Supplier Database: MS Access
If your database contained around 1000 suppliers (using the same fields contained in this exercise and no other), what other types of reports beside contact information could you create with the data?
Well, apart from a contacts report, the data fields used in this exercise can conveniently be used to generate both a supplier-sales report and supplier revenue report. The YTD order figure represents the supplier's sales level. For instance, we could take the YTD order to be a measure of the number of orders placed for the company's products by customers from, say, three years in the past. If we are comparing 1000 producers dealing in the supply of, in our case, a particular mouse model from a specific manufacturer, then we can compare suppliers based on their level of sales and consequently, size -- higher YTD order figures can rightly be taken to indicate higher online sales levels, higher sales revenues, and consequently, larger sizes.
Question Two
How would these reports assist you in preparing your solution to your case study?
The contacts report prepared in this exercise informs the assessor's decision by showing the suitability, in terms of proximity to the company, of each of the potential suppliers. The further away the supplier is, the higher the costs that will be incurred in transportation costs; therefore, it makes sense to pick a supplier who is located within reasonable reach. The sales-size and sales-revenue reports, similarly, could help the assessor identify those suppliers that are likely to offer lower prices. The larger the sales volumes (as measured by the YTD order index), the larger the supplier's revenue base, and the greater their ability to offer low prices through scale economies. In this regard, suppliers with higher YTD indices are judged more attractive than those with lower indices. It was on this basis that Amazon and Wal-Mart were selected as the preferred distributors in this exercise.
