New to Access, can Access do what I need it to do

[Leinad7]

As I mentioned, I'm new to Access and am using "Access 2010: the missing manual" to learn.



My question is this:

By building a database in access, can I keep an ingredient inventory log by weight (stock, allocated, etc.), and a recipe log (where one recipe would have several ingredients WITH PERCENTAGES by weight)?

I am confident the answer to this is yes. My next question is this:

By building a [form / query?] can I then allocate 100 lbs of recipe A (via a pop-up / fill-in chart), which would then allocate ingredients by 25% of AB, 50% of DC, and 25% of KL (of course depending on my recipe), and then I can batch the 100 lbs and it will remove it from the inventory / allocated raw materials?

Thanks!

[Leinad7]

If need be, I can clarify:

Inventory Table:
Raw In Stock (lbs) Allocated
AB 50 0
DC 125 0
KL 75 0

Recipe Table:
Recipe Raw %
A AB 25
A DC 50
A KL 25

As mentioned, I want to batch 100 lbs of Recipe A - so first I need to allocate those raws. I would want to do this by saying allocate 100 lbs of A, and Access to automatically determine that it's 25 lb of AB, 50 lbs of DC, and 25 lbs of KL. Then, once I batch it I would say I made 100 lbs of A, and it would deplete froms the allocated column.

Thanks!

[Rawb]

This is a classic inventory management problem and, to answer your questions, yes, Access handles that kind of thing very well. In fact, as long as you're not looking at large-scale (Enterprise-level) databases with hundreds of users or databases stored on the web, Access can do it for you.

That said, some of what you're proposing looks like it would require custom VBA coding. And when you get into that, there can be a fairly steep learning curve (unless you already have some programming experience).

[Leinad7]

Thanks Rawb for your response.

The database would be used by 10-20 people, and would hold a good amount of data - but nothing close to the scale of a large-scale database. I have some prior programming experience (I understand the foundation of how coding works), but this would be a completely new for me.

Do you feel that people on this forum would be helpful in assiting me with some programming?

[Rawb]

Absolutely!

When I first came here, I was absolutely flabbergasted by how helpful (and polite) the people on the Forum were. It's why I'm still here actually: I like the people and, even after 3+ years programming in Access, I know people here with more knowledge and experience than me.

[Leinad7]

Excellent! Glad to hear it. I feel that Access, and what I need it to do would completely streamline our process (currently have 5+ people maintaining their own inventory in Excel). Seems like Access could streamline this process, and set it up like a web-page to make it straight-forward and easy.