CaoWing: Cacao Inventory Monitoring and Forecasting with Supplier Finder

This program aims to develop a functional inventory-tracking, forecasting, and supplier-finding system—implemented in the C programming language—to address the challenges faced by cacao-using MSMEs, including poor data visibility, the inability to analyze weekly cacao usage, and the difficulty of finding reliable cacao suppliers. By enabling manufacturers to monitor consumption patterns, forecast depletion, and access potential suppliers, the system seeks to strengthen operational stability and improve procurement efficiency.

Specifically, the program intends to achieve the following objectives:

1. Develop a weekly cacao usage tracking module that allows MSMEs to record, store, and review daily consumption within a week, ensuring clear and organized inventory documentation.
2. Generate insights on weekly inventory trends, helping users understand fluctuating cacao usage and identify patterns that influence production and supply planning.
3. Implement a forecasting feature that predicts when cacao inventory will fall below a critical threshold, supporting timely procurement decisions and preventing sudden stock-outs.
4. Introduce an automated low-inventory alert system that notifies users when projections indicate an upcoming shortage.
5. Provide an accessible directory and search tool for cacao suppliers—including suppliers located in major cacao-producing areas like Davao—to address the issue of MSMEs lacking a systematic method for identifying and connecting with potential sources of cacao.
6. Enable search filtering options based on city, product type, or availability to make supplier identification faster, more accurate, and more convenient for manufacturers.
7. Incorporate file-handling features (such as saving consumption logs, forecasts, and supplier lists) to maintain organized and retrievable business records.
8. Utilize key C programming concepts—including selection and repetition structures, arrays, strings, pointers, user-defined functions, and structures—to ensure the system is robust, efficient, and aligned with academic requirements.