Database development is part of nearly everything we do.
Most business applications involve data. It may be a simple contact list or it may be complete financial records for the corporation.
We developed a relational database for a multi-level marketing company which was used to track all sales and order entry, and to calculate monthly comissions for all sales people. It exported reports in various formats as required for other services. It sent a report to the warehouse for the packing lists. It sent a report to the bank for credit card charges. It also sent a report to ADP for the payroll checks.
Many people don't realize that controls can generate a tremendous amont of data. Product tracking, historical trending, and governmental compliance records can require very large and sometimes very complex databases. We have had experience with collecting, displaying, and reporting data to satisfy requirements of both the EPA and the FDA. We have worked in textile, tobacco, pharaceutical, and rendering industries.
Our first experience with relational databases was before MS Access and MS Excel were available. We wrote a relational database in Turbo Pascal that is still in use today. We have suggested that our client upgrade to current technology but he is happy with what he has.
Our client operates a small dental lab. He did not know much about PCs and didn't want to learn about PCs. He did want to automate his job ticket / workorder filing system. He often had to refer to previous orders for current work for the same patient. We analyzed his paper and pencil system and developed a menu driven program which closely mimiced his manual system to minimize his learning curve. It also minimized the amount of typing required. Most data input other than the patient's name is selected from pop up menus.
If we were to develop something like that today, we would use an off the shelf product, such as MS Access, and customize it to fit the requirements. However that was not available at that time.
Revised 9/15/2005