CASE STUDY.
Inventory Management System
PROJECT OVERVIEW
The Customized Inventory Management System was a final school project designed to simulate real-world software development. The project involved customizing a template Spring Framework application with a Java backend and a simple HTML frontend to meet the specific needs of a chosen customer. I selected a furniture store as the customer, focusing on managing inventory for various products and their corresponding parts. While the user interface was designed and created by me, the primary focus of the project was on implementing and enhancing backend functionalities to support the business requirements.
OBJECTIVES
1. Backend Customization: Implement and customize backend functionalities to manage inventory effectively, including adding features for tracking maximum and minimum inventory levels.
2. UI Customization: Adjust the HTML frontend to reflect the specific branding and products of the chosen customer, while keeping the interface straightforward and user-friendly.
3. Data Validation and Error Handling: Ensure that inventory levels adhere to specified constraints, with robust validation and clear error messages for any discrepancies.
4. Code Quality and Testing: Improve code quality by removing unused validators, writing unit tests for new features, and documenting the changes clearly in a README file.
2. UI Customization: Adjust the HTML frontend to reflect the specific branding and products of the chosen customer, while keeping the interface straightforward and user-friendly.
3. Data Validation and Error Handling: Ensure that inventory levels adhere to specified constraints, with robust validation and clear error messages for any discrepancies.
4. Code Quality and Testing: Improve code quality by removing unused validators, writing unit tests for new features, and documenting the changes clearly in a README file.
CHALLENGES
Backend Logic Implementation: Developing the logic to manage and enforce inventory limits, ensuring that products and parts are consistently within their maximum and minimum levels.
Data Validation: Implementing thorough validation checks to prevent errors in inventory management, such as overstocking or understocking, and ensuring these checks were accurately reflected in the user interface.
Code Maintenance and Documentation: Maintaining a clean and efficient codebase by removing unnecessary components and providing detailed documentation to support future development and maintenance.
Data Validation: Implementing thorough validation checks to prevent errors in inventory management, such as overstocking or understocking, and ensuring these checks were accurately reflected in the user interface.
Code Maintenance and Documentation: Maintaining a clean and efficient codebase by removing unnecessary components and providing detailed documentation to support future development and maintenance.
MY ROLES.
BACK-END DEVELOPER
As the primary focus of this project was the backend, I was responsible for implementing the core functionalities required for effective inventory management. This included adding fields for maximum and minimum inventory levels, writing validation logic, management of multi-pack parts, and integrating these features into the overall system.
USER INTERFACE DESIGNER
While the user interface was not the project’s primary focus, I customized the HTML frontend to ensure it aligned with the furniture store’s branding. This involved making necessary adjustments to the interface to display the product and part information clearly and adding simple navigation elements.
SOLUTIONS.
MULTI-PACK PARTS MANAGEMENT
Duplicate Handling: Implemented logic to detect duplicate parts during inventory additions. When duplicates were identified, the system automatically grouped them into a multi-pack, simplifying inventory management and reducing redundancy.
Part Association Management: Associating parts with their corresponding products, ensuring that each product accurately reflected its component parts within the system.
Part Association Management: Associating parts with their corresponding products, ensuring that each product accurately reflected its component parts within the system.
ENHANCED INVENTORY MANAGEMENT
Entity and Repository Updates: Modified entity classes to include maximum and minimum inventory fields. Updated repository interfaces to handle CRUD operations with the new fields, ensuring data consistency and integrity.
Service Layer Implementation: Developed business logic in the service layer to enforce inventory limits. Implemented methods to validate inventory levels during product and part creation or updates, ensuring compliance with specified constraints.
Service Layer Implementation: Developed business logic in the service layer to enforce inventory limits. Implemented methods to validate inventory levels during product and part creation or updates, ensuring compliance with specified constraints.
DATA VALIDATION & ERROR HANDLING
Validation Logic: Integrated validation checks within the service layer to ensure inventory levels were within specified limits. Added error messaging to guide users in correcting invalid inputs, preventing data integrity issues.
Unit Testing: Developed unit tests to validate that the inventory constraints were correctly enforced, ensuring the reliability of the validation logic.
Unit Testing: Developed unit tests to validate that the inventory constraints were correctly enforced, ensuring the reliability of the validation logic.
UI CUSTOMIZATION
User Interface Adjustments: Customized the HTML frontend to reflect the furniture store’s branding, adding relevant product and part names, and integrating an “About” page for additional store information.
Code Cleanup and Documentation: Removed unused validators and maintained a clean codebase. Documented all changes in a README file, detailing the modifications and their locations in the code, to support future development and maintenance.
Code Cleanup and Documentation: Removed unused validators and maintained a clean codebase. Documented all changes in a README file, detailing the modifications and their locations in the code, to support future development and maintenance.
CONCLUSION.
The Customized Inventory Management System project provided valuable experience in backend development, focusing on implementing essential functionalities to support inventory management. Detailed technical steps were taken to enhance the backend, manage multi-pack parts, correctly associate parts with products, enforce inventory constraints, and ensure data integrity through robust validation. While the user interface was kept simple, the backend work demonstrated my ability to customize and extend an existing application to meet specific business needs. The completed project showcases my skills in backend development, data validation, and maintaining code quality, making it a strong addition to my portfolio.
