In-shop Asset Tracking

[elight86]

How are you guys tracking parts within your shop? We usually have about 3 to 5 customers a day bring in computers for service and we have having problems keeping track of all the equipment they bring in. With a standard laptop repair we have a minimum of three separate parts to keep track of(restore cd's, laptop, power supply). Right now we just keep everything together in a pile on the shelf. Now that we are seeing an increasing volume of computers coming and going the "shelf pile" strategy does not work.

We have considered using plastic bins, temporary asset stickers, and a few other ideas but what have you guys found to work best? Any and all ideas are welcome!

Thanks guys!

 

[ProTech Support]

I would look into a program called "Asset Manager 2008 Enterprise". I used this at a system administrator job to keep track of everything, it worked pretty good and even printer out bar codes, allowed you to add custom information, and link it to employee's/customers. It is a bit on the expensive side ($399), but it worked well for what we needed it for.

 

[NYJimbo]

I have a weird shelving system that are almost bins, don't know wherre I got it but I use it for laptops. I learned my lesson and now immediatly tag the disks and the power adapter the minute it walks in the door. It's easy to get overwhelmed when you have 4 or 5 in the shop and suddenly you realize your mixing parts amongst the machines.

I just tag them with the last name of the client until I return them.

 

[elight86]

Protech Support: Thanks for the tip. We are planning on moving to CommitCRM within the next month which I understand has asset tracking built in. Does anyone have any complaints about commits asset tracking or tips for us?

NYJimbo: How are you tagging them? Post-its or just taping paper to them or maybe something we haven't even thought of?


Thanks for the quick replies!

 

[ProTech Support]

I don't personally use Commit, but from what I hear around here its a decent program.

It may pay to do a quick search in the Business & Legal section for Commit, as it has been discussed in many threads. I am sure you can find some useful information about it that way while waiting for responses.

 

[NYJimbo]

NYJimbo: How are you tagging them? Post-its or just taping paper to them or maybe something we haven't even thought of?


Thanks for the quick replies!

We use anything available. PostIts, little tie on luggage tags, stickers. As long as it doesn't fall off then we don't care.

 

[ProTech Support]

We use anything available. PostIts, little tie on luggage tags, stickers. As long as it doesn't fall off then we don't care.

I actually saw a piece of bubble gum with the wrapper attached to one of his systems, he is the modern day MacGyver .

 

[blackburgpchelp]

For laptops, I have a 5 drawer tupper-ware like cabinet I got at Target for less than $30. It's big enough to hold 17" laptops, along with their power adapter, and any thing else the customer brings. It's especially handy if I've disassembled the laptop and am waiting on a part, as I can keep the laptop all together in the drawer (statically protected of course) and not take up bench space. I keep the screws in a labeled divider box which I can drop in the drawer as well.

I generally keep the work order in the drawer as well, but have thought of getting hang tags so I know at a glance which laptop is where.

So far this system has worked very well for me.

Rance

 

[terryriv]

We are in the process of starting to use CommitCRM, and we used to tag stuff by hand with written out stickers. Currently I purchased a Dymo label printer, and made a custom report in CommitCRM, so we can print multiple labels for the many items, and they seem to stick well, but easy to remove at the end.

 

[mmanna]

I came up with a system of my own that has been working well for a few years.

First, I made a spreadsheet with a list of sequential numbers. These are my Job ID #'s and I print about 200 at a time.

My work orders are designed in Word, so I do a mail merge and my work-orders are pre-printed with job #'s already on them, so there's no room for error as far as someone writing the wrong # on the work order or not putting a job # on it at all.

Next, I use the Avery Removable Labels (mini-address size, 80 to a page) with job numbers pre-printed on them in word. I print 4 of each number (so there are 20 rows of labels, 4 across ... each row contains 4 of the same #). It took a bit of manual work the first time I made them (couldn't find an easy way to merge with my excel file in each of the 4 columns) so I ended up typing up the first sheet manually ... 1000, 1001, 1002, up to 1019, then copy & paste to the other 3 columns. Now, whenever I need to print more labels, I use Word's "find & replace all" feature. In the example given above, I would find 100 and replace it with 102 and find 101 and replace it with 103. (yes, this omits the last number which doesn't need to change). So, 1000 becomes 1020, 1001 becomes 1021, 1019 becomes 1039. This really isn't as complicated as I've probably made it sound ... sorry about that!

I print TWO of each sheet of labels - one for the front office and one for the bench area, meaning we have 8 stickers available for every Job #. The set out front is used to tag everything as it comes in (laptop, AC adapter, recovery discs, flash drives, etc.). If we use up all 4 labels out front (rarely happens), we can go grab an extra label from the set in the back. The set in the back is primarily used for when we open a computer and start taking stuff apart. Every piece that comes out of the computer (hard drive, optical drive, etc.) must have a sticker attached to it immediately.

Best of all, since the labels are removable, we easily peel them off as we put stuff back together and no sticky residue is left behind.

 

[ESIT251]

What I use

I wanted a system that was platform independent and mobile (and cheap). I found a PHP script called Work Order TS. (google it - I cannot post the link here yet) I have to say I have been very happy with it. I have it uploaded on my web server so that I can access it from anywhere. It stores all of my clients and allows for the creation of workorders and onsite scheduling. You can print out check-in tickets and completed tickets which have your logo and disclaimer on them.

Check out the guy's site for more info. I am in no way affiliated with this script or its sales. I just wanted to share the info since I have found it very useful and affordable compared to other solutions such as Commit CRM.

Jake

 

[Blues]

I wanted a system that was platform independent and mobile (and cheap). I found a PHP script called Work Order TS. (google it - I cannot post the link here yet) I have to say I have been very happy with it. I have it uploaded on my web server so that I can access it from anywhere. It stores all of my clients and allows for the creation of workorders and onsite scheduling. You can print out check-in tickets and completed tickets which have your logo and disclaimer on them.

Check out the guy's site for more info. I am in no way affiliated with this script or its sales. I just wanted to share the info since I have found it very useful and affordable compared to other solutions such as Commit CRM.

Jake

How do you secure it to prevent others from accessing to view and/or modify data?

 

[rovr138]

The image at the bottom says Logoff, so I imagine it asks for a Username & Password...

--EDIT--

Here is an online Demo
http://www.wotsol.com/WorkOrderTS_OnlineDemo/login.php?p=none&language=eng

It is with a username & password

 

[ESIT251]

Correct, you secure the database and application with a username and password.

Its not the slickest looking off the bat but its functional and very customizable since its PHP.

 

[elight86]

All these ideas are great guys. We are getting ready to move locations and transfer all our separate systems to Commit so I'll post back with what system we work out in a few weeks. Thanks for all your help!