Microsoft® Access® Small Business Solutions: State-of-the-Art Database Models for Sales, Marketing, Customer Management, and More Key Business Activities

Chapter 9. Inventory Management

Nearly every business has an inventory of some sort. For some businesses, carrying inventory means keeping track of the products on hand for sale to customers. Usually, inventory also includes the supplies businesses need to run smoothly. Other businesses, such as manufacturers, must also keep track of the materials and supplies they need to build their products.

Sales consume inventory, so the functions for inventory and sales are often closely related. Therefore, in our commentary describing the inventory management model, we reference the sales model of Chapter 7, "Sales," and suggest a possibility for how you might link the inventory management model with the sales model presented in Chapter 7.

A database is the perfect tool for managing the information needed to keep track of the items you must have on hand to sell to customers, run the business, and make products. This chapter provides sample models designed for tracking the inventory of products a company or business sells to its customers.

While creating this database modelwe'll follow the data modeling principles and normalization guidelines from Chapter 3, "Relational Data Model." This chapter also relies on the content in Chapter 2, "Elements of a Microsoft Access Database," to guide you through the process of creating a database. In addition, Appendix BB, "Gathering Requirements," on the book's CD will help you develop the necessary information that defines what you need the database to do, ...