Restaurant Inventory Management System Report - Essay Example

Restaurant Inventory Management System Report EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This report scrutinizes the application of an inventory management system in a restaurant setup. The restaurant used for appraisal is operational seven days per week, serving complete course meals during lunchtime at fixed prices. During overnights and evenings, the restaurant serves a normal menu which excludes any set prices for full course meals. In this report, the elements of an inventory management system are examined to determine how well the inventory management system (IMS) would work in the restaurant environment. These include; total quality management (TQM), product and process design, design flow, vendor management, and waste elimination. This report is based on existing observable evidence in the use of inventory systems in restaurants, and the resulting impact these systems have in improving efficiency. The conclusion made is that implementing this restaurant management system in this restaurant is feasible, but in order to realize the intended benefits employee training will most likely be required. Otherwise, improper use of the system may lead to incorrect inventory management and subsequent order placing. TABLE OF CONTENTS Executive Summary ………………………………………………………………1 Introduction ………………………………………………………………2 Outcomes and Analysis ………………………………………………………………3 Advantages and Disadvantages of IMS ……………………………………………….3 Project Plan …………………………………………………………..5 Software Design …………………………………………………………..6 Conclusion …………………………………………………………..10 References …………………………………………………………...11 INTRODUCTION The inventory management system is a software program used to sustain, collect and track inventory from the instant it reaches the retail setup (the restaurant in this case) to the point of sale. The accuracy and efficiency of inventory management has been enhanced by computerization of the whole process. This allows for the business organization to obtain information on the sale levels of the individual products, and to determine the ideal interval for replenishing the stock after predefined stock levels are reached. Trail Stock Levels. Inventory management systems make it possible to tell the amount of stock that a business is left with after sales within a given period, and can start orders for items that are low in stock based on the level of currently stocked items. The advantage brought about by the efficiency of inventory management software is the ability to maintain stock at suitable levels, and in so doing maintain customer loyalty because repeat customers only frequent places where they can find the products they want. The inventory management system can be of great importance in the event of a sale's promotion, as it can detect items that are over-stocked, and that can be included in the promotion. In the event that the promotion breeds demand the products, the system can initiate and modify the product orders to match the demand. Inventory and Sales Reporting. Inventory management systems use merchandise movement reports to facilitate the location of revenues produced by the sale of specific products within a given time frame. From these reports, one can identify the undersold stock as well as make sales forecasts built on past performances. This helps the business in planning for the future as it can make decisions on how to continue stocking its inventory based on these reports. OUTCOMES AND ANALYSIS This report explores three areas of scrutiny. These include: 1. What are the potential advantages and disadvantages of an inventory management system? 2. How can the inventory management system be created for adopted by the restaurant? 3. What will be the design and structure of the software? Each of these topics is explained in detail below. ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF IMS Speed and Efficiency. A computerized inventory management system makes grueling tasks such as keeping an accurate products count, and entering information much easier. A computerized inventory management system can accomplish in a few hours what would take a manual inventory count many days to complete an equivalent process. Document Generation. A fully functioning computerized inventory management system can automatically create purchase orders, account statements and other documents that are relevant to the management of a restaurant’s inventory. In addition to this, managers can automatically order for products that run low using the system. Timely Data. In the case of a manual system, the accuracy of the data is dependent on the last hand count done to update the system. Computerized inventory management systems, on the other hand, enable the management to pull reports which show the current stock levels, the quantity of products sold, and the speed at which they are sold. Reliance on Technology. The use of computerized inventory management systems has the implication of the business relying heavily on technology. External factors such as loss of network connectivity or power failure end up having huge impacts on the system as they temporarily stop the normal functioning of these systems. Accuracy Issues. The automation of an inventory system does not necessarily guarantee accuracy as the validity of inventory data is contingent on the entry data. This, therefore, necessitates the need for control measures to validate the data and verify the numbers reported by the system. A target audit may be required in business organizations that implement computerized inventory systems to certify the integrity of the system. Risk of Fraud. The risk of intrusion is a real possibility in any computerized system. In light of this, the chance of fraud happening in computerized inventory management systems is of equal risk. The system could be hacked by a dishonest vendor to fake payments for goods not delivered, or by an insincere employee to embezzle some of the money paid out to the business. PROJECT PLAN The primary focus of the project was to craft a functional central inventory management system that serves as the terminal for generating reports, taking orders, and effecting changes to menu items. Project planning was carried out in order to define the scope of the project, estimate and schedule project activities, assess the risks, and in so doing build the groundwork for the monitoring, execution, and control of the project. The act of creating and deleting orders is known as order management. This includes the addition and removal of articles from an existing order and closing the orders. Computing the total sales requires that the orders, which are used for calculation, ought to be stored in the database. The scope of inventory management includes adding new items, deleting existing items, and updating products and resources. The software should be multi-functional with the ability to add, edit and remove menu items from the menu item database. The prerequisite for items that can be ordered is that they should have the ability to be included and deleted from an order. The servers are required to support order-taking functions as well as keep an inventory. Managers should have the privilege of being able to edit item information and generate reports, such as sales reports which should indicate the sales volume by food classification and the aggregate sales since the beginning of the day. The software created should be simple, intuitive, and with a consistent performance. These objectives can be met through the use of easy-to-navigate menus with easy-to-find user interface components. SOFTWARE DESIGN Software design is not always rational and for this reason it takes practice and experience to become really good at it. This project was done using both the subsystem and architectural design styles. The major software subsystems, their interrelationships, and their dependencies among each other are defined by the software architecture. The vocabularies for different architecture classes are defined by architectural styles, and the styles used in the restaurant inventory management system were the shared repository style, and the 3-tier architectural style. Figure 1: Shared Repository Architecture Figure 2: Layered 3-Tier Architecture Figure 1 demonstrates the shared repository architectural style. In the design, there are four key subsystems interacting with a shared data store. While this is a model design for applications that are data driven, and share a mutual database schema, it restricts the progression of the data base in addition to the data formats on the individual subsystems. Figure 2 shows an example of layered architecture. The following are some sample codes from the inventory management program. Array List Code import java.util.ArrayList; public class Order { public static int orderCount = 1; int orderId; double totalAmount; ArrayList lines; public ArrayList getLines() { return lines; } public void setLines(ArrayList lines) { this.lines = lines; } public Order() { lines = new ArrayList(); totalAmount = 0; orderCount++; orderId = orderCount+1; } public int getOrderId() { return orderId; } public void setOrderId(int orderId) { this.orderId = orderId; } public double getTotalAmount() { return totalAmount; } public void setTotalAmount(double totalAmount) { this.totalAmount = totalAmount; } public void addLine(OrderItem line) { lines.add(line); } public double calculateTotalAmount() { totalAmount = 0; for(OrderItem line:lines) { totalAmount+=line.getQuantity()*line.getPrice(); } return totalAmount; } } Order Item Class public class OrderItem { Product product; int quantity; double price; public OrderItem(Product p) { product = p; quantity = 1; price = product.getUnitPrice(); } public Product getProduct() { return product; } public void setProduct(Product product) { this.product = product; } public int getQuantity() { return quantity; } public void setQuantity(int quantity) { this.quantity = quantity; } public double getPrice() { return price; } public void setPrice(double price) { this.price = price; } public String toString() { String str= String.format("%-14s%-6d%-6.2f%6.2f", product.getName(),quantity,product.getUnitPrice(),price); return str; } } CONCLUSION The idea behind the restaurant inventory management system is to improve work place effectiveness and to increase the profit margin of the restaurant owners by affording better service. The result of implementing the software in the restaurant is a simplified inventory procedure and a decrease in the costs related to the restaurant. Proper data input when defining inventory is crucial as a human error at this stage could impact the business negatively thus translating to huge losses. This therefore places the management of the restaurant with the responsibility to assure that data audit is done on the input data to verify that it is accurate. This follows the ‘garbage in garbage out’ principle in computers where computer errors are analogous to human error. To end with, for an inventory management system to work efficiently, all constituent elements must work in harmony with each other, and complementing each other. This report found that appropriately assigning each employee in the restaurant with access levels relevant to their job description was vital to the security and usability of the system. Works Cited Bass, Len, Paul Clements, and Rick Kazman. Software architecture in practice. Addison-Wesley, 2012. Ozer, Ozalp. "Inventory management: Information, coordination, and rationality."Planning Production and Inventories in the Extended Enterprise. Springer US, 2011. 321-365. Read More