Creating a Low-Cost Automated Inventory System: A Business Plan

This report presents a comprehensive plan for developing a low-cost automated inventory management system tailored for a clothing store. The system is designed to address the owner's need for efficient product tracking and reordering, currently managed manually. The report outlines the necessary equipment, including laptops and software like Visual Studio and Microsoft Server Database. It details the costs involved, covering salaries for developers, equipment purchases, and supplier charges. The ongoing maintenance requirements are also discussed, emphasizing the need for a system administrator, database administrator, regular security updates, and hardware maintenance. A workflow diagram illustrates the system's operational processes, and a project schedule provides a timeline for implementation. The report concludes by highlighting the benefits of the automated system, such as improved response times and streamlined business procedures. The project will be developed using C# programming language and Microsoft Server Database Tool for data storage.

Running head: INVENTORY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
Inventory management system
Name of the Student:
Name of the professor:
Course Title:
Course Date:

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INVENTORY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................2
Background................................................................................................................................2
Necessary equipment’s...............................................................................................................2
Cost involved with the creation of the system...........................................................................4
Ongoing maintenance for the system.........................................................................................6
Workflow Diagram....................................................................................................................6
Schedule of the project...............................................................................................................9
Conclusion................................................................................................................................11
Bibliography.............................................................................................................................13

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INVENTORY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
Introduction
Inventory systems are very important for any type of organization in any field of work
as it helps them is creating an efficient business tool and implements a storage method. The
report deals with such a case where the owner of the business requires an inventory system
that would help the owner in management of the products of the system efficiently and
handle their orders accordingly.
The major details for the implementation of the system is provides in this report. The
information about the background of the case, the necessary equipment’s required for the
development of the system, maintenance of the system and a schedule for this project is
provided in this report.
Background
This case revolves around my sister who owns a clothing store. Currently the
procedures in the store are generally tracked manually and the this very frustrating for the
owner and hence, I have been sought after to create a system that would help the owner of
shop to handle the system efficiently and make the business procedures easier for the
organization and the owners of the organization. In addition to this, system would also
improve the response rate for the organization and make the procedures efficient for the
customers. However, the budget of the project is kept as minimal as possible. It has been
decided that that the project is to be developed using the C# programming and the Microsoft
Server Database Tool has been used for the storage of data for the inventory.
Necessary equipment’s
The equipment that are necessary for the development of the project are 4 laptops the
software that requires installation in the machines. The latest version of Visual Studio has to

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INVENTORY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
be purchased and installed in the machines of the users or the developer who would be
developing the system. The detailed information about the cost and requirements for the
implementation of the inventory system is provided below:
Resource
Name
Type
Materia
l Label
Initial
s
Grou
p
Max.
Units
Std. Rate
Ovt.
Rate
Cost/
Use
Accrue
At
Base
Calenda
r
Hardware
Materia
l
H
$10,000.0
0
$0.00
Prorate
d
Software
Materia
l
S
$10,500.0
0
$0.00
Prorate
d
project
manager
Work P
100
%
$0.00/hr
$0.00/
hr
$0.00
Prorate
d
Standar
d
front end
developer
Work F
100
%
$40.00/hr
$0.00/
hr
$0.00
Prorate
d
Standar
d
back end
developer
Work B
100
%
$40.00/hr
$0.00/
hr
$0.00
Prorate
d
Standar
d
database
administrato
r
Work D
100
%
$35.00/hr
$0.00/
hr
$0.00
Prorate
d
Standar
d
system
developer
Work S
100
%
$50.00/hr
$0.00/
hr
$0.00
Prorate
d
Standar
d

4
INVENTORY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
Supplier Work S
100
%
$50.00/hr
$0.00/
hr
$0.00
Prorate
d
Standar
d
Cost involved with the creation of the system
The project has been created in as much minimal cost as possible. However, there are
minimal requirements of the project that have to completed, and the budget is formulated
accordingly. The total budget and the cost involved with the system has been described
below:
Project Budget for the Clothing Store
Expenses
Salaries Description Per hour Cost Total
System Developer 78 50 $3,900
Front End Developer 61 40 $2,440
Backend Developer 61 40 $2,440
Database Administrator 60 45 $2,700
Sub - total Salaries $11,480
Equipment Description Quantity Cost Total

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INVENTORY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
Laptops cost per machine/per person 4 2500 $10,000
Visual Studio front end 1 2000 $2,000
Microsoft Server back end 1 4000 $4,000
Microsoft Database database 2 1250 $2,500
Other 3 2000 $6,000
Sub-total Travel $24,500
Supplies Description Quantity Cost Total
Supplier Charge 12 50 $600
Maintenance 10 100 $1,000
Sub-total Supplies $1,600
Total Expenses $37,580
Income
Program Income Description Quantity Cost Total
Department Budget Cloths 30 200 $6,000
Sales Clothing Sales 75 400 $30,000
In-kind contributions goods/services donated 1 10000 $10,000

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INVENTORY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
Grants/Sponsorships/RFP's $0
Other revenue from partnership $0
Total Income $46,000
Net Income Income-Expenses $8,420
Ongoing maintenance for the system
For the maintenance of the system developer would be appointed as the system
administrator and the database administrator would have to be appointed for the maintenance
of the system. The system is to update on a half yearly basis and in addition to this, the
security of system would be depending on the handling of the system and disclosing
passwords outside the organization might hamper the security of the system and also make it
difficult for the administrator to handle and maintain the data integrity of the system. In
addition to this, all the access granting ability and the ability to grant access to the data of the
system should remain only with the administrator. Additionally, the database rights should
only remain with the database administrator. Regular updates for the security tools installed
in the system should also be done to keep up with the security of the system for the
organization. The maintenance of the hardware should also be done so that the machines
which are used by the organization are lag free and provide a perfect response time for the
customers throughout the year.

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INVENTORY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
Workflow Diagram
Workflow diagrams are very efficient in defining the flow of actions of the
organizational procedures of the company and the clothes store in this case for our report.
The workflow diagram for the inventory management system of the clothing shop is provided
below:

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INVENTORY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

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INVENTORY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
Schedule of the project
The project is to be completed in around 40 days and within a total budget of
$37,580.00. Within these constrains the project plan is to be implemented. The schedule of
the project is given below and the project planning is to be according to the schedule of the
project provided below:
Task Name Duration Start Finish Predecessors Resource Names Cost
Clothing Store
Inventory
40 days
Fri
13-07-
18
Thu
06-09-
18
$37,580.00
Project Initiation 4 days
Fri
13-07-
18
Wed
18-07-
18
$400.00
Analysis of the
System
1 day
Fri
13-07-
18
Fri 13-
07-18
project manager $0.00
Identification
of the System
Requirements
1 day
Mon
16-07-
18
Mon
16-07-
18
3
project manager,
system developer
$400.00
Composing the
project team
2 days
Tue
17-07-
18
Wed
18-07-
18
4 project manager $0.00
Project Deisgn 6 days Thu
19-07-
Thu
26-07-
$22,420.00

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INVENTORY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
18 18
Planning the
Project
2 days
Thu
19-07-
18
Fri 20-
07-18
5 project manager $0.00
Procurement of
the Hardware and
Software
3 days
Mon
23-07-
18
Wed
25-07-
18
7
hardware[1],project
manager,
software[1],supplier
$21,700.00
Setting up the
Software
1 day
Thu
26-07-
18
Thu
26-07-
18
8
front end developer,
project manager,
system developer
$720.00
Project
Implementation
24 days
Fri
27-07-
18
Wed
29-08-
18
$11,400.00
Front end
Design
7 days
Fri
27-07-
18
Mon
06-08-
18
9 front end developer $2,240.00
database design 7 days
Tue
07-08-
18
Wed
15-08-
18
11
database
administrator
$1,960.00
back end
integration
10 days
Thu
16-08-
18
Wed
29-08-
18
12
back end developer,
system developer
$7,200.00

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INVENTORY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
Project Delivery 6 days
Thu
30-08-
18
Thu
06-09-
18
$3,360.00
Inventory
System Installation
3 days
Thu
30-08-
18
Mon
03-09-
18
13
project manager,
system developer
$1,200.00
Submitting
deliverables
1 day
Tue
04-09-
18
Tue 04-
09-18
15 project manager $0.00
Maintenance 2 days
Wed
05-09-
18
Thu
06-09-
18
$2,160.00
Setup
Maintenance
2 days
Wed
05-09-
18
Thu
06-09-
18
16
database
administrator,
project manager,
supplier, system
developer
$2,160.00
Conclusion
For conclusion it can be said the inventory management system for the clothing shop
would be very beneficial as the procedures of the system would be made automated and this
would result in the enhancement of the overall response time of performing different type of
tasks for the organization in the system. The report has been used for the discussion. The

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INVENTORY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
information about the background of the case, the necessary equipment’s required for the
development of the system has been provided in this report. It would help in maintenance of
the cost of the project. In addition to this, maintenance of the system and a schedule for this
project is provided in this report as these are very important in case of the development of the
inventory system.

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INVENTORY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
Bibliography
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Chaiyawantakee, S., Srimongkol, P., Bunsiri, P., Lanak, K., & Wilkison, P. B. (2015). U.S.
Patent Application No. 14/338,498.
Henderson, M., Pytel, D., & Cortes, G. (2014). U.S. Patent No. 8,671,031. Washington, DC:
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Higham, J. D., & Visser, A. (2018). U.S. Patent No. 9,886,605. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent
and Trademark Office.
Laudon, K. C., & Laudon, J. P. (2016). Management information system. Pearson Education
India.
McCullough, K., & Blomgren, S. (2014). U.S. Patent Application No. 13/958,179.
Moreno, A. (2015). U.S. Patent Application No. 14/274,911.
Olson, J. C., Kilgallon, J. L., Bowers, A., Quayle, B., Donaldson, M. D., & Stygar, C.
(2015). U.S. Patent No. 9,208,468. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark
Office.