around the existing

computer system (H/W and S/W) whether it can support the
addition of proposed system, if not, to what extent it
can support and the organization’s capacity to acquire
additional components.

Our proposed system is technically feasible because –

 The H/W and S/W required are easy to install and handle
o The necessary H/W configuration and software
platform is already there .
  The system supports interactivity with the user .
Technical feasibility centers around the existing computer
system (hardware and software) whether it can support the
addition of proposed system, if not to what extend it can
support the organization’s capacity to acquire required
additional components.

Proposed system is technically feasible because of the

following reasons:-

 The System of the General store of Easy Day, doesn’t

require extra investment to run the proposed
application.

 Expandability will be maintained in the new system. New

modules can be added later on the application , if
required in the future.

 The application will have User-friendly Forms and

Screens, all validation checks. So the new system
guarantees accuracy, reliability, ease of access and data
security.

3.3.3 BEHAVIOURAL FEASIBILITY

Behavioral feasibility determines how much effort will go in

the proposed information system, and in educating and training
the employees on the new system, along with the new ways of
conducting the business. Behavioral study strives on ensuring
that the equilibrium of the organization and status quo in the
organization are nor disturbed and changes are readily
accepted by the users.

The proposed system is behaviorally feasible because of the

following:

I. The employees of General store will accept it because

they are already acquainted with computers.

This system is also meant for the general user i.e. employees
of the store. Nowadays the Internet is almost familiar to
everyone. So, it is not difficult for the user to use the
system, in fact they feel comfortable in using this system.
Most of the employees are familiar with the web browser and
the process of booking the auditorium will be simplified for
the employees. The organization is definitely ready to welcome
the computerized system.

3.3.4 Legal feasibility:-

 Use licensed software (tools) with appropriate permission.

 Use self developed softwares.

3.3.5 Technical Feasibility :-

The technical issues usually raised during the feasibility
stage of investigation are:

 Does the necessary technology is exists to what is

suggested ?
 Does the purposed equipment have the technical
capacity to hold the data required to use the new
system ?
 Will the purposed system will provide adequate
responses, regardless the number of user ?
 Can the system be expended if developed ?
3.3.6 Schedule feasibility :-
The given inventory system must be developed in a certain
pre-decided time slab so as to successfully complete the
automation.

Any system development project must be completed under a

suitable time frame. Schedule feasibility is undertaking the
project development including development of various modules
and subsystems and completing them in a definate period.

Time value of money states that a dollar today is more

valuable than dollar tomorrow. Various techniques are used to
evaluate whether the progress of various subsystems is on
schedule or not.

3.4 REQUIREMENT ANALYSIS :-

A store like easyday is basically an inventory control system
which maintain the count of different products available in
the store, the count of products in the godowns/reserve, the
season and most importantly the RDS(rate of sale).

Whenever a product is sold , the database is automatically

updated with number of goods sold and number of good available
in the store.

The goods are replenished by two method:-

1. Manual replenishment: the replenishment by the decision

of store management(as updated by the database) Fresh
products like vegetables and fruits are always
replenished manually . In a particular day /festival
period if sale of particular product increases and
chances are that this hike in sale is just for few days
then they are manually replenished . In such cases it
depend on decision or judgement of a manager .
2. Automatic replenishment: All other product are
automatically replenished with the help of automated
system which tells what to replenish and in what
magnitude.
 For e.g. sale of cold drinks during summer the database
automatic updates replenishment counter automatically .
For products approaching expiry date they put on sale
with a discount of 15-30% so as to speed up their sale in
last week of expiry period.

3.5 TABLES

There are three tables in this project.

3.5.1 ITEM DETAIL TABLE

It contains information about item like item name, minimum
quantity in stock, maximum quantity, and reorder status etc.

A. Item code: - It represents the code to identify an item. It

helps to search the item
in the stock according to requirement.

B. Item name: - This field shows the name of item.

C. Minimum quantity in stock: - This field helps to know the

min-qty in stock.

D. Max quantity: - This field shows max quantity in stock.

E. Reorder status: - This field shows reorder status when

quantity goes below to
minimum quantity in stock.

3.5.2 Purchase Order Table

This table contains the information about the purchase order

like vender code, order code,supplier name, supplier address,
order date, item code, item name, quantity, deliver time
etc.

Vender code: - This field determine the code of vender.

Order code :-It determines the code of the order that has been
ordered by the customer.

Supplier address: - This field helps to know the address of

the supplier.

Order date: - This field shows the date of the order.

Item code: - It determines the code of the item.

Item name: - It contains the name of the item.

Quantity: - It specifies the quantity of the order.

Delivery time: - It shows the time of the deliver.

3.5.3 Selling bill table

This table contains information about order that are given by

the customer, customer name, customer’s address, unit price,
amount and total amount etc.

Customer name: - This field determines the name of the

customer.

Customer address: - It determines the address of the customer.

Unit price: - It shows the price per item.

Amount: - it determines the amount per item.

Total Amount: - This field shows the total amount of the item
that has been purchase by
the customer.
4. Software Engineering paradigm
The basic popular models are as follows:

A) System Development Life Cycle (SDLC) Model

B) Prototyping Model
C) Rapid Application Development Model
D) Component Assembly Model

4.1 WATERFALL OR SDLC Model:-

We shall be adopting SDLC or Waterfall technique in our
project

The waterfall model is a sequential software development

process, in which progress is seen as flowing steadily
downwards (like a waterfall) through the phases of
Conception, Initiation, Analysis, Design (validation),
Construction, Testing and Maintenance.

The waterfall development model has its origins in the

manufacturing and construction industries; highly
structured physical environments in which after-the-fact
changes are prohibitively costly, if not impossible.
Since no formal software development methodologies
existed at the time, this hardware-oriented model was
simply adapted for software development.
 Fig 2.

The S.D.L.C model has the following activities.

1. Preliminary Investigation
2. Software Requirements Analysis
3. Systems Analysis and Design
4. Code Generation
5. Testing
6. Maintenance
 FIG 3

4.1.1. Preliminary Investigation

As software development is large process so work begins by

establishing requirements for all system elements and then
allocating some subset of these requirements to software. The
view of this system is necessary when software must interface
with other elements such as hardware, people and other
resources. System is the very essential requirement for the
existence of software in any entity. In some cases for maximum
output, the system should be re-engineered and spruced up.
Once the ideal system is designed according to requirement,
the development team studies the software requirement for the
system.

4.1.2 Software Requirement Analysis

Software Requirement Analysis is also known as feasibility
study. In this requirement analysis phase, the development
team visits the customer and studies their system requirement.
They examine the need for possible software automation in the
given software system. After feasibility study, the
development team provides a document that holds the different
specific recommendations for the candidate system. It also
consists of personnel assignments, costs of the system,
project schedule and target dates.
The requirements analysis and information gathering process is
intensified and focused specially on software. To understand
what type of the programs to be built, the system analyst must
study the information domain for the software as well as
understand required function, behavior, performance and
interfacing. The main purpose of requirement analysis phase is
to find the need and to define the problem that needs to be
solved.

4.1.3 System Analysis and Design

In System Analysis and Design phase, the whole software
development process, the overall software structure and its
outlay are defined. In case of the client/server processing
technology, the number of tiers required for the package
architecture, the database design, the data structure design
etc are all defined in this phase. After designing part a
software development model is created. Analysis and Design are
very important in the whole development cycle process. Any
fault in the design phase could be very expensive to solve in
the software development process. In this phase, the logical
system of the product is developed.

4.1.4 Code Generation

In Code Generation phase, the design must be decoded into a
machine-readable form. If the design of software product is
done in a detailed manner, code generation can be achieved
without much complication. For generation of code, Programming
tools like Compilers, Interpreters, and Debuggers are used.
For coding purpose different high level programming languages
like C, C++, Pascal and Java are used. The right programming
language is chosen according to the type of application.

4.1.5 Testing
After code generation phase the software program testing
begins. Different testing methods are available to detect the
bugs that were committed during the previous phases. A number
of testing tools and methods are already available for testing
purpose.
4.1.6 Maintenance
Software will definitely go through change once when it is
delivered to the customer. There are large numbers of reasons
for the change. Change could happen due to some unpredicted
input values into the system. In addition to this the changes
in the system directly have an effect on the software
operations. The software should be implemented to accommodate
changes that could be happen during the post development
period.
5. SOFTWARE / HARDWARE SPECIFICATION REQUIREMENTS
5.1 Hardware Requirement:
The following are the minimum requirements:-
 Processor: - Intel Pentium III 833MHz
 RAM: - 128 SD-RAM.
 Hard Disk: -20 GB or above.
 Monitor: - 14” VGA.
 Mouse.
 Printer: - For print report or Bill.
 Floppy Disk Drive: - 1.44MB.

5.2 Software Requirement:

 Operating system: - Windows 98/2002/NT.,or higher.

 Front End: - Visual Basic 6.0.(Professional Edition.)
 Back end: - MS. Access.

6. Design
6.1 Presentation Diagram:-

FIG 4
6.2 Data Flow Diagram (D.F.D.)
The Data Flow Diagram shows the flow of data or information. It can be partitioned into
single processes or functions. Data Flow Diagrams can be grouped together or decomposed into
multiple processes.

The DFD is an excellent communication tool for analysts to

model processes and functional requirements. Used
effectively, it is a useful and easy to understand modeling
tool. It has broad application and usability across most
software development projects. It is easily integrated with
data modeling, workflow modeling tools, and textual specs.
Together with these, it provides analysts and developers
with solid models and specs. Alone, however, it has limited
usability. It is simple and easy to understand by users and
can be easily extended and refined with further
specification into a physical version for the design and
development teams.

Data Flows
DFDs show the flow of data from external entities
into the system, showed how the data moved from one process to
another, as well as its logical storage. There are only four
symbols:

1. Squares representing external entities, which are sources

or destinations of data.
2. Rounded rectangles representing processes, which take
data as input, do something to it, and output it.
3. Arrows representing the data flows, which can either, be
electronic data or physical items.
4. Open-ended rectangles representing data stores
Level 0
This is a level 0 data flow diagram also referred to as the
Context Diagram .

FIG. 5
Level 1
ER DIAGRAM
7. Testing:
The aim of testing process is to identify all defects in
a software product. Testing is any activity aimed at
evaluating the software for quality results it produces
and the quality of results it can handle. Testing is an
operation to detect the differences between the expected
(required) result and the actual result.

Testing a program consists of subjecting the program to a

test inputs or test cases and observing if the program
behaves as expected. If the program fails to behave as
expected, then the condition under which failures occurs
are noted for later debugging and correction. There are
many stages of testing depending on the complexity of the
software.
7.1 Levels of Testing:

The basic levels of testing are:-

1. Unit Testing.
2. System Testing

The levels of resting attempt to detect different types of

faults. The relation of faults introduces in different phases
and the different levels of testing are shown.

Employee Acceptance Testing

Requirements System Testing

Design Integration Testing

Code Unit Testing

7.1.1 UNIT TESTING:

Unit testing has been under taken when a module has been
coded and successfully reviewed. Unit testing is the
testing of different units or modules of system in
isolation. It is programmer’s responsibility to think of
 the advantage of doing unit testing before integration
testing is that it makes debugging easier. If an error is
detected when a module is being tested along with several
modules, it would be difficult to determine which module
exactly has an error.

In the current system “Inventory Control System”, unit

testing has been exclusively done after finising every
module.

7.1.2 SYSTEM TESTING:

System testing is actually a series of different test

whose primary purpose is to exercise the computer based
system, all work to verify that system elements have been
properly integrated and performed allocated function.

Its focus is to prove that the completed system does what

it should. This test is conducted in a formal manner. The
testers use scenario-based system test scripts that have
predicted outputs. The test results are recorded in
structured test logs. The structured test logs and
scripts drive the system testing process.

System testing activities are intended to prove that the

system meets its objectives. Testing proves that the
system meets its requirements. This is not entirely true
unless one considers acceptance testing as a type of a
system testing because the purpose of acceptance testing
is to demonstrate that the system meets the user
requirement. Acceptance testing is validation process.
System testing in the strictest sense is a verification
 process. Regardless of whether it represents verification
or validation. System testing represents an external view
of the system.

This is true because requirements represents the eventual

system user’s of the system (an external view). User do
not understand nor do they care about how the system
works as long as it is usable. System testing should be
approached from this perspective.

As far as the proposed “Inventory Control System” is

concerned it meets this requirement.

7.2 Testing Conclusion

Testing is an essential stage of the software development
life cycle. If is performed properly by following an
organization’s standards the end result will be more
robust programs going to the system integration testing
and finally a system with low maintenance. Proper coding
and unit testing are basic steps to ensure that the
system being built will work once it is put together.
8. SYSTEM IMPLEMENTATION:

Once the system was tested, the implementation phase

started. The term implementation has different meanings,
ranging from the conversion of a basic application to a
complete replacement of a computer system. Implementation
is the process of converting a new or a revised system
design into an operational one.

Implementation includes the activities that take place to

convert the older system to the newer one. The new system
may be totally new or replacing an existing system. In
either case, proper implementation is essential to
provide a reliable system to meet organizational
requirements. System implementation describes how the
different parts of the system are interacting with each
other to give us a feasible software solution.

The proposed system “Inventory Control System” is not

fully implemented as development of some modules are not
completed. It will be implemented after the completion of
other modules.
8.1 Implementation Conclusion

The Authority of the General Stores will be also

benefited by the proposed system, as it will automate the
whole issuing procedure, which will reduce the workload
for the Authority.

Since every system has some limitations, so the

proposed system is also not untouchable in this regard.
Although it includes many features but still it would not
be sufficient as the user requirements are not always
same. The change in the requirements will need some
changes in the system to fulfill the requirements. The
security of the system will be one of the prime concerns
once it will be made online.
10. Conclusion
The “Inventory Control System” on General Store will help
the store owner to keep a record of all the sale-purchase
related activities in the shop .
This shall also be beneficial to the customers as it
shall provide them with the best service possible .
The store employees will be benefitted by its accuracy
and stock details.

The Authority of the General Stores will be also

benefited by the proposed system, as it will automate the
whole issuing procedure, which wil reduce the workload
for the Authority.

Since every system has some limitations, so the proposed

system is also not untouchable in this regard. Although
it includes many features but still it would not be
sufficient as the user requirements are not always same.
The change in the requirements will need some changes in
the system to full fill the requirements.