Introduction

The purpose of this coursework is to allow candidates to demonstrate their ability to undertake a complex piece of work, which is a computer based solution to a significant problem, and to complete the solution and present their results. I have chosen to conduct this coursework on a well-known local super market chain buy-alot because they supply and retail a number of every day products but use the traditional method of pen on paper to record their stocks and billing. Due to a recent fire the business has lost all their previous records and is looking for an appropriate solution that is easy to use and maintain. By conducting this coursework I hope to achieve a better understanding of how databases help people record and maintain information in a proper manner, how they work and the process that goes into the design and implementation of such a system. The software that has been chosen to design the program is Microsoft Office Access 2010 as it offers complex tools in an easy to learn and user friendly environment.

GCE O level Coursework-Computer Studies-2014 Automatic Stock Control and Billing

Hassan Zayan Azzam MV000

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I: Analysis
1.1 Description of the Problem
The Background of the Company
Buy-a-lot super market began as a small shop that bought in staple foods in 1992. But since then they have grown into one of the largest supermarket in Male. Today they employ nearly a hundred employees and sell hundreds of products. In 2012 the company underwent a complete takeover by a new management. Upon the start of operations by the new management they had noticed that the system of stock control and billing, the company had been using had been severely outdated. The company had been keeping all their inventory records, Orders, Sales and Bank Statements in a massive collection of files and papers in huge cabinets. But unfortunately a few months ago due to a fire in the office building the company had lost all of its previous records. The new management has decided to start fresh and install a new computerized system which will assist them in the day to day business. The management aims to directly implement the new system when the supermarket reopens after a major renovation. They have appointed Mr. Ahmed Manik to oversee the development of the new system.

Nature of the problem to be solved

Due to the fire the previous system that the company used was destroyed but the company notes the following problems. 1. Difficulty in creating new records: Previously the staff had to fill out huge forms every time new stock arrived or new sales were made. Due to the nature of the business this had to be done very often. 2. Difficulty in amending records: Whenever any information had to be amended the company found it especially difficult as they had to cut the wrong information and find space in the forms to re-write them. 3. Large storage space required: The nature of the business requires it to keep thousands of records every day and due to the previous system that had been in use, this required lots of space so the business had to rent an office where all the records were kept. 4. Time Consuming: Because the company staff had to fill out forms for every business transaction they made took lots of time. Searching for specific documents were even more time consuming as they had to go through thousands of documents.

GCE O level Coursework-Computer Studies-2014 Automatic Stock Control and Billing

Hassan Zayan Azzam MV000

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5. Extra staff required to maintain records: The Company had to hire extra staff in order to maintain and organize all of its records.

1.2 Objectives
General Business Terms:
1. To make the process of buying and selling faster as it would be much more convenient to the customers. 2. Reduce costs by not having to recruit additional staff to maintain records and not having to rent a separate office space. 3. Increase productivity of workers. 4. Create a paperless work environment 5. To be able to find out customer shopping habits and from which areas do most customers come from.

Computer Related Terms:

1. To be able to create, edit, delete or add to an record easily without taking up much time or resources 2. Being able to sort and find specified information with a click of the mouse. 3. The ability to be notified when current stock levels are low and new stock must be ordered. 4. To have a database of customers, products, orders, and sales readily available at any given time.

GCE O level Coursework-Computer Studies-2014 Automatic Stock Control and Billing

Hassan Zayan Azzam MV000

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1.3 Description of Existing Solution

Data Collection: The following are the forms that the business uses
to capture data.
Tax Invoice: Document issued by the seller when a sale is made that shows the price of a sale, what is sold and indicates whether it includes GST and shows the amount of GST.

GST TOTAL

GCE O level Coursework-Computer Studies-2014 Automatic Stock Control and Billing

Hassan Zayan Azzam MV000

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Purchase Order: A commercial document and the first official offer issued by a buyer to a seller, indicating types, quantities, and agreed prices for products or services. Acceptance of a purchase order by a seller forms a contract between the buyer and the seller.

GCE O level Coursework-Computer Studies-2014 Automatic Stock Control and Billing

Hassan Zayan Azzam MV000

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Goods Received Note: Record of goods received at the point of receipt. This is used to confirm all goods have been received and often compared to a purchase order before payment is issued.

GCE O level Coursework-Computer Studies-2014 Automatic Stock Control and Billing

Hassan Zayan Azzam MV000

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Input and Storage: The following shows samples of the registers used by the business

Purchase Order Register: Contains an index of all the purchase order numbers, the suppliers ID, date of transaction and amount.

GCE O level Coursework-Computer Studies-2014 Automatic Stock Control and Billing

Hassan Zayan Azzam MV000

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Tax Invoice Register: It is an index of tax invoices numbers, customer IDs, amounts and dates of all carried out transactions transaction.

GCE O level Coursework-Computer Studies-2014 Automatic Stock Control and Billing

Hassan Zayan Azzam MV000

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Inventory Register: Keeps record of how much of a commodity is available at the given time.

GCE O level Coursework-Computer Studies-2014 Automatic Stock Control and Billing

Hassan Zayan Azzam MV000

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Customer Register: Provides business with an index of customers by listing their customer ID, name, Contact information and address.

GCE O level Coursework-Computer Studies-2014 Automatic Stock Control and Billing

Hassan Zayan Azzam MV000

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Employee Register: Lists the unique ID given to each employee along with their name, job title, contact information and address.

GCE O level Coursework-Computer Studies-2014 Automatic Stock Control and Billing

Hassan Zayan Azzam MV000

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Supplier Register: Contains an index of all suppliers to the business. This register includes information about Supplier ID, their name, contact info, and address.

GCE O level Coursework-Computer Studies-2014 Automatic Stock Control and Billing

Hassan Zayan Azzam MV000

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 The information copied into these registers are verified only by visually checking the information. Information are copied onto these registers manually, this causes many errors and problems such as, repeated entries, miss-spellings, wrong amounts being entered and records being left out.

Processing
Formulas used: As the current system consists of manually writing and copying information into records no formulas are used in the process. Type of processing used and its suitability: Due to the nature of the business, they collect massive amounts of data every day thus, real-time processing is not possible. Data are processed in batches during the weekends when the shops are closed. This method is seen as most suitable because if the business were to process the data in real time it would slow them down and will cost more to recruit extra employees to process the data. Also if the business were to use real time processing it would greatly increase the amount of errors in their records.

GCE O level Coursework-Computer Studies-2014 Automatic Stock Control and Billing

Hassan Zayan Azzam MV000

pg. 13 of 450 Date of printing

Output: The following are sample copies of reports that are made and used
by the business in the existing system.

GCE O level Coursework-Computer Studies-2014 Automatic Stock Control and Billing

Hassan Zayan Azzam MV000

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Hassan Zayan Azzam MV000

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These reports allow the managers of the business to be presented with valuable information that is required to make important business decisions, as well as providing stake holders, information about the performance of the business. Just like all the other forms and registers used by the business these reports are filled in by hand. This gives way for many types of problems to arise during the process such as spelling mistakes, duplicate entries, missing entries and wrong information. The method used to make reports takes long amounts of time as employees have to refer to large amounts of records to complete the reports.

Miscellaneous
Methods of security used: o Records are kept in a separate office building that is only accessible by administrative staff. o All modifications to records are authorized by person in charge. User friendliness of the system: As the previous system requires employees to spend lots of time searching for documents and writing records, it is considered extremely unfriendly to the user.

1.4 Evaluation of Existing Solution

The current system presents the business with more flaws than

GCE O level Coursework-Computer Studies-2014 Automatic Stock Control and Billing

Hassan Zayan Azzam MV000

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