ideas, questions, unsure of route I should take

[rlink_23]

Hey guys,
It has been a little while since I have posted so I hope you all are doing well! Anyways I have been given a project and I am looking for ideas getting started. I am not sure excel will be able to handle the project I have been given. Should I use Access? Or a program I am unaware of?! The following is what I must have this be able to do.

*must have a master list of the product with a list of part numbers and Parts.

[TABLE="width: 500"]
<tbody>[TR]
[TD]Part number#[/TD]
[TD]Part Name A[/TD]
[TD]Part Name B[/TD]
[TD]Part Name C[/TD]
[TD]Part Name D[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Part# 123[/TD]
[TD]Part 1[/TD]
[TD]Part 2[/TD]
[TD]Part 3[/TD]
[TD]Part 4[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Part# 456[/TD]
[TD]Part a[/TD]
[TD]Part b[/TD]
[TD]Part C[/TD]
[TD]Part D[/TD]
[/TR]
</tbody>[/TABLE]

(how its done now is the part numbers are copied and pasted onto a parts sheet and he hand writes part numbers on the list. The sheet printed is a 11x14 legal size page.)

*must be able to select a parts profile and insert on the list that will be printed.

[TABLE="width: 500"]
<tbody>[TR]
[TD]Part number#[/TD]
[TD]Part Name A[/TD]
[TD]Part Name B[/TD]
[TD]Part Name C[/TD]
[TD]Part Name D[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Part# 123[/TD]
[TD]Part 1[/TD]
[TD]Part 2[/TD]
[TD]Part 3[/TD]
[TD]Part 4[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Select this row[/TD]
[TD]and move[/TD]
[TD]to a page that[/TD]
[TD]will change[/TD]
[TD]daily.[/TD]
[/TR]
</tbody>[/TABLE]

(the sheet that they move to will basically be the same as the master list that will change depending on what is ordered and needs to be built)

*must be able to update master list when parts change

*once list is set be able to print the document for parts ordering.


Now that I type it out and list out the parameters I think it may be something Excel can do. But my question is will Access do it better? Or is there a better program that can do what I am asking better? Any insight would be great! I appreciate your time for reading and taking the timne to answer my questions!!

 

[Johnny Thunder]

to answer your question, excel will work but in my opinion Access will be a much better route. I am not sure of the size of your parts catalog but coming from a tech company that used to manufacture Enterprise Storage Racks, we had an access database with our entire parts catalog with some 500K+ parts that would have been a nightmare dealing with in excel due to the amount of columns of metadata for each part.

Once a catolog is created you can create a Log page to enter new parts or lookup parts and append new data and you would also have the functionality to print various types of data. You could also create reusable reports to run, possibly a report to see parts that are no longer being used, a report to find duplicate entries ect.

Hope this helps.

 

[rlink_23]

That really does help tremendously. I have only slightly dabbled with Access so it would be a learning experience for me. We have over 300 products and each product has many many parts to make up the product... (Vaguebook I know.. ?)
My only problem is getting started. Not sure even where to begin. Lol

 

[Johnny Thunder]

Alot of google searches LOL

Just remember as you create the basic layout for the Catolog you can create Joins which essentially links Your Header Descriptions so that when you run a Query/Report you have the nescessary floor plan already layed out.

For example:

Part: Flashlight

Part 1 - Flashlight Body (Created as a Parent ID in your database)
Part 2 - Bulb
Part 3 - Batteries AA
Part4 - Lens

Parts 2-4 are all Child parts to the main parent.... its a weird example but its getting late here in Cali

 

[rlink_23]

Nope not weird works perfectly!!! And I also have you guys too... ?