Describing Items

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The Items editor lets you enter information about an inventory or non-inventory item. MainBoss displays the editor window when you click the Edit or New button in the Inventory Items browser. For more information, see The Inventory Items Browser.

The MainBoss editor window contains the following:

• Code: An identification code for this item (30 characters maximum).
• Desc.: A brief description of this item (50 characters maximum).
• Properties: This section provides general information about the item.
  • Inv. Cat.: Specifies the category of this item. For more information on item categories, see Inventory Categories.
  • UOM: The units used to measure this item. For more on units of measurement, see Units of Measure.
  • Minimum: The minimum quantity of this item that you want to keep on hand in your stock. When your stock on hand goes below this level, MainBoss can automatically tell you to re-order.
  • Maximum: The maximum quantity of this item that you want to keep on hand. When it is time to re-order this item, MainBoss typically suggests a purchase quantity that will get you back up to this maximum level.

    Note: Both "Minimum" and "Maximum" are grayed out and set to zero for non-inventory items.

  • Inventoried Item: This is selected if the item is an inventory item.
  • Non-Inventoried Item: This is selected if the item is a non-inventory item.
  • Comments: This space lets you record any information not covered by other parts of the record.
  • Location list: At the bottom of the window is a list showing all the storeroom locations where the item is currently stored, including the quantity currently on hand.
• Status: This section provides information on all uses and adjustments for the given item. In particular, it shows all the work orders where the item was used, and all adjustments to your inventory of these items.
• Building: Lists all the buildings where this item is stored in at least one storeroom. Note that the drop-down list will be blank until you record at least one storage location (by clicking New Physical Count and specifying the inventory count for this item in some storeroom).
• Storeroom: Lists storerooms where this item is stored. The drop-down list will be blank until you record at least one storage location.
  If the "Building" field is currently blank (or *ALL), the "Storeroom" drop-down list will show all storerooms where the item is stored, regardless of building. If you specify a "Building" the "Storeroom" drop-down list will only show such storerooms in that building.
• Item activity list: The central part of this section is a list of activities related to the item. If both "Building" and "Storeroom" are blank (or *ALL), the list will show all activities throughout your organization, listed with most recent activities first. If "Building" contains a value, the list only shows activity in that building, and if "Storeroom" contains a value, the list only shows activity in that storeroom.
  Each line in the list starts with the date of the activity and an activity code describing the activity type. The following list gives the possible codes and the kind of information that appears in the Reference column of the list:
  • WO Issued for work order; accompanied by the work order number
  • IS Issued for some other reason (manual issue); accompanied by the building and storeroom that contained the item(s) issued, the issue code stating the reason for the issue, and the information that was specified in the "Issue to" field when the item was issued
  • PO Ordered through purchase order; accompanied by the purchase order number and the vendor code
  • RC Received (in response to purchase order); accompanied by the destination building and storeroom, the waybill number of the receipt, the associated purchase order number, and the vendor code
  • PC Quantity changed by physical count (taking inventory); accompanied by the building and storeroom where the physical count was recorded, and the old count in that storeroom (before you recorded the new physical count)
  • TF Transferred from the given storeroom; accompanied by the building and storeroom that the item was transferred from
  • TT Transferred to the given storeroom; accompanied by the building and storeroom that the item was transferred to
  • AJ Adjustment; accompanied by the building and storeroom in which the count adjustment was made, and the adjustment code specified for the adjustment
  • PQ Price quote (by clicking New Price Quote); accompanied by the code of the vendor who gave the quote
  • EV Estimated value (by clicking New Valuation); accompanied by the old value (the one before you entered the new valuation)
  • RS Reserved for use in a work order; accompanied by the work order number
  • RT Reserved for use in a task description; accompanied by the task number
  • DQ Database quantity: indicates the quantity of the item obtained during the process of converting from an older version of the database; accompanied by the building and storeroom containing the item
  • DV Database value: indicates the price of the item obtained during the process of converting from an older version of the database; accompanied by the building and storeroom containing the item
  
  As with most lists of this type, you can edit any entry by double-clicking on it. This is useful if you need to correct a mistake in one of the existing transactions.

  Note: If you want to print out the information given in the above item list, use a Stock Activity report—the Stock Activity report uses the same codes and references as the item list. For more information, see Stock Activity.

• New Price Quote: Clicking this opens a window where you can specify a price quote for the item. For more information, see Price Quotes.
• New Physical Count: Clicking this opens a window where you can specify a physical count for this item in one or more of your storerooms. For more information, see Physical Counts
• New Valuation: Clicking this opens a window where you can specify a new price evaluation for the items you currently have on hand. For more information, see Inventory Valuations.
• Delete: Deletes an entry in the item activity list. Note that this permanently discards MainBoss's record of the deleted activity; therefore, it should only be used to correct errors (for example, price quotes that were accidentally mistyped), rather than records of actual item usage.
• Usage: This section lets you specify equipment and spaces that use this item as a spare part. The main part of the section is a list of all equipment and/or spaces that use this item as a spare part.

  Note: There are two ways to specify that a unit uses an item as a spare part—you can use the Usage section of the item record, or you can use the Spare Parts section of the space or equipment record. For more information on specifying spare parts through space and equipment records, see Spare Parts.

  • Add Spare Part: Clicking this button opens a window where you can specify equipment and/or spaces that use this item as a spare part. For more information, see Specifying that an Item is a Spare Part.
  • Edit Spare Part: To use this button, first click an entry in the list of equipment/spaces that use the item as a spare part. Then click Edit Spare Part. MainBoss opens a window where you can change the existing information. For more information, see Specifying that an Item is a Spare Part.
  • Delete Spare Part: Deletes the entry that is currently selected in the list of equipment/spaces that use the item as a spare part.
• Maintenance: This section lists preventive maintenance tasks that make use of the item. To add an item to a preventive maintenance task, you use the Material section of the task description; for more information, see Creating and Editing Tasks.
  • Delete: Deletes the currently selected task from the list. This has the effect of deleting the current item from the list of materials specified for the task.
• Save & New: Saves the current record and clears fields in the window so you can enter a new record.
• Clone: Creates a new item record that has the same information as the current record. The "Code" field in the new record is blank, so that you can fill in a new code.
• Delete: Deletes the current record.
• Save: Saves the current record, but leaves all data as is. You can then continue to edit the same record.
• Cancel: Closes the editor window. MainBoss discards any new information or changes that you haven't explicitly saved with Save.

To open an item record, you start with the Item browser. For more information on this browser, see The Inventory Items Browser.

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