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Inventory
Inventory isn't an independent
part of Command
Post 3000, it's integrated with
the Flat Rate Book system, with the Time
& Material system, with the Work Order
system, with the Invoicing system, with
the Service Order system, with the Accounts
Payable system, and with the Employee
Management system. Navigating the inventory
is done the same way throughout the entire
package, so you learn navigation just
once (it takes only a few minutes) and
you're an expert in every part of the
package where inventory comes into play.
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| This isn't a "flat"
inventory system, but a "hierarchical"
system (one broken down into categories, subcategories,
and so forth). Each level of the inventory
has its own color code, so you ALWAYS know
immediately which level you're working on.
When you delete a level, you get instant feedback
concerning how many items under that level
will also be deleted (not to mention all affected
levels turning a bright warning red). This
is the core of the inventory system: an organizational
structure that meets the demands of inventories
containing a hundred parts, or a million parts.
Navigation, and selecting inventory, is simplified
ten times over with this approach. Is the
picture of the inventory in the window too
small to see the details? Double-click it
to make it fill the screen with a high-resolution
image of the item! |
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| All inventory items enter
the system via a purchase order. (The only
exception to this rule is during the initial
installation and set-up of Command
Post 3000, when the status quo inventory
is prepared.) The purchase order even looks
like a purchase order. Clicking on a line
item reveals its full hierarchical breakdown.
Adding line items is as easy as tabbing through
the levels to the desired part in seconds.
Taxation can be global (for the all line items)
or line-item specific (when taxable and non-taxable
items are mixed on the same purchase order).
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| This purchase order (notice
the red letter "E" behind the P.O.
number to show its revision level) is being
used in Receiving Mode to track what has arrived
on the warehouse dock and specify (1) how
many of each ordered item arrived, (2) how
many didn't, (3) record serial numbers if
relevant, (4) specify which location they
are to be routed to if not the main receiving
floor. All irregularities are recorded and
reported, and missed deadlines and no-ships
flagged as they arise. Receiving is as simple
as scrolling down all the line items and keying
either (A) for all received, (N) for none
received, or (S) for some received followed
by the quantity actually received. The red
tracking "cursor" scrolls instantly
up and down the purchase order line items,
giving a magnified "window view"
of the ordered items line by line. |
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| Select a part and get the
full story on it: how many of it are on hand
and in which locations, how many are on order,
on back-order, which service orders the items
are to be applied to, plus a fully-detailed
history of the part. Double-click on any item
in any list to instantly pull up the relevant
purchase order or service order. |
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| By moving the mouse over
the word "Locations" in the
previous screen, you instantly bring up
the Locations Control Module which permits
you to create and delete locations (as
general as "Warehouse 1" or
as specific as "Glove Compartment
of Truck No. 4") and transfer inventory
(in whole or in part) from one location
to another in one easy step. When you
enable Serial Number tracking, you can
specify which serialized items are being
moved from location to location (e.g.,
from warehouse to, say, the left side
of truck number 2). The flat rate and
time & material systems automatically
deduct items from the inventory, creating
reports on the fly. |
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| Part tracking is done at
two levels: the basics (how many on order,
how much do they cost, where is my stock located
currently, what's backordered, what service
orders do the parts go with) and action logging
(who changed the P.O. from 7 to 9 items on
the 3rd of March, and when did he do it? how
many parts were transferred from receiving
to truck number three on May 12, and by whom?)
Every action that affects inventory is logged,
and that log file for each part is, like everything
else in Command Post 3000, at your fingertips.
Doing inventory properly means imposing accountability,
and this system delivers accountability in
spades. |
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