Extreme novice in need of advice

[innitboss]

Hi,

I work in the quality control business and recently purchased a system which on first inspection seemed like the way forward, however I have since discovered that imputting the data is very slow.

I wondered if Access could be programmed to create a better database.

When a sample is tested, I would like the numberical values to change colour depending on whether it is inside or outside the specifications. (Is this possible?)

The main problem I can see is that samples of different substances will be analysed and each substance has different specifications. (Is it possible to set this up?)

I hope this question makes sense to you all

Any advice would be greatly appreciated

Thanks

Jimmy

 

[innitboss]

Thanks for the quick reply,

This system is actually for a brewery where numerous different lagers and beers are processed. For instance, the lager is delivered in a tanker and a sample is taken, then it is pumped into a storage tank and sampled again, then packaged into kegs and again, sampled.

There are many different test parameters for each sample and many different varieties of lagers and beers. Each variety of lager/beer obviously has its own unique specifications. In fact, some specifications change whether it is in tank or in keg. Is there a way around this?

Thanks in advance

 

[ScottGem]

As someone else said, Access can do just about anything. You just need the time and resources to throw at it.

As Pat said you need to create a table that lists the specs. This table would indicate the product and the parameters of the spec (in tank, keg, etc.). You would then be able to pull the range from that table to compare to the actual result and highlight it accordingly.

 

[innitboss]

Sorry to be a pain, but i am really very new to Access.

If I create tables for the specifications for each variety of lager, i presume i need to create a "high" spec and a "low" spec??

Also after all these tables have been set up and results from real tests are imputted, for instance, a Carling sample from a storage tank, how do I tell Access to compare the results with the pre-defined Carling tank specs?

As you all can see, i am being very amitious (being a newbie), so do you think i am setting my sights too high for a first try?

 

[ScottGem]

No, we did not say to create "tables" for each spec. We said to create ONE table of specifications:

tblSpecifications
SpecificationID (Primary key Autonumber)
LagerID (Foreign key)
High
Low
ReceptacleID (FK)

You would then have a table of Test results:

tblResults
ResultsID (PK autonumber)
TestDate
LagerID (FK)
ReceptacleID
Result

You can then match the 2 on LagerID and ReceptacleID, then compare the specs to the results.

 

[innitboss]

Ideally I would want the finished samples database to look like a report. All the results from a road tanker would be on the same page as the results for the holding tank and the final pack results.

Sometimes there will be more than one road tanker which goes into the holding tank, so the report would look something like this:

Road Tanker Number
123456 345678 456789
PG 6 5.5 5.8
RI 35.5 33.5 34.4
OG 39 38.7 38.4
ABV 3.9 4.1 4.02

Holding Tank Number
101
PG 5.8
RI 34.4
OG 39.4
ABV 4.01

Final Pack Batch Number
34
PG 5.8
RI 34.4
OG 39.4
ABV 4.01

As mentioned before though, all lagers have different specs for each test and i am having difficulty in understanding how to relate the results to the specs

 

[ScottGem]

Reports and tables are different animals. Reports can be designed to look different form the tables. If you get your data tables setup correctly you should have no problem with reports. Basically you just want to use grouping.

 

[neileg]

As you suggested yourself, working up this kind of application as a beginner is going to be a challenge.

There are lots of people on this forum that will be willing to help, but you may find that patience wears a bit thin if the community are really developing your application for you.

I suggest that you have a bash at making something work, even if on a very simplified basis. This will do two things, increase your knowledge of Acces and increase your understanding of your task.

Then you can come back and ask more focussed questions and get plenty of help.

Good luck