Finished Goods to Stock Database Design

[SWWeatherGuy]

I'm having a tough time rapping my brain around an efficient way to design tables and sets to track the daily moving of finished goods (eggs) to stock or product inventory, and am hoping someone has a good suggestion. Specifically, it would be used to track chicken egg production. I've designed a few tables, including a "Chicken" table, with all information pertaining to each bird, including a field (EggCount) to track total production for the life of the bird. Even though the egg is the "Finished Good" I keep thinking the chickens and the eggs can be represented in the same table since, in my case, I know which eggs come from which birds. Maybe I'm not thinking something about that right, though.

Essentially what I want to design is a database that I can log one record per day, indicating which bird layed an egg that day. During that entry I want to post a 1 egg increment in the "EggCount" field (historical total) in the "Chicken" table, for each bird that layed that day. At the same time, I want to increment the stock quantity of each egg layed in my "product stock." I don't know why I'm having such a hard time visualizing this design. Can I simply add a "Qty-In-Stock" field to my "Chicken(&Egg)" table, post any daily increments there, then calculate the total in-stock from that field for each bird? If so, can I just have a one-to-many set with the "Chicken" table and whatever table is used to record the daily layers?

Thanks, maybe something will click overnight.

[MoGrace]

Sounds like a fun project. Are you planning on doing a FIFO for the eggs? How many days will you keep an egg in stock before moving it to the finished product - which I suppose could be a cake or another chicken?

[DaveM]

I keep thinking the chickens and the eggs can be represented in the same table since, in my case, I know which eggs come from which birds. Maybe I'm not thinking something about that right, though.

probably chicken in table
eggs in separate table and connected to the chicken table in a set.
That would be a start anyhow.
for stock(eggs) another table where you have sent out posted and each egg adds to the stock.

When I was a kid, we had a small egg farm(along with the other)
we simply picked uip the eggs and marked a date on a paper above the chicken. If a chicken did not lay one for a week, we ate it.

[SWWeatherGuy]

Sounds like a fun project. Are you planning on doing a FIFO for the eggs? How many days will you keep an egg in stock before moving it to the finished product - which I suppose could be a cake or another chicken?

Haha, yeah, FIFO is what we typically try to do but not going to the trouble of marking the eggs. Once they are accounted for "in stock" it doesn't matter which specific egg it is, only which bird it came from. Actually, the "finished product" is the egg once it's collected and cleaned and that's what I want to log daily as it's added to the EggStock. At that point, the eggs can be "invoiced" out of stock to a cake, cookies, sandwich, or any number of delicious things, haha. I sell a few dozen to help offset feed costs too. I'm trying to put together a db more just for something to tinker with in Alpha, not so much because it's really needed.

[SWWeatherGuy]

probably chicken in table
eggs in separate table and connected to the chicken table in a set.
That would be a start anyhow.
for stock(eggs) another table where you have sent out posted and each egg adds to the stock.

When I was a kid, we had a small egg farm(along with the other)
we simply picked uip the eggs and marked a date on a paper above the chicken. If a chicken did not lay one for a week, we ate it.

Thanks for the reply. Yeah, even though the chickens are as much pets and a hobby, if they're not laying I'm not gonna keep them around long. Mine aren't caged so the only way I know which egg is from which bird is the variety of birds I have and knowing what kind of egg each produces.

So, basically your suggestion is to treat it along the same lines as, say, a product/parts invoicing design, but maybe in reverse since instead of leaving stock, the eggs are being added to stock? I was thinking of the daily log of collected eggs consisting of a form, simply with a check box next to each bird (layed or didn't lay each day.) I wanted that to be dynamic so if I add more birds, they are already included on the collection form. I guess that could be accomplished with a one-to-many link and an associated browse object? Thanks, again.

[MoGrace]

Hi Robert,

Haha, yeah, FIFO is what we typically try to do but not going to the trouble of marking the eggs. Once they are accounted for "in stock" it doesn't matter which specific egg it is, only which bird it came from. Actually, the "finished product" is the egg once it's collected and cleaned and that's what I want to log daily as it's added to the EggStock. At that point, the eggs can be "invoiced" out of stock to a cake, cookies, sandwich, or any number of delicious things, haha. I sell a few dozen to help offset feed costs too. I'm trying to put together a db more just for something to tinker with in Alpha, not so much because it's really needed.

Tinkering with something you know about is a good way to get started in A5. Tracking the eggs produced is just the beginning. Like I said, it does sound like a fun project. You can raise a few chicks, track your expenses and your sales and just about anything in Alpha as it comes to mind. A project like this will grow almost by itself!