Purchasing
We use CurrentRMS to keep track of our expendables inventory. It is important that the inventory be up to date so we know what we have in stock if a big order gets placed.
It is important to capture both the sale of expendables and the purchases.
Purchase Order
When Purchasing expendables, accounting should always issue a Purchase Order that explicitly lists the items being purchased. The PO does not have to be sent to the supplier. This allows us to track what has been received on an order if it shows up at different times / in different shipments.
Expendables Receiving
When we receive a box of expendables, there are a number of steps that need to be done:
- Add Expendables to Current
- Label the Expendables
- Put Expendables away
The sections bellow go into the details of each steps.
Add Expendables to Current
The expendables are tracked as "bulk" items (i.e. we maintain a count). Here are the steps for updating the count in current:
- Find the Resource
- Go to the stock level and select the "Add a Transaction"
- Add a Buy Transaction with the number of item that you are receiving.
Label the Expendables
Each expendable has a specific barcode we use for scanning at check-out.
Some items have a barcode on them (some tape, Dust-Off, etc...) already and might not need to have a barcode label added. HOWEVER, you should scan the item barcode to make sure it is the SAME as what is in current. If it is not, you will need to add a label to the item.
To print labels, we use the Zebra label printer and 1/2" x 2" labels.
- Open Zebra Designer Software
- All labels are in "j:\0-Labels"
- Find the label corresponding to the item (you can search the directory by item code)
- Print however many Labels you need (make sure darkness is set to 25)
Put Expendables Away
It is self explanatory, but each expendable item should have a designated space for storage.
Partial Gel Rolls
When we get partial gel rolls, the above process applies, but they use a special label that has room for recording how many feet of gel there is left on the roll. You need to print the correct label and mark how many feet are left with an Ultra-fine sharpie. Cover the end of the roll with black tape and put the label over the black tape.