a web based hypermarket supply chain management system

A WEB BASED HYPERMARKET SUPPLY
CHAIN MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
NAKIYINGI DIANA
Reg.No: 2005/HD18/540U
Bsc (Mak)
Email:dnakiyingi@yahoo.com, Tel: +256-772-538-701
A Project Report Submitted to School of Graduate Studies in
Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Award of the
Degree of Master of Science in Computer Science of
Makerere University
Option: Computer Science
June, 2008

DECLARATION
I Nakiyingi Diana do hereby declare that this Project Report is original and has not been
published and/or submitted for any other degree award to any other University before.
.......................................
Diana Nakiyingi
BSc(Mak)
Department of Computer Science
Faculty of Computing and Information Technology
Makerere University

APPROVAL
This project report has been submitted for examination with the approval of the following
supervisor(s):
.......................................
Dr.John Quinn,(PhD)
Department of Computer Science
Faculty of Computing and Information Technology
Makerere University
.......................................
Mr.N.T Rwangoga
Department of Computer Science
Faculty of Computing and Information Technology
Makerere University
ii

DEDICATION
To my family, my friends for their encouragement and support throughout my studies.
iii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I am very grateful to my supervisors Mr.N.T Rwangoga and Dr.John Quinn for their constructive
ideas as well as guidance without which this report might have not been.
I also want to express my appreciation to my former supervisor Prof.H.N.Muyingi for his
guidance and support.
My coursemates: Julius for his assistance and quality time and Salim for your ideas that
have contributed to the successful completion of this research.
Last but not least, I wish to express my gratitude to God who granted me life and good
health throughout my studies. Thank you Lord!
Diana Nakiyingi
June 2008
iv

Contents
1 INTRODUCTION 1
1.1 Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.2 Problem Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.3 Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.3.1 General Objective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.3.2 Specific Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.4 Significance of Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.5 Scope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2 LITERATURE REVIEW 4
2.1 State of the Art . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2.2 Current methodologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2.2.1 Electronic Data Interchange(EDI) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2.2.2 Radio Frequency Identification(RFID) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.2.3 Point-of-Sale(POS) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.2.4 Evaluation of current methodology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2.3 State of Practice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2.4 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
3 METHODOLOGY 11
v

3.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
3.2 Establishment of Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
3.3 System Design & Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
3.3.1 System Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
3.4 System Testing and Validation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
3.5 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
4 SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS,DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION 16
4.1 System Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
4.1.1 Requirements Gathering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
4.1.2 Diagramming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
4.1.3 Prototyping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
4.2 System Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
4.3 Graphical User Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
4.3.1 Reporting Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
4.3.2 Database Management System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
4.4 Messaging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
4.5 Sales and Supply Forecast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
4.6 Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
4.6.1 Database Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
4.6.2 Network Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
4.6.3 Application Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
4.7 System Implementation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
5 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 32
5.1 Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
vi

5.2 Recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
vii

List of Figures
2.1 Basic supply chain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
3.1 Application Development Model(Adapted from Software Engineering[24]) . . 12
3.2 Conceptual Framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
3.3 Web Client/Server Architecture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
4.1 Activity Diagram for the supply chain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
4.2 Application flow Diagram . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
4.3 Program flow Diagram . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
4.4 Reporting Interface for Suppliers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
4.5 POS Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
4.6 Database Management System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
4.7 POS Schema . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
4.8 Flow diagram for messaging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
4.9 Flow diagram for web application security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
4.10 Encrypted communication channel through SSL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
4.11 Processing a Sale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
4.12 Supplier -supplier interface interaction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
viii

List of Tables
2.1 Summary of the evaluation of POS, EDI & RFID . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
4.1 Tables in POS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
ix

ASP - Active Server Pages
ACRONYMS
EDI - Electronic Data Interchange
EPC - Electronic Product Code
GUI - Graphical User Interface
HTML - Hypertext Markup Language
HTTP - Hypertext Transfer Protocol
HTTPS - Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure
IIS - Microsoft’s Internet Information Server
JSP - Java Server Pages
JDBC - Java Database Connectivity
ODBC - Open Database Connectivity
PHP - Php Hypertext Preprocessor
PKI - Public Key Infrastructure
POS - Point Of Sale
RFID - Radio Frequency Identification
SCM - Supply Chain Management
SSL - Secure Sockets Layer
SQL - Structured Query Language
TCP/IP - Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol
x

ABSTRACT
The current level of maturity of Web technology in application development has led to Hypermarkets
exploiting it to solve some of their logistical problems like supply chain management.
Web technology can be used to improve the efficiency of business processes through on-line
means of communication within a distributed environment. This on-line means of communication
enables coordination and collaboration between the different stakeholders within the
supply chain, that is suppliers, third party providers, and customers.
Through research we found out that most applications developed for use in retail business
have focused on Point of Sale software, which mainly monitors sales, customers and inventory.
However, the needs for hypermarkets go beyond sales, customers and inventory management
since these establishments deal with different suppliers hence a large chain of suppliers.
Planning, coordination, collaboration, distribution are among the common problems these
establishments face, needing a new system to put these into consideration.
We focus on implementing a web based system to improve on the daily operations of Hypermarkets
in order to satisfy customer requirements through establishing user and system
requirements for developing such applications. In addition, we designed a model that enables
hypermarkets to keep track of their large and diverse stock as well as obtaining supply and
demand forecasts.
We present a methodology that follows already tested and commonly used approach for software
engineering projects.This approach was chosen because of the nature of the study and
the objectives we aimed to achieve. We focus on establishing user requirements through literature
review, direct gathering of information and direct technology testing using currently
installed POS systems.
After a review of our findings, we developed a prototype that could be used by big retail
establishments to do their day to day business and manage supply chains. Notable in this research
is the need to exploit new client/server architecture like service oriented architectures
which allow different applications to exchange data and participate in business processes.
Standardized data exchange formats like Extensible Markup Language(XML) could also
be considered since these facilitate sharing of structured data across different information
systems particularly via the Internet unlike the popular EDI.
xi

Chapter 1
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background
Hypermarkets are superstores which combine supermarkets and departmental stores resulting
into establishments with a large and diverse range of products. These products include
groceries and general merchandise. These stores tend to sell different brands of a variety of
products which calls for a large chain of suppliers. Since these suppliers are different and distributed,
issues of planning, coordination and collaboration arise. Supply chain management
is the process which encompasses sourcing and procurement, scheduling, order processing,
inventory management, transportation, customer service and the information systems used
to monitor these activities [10]. It ensures coordination and collaboration with suppliers,
third-party service providers, intermediaries and customers.
Web technology has become a means of communication, information and data exchange and
its current level of maturity as an application development platform provides an efficient and
effective opportunity for large establishments like hypermarkets to exploit it to solve some
of their logistical problems like supply chain management. This study aims at developing
a system which is based on this technology that will enable hypermarkets to control their
operations to satisfy customer requirements.
1.2 Problem Statement
Most applications developed for use in retail business have focused on Point of Sale software,
which mainly monitors sales, customers and inventory [14]. However, the needs for
1

hypermarkets go beyond sales, customers and inventory management since these stores deal
in different brands of a variety of products on a large scale hence a large chain of suppliers.
Issues of planning, coordination, collaboration, distribution and supply arise leading
to the need for a system to put these into consideration. In this study, we seek to develop
a system that can improve the performance of sales monitoring and supply monitoring to
effectively ensure accurate stock controls. The monitoring and stock inventory management
functions ought to be done at two nodes, the supplier’s node and the customer, in this case
the hypermarkets node. How to make this possible is the work that we attempt in this study.
1.3 Objectives
1.3.1 General Objective
To develop an interactive web based system with a user friendly interface, that will enable
hypermarkets to control their operations and satisfy customer requirements.
1.3.2 Specific Objectives
1. To review literature on hypermarket supply chain management systems inorder to
identify existing gaps.
2. To establish user and system requirements for developing a web based hypermarket
SCM system based on findings in (1) above.
3. To design a model that enables hypermarkets to keep track of their large and diverse
stock as well as obtain supply and demand forecasts from records of sales and customer
history.
4. To implement a web based hypermarket SCM system.
5. To test and validate the implemented web based hypermarket SCM system.
1.4 Significance of Study
Point of Sale(POS) which mainly monitors sales, customers and inventory is the most used
information system application in hypermarkets. Hypermarkets do deal in a variety of
2

products supplied by different suppliers. Enabling the suppliers monitor the products that
they do supply to the hypermarket inorder to ease order processing which is the aim of
this study will improve on the daily operations of the hypermarkets. And since there is
economic development all over the world, there has been a shift from single stall shops to
hypermarkets, which provide a huge retail facility satisfying all of consumers’routine weekly
shopping needs.
1.5 Scope
Supply chain management(SCM) encompasses various activities such as sourcing and procurement,
scheduling, order processing, inventory management, transportation, customer
service and the information systems used to monitor these activities [10]. This study focused
on order processing, inventory management, customer service and the information systems
used to monitor them. Order processing involves order placement, order confirmation, order
fulfillment and order inquiry. The web based hypermarket SCM system developed shall enable
the execution of order processing through on-line means of communication between the
suppliers and the hypermarket by an instant messaging system. The POS system which is a
component of the whole system used in the hypermarket shall manage sales, inventory and
customers. The supply chain consisted of three entities; the organization(hypermarket), the
supplier(s) and the end consumer(customer of the hypermarket).
3

Chapter 2
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 State of the Art
Research has been conducted on SCM regarding the objectives, the different ways on how
it can be implemented, as well as the issues associated with it. SCM was looked at as the
coordination of products and information flows among suppliers, manufacturers, distributors,
retailers and customer(Fig.2.1) [12]. With appropriate exchange of information among
these, costs can be reduced as well as improved customer service attained. The forecast was
considered as the most crucial factor that could influence the supply chain. Forecasts are
needed to enable firms in the supply chain to make planning and inventory decisions which
mainly base on demand forecasts. When forecasts are inaccurate, this leads to back ordering
in which the quantity that is ordered does not reflect the demand for the period it is supposed
to cover. Information sharing and continuous coordination results in cost reduction
for both the supplier and retailer [12].
Figure 2.1: Basic supply chain
4

Modern SCM is regarded as the use of new information technologies in order to speed up
information flow among different firms in the supply chain by use of linked information systems.
This aims at improving the coordination of operation processes, products and services
which were required by customers. This in turn reduces costs in the supply chain and improves
the quality of service offered to customers [2].
Various methods are implemented to support supply chain management. Information management
system applications by far have been the most used. These systems were designed
depending on the specific objectives to be obtained and also on the areas where they were
to be used. Most systems that were built aimed at enhancing customer relationships, monitoring
product levels and sales [8]. Different applications were developed for both planning
and execution of SCM. Collaborative Planning, Forecasting and Replenishment (CPFR) was
designed for planning in inter-organizations. Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) and Vendor
Managed Inventory (VMI) were designed for execution in inter-organizations. EDI involved
the exchange of information from one computer to another through electronic means and
VMI approach involved making contracts with suppliers by agreeing on stock levels and deciding
how frequently to replenish and the quantities to deliver [15]. Warehouse Management
System (WMS) which is concerned with the managing of warehouse resources such as space,
labor, equipment and materials flow, and Yard Management System(YMS) were designed
for execution in intra-organizations. Systems such as Customer Relationship Management
(CRM) which focused on firms managing and maintaining customer relationships by storing
their information were developed separately from systems which focused on fulfillment [5].
The latest development in product identification is using Radio Frequency Identification
(RFID) technology which is being introduced into the retail industry to enable the integration
of their supply chains [6]. The RFID technology constitutes of two parts; the tag
and the tag reader also referred to as the scanner responsible for sensing an item and cross
examining information about each item. The radio frequency tag consists of an antenna
and a chip containing electronic product code. The tag broadcasts radio frequency when
exposed to a scanner within a yard and is able to tell what product it is, when and where
it was manufactured, where its components came from and when it will expire. The most
commonly used in the retail business is the barcode reader. RFID enables stores to know
their in-stock almost in real time since the distribution centers and warehouses can access
5

the current store inventory as well as the information regarding the trend of demand through
the Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) capabilities [6].
The daily advancements in information technology has led to business partners adopting
the Internet and Web technology in their supply chain. The Internet has led to a net work
flow of information and with integration of the Web, this has lead to a variety of business
partners in the supply chain participating in the supply chain processes. The Internet is
a fast transmission of information over a net work which leads to a seamless real time
communication between business partners. Information on the Internet can be exchanged
through Web pages. A variety of products and services can be accessed on the Web sites of
suppliers. Web technology provides real time flow of data between the different links of the
supply chain leading to collaboration among business partners [7].
2.2 Current methodologies
2.2.1 Electronic Data Interchange(EDI)
EDI, a data format used for inter-business messaging was partially responsible for reducing
costs and increasing productivity in the manufacturing and service industries. EDI’s intended
purpose was to provide a common messaging standard for businesses to communicate with
other businesses. Rather than having to deal with a different data format for each trading
partner, all businesses could convert their proprietary data format to EDI to send or receive
messages and then convert EDI to their respective proprietary formats. Over the years, EDI
has evolved into a mechanism for integrating back office systems and communication with
business partners that has served its users well. However, it has inflexible, inherent, and
practical problems that put a ceiling on its usefulness. EDI was an unlikely choice for a use
other than inter-business messaging [23].
EDI’s Problems
Integration of EDI with an organization’s internal computer systems and with those of trading
partners was considerably a difficult task. This was mainly due to the incompatibilities
between EDI software and in-house applications, and the existence of several standards for
information exchange of protocols, procedures, and data forms. There were also system
6

stability issues such as disaster recovery, data backup and error recovery which were major
concerns of most business organisations[17].
Security issues such as the disclosure of messages, modification of message contents, modification
of message sequence, sender masquerade and repudiation of message origin or receipt
were a serious concern for EDI users. The failure to detect such security risks could damage
the communication and partnerships between trading partners [17].
2.2.2 Radio Frequency Identification(RFID)
RFID is a method of identifying items using radio waves and this technology allowed automatic
collection of product data quickly and easily without human intervention [22]. It
consists of the RFID tag or transponder, which is located on the object to be identified
and was the data carrier in the RFID system;the RFID reader or transceiver, which is able
to both read data from and write data to a transponder and the back-end database which
associates records with data collected by readers [21]. The tag is made up of a microchip
with a coiled antenna and a reader with an antenna which sends out electromagnetic waves
that form a magnetic field when they couple with the antenna on the tag. The tag obtains
power from the magnetic field which it uses to power the microchip circuits. The waves that
the tag sends back to the reader are modulated by the chip and the reader converts the new
waves into digital data [22].
Problems with RFID
Since RFID systems make use of the electromagnetic spectrum, they are relatively easy to
jam using energy at the right frequency. This provides an inconvenience for consumers in
stores in form of longer waits at the checkout. Also, active RFID tags that use a battery to
increase the range of the system can be repeatedly interrogated to wear the battery down,
disrupting the system. It should also be noted that radio waves cannot be read through
metal. Simply wrapping several layers of aluminum foil around an item can defeat the
security system in super stores [19].
One of the primary issues to be concerned with a RFID implementation is the immaturity of
the industry. Standards are only just being developed. Tags and readers are being modified
and improved at a rapid rate. Competing technologies and non-crosscomplient systems
7

still exist. This ongoing development could make equipment and tags obsolete, rendering
investments in older equipment useless, and requiring expensive conversions and upgrades
[21].
A number of standards have been developed within the RFID market such as the International
Standards Organisation (ISO) and Electronic Product Code (EPC) Global. Additionally,
there are also a number of special interest groups including industry specific such as
the American Trucking Association in the transport industry, mobile devices and computer
industry or the Automotive Industry Action Group in the automotive industry that seek to
influence RFID standards development which has led the non-uniformity in the technology
standardisation therefore creating problems for consumers [20].
There is lack of privacy that is the transactional data that is being held on the tag after the
point of sale can easily be accessed by third parties [22].
A variety of individual RFID products and services are on the market that is tags, readers,
hardware, software which makes the total cost of implementation of RFID technology not
transparent. The exact price calculation as part of a cost-benefit analysis is difficult because
of the number of unknown variables. A RFID implementation cost analysis has to take into
consideration not only the investment in the transponders and readers, but also other cost
drivers, such as peripheral systems, software and integration efforts [21].
2.2.3 Point-of-Sale(POS)
POS refers to the in-store entering and accessing of product and/or customer information in
order to facilitate product sale to the customer [18]. This mainly monitors sales, customers
and inventory [14].
Retailers believe that POS offers the ability to improve customer service by reducing checkout
times,improving retail store management by maintaining both inventory value and
strengthening inventory management that is reduced stockouts and inventory levels [18].
POS Limitation
Since hypermarkets deal in a huge and diverse range of products involving a large chain
of suppliers, this leads to issues of planning, coordination, collaboration, distribution and
supply. POS is mainly concerned with sales, customers and inventory and yet suppliers do
8

play an important role in the store operations.
2.2.4 Evaluation of current methodology
Research and development of technologies to aid in operations of supply chain cartels has
been in existence for more then ten years [11]. EDI, POS and RFID are among the most
prominent technologies used in supply chain management. Evaluating the successes and
shortcomings of these technologies can be viewed in terms of interaction, flexibility, cost of
implementation and usability. EDI and RFID depend fully on a networked environment operating
in realtime(RFID), store and forward (EDI). These two technologies have a common
shortcoming in regard to cost of implementation, usability in relation to EDI needing trained
personnel and RFID being a new technology on the market and not yet well proven.
POS is a technology which has developed out of the need of small establishments mainly
dealing in retail business and having small chains of supply. The wide spread use of POS
could be mainly attributed to its cost effectiveness in terms of implementaion and usability.
One of the biggest setbacks of POS is its sequential mode of interaction and lack of networking
capabilities which proves to be a shortcoming for large retail businesses like hypermarkets
with numerous outlets.
Table 2.1 shows a comparison of technologies used in supply chain management.
Table 2.1: Summary of the evaluation of POS, EDI & RFID
Method Interaction Flexibility Cost of Imple- Usability
Mode
mentation
POS Sequential Operates in real
time
Cost effective Easy to use
EDI Networking Doesn’t operate Expensive to imple- Usage by trained
in real time ment
Personnel
RFID Networking Operates in real Expensive to imple- New technology,not
time
ment
yet well proven
2.3 State of Practice
Dell computer which was founded by Michael Dell in 1984 adopted the Internet by launching
their website www.dell.com in 1994 [7]to enable direct sell of computers to its customers
which is fast thus improving supply chain management to meet customer demands. This
9

enabled Dell to involve suppliers into its operations as a company. Dell’s Web site enabled
its customers to view prices for computer systems that were available, place their orders as
well as keep track of the orders right up to shipping [7].
Federal Express [10] enables customers to keep track of their packages in real time and this
has led to its partnering with Hewlett-Packard. When orders for printers are made directly
online on Hewlett-Packard Web site, Federal Express receives these orders as well via the
Internet. Federal Express does the shipping of the orders from its ware house containing
all products. It notifies both the customers and Hewlett-Packard by sending e-mails to
customers letting them know that the goods are on their way and notices of inventory to
Hewlett-Packard in order to continuously replace stock at Federal Express warehouse [10].
Wal-Mart which is a leading hyper store was using VMI and APO which are best suited for
linear relationships, but with new developments, it has been using EDI and now considering
to use RFID [6].
2.4 Conclusion
In order to satisfy customer requirements, boost profits and revenues, companies through the
effective collaboration and coordination with their various suppliers and distributors have
created cartels we now know as supply chains. As these cartels grow in size, many problems
manifest ranging from communication, distribution and information exchange. Various technologies
have been used to try to solve some of these problems for example EDI,RFID and
POS which however have limitations as noted above (Section 2.2.4). However, when looked
at individually, these technologies have some specific benefits we can exploit to develop a
means of collaboration and coordination between retailers, suppliers and distributors as a
means of achieving effective supply chain management.
10

Chapter 3
METHODOLOGY
3.1 Introduction
This chapter presents the methodology that was used in this study. The methodology chosen
followed the already tested and commonly used approach for software engineering projectsa
Software Development Life Cycle. This approach was chosen because of the nature of the
study and the objectives stated.
3.2 Establishment of Requirements
Three key methodology tools were used to establish requirements for the web based hypermarket
SCM system. The first method was that we reviewed literature from written and
published materials related to supply chain management systems and hypermarkets. We
also reviewed literature on specific technologies and platforms used to develop SCM systems.
The second method under establishment of requirements involved direct gathering
of information about the two hypermarkets used in the study(Gamestore and Uchumi in
Kampala). The tools used in this case were direct observations, interviews, questionnaires
and scenario simulations. The third method in establishment of the requirements involved
direct technology testing using currently installed POS systems. This way, the functionality
defficiencies of the existing systems were identified and recorded. The scope of this work was
partly fixed by the findings after this activity.
11

3.3 System Design & Development
Developing Web applications requires a focus on meeting user needs. The model we choose
for accomplishing this was based on a component based model with a linear approach to
application development (Fig.3.1). Specifications and decisions about how the different application
components would acomplish our applications objectives were taken into account
for example issues like meeting the applications purpose and audience, effects and functionalities.
Figure 3.1: Application Development Model(Adapted from Software Engineering[24])
The design of the system was based on three software components, graphical user interface(the
front end), the web server&PHP scripting language(middleware/business logic) and
the database management system(back end). Figure 4.2 shows the software components
12

used in system design.
3.3.1 System Development
Figure 3.2: Conceptual Framework
A linear approach to application developemnt model was selected because in a Web based
development environment it is possible for many of these steps shown above to develop concurrently.
We mainly focused on Planning, which included defining the target audience,
purpose, objectives, and policies for the application development and use, Analysis; which
involved checking the technical construction of the Web application with validation tools, Design;
which involved separating information into page-sized chunks, context, and navigation
cues and a consistent look and feel and finally Implementation; which involved creating an
extendible directory and file structure using HTML tools where helpful and using templates
for supporting consistent look and feel.
A client/server architecture as shown in Figure 3.3. was included to facilitate system distribution
since the system was to be used at different points which could be geographically
distributed. Hence a mechanism to distribute the system using client/server architecture
was choosen. Web browers were used to develop the client interface, middleware applica-
13

tions were developed in PHP to act as interaction interfaces between the backend which is
an SQL based database.
The tools selected/used to develop the SCM system were those that would enable the implementation
of the system to be platform independent.Since the client interface was developed
in HTML which is easily implemented and interpreted by all web browsers, the application
front end then would be accessed on the different platforms which have browsers that are
HTML standard complaint. The web server and the database backend that would enable
the distribution of the application were based on Apache web server and MySQL database
server which can also be implemented on different operating system platforms.
Figure 3.3: Web Client/Server Architecture
3.4 System Testing and Validation
Regular system testing and validation of the SCM system was done to ensure that model
quality and integrity is maintained throughout the development process. System testing
14

standards and procedures were set up to be used to verify that the system met the goals
that were set up. Since we were using a component model development scheme, each component/unit
was tested individually prior to making it available for intergration into the final
system setup. For purposes of validating the system, proposive sampling of potential users
was used and feedback from them was used to incorporate the necessary adjustment and
inclusions that were demanded.
3.5 Conclusion
The steps used here acted as an overall development methodology and life cycle which were
also dependant upon avaliable tools, timeline and end user willingness to be involved in the
final testing of the system. Implicit in the methodology adapted was the concept of bringing
the SCM system core functionality up quickly and then refining the application/system based
upon user feedback.
15

Chapter 4
SYSTEM
REQUIREMENTS,DESIGN AND
IMPLEMENTATION
The supply chain of our scope constituted of three entities;the organisation(hypermarket),
the supplier(s) and the end consumer(the customer of the hypermarket). Hypermarkets deal
in a huge range of products which are distributed by different suppliers with the need for
placing orders for the various products well on time to satisfy the end consumer’s needs.
Figure 4.1 shows the repetitive process of product consumption and replenishment.
Figure 4.1: Activity Diagram for the supply chain
16

4.1 System Requirements
In order to fulfill this stage of software development,this process was divided into three action
areas which included requirements gathering, diagramming and prototyping.
4.1.1 Requirements Gathering
In this stage, the idea of the system was broken down into functionality that was to be in
the application. For example, using a scenario were a user wants to add a new item to the
application, how would this happen? On a high level, they would click a button which would
show them a page allowing them to enter content. To break this down further, we needed
to ask more questions like Can the user put in description? How do they insert them?
How do they get on the server? What if the user wants to adjust the stock? Answering
these questions helped determine what features were needed to implement. A final list of
requirements was got which stated what functionality the application must have, should
have, or that we wanted it to have. Important functionality was prioritized in form of
features that were absolutely needed in the application at the top of the list. These were
deemed essentials to having a usable application. Next, functionality that should be in the
application but wouldn’t be critical if it didn’t appear was also included.
4.1.2 Diagramming
Use cases and application flow were mapped out visually to get a better sense of how everything
would bind together.
Application Flow
The application flow provided a map of the application. In this flow, boxes for each page
that the user would see within the application are represented, and arrows were used to
demonstrate the expected flow the user will take through the application (Fig.4.2).
This step was done to help visualize how related functionality would be tied together. In
doing this, one would discover that there were ways to combine functionality or that there
17

Figure 4.2: Application flow Diagram
was a need to break it up into multiple steps. This step helped to gain a greater sense of
the application by completing it thoroughly.
Program Flow
This emphasized the use of a basic mechanism of request-response activity by users to give a
visual display of how users where to interact with the web application. This is because users
are always requesting and submitting information with in the application . It so happens
that occassionally users will be sending information to the SCM system in relation to a
specific object and that the module was needed to have an interface to handle this.
18

4.1.3 Prototyping
Figure 4.3: Program flow Diagram
A prototype, was built to gain insight on what the final product would actually look like.
In this case, it helped eliminate problems before into programming the final application. In
developing this application, three components were used in prototype development which
included visual design, HTML prototype and usability testing.
Visual Design
A layout was established and elements were grouped together which helped gain a sense
for how the application was going to work. Graphic design application was used and we
were able to easily add new elements, resize and rotate to achieve a perfect layout of the
application. Greater prominence was given to elements or tasks that were more important
and those that were less important were minimized or hidden. Prominence of a given function
was expressed in various ways such as size, colour, or positioning.
19

HTML Prototype
Once the visual design for the application was developed, we built the HTML prototype. An
HTML implementation of the design helped point out possible problems with the interface
design. For example, what happens when users resize their font or the size of their browser
window? How would the design look across multiple browsers? One could find that something
does not work quite right thus a need to go back to the design stage and redo certain
elements.
Usability Testing
On any project, it’s a good idea to do usability testing. In this case, this involved showing
it to a selected number of people to help in the testing. We also so it as a good idea to show
the prototype to the type of people we expected to use the application because their input
was deemed invaluable and could help determine if the design would work or not. This was
done during the visual design, prototyping and even during development.
4.2 System Design
For rapid application development, a component based model of software design and development
was used. The components herein included graphical user interface(client), web
server/business logic layer and the backend(database management system).
4.3 Graphical User Interface
A web browser based GUI implemented in HTML acted as the client side of the SCM system.
This was divided into two interfaces that is the reporting interface and the POS interface.
4.3.1 Reporting Interface
The reporting application constituted of two interactive interfaces embedded as primary
components of the POS system and the other interface for enabling the different suppliers(Fig.4.6)to
view information only regarding their products. This has been backed up by a
20

security mechanism which uses SSL(ref: 4.6 Security) and password authentication to allow
the different suppliers to log in and view their products.
POS Interface
Figure 4.4: Reporting Interface for Suppliers
The POS interface was divided into unique units which through their interactions make up
the POS component of the SCM system. These included Sales, Reports, Configuration,
Backup, User management, Customers and Items see Figure 4.7.
21

Figure 4.5: POS Interface
4.3.2 Database Management System
The database system provided a central repository for all information regarding the hypermarkets
and the suppliers. The application layer(business logic) inserts and retrieves all
the information regarding the daily transactions of the SCM system and report generation
method(Fig 4.3).
22

The Point Of Sale system
Figure 4.6: Database Management System
The database component responsible for servicing the POS component of the SCM system
constituted of units(tables) which held information in regard to Sales, Customers, Discounts,
Brands, and Category management among others as shown in Table 4.1.
23

Table 4.1: Tables in POS
Table Purpose
Sales Contain overall sale details
Customers Hold information regarding customers
Discounts Keep track of item discounts
Brands Contain information regarding the different product brands
Categories Handling of the different categories of brands of products
Sales Items Hold item information for sales
Suppliers Hold information about suppliers
Users Hold information regarding the users of the system
Items Store information regarding items
24

Figure 4.5 is a schema showing the interaction between the various tables in POS.
4.4 Messaging
Figure 4.7: POS Schema
An Instant Messaging component (class) was intergrated into the SCM system to provide
communication capabilities. This was to cater for instances when the supplier and the
hypermarket users could be accessing the system at the same time. The hypermarkets
25

could also have dedicated staff to respond to queries from suppliers by instant supplierhypermarket
communication(Refer to Figure 4.8). This could do away with costs incurred
in telecommunication between supplier-hypermarket in issue resolving hence benefiting both
parties.
Figure 4.8: Flow diagram for messaging
4.5 Sales and Supply Forecast
We adapted a simple moving average model to incorporate forecasting capabilities within the
system. This assisted in the estimation for future sales and demand being able to predict the
quantity of products that need to be ordered and supplied. An unweighted mean of monthly
sales for a period of a year were used as the data points for predicting sales and supply.
26

4.6 Security
With web applications security is very vital since these applications are accessible over networks.
Web applications provide access to backend databases and hence control valuable
data and are much more difficult to secure since the have some form of data capture, transmission
and retrieval . As a result, these are prone to a wide variety of threats/attacks
(Figure 4.9).
Figure 4.9: Flow diagram for web application security
In the SCM, security has been implemented at three levels, application, database and network.
27

4.6.1 Database Security
Database security involves allowing or denying user actions on the database and the objects
within it. The processes and procedures that protect the database from unintended activity
such as authenticated misuse, malicious attacks or accidental mistakes made by authorized
individuals or processes [29]. Data in the database was protected by the use of MySQL
Privilege system, which provided authentication that is assurance that the user is the one
claimed and authorization that is whether the user has the necessary privileges to carry out
query requests. User privileges included selecting, inserting, deleting, dropping, updating
among others[3].
4.6.2 Network Security
The exchange of information over the network was protected by the use of the Secure Sockets
Layer (SSL) cryptographic system implemented using openSSL to establish an encrypted
communication channel using public key infrastructure(PKI)(Fig.4.8) [16]. PKI enables users
of an unsecure public network such as the Internet to securely and privately exchange data
through the use of a public and a private cryptographic key pair that is obtained and shared
through a trusted authority [3].
4.6.3 Application Security
Application Security can be defined as the protection of software applications against threats
[27]. This was implemented using Adminpro Class. AdminPro is a user authentication class
based on a MySQL database and the PHP Session functions. This class can Login and logout
a user via Web based forms, expire the session of an authenticated user if it passed a given
session timeout and require to authenticate again, display error messages and point the user
to the login page when the user is not authenticated or the login session expired and also
check whether a logged user has administrator or user group privilege [28].
28

Figure 4.10: Encrypted communication channel through SSL
4.7 System Implementation
We used a local area network as an implementation test ground since the conditions on
LANs can be tuned to mimic a wide area network or the internet. A test environment which
simulated daily activities within a hypermarket were created so as to be able to use the functions
created in the system like inventory, sales and order requests. For example, processing
a sale required logging into the POS interface of the system, which then provided a guided
interaction through the use of links and description from the beginning to the end of a given
sale. Functions like customer selection,item selection and discount provision are provided
before commiting records into the database and performing receipt issuing and closing a
given sale(Fig.4.9). Figure 4.10 shows the a few functions that can be carried out on the
supplier interface of the SCM system.
29

Figure 4.11: Processing a Sale
30

Figure 4.12: Supplier -supplier interface interaction
31

Chapter 5
CONCLUSIONS AND
RECOMMENDATIONS
5.1 Conclusions
The general objective of this study was to develop an interactive web based system with
a user friendly interface enabling hypermarkets to control their operations and satisfy customer
requirements. Inorder to achieve this various activities had to be carried out. These
included; reviewing of literature on hypermarket SCM systems, establishing user and system
requirements for developing a web based hypermarket SCM system, designing a model that
enables hypermarkets to keep track of their large and diverse stock as well as obtain supply
and demand forecasts from records of sales and customer history and finally implement a web
based hypermarket SCM system. During the carrying out of these activities some hurdles
were faced here and there. Lots of literature was available on Supply Chain Management but
little was found about hypermarkets since these are just upcoming due to economic development.
The available literature about hypermarkets was basically tending towards commerce.
In the establishing of system requirements information from already used systems was used
since web based systems have similar qualities. During the establishing of user requirements
a few hyperstores in Kampala were visited, some of which were not receptive. A mechanism
was devised to enable hypermarkets to keep track of their stock as well as obtain supply
and demand forecasts from records of sales and customer history. The identified gaps in the
already used applications in hypermarkets left us no choice but to concentrate on filling these
gaps thus no need to design a model. Various tools were available for system development
and implementation. The choice of tools mainly depended on rapid application development
32

as well as user friendliness.
5.2 Recommendations
The client/server architecture was used in developing this system however other architectures
could be put into consideration like service oriented architecture since this allows different
applications to exchange data and participate in business processes.
Standardized data exchange formats like Extensible Markup Language(XML) could be considered
since these facilitate sharing of structured data across different information systems
particularly via the Internet unlike EDI which allows the transfer of structured data by
agreed message standards from one computer system to another.
33

Bibliography
[1] Sila, I., Ebrahimpour, M. and Birkholz, C. (2006).Quality in supply chains: an empirical
analysis. Supply Chain Management: An International Journal Volume 11 Number 6
pp. 491-502.
[2] Wouters, M. (2006). Implementation costs and redistribution mechanisms in the economic
evaluation of supply chain management initiatives. Supply Chain Management:
An International Journal Volume 11 Number 6 pp. 510-521.
[3] Gilmore, J.W. (2006). Beginning PHP and MySQL 5: From Novice to Professional
Second Edition.
[4] Damien, P.(2005).Determinants of business-to-business e-commerce implementation and
performance: a structural model. Supply Chain Management: An International Journal
Volume 10 Number 2 pp. 96-113.
[5] Sherer, A.S. (2005).From supply-chain management to value network advocacy: implications
for e-supply chains. Supply Chain Management: An International Journal
Volume 10 Number 2 2005 pp. 77-83.
[6] Prater, E., Frazier, G.V. and Reyes, P.M. (2005). Future impacts of RFID on e-supply
chains in grocery retailing. Supply Chain Management: An International Journal Volume
10 Number 2 pp.134-142.
[7] Yen, D.C., Tan, X. and Chou, D.C. (2004).Web technology and supply chain management.
Information Management and Computer Security Volume 12
338-349.
Number 4 pp.
[8] James, M., Grosvenor, R. and Prickett, P. (2004). e-Distribution: Internet-based management
of a supply chain. Supply Chain Management: An International Journal Volume
9 Number 1 pp.7-15.
34

[9] Sommerville,I.(2004).Software
ISBN:0321210263.
Engineering.7th Edition Addison Wesley,
[10] Lankford,W.M. (2004), ”Supply chain management and the Internet” Supply Chain
Management: An International Journal Volume 28 Number 4 2004 pp. 301-305.
[11] NIST, (1996). Electronic Data Interchange.Federal Information Processing Standards
Publication 161-2
[12] Zhao, X., Xie, J.and Zhang,W.J.(2002). The impact of information sharing and coordination
on supply performance Supply Chain Management: An International Journal
Volume 7 Number 1 2002 pp. 24-40.
[13] Greenspan,J.and Bulger,B.(2001). MySQL/PHP Database Applications M and T Books
ISBN:0-7645-3537-4.
[14] Muench,C.(2006). ”phpPos PHP Point of Sale v9.0 Installation and user Guide” URL
address: http://www.phppointofsale.com/documentation/help.htm 12.12.2006, 13:48.
[15] Eoin,L.(2003).Introduction to Supply and Materials Management. The Chartered Institute
of Purchasing and Supply Easton House ISBN:1-86124-126-7.
[16] Thomas,S.(2000).SSL & TLS Essentials, Securing the Web John Wiley and Sons,Inc.
ISBN: 0-471-38354-6.
[17] Jun, M. and Cai, S. (2003).Key obstacles to EDI success: from the US small manufacturing
companies’ perspective. Industrial Management and Data Systems Volume 103
Number 3 pp. 192-203.
[18] Weber,M.W. and Kantamneni, P.S. (2002).POS and EDI in retailing: underlying benefits
and barriers. Supply Chain Management: An International Journal Volume 7 Number
5 pp. 311-317.
[19] Saygin, C., Cha, K., Zawodniok, M., Z, Ramachandran, A. and Sarangapani
J.(2006).Interference mitigation and read rate improvement in RFID-based networkcentric
environments. Sensor Review Volume 26 Number 4 pp. 318-325.
[20] Zhang, G., Lai, F. and Hutchinson, J.(2006).Radio frequency identification(RFID) in
China: opportunities and challenges. International Journal of Retail and Distribution
Management Volume 33 Number 12 pp. 905-916.
35

[21] Li, S., Visich, J.L., Khumawala, B.M. and Zhang, C. (2006).Radio frequency identification
technology: applications, technical challenges and strategies. Sensor Review
Volume 26 Number 3 pp. 193-202.
[22] Jones, P., Clarke-Hill, C., Shears, P., Comfort, D. and Hillier, D. (2004).Radio frequency
identification in the UK: opportunities and challenges. International Journal of Retail
and Distribution Management Volume 32 Number 3 pp. 164-171.
[23] Chang-tseh,H.and Binshan,L.(2004).Impact of standardization on EDI in B2B development.
Industrial Management and Data Systems Volume 104 Number 1 pp. 68-77.
[24] Sommerville,I.(2000).Software
ISBN:9780201398151.
Engineering.5th Edition Addison Wesley,
[25] Octavian,A.W(1999). ”The Conceptual Architecture of the Apache Web Server” URL
address: http://www.cs.ucsb.edu/˜tve/cs290i-sp01/papers/concept Apache Arch.htm
25.11.2007, 18:48.
[26] Brayton, J., Finneman, A., Turajski, N. and Wiltsey, S. (2006). ”PKI” URL
address: http://searchsecurity.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid14 gci214299,00.html
13.01.2008, 22:57.
[27] Main,A., Van Oorschot,P.C.(2003). Software Protection and Application Security:Understanding
the Battleground.
[28] PHP Classes (1999-2008). ”Class: AdminPro class” URL address:
http://www.phpclasses.org/browse/package/1830.html 13.01.2008, 00:20.
[29] Wikipedia,the free encyclopedia (2008). ”Database Security” URL address:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Database security 13.01.2008, 21:50.
[30] Alberta E-future Centre(2007). ”Supply Chain Management” URL address: http://efuture.ca/alberta
23.01.2008, 18:54.
36

Appendix 1SQL statements used to create the different tables in POS.
DROP TABLE IF EXISTS ‘pos‘.‘pos brands‘;
CREATE TABLE ‘pos‘.‘pos brands‘ (
‘brand‘ VARCHAR(30) NOT NULL DEFAULT ”,
‘id‘ INT(8) NOT NULL AUTO INCREMENT,
PRIMARY KEY (‘id‘)
)
ENGINE = InnoDB
DROP TABLE IF EXISTS ‘pos‘.‘pos categories‘;
CREATE TABLE ‘pos‘.‘pos categories‘ (
‘category‘ VARCHAR(30) NOT NULL DEFAULT ”,
‘id‘ INT(8) NOT NULL AUTO INCREMENT,
PRIMARY KEY (‘id‘)
)
ENGINE = InnoDB
DROP TABLE IF EXISTS ‘pos‘.‘pos customers‘;
CREATE TABLE ‘pos‘.‘pos customers‘ (
‘first name‘ VARCHAR(75) NOT NULL DEFAULT ”,
‘last name‘ VARCHAR(75) NOT NULL DEFAULT ”,
‘account number‘ VARCHAR(10) NOT NULL DEFAULT ”,
‘phone number‘ VARCHAR(25) NOT NULL DEFAULT ”,
‘email‘ VARCHAR(40) NOT NULL DEFAULT ”,
‘street address‘ VARCHAR(150) NOT NULL DEFAULT ”,
‘comments‘ BLOB NOT NULL DEFAULT ”,
‘id‘ INT(8) NOT NULL AUTO INCREMENT,
PRIMARY KEY (‘id‘)
)
ENGINE = InnoDB
DROP TABLE IF EXISTS ‘pos‘.‘pos discounts‘;
CREATE TABLE ‘pos‘.‘pos discounts‘ (
‘item id‘ INT(8) NOT NULL DEFAULT ’0’,
‘percent off‘ VARCHAR(60) NOT NULL,
37

‘comment‘ BLOB NOT NULL,
‘id‘ INT(8) NOT NULL AUTO INCREMENT,
PRIMARY KEY (‘id‘)
)
ENGINE = InnoDB
DROP TABLE IF EXISTS ‘pos‘.‘pos items‘;
CREATE TABLE ‘pos‘.‘pos items‘ (
‘item name‘ VARCHAR(30) NOT NULL DEFAULT ”,
‘item number‘ VARCHAR(15) NOT NULL DEFAULT ”,
‘description‘ BLOB NOT NULL DEFAULT ”,
‘brand id‘ INT(8) NOT NULL DEFAULT ’0’,
‘category id‘ INT(8) NOT NULL DEFAULT ’0’,
‘supplier id‘ INT(8) NOT NULL DEFAULT ’0’,
‘buy price‘ VARCHAR(30) NOT NULL,
‘unit price‘ VARCHAR(30) NOT NULL,
‘supplier catalogue number‘ VARCHAR(60) NOT NULL,
‘tax percent‘ VARCHAR(5) NOT NULL,
‘total cost‘ VARCHAR(40) NOT NULL,
‘quantity‘ INT(8) NOT NULL DEFAULT ’0’,
‘reorder level‘ INT(8) NOT NULL DEFAULT ’0’,
‘id‘ INT(8) NOT NULL AUTO INCREMENT,
PRIMARY KEY (‘id‘)
)
ENGINE = InnoDB
DROP TABLE IF EXISTS ‘pos‘.‘pos sales‘;
CREATE TABLE ‘pos‘.‘pos sales‘ (
‘date‘ DATE NOT NULL DEFAULT ’0000-00-00’,
‘customer id‘ INT(8) NOT NULL DEFAULT ’0’,
‘sale sub total‘ VARCHAR(12) NOT NULL,
‘sale total cost‘ VARCHAR(30) NOT NULL,
‘paid with‘ VARCHAR(25) NOT NULL,
‘items purchased‘ INT(8) NOT NULL DEFAULT ’0’,
‘sold by‘ INT(8) NOT NULL DEFAULT ’0’,
38

‘comment‘ VARCHAR(100) NOT NULL,
‘id‘ INT(8) NOT NULL AUTO INCREMENT,
PRIMARY KEY (‘id‘)
)
ENGINE = InnoDB
DROP TABLE IF EXISTS ‘pos‘.‘pos sales items‘;
CREATE TABLE ‘pos‘.‘pos sales items‘ (
‘sale id‘ INT(8) NOT NULL DEFAULT ’0’,
‘item id‘ INT(8) NOT NULL DEFAULT ’0’,
‘quantity purchased‘ INT(8) NOT NULL DEFAULT ’0’,
‘item unit price‘ VARCHAR(15) NOT NULL,
‘item buy price‘ VARCHAR(30) NOT NULL,
‘item tax percent‘ VARCHAR(10) NOT NULL,
‘item total tax‘ VARCHAR(12) NOT NULL,
‘item total cost‘ VARCHAR(12) NOT NULL,
‘id‘ INT(8) NOT NULL AUTO INCREMENT,
PRIMARY KEY (‘id‘)
)
ENGINE = InnoDB
DROP TABLE IF EXISTS ‘pos‘.‘pos suppliers‘;
CREATE TABLE ‘pos‘.‘pos suppliers‘ (
‘supplier‘ VARCHAR(60) NOT NULL DEFAULT ”,
‘address‘ VARCHAR(100) NOT NULL DEFAULT ”,
‘phone number‘ VARCHAR(40) NOT NULL DEFAULT ”,
‘contact‘ VARCHAR(60) NOT NULL DEFAULT ”,
‘email‘ VARCHAR(50) NOT NULL DEFAULT ”,
‘other‘ VARCHAR(150) NOT NULL DEFAULT ”,
‘id‘ INT(8) NOT NULL AUTO INCREMENT,
PRIMARY KEY (‘id‘)
)
ENGINE = InnoDB
DROP TABLE IF EXISTS ‘pos‘.‘pos users‘;
CREATE TABLE ‘pos‘.‘pos users‘ (
39

‘first name‘ VARCHAR(50) NOT NULL DEFAULT ”,
‘last name‘ VARCHAR(50) NOT NULL DEFAULT ”,
‘username‘ VARCHAR(20) NOT NULL DEFAULT ”,
‘password‘ VARCHAR(60) NOT NULL DEFAULT ”,
‘type‘ VARCHAR(30) NOT NULL DEFAULT ”,
‘id‘ INT(8) NOT NULL AUTO INCREMENT,
PRIMARY KEY (‘id‘)
)
ENGINE = InnoDB
40

Appendix 2POS Home Page
41

Appendix 3Login Page into the Reporting Interface for suppliers
42

Appendix 4Logout Page into the Reporting Interface for suppliers
43

Appendix 5Home Page for CK and Company Ltd
44

Appendix 6Home Page for Century Bottling Company Ltd
45

Appendix 7Home Page for Nile Breweries Ltd
46

Appendix 8Home Page for Crown Beverages Ltd
47

Appendix 9Web Page for the different Report Categories on the Reporting
Interface for Suppliers
48

Appendix 10An example of a web page for Stock Report
49

Appendix 11Web Page for the different Graph Categories on the Reporting
Interface for Suppliers
50

Appendix 12An example of a web page for Stock Graph
51