Group Proposal

 

Jeremy Vigil

Josh Deboer

Mike Holton

 August 19, 2002

Instructor

Vickie Martin

 Introduction

            The company we will apply the database inventory to is called Moe’s Roadside Grill and Tavern.  Our franchise is a neighborhood bar and grill atmosphere.  The menu consists of a variety of American grilled and fried foods.  The bar boasts a modest variety of wine, well drinks, and beers.  The signature drink being a micro-brew made with Moe’s secret recipe that he stole from a French prostitute with webbed feet named Chloe.  The local favorite for whom the beer was named after; Chloe’s Amber Ale is the bar’s best selling beverage.  The clientele is mostly made up of men and woman aged 21 to 40.  In addition, Moe’s a popular spot for lunch and happy hour.  It has been determined by Moe and our group whom are the stakeholders in the franchise that an inventory system is needed for the food and beverages that are stocked at Moe’s.  Not everything is gathered roadside.

Purpose

            The reason that a database inventory is needed for the food and beverages is to better organize the amount of stock that is ordered and stored.  Many of the items needed to supply the restaurant are perishable.  An inventory will prevent over ordering of these time critical items from spoiling.  Therefore saving money from the amount of food that is thrown away instead of being sold.  There are also a few food and drink items that are not consumed as regularly as others.  For example, haggis is not ordered as much as one would think.  Therefore, the ingredients used for this delicacy are not ordered in as much quantity as other menu items.  On the other side, we like to track trends to help look for spikes in sales.  We want to determine if a certain item is becoming more popular so that we can prepare for that spike. 

 Scope

            The database inventory system will not need to be an elaborate one.  It will mainly consist of a few tables with the different categories of food and beverages, the amount on hand in the inventory, and the wholesale price of the items.  This is not a complete list of the items for the inventory but an indication of the direction the database will take.  Ideas of the staff and other employees that will use the inventory will be incorporated into the database depending on their feasibility.    

Planning

The planning of the database that we will need to effectively manage the inventory here at Moe’s Roadside Grill and Tavern will need to be capable of handling many aspects of the individual items.  There will be other components to add to our database as time passes and our inventory list grows.  This plan will focus mainly on what is needed to get the database up and running within the store.  To begin the planning phase of this project we will need to identify the key points that differentiate our items.  These include:

Item Name

Item Number (generated by us for sale information)

Vender Name

Vender Item Name

Vender Item Number (for ordering purposes)

Case Size

Case Price

Base Unit of Measure (oz., fl. oz., each, etc.)

Item Description

Additional information pieces to consider housing within our database are:

Usage Factor (how much is one portion)

Waste Factor (of the original amount what percentage is typically waste)

Cases on Order

Cases on Transfer to Other Stores

Selling Price/Profit Margin

Recipe usage (list of Recipe’s item is used in)

Alternate Vender Name

Alt. Vender Item Name

Alt. Vender Item Number

 

Feasibility

The feasibility of this project is largely affected by the need to remain competitive in the very bottom-line-tight industry of casual dining.  The need to keep an adequate inventory supply for the various recipes within our restaurant is a very time consuming job for our management staff.  With the introduction of a database that tracks all inventory counts and orders, our managers will have more time to spend with the customers and restaurant staff to ensure that the business runs smoothly in the front-of-house.  Our database will also have a tie to the Point-Of-Sale (or POS), allowing it to track the deduction of inventory from the system as it is served.  Another benefit of the tie-in to the POS occurs when the store performs the weekly inventory count.  We will be able to track the discrepancy between what the computer thinks we should have used (based off the predefined Usage Factor) and what we actually used.  This will allow us to eliminate the excess waste and usage of valuable product, which will increase our bottom line as we are able to track our Ideal Food Cost and Cost of Goods Sold in a more efficient way.

Conclusion

            The bottom line is the bottom line.  Moe loves running his Grill and Tavern but the sole reason he is running this business to make money.  This inventory system not only saves money but it will make money by predicting what food or drink needs to be stocked up on.  This will decrease the likelihood of running out of food or drink.  No one wants to run out of drink.