Development of a Hotel Inventory System through Agile Methodology

This paper presents the daily inventory experience of Hotel ABC, the problems with their business operations, and the researchers’ solution to their problems. Due to the fact that Hotel ABC does not have an automated inventory system, all their data and records are manually stored in Excel sheets or just handwritten on paper. All inventory processes are generally taken care of by the accounting department which results into a bottleneck in their operations. Another issue is the delayed generation of inventory reports. In order to solve the current problems, the researchers proposed to make a hotel inventory system. The goal of the inventory system is to reduce the inaccuracy and loss of data and eliminate the bottleneck in the daily operations of the hotel. The system should be able to display the complete list of products and their respective quantities in order to avoid overstocking and understocking of products of hotel inventory. The system also monitors the returnable and consumable products of the hotel. It would monitor the location of the returnable products at any point in time. Moreover, the data recorded should be kept securely such that it is only accessible by authorized personnel which are the admin and, senior manager, and those from the accounting, housekeeping, and purchasing departments. The Agile methodology for software development was chosen because it promotes client collaboration during the whole development process. At the end of every sprint, the researchers would show the prototype of their system to the client in order for the client to give their insights, comments, and suggestions to make the system better address their needs.This paper presents the daily inventory experience of Hotel ABC, the problems with their business operations, and the researchers’ solution to their problems. Due to the fact that Hotel ABC does not have an automated inventory system, all their data and records are manually stored in Excel sheets or just handwritten on paper. All inventory processes are generally taken care of by the accounting department which results into a bottleneck in their operations. Another issue is the delayed generation of inventory reports. In order to solve the current problems, the researchers proposed to make a hotel inventory system. The goal of the inventory system is to reduce the inaccuracy and loss of data and eliminate the bottleneck in the daily operations of the hotel. The system should be able to display the complete list of products and their respective quantities in order to avoid overstocking and understocking of products of hotel inventory. The system also monitors the returnable and consumable products of the hotel. It would monitor the location of the returnable products at any point in time. Moreover, the data recorded should be kept securely such that it is only accessible by authorized personnel which are the admin and, senior manager, and those from the accounting, housekeeping, and purchasing departments. The Agile methodology for software development was chosen because it promotes client collaboration during the whole development process. At the end of every sprint, the researchers would show the prototype of their system to the client in order for the client to give their insights, comments, and suggestions to make the system better address their needs.