Week 2 Assignment 1: Inventory Management Systems
XXXXX
CIS 210: System Analysis and Development
Professor XXXX
January 18, 2015
Week 2 Assignment 1: Inventory Management Systems After our recent conversation during last week’s dinner, I have decided to help me sister. My sister owns a small clothing store not to far from her home. During that dinner we had last week, she mentioned to me that she was struggling to manually track and reorder high demand items. I suggested to her that could help build an automated system to assist her at her shop that was also very affordable. In this paper, I would to purpose all the necessary equipment needed. Also, explain the costs involved in the creation of the system. Then describe the ongoing maintenance that will be involved to keep the system running smoothly. Lastly, I have created a diagram that will visually display how this system works. To start using an automated system there are a few necessary pieces of equipment that are required. For starters, labeling your items with a bar code. Though there are two major categories of bar codes, either will work. My sister runs a clothes store so she wouldn’t be able to slap a bar code on the clothes themselves, using a small tag on the clothes with the bar code on it will help. Once each item has its own bar code, you need bar-code scanners. Just as bar codes themselves, there are two different kinds of scanners that can be used. Due to my sister being on a budget, using CCD or charged coupled devices would be best due to their lower cost. (Piasecki, 2012) Without a computer system and specialize software, bar codes and CCD don’t do much for you. There are many different point-of –sale systems and it is very important to choose the right one. A typical point-of-sale system includes a terminal, monitor, bar-code scanner, cash drawer, card reader, keyboard, mouse, receipt printer and retail software. That is the complete package needed to operate a point-of-sale system. There are many different point-of-sale system software out there for purchase. Skimping on this section could cost you in the long run. For my sister’s business I recommend, AccuPOS. They have achieved a Gold medal award for its advanced account capabilities. Another great feature other than its reliability is that it can run on your own hardware. Making this more cost effective for my sister. (Brooks, 2013) Understanding that my sister is in need of a low cost budget, the items to set up the automated system have been selected with that in mind. Every product I have chosen is discounted but still have great value. Starting with creating bar labels for her products to using CCD over other competitors. Also due to her store being small she does not need an elaborate point-of-sale system. That allows her to use just the hardware she has to keep the system up and running. By choosing AccuPOS, that allows her to have great software on her hardware. This keeps costs way down as well. Once, the automated system is established you need to maintain it. Maintenance can come in many forms for an automated system. One would to be sure that the hardware is cleaned and in tiptop shape. Another would be to make sure that our products are label and serialized correctly. On the software side of things, we need to make sure that the software stays up to date. Setting up automatic updates can easily accomplish this task. That way the system is updating when ever there is a new update available. Of course, we would not want to do this during business hours because updates can sometimes be lengthy. Making sure both the security software and the point-of-sales system software are up to date helps ensure the software will be stable. The best part about all the maintenance that is required is that it is very cost effective. Most the updating is self automated or something that you do on a regular days worth of house cleaning. I give