Question

Exercise 1 - Manufacturer

A manufacturing company produces products. The following product information is stored:
product name, product ID and quantity on hand. These products are made up of many components.
Each component can be supplied by one or more suppliers. The following component information
is kept: component ID, name, description, suppliers who supply them, and products in which they
are used. Use Figure B.1 for this exercise.
Create an ERD to show how you would track this information.
Show entity names, primary keys, attributes for each entity, relationships between the entities and
cardinality.
Assumptions
• A supplier can exist without providing components.
• A component does not have to be associated with a supplier.
• A component does not have to be associated with a product. Not all components are used
in products.
• A product cannot exist without components.

Answer 1

The ERD models the relationships among Manufacturer, Product, and Component entities, depicting the flow of information in the manufacturing company. It accommodates various scenarios, such as independent suppliers and non-associated components, providing a robust framework for tracking product and component information.

In the Entity-Relationship Diagram (ERD) designed to track the product and component information for the manufacturing company, several entities are identified along with their attributes, primary keys, and relationships.

Entities:

Manufacturer:

Attributes: ManufacturerID (PK), ManufacturerName

Product:

Attributes: ProductID (PK), ProductName, QuantityOnHand

Component:

Attributes: ComponentID (PK), ComponentName, Description

Relationships and Cardinality:

Manufacturer produces Products (1:M)

Product is composed of Components (M:N), indicating a junction table for the many-to-many relationship.

Supplier provides Components (M:1), allowing a single supplier to provide multiple components.

Assumptions and Constraints:

Suppliers can exist independently of providing components.

A component may not have an associated supplier or product.

Not all components are necessarily used in products.

Products must be composed of components.

In summary, the ERD captures the interrelationships between Manufacturer, Product, and Component entities, considering the various assumptions and constraints. It ensures a comprehensive representation of how products, components, and suppliers are interconnected in the manufacturing process.