Traceability Database Tutorial

I thought I would reach out and see if anyone has any suggestions on where I could find a basic tutorial on how to set up a database and the associated relationships for a traceability program.  I will be using OpenOffice database.  It has been a long time since I have set up a database and even then I really didn't know what I was doing.

I am just looking for something that could explain the relationships and how to get our the relevant information.

Thanks in advance.

Traceability:  one level down and one level up.  Where did the raw materials come from and where were they used.  Where did the products containing the raw materials get shipped?

Would your current work order and inventory system do this for you?

The organization currently just digs through things in a filing cabinet.  I was going to put together a database for them, but after a bit of research I realized that it would require a certain level of depth that goes beyond my skills.  For the time being we have just put together a few spreadsheets with filters that seem to do the job for the time being.  The company is looking into getting an inventory management system or ERP that works with Quickbooks.