Orange Blossom Nursery

The Orange Blossom is a local plant nursery that specializes in providing hard to$-$find plants to

contractors and homeowners. The company also carries most of the common plants and trees, but the

owners take pride in their ability to grow more unusual varieties and colors. Contractors and landscape

design firms within a couple hundred miles come to the Orange Blossom for unique specimens, often

used as highlights in their designs. Prices reflect the uniqueness and high quality of items offered by the

firm.

Despite the company$$s reputation, Orange Blossom faces the same pressures of any nursery. Weather

can be a problem$$particularly dry spells or unexpected cold winter. Such weather can boost sales.

Homeowners and businesses lose plants during difficult times and they come to Orange Blossom to

replace them. The biggest challenge is trying to forecast the demand for new housing and landscaping. It

takes time to grow many of the plants to the size requested by contractors and landscapers, so Orange

Blossom managers have to plan ahead and estimate the number of plants that will be needed. If the

local economy slumps, rates fall, and the company is left with unsold plants. Fortunately, most of them

can be protected and sold in future years, but the costs of growing the plants cuts into current$-$year

profits.

Plant Orders

As much as possible, Orange Blossom managers encourage contractors and landscapers to order plants

in advance. Many large projects are designed a year or two in advance of construction, providing time

for the nursery to grow or locate the larger specimens required. Of course, homeowners rarely plan

ahead, so almost all of the advance orders are placed by established clients. To assist the clients, Orange

Blossom wants to keep many of the plan details in the computer system. Clients will be able to select a

project and find the list of plants, along with the planned locations of each plant. Figure $1$ shows the

basic information collected on the order form. Large projects are often completed in stages or phases,

so the form has a place for clients to record that information. Plants are ultimately identified by their

species and variety using specific Latin names. However, general descriptions are provided using

common names. Plants and trees have different types of measurements $($sizes$).$ Therefore, the sizes of

the plants will change depending on the requirements of each order. Similarly, the colors of the plants

can vary depending on the requirements of each order. Each plant has a fixed price, but the employee

can put a different price based on the difficulty of the job or any sales available at the time of the

order placed. Orange Blossom wants its database to track both prices. Finally, the employees at

Orange Blossom have multiple specialties, therefore the company wants to keep track on the

database of all specialties each employee has.

Figure $1$: Orange Blossom Client Order Form

Orange Blossom

Client Order Form

ProjectID

Order Date

Date Modified

Employee First Name

Employee Last Name

Client

Contact Person First Name, Last Name

Phone

Address

City, State, ZIP

Project Location

Address

Project Start Date

Phase

Estimated Installation Start

Project Type

Design Segment

ItemID Description Size Color Stock or

External

Plant

Location

Quantity Price Date

Installed

Subtotal

Tax

Total

Payments and Billing

Landscape designers and contractors purchase items for other customers. As a result, Orange Blossom

maintains accounts for its major clients. Ultimately, the contractors and designers are responsible for

payment, but it takes time to install a project and collect money from the end customers. Orange Blossom

allows clients to identify a project when making a payment, and tracks their spending for them.

Consequently, the accounting manager tracks payments based on projects and be able to send billing

notices to the contractors. Additionally, expensive plants, special orders, and large orders require down

payments. Some clients make payments over time$$particularly as a project progresses. As shown in

Figure $2,$ Orange Blossom sends a monthly billing statement that lists the balance at the start of the

period, new purchases, and any payments received. The Balance of the payment is the difference

between the project total cost and the amount that has already been paid. Finally, the employees at

Orange Blossom have multiple specialties, therefore the company wants to keep track on the database

of all specialties each employee has. Furthermore, to save the amount of data stored on the database,

Orange Blossom requested that no computed values should be stored.

Figure $2$: Orange Blossom Billing Form

Orange Blossom

Billing Form

Billing Date

Time Period

Client First Name, Last Name

Phone

Email

Fax

Address

City, State ZIP

Employee First Name, Last Name

Payments Received

Payment

Date

Project

Description

Project Total

Cost

Amount Paid Balance Date

Installed

Total Received

Outstanding Balance

Ending