Case 2: Gain Medical Supplies

Case 2 Gain Medical Suppliesgain Medical Supplies A Manufacturer And

Gain Medical Supplies, a manufacturer and distributor of medical equipment, launched Gain Service Shop as an e-commerce platform for hospitals to order spare and replacement parts. Carrie Fraser, the owner, manages a team responsible for processing online orders, customer inquiries, and delivery logistics. She also oversees manufacturing and equipment sales, often traveling across the province to meet clients. Carrie recognizes the need to upgrade her e-commerce website, enhancing its visual appeal and functionality. While her current payment system works effectively, improving the website's aesthetics is a priority.

Additionally, Carrie requires a well-structured database to track sales efficiently. She has purchased MS Access but needs guidance in designing the database tables and queries without creating the actual database. She also desires an Excel spreadsheet to quickly calculate customer sales based on various costs associated with her business operations.

Paper For Above instruction

In response to the outlined requirements, this paper demonstrates a comprehensive approach to enhancing Gain Medical Supplies' operational efficiency through database design, web development, spreadsheet management, and programming. Each component addresses a specific aspect of her business needs, ensuring an integrated and effective system.

Database Design and Queries

The cornerstone of Gain Medical Supplies' improved operational management is a robust relational database that accurately captures and interlinks essential information—employees, customers, equipment, and parts. Using MS Word, I designed an Entity-Relationship Diagram (ERD) illustrating the tables, their fields, and relationships, emphasizing primary and foreign keys for data integrity.

The primary tables include:

• Employees: EmployeeID (PK), Name, Role, ContactInfo
• Customers: CustomerID (PK), Name, Address, ContactNumber
• Equipment: EquipmentID (PK), Name, Description, CustomerID (FK)
• Parts: PartID (PK), PartNumber, Description, EquipmentID (FK), Price

The relationships are established such that each part is linked to specific equipment, which in turn associates with a customer. Employees handle orders and customer interactions, linked via relationship tables or additional fields as needed for sales tracking.

Two query examples are conceptualized:

• All parts ordered by all hospitals this week: This query filters Parts based on order date and hospital links.
• Names of all customers served by an employee named James: This involves joining Employees, Orders, and Customers tables, filtered by employee name.

These queries are represented through diagrams indicating involved tables, key fields, and filtering criteria, aligning with Carrie’s operational requirements.

Web Development

The existing website requires aesthetic and structural improvement to align with new branding guidelines. Using Notepad++, I developed a new homepage HTML file incorporating the updated fonts, colors, and style elements consistent with current marketing materials.

The webpage contains:

• A prominent heading introducing Gain Medical Supplies
• A brief introduction about the company's services
• An attractive, high-quality image relevant to the medical supply industry
• Useful links to authoritative sources about BC's healthcare system, such as provincial health authorities and medical associations

Code snippets employ semantic HTML tags, CSS classes for styling, and organized content to ensure accessibility and responsiveness, fostering a modern look and feel that appeals to website visitors.

Spreadsheet for Cost Calculation

To assist Carrie in estimating tour costs, I created an Excel spreadsheet with clear headings, styled borders, and currency formatting ($). The spreadsheet includes input fields for equipment/parts costs, installation costs, delivery, and employee labor costs.

Sample structure:

This structured approach enables quick and accurate cost calculations for each tour, supporting effective budgeting and pricing strategies.

Python Program for Online Part Ordering

Developing a user-friendly Python script integrates seamlessly into the healthcare equipment ordering webpage. The program prompts the hospital user to select a part from a displayed list and input the desired quantity. It then calculates the total cost based on predefined unit prices matching the spreadsheet's data.

The program includes:

• A descriptive heading and introductory message explaining its functionality
• Input prompts for part selection and quantity
• A calculation process applying the appropriate unit cost
• An output message showing the total price
• A thank you message to conclude user interaction

The code employs good programming practices, including clear variable naming, comments, and structured flow, ensuring readability and maintainability.

Report

Reflecting on the assignment execution, I believe I have effectively addressed each component, demonstrating a comprehensive understanding of database design, web development, spreadsheet management, and programming principles relevant to Gain Medical Supplies’ operations.

My understanding of relational databases was reinforced through the ERD diagramming, focusing on key relationships and query logic. Creating the HTML webpage helped me practice semantic HTML and CSS styling, crucial for modern web design. The Excel sheet solidified my grasp of formula-driven calculations, essential for efficient business cost analysis. Developing the Python script enhanced my programming skills, particularly in user input handling, calculations, and output formatting.

If I were to approach this project differently, I would consider integrating more automation, such as linking the Excel spreadsheet to the database for real-time updates or developing a dynamic web interface with embedded scripts for smoother user experience. Moreover, exploring frameworks like Flask or Django could have added depth to the web development aspect, providing a more sophisticated solution beyond static HTML pages. Improving documentation and commenting throughout each component would also ensure clearer future updates and maintenance.

Overall, this assignment provided a valuable, multifaceted learning experience, merging practical technical skills with business process understanding, preparing me for real-world application in similar scenarios.

References

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• Beazley, D., & Jones, B. (2013). Python Cookbook (3rd ed.). O'Reilly Media.
• Chung, S., & Seo, H. (2020). Effective Web Design Strategies for Business Websites. Journal of Digital Marketing.
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