Implementation of the Moving Average Method in the Point of Sale Information System at Apotek Bintang Singgalang

Abstract

Advancements in information technology have driven the adoption of systems that facilitate rapid and accurate data management, including the handling of goods and inventory in pharmacies. Bintang Singgalang Pharmacy currently faces challenges in managing product data, sales transactions, and inventory—issues that could lead to recording errors, stockouts, and overstocking. This research aims to develop a web-based Point of Sale (PoS) information system to assist in managing products, suppliers, sales transactions, and stock levels, while also providing recommendations for inventory requirements for the upcoming period. The system was developed using the Waterfall methodology, utilizing PHP and the Laravel framework, with MySQL serving as the database. Key features include the management of product data, categories, units, suppliers, sales transactions, stock outflows, and reports, as well as inventory requirement forecasting using the three-period Single Moving Average (SMA) method. The SMA method calculates the average sales data from the three preceding periods to generate a forecast for the next period. System functionality was validated through Black Box Testing, while forecasting accuracy was evaluated using Mean Absolute Error (MAE) and Mean Absolute Percentage Error (MAPE). The results indicate that the system facilitates more structured data and transaction management and generates inventory recommendations based on historical sales data. The user acceptance test achieved a score of 95.33%, categorized as Highly Accepted, indicating that the system is well received by users and capable of supporting the operational needs of the pharmacy.