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Sound Reinforcement - Forums for Live Sound Professionals - Your Displayed Name Must Be Your Real Full Name To Post In The Live Sound Forums => Rental Management Software Project => Topic started by: Kevin McDonough on February 01, 2017, 01:14:36 PM
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Taken from a few posts that were made on the initial post that started this (before it got a little side tracked in programming methadologies and systems etc lol ;D ) here was a list of some of the features that the potential program could have.
Feel free to add more suggestions, comment, and discuss as appropriate and we'll hopefully be able to come up with a fairly detailed and complete set of features that we would like to see.
Inventory Page
First thing we’d need would be a place to list all our equipment. This would be a large database of items and all the relevant information would be able to be entered.
- Pre-created and user/custom categories and sub categories for equipment: Lighting, Sound, Video, etc etc. and then drilled down to speakers, amplifier, desks etc etc.
- Fields to enter the basic information for each item (Name, manufacturer, serial number, quantity, etc etc)
- Fields for MSRP, purchase price, hire rates, and depreciation/resale value.
- Ability to do variable rates, i.e. weekend rates, week day, week and month blocks.
- Ability to input barcode or RF tag info. (Integration with common barcode and RF scanning systems so gear can be checked in and out directly into the program).
- Ability to attach files such as manuals, spec sheets, technical drawings. While it’d be handy if it could read basic files such as pdf and word documents, it wouldn’t need to be able to read unusual file formats, just store the file able to be downloaded and opened in the relevant program.
- Ability to group items together (amp/speaker packages, racks of equipment, cases of wires etc). Once items are grouped, they are show as unavailable individually, and they must be removed from the group item to be available to add individually to a quote again.
- Ability for a date to be set for the item to be added or removed from group, so you can show it is in a group now until the end of this tour/job, but on such and such a date it needs removed for a few weeks for certain jobs, and then returned again.
- Ability to set these jobs as reminders in the calender.
- Ability for Pop-Up questions and addition of linked equipment. For example, add a speaker system to a job list, and a box pops up to asked ground stacked or flown. Based on answer, relevant linked equipment such as flying hardware or ground stacking brackets/poles, cable packages etc is suggested/added. Or if a desk is added it’ll pop up asking what stage box your using, and add appropriate multicore cables etc.
- Field for software versions and dates upgraded.
- Items able to be marked for maintenance, with fault tracking and progress tracking, and shown as unavailable when away for repair.
- Stock take function with history of results.
- Ability to view your inventory by purchase price, income generated, ROI etc etc. to see what hass been a good investment and where possible areas for growth could be, as well as items that it may be worth moving on while they’re second hand value is still high etc.
- Ability for user/custom categories and fields in addition to the main ones.
Contacts Database
An area to store contact details for venues, clients, staff, suppliers/manufacturers etc.
Fields for basic info
- Ability to tag items into multiple groups, for example a venue may also be a client.
- File attach again for venue specs, speaker prediction plots, venue drawings etc.
- Ability to call up a list of previous jobs that involved that venue/client/staff member etc. Easy way of re-triggering a new quote/invoice using a previous one.
- Notes section for any important info with Pop up ability, so for example if a venue has any especially restrictive vehicle access and you can only use certain trucks, or you need to take into account a specific requirement, you can set that to trigger a pop up reminder when you add it to a show/quote.
- Ability for staff to be marked as available or not available (either by being scheduled on other work/tours of if they’ve indicated they’re on holiday etc). Possibly even a log in system for freelance staff to access this small part of the system themselves, mark that kind of info in?
- Ability for user/custom categories and fields in addition to the main ones.
Job build page
- The main working page, for creating jobs and quotations
- Basic fields for the job info, linking to and pulling in info from your stored clients and venue database etc. Files that are attached to those venues/clients are also available for easy access from this screen once they’re added to a job item.
- Individual items or prebuilt groups/racks/packages can be added from the equipment list, and new one off packages can also be created on the fly for this single job.
- Based on the linked items and Pop Up questions set up with the equipment list, it would also makes suggestions of hardware, stands, the correct power or signal cables, flying accessories etc etc and add them to the quote to match.
- When the staff section is clicked on, your check boxes or tags will allow your overall staff list to be narrowed don to the the ones that are both available, and have the necessary skills/knowledge/experience for this job.
- As the quotation progresses, the job can be marked as initially created, sent to the client, amended (with version history) confirmed, needing action, advances and files received and attached etc etc. Possibly some sort of colour code to easily indicate this, and the job list can be ordered/sorted by this, so you can quickly see which ones are confirmed, which may need a follow up, which are awaiting action from the client, which need action from yourself etc.
- When equipment and staff are assigned to quotes they become marked as potentially unavailable, and when that job is conformed the are marked as confirmed unavailable in the database for other jobs.
- Various reports should then be able to be generated from this. A client facing quote, warehouse picklist, accounting details for office/accounts, return to warehouse checklist etc.
- Ability for user/custom categories and fields in addition to the main ones.
Calender View
As well as just lists of jobs, clients, venues etc etc, a calender can be called up and viewed by day, week, month etc.
- The various categories can all be made visible or invisible as needed, so you can show confirmed jobs, quoted/potential jobs, staff availability, equipment availability, equipment down for maintenance, etc, or any combination of.
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Taken from a few posts that were made on the initial post that started this (before it got a little side tracked in programming methadologies and systems etc lol ;D ) here was a list of some of the features that the potential program could have.
Feel free to add more suggestions, comment, and discuss as appropriate and we'll hopefully be able to come up with a fairly detailed and complete set of features that we would like to see.
Inventory Page
First thing we’d need would be a place to list all our equipment. This would be a large database of items and all the relevant information would be able to be entered.
- Pre-created and user/custom categories and sub categories for equipment: Lighting, Sound, Video, etc etc. and then drilled down to speakers, amplifier, desks etc etc.
- Fields to enter the basic information for each item (Name, manufacturer, serial number, quantity, etc etc)
- Fields for MSRP, purchase price, hire rates, and depreciation/resale value.
- Ability to do variable rates, i.e. weekend rates, week day, week and month blocks.
- Ability to input barcode or RF tag info. (Integration with common barcode and RF scanning systems so gear can be checked in and out directly into the program).
- Ability to attach files such as manuals, spec sheets, technical drawings. While it’d be handy if it could read basic files such as pdf and word documents, it wouldn’t need to be able to read unusual file formats, just store the file able to be downloaded and opened in the relevant program.
- Ability to group items together (amp/speaker packages, racks of equipment, cases of wires etc). Once items are grouped, they are show as unavailable individually, and they must be removed from the group item to be available to add individually to a quote again.
- Ability for a date to be set for the item to be added or removed from group, so you can show it is in a group now until the end of this tour/job, but on such and such a date it needs removed for a few weeks for certain jobs, and then returned again.
- Ability to set these jobs as reminders in the calender.
- Ability for Pop-Up questions and addition of linked equipment. For example, add a speaker system to a job list, and a box pops up to asked ground stacked or flown. Based on answer, relevant linked equipment such as flying hardware or ground stacking brackets/poles, cable packages etc is suggested/added. Or if a desk is added it’ll pop up asking what stage box your using, and add appropriate multicore cables etc.
- Field for software versions and dates upgraded.
- Items able to be marked for maintenance, with fault tracking and progress tracking, and shown as unavailable when away for repair.
- Stock take function with history of results.
- Ability to view your inventory by purchase price, income generated, ROI etc etc. to see what hass been a good investment and where possible areas for growth could be, as well as items that it may be worth moving on while they’re second hand value is still high etc.
- Ability for user/custom categories and fields in addition to the main ones.
Contacts Database
An area to store contact details for venues, clients, staff, suppliers/manufacturers etc.
Fields for basic info
- Ability to tag items into multiple groups, for example a venue may also be a client.
- File attach again for venue specs, speaker prediction plots, venue drawings etc.
- Ability to call up a list of previous jobs that involved that venue/client/staff member etc. Easy way of re-triggering a new quote/invoice using a previous one.
- Notes section for any important info with Pop up ability, so for example if a venue has any especially restrictive vehicle access and you can only use certain trucks, or you need to take into account a specific requirement, you can set that to trigger a pop up reminder when you add it to a show/quote.
- Ability for staff to be marked as available or not available (either by being scheduled on other work/tours of if they’ve indicated they’re on holiday etc). Possibly even a log in system for freelance staff to access this small part of the system themselves, mark that kind of info in?
- Ability for user/custom categories and fields in addition to the main ones.
Job build page
- The main working page, for creating jobs and quotations
- Basic fields for the job info, linking to and pulling in info from your stored clients and venue database etc. Files that are attached to those venues/clients are also available for easy access from this screen once they’re added to a job item.
- Individual items or prebuilt groups/racks/packages can be added from the equipment list, and new one off packages can also be created on the fly for this single job.
- Based on the linked items and Pop Up questions set up with the equipment list, it would also makes suggestions of hardware, stands, the correct power or signal cables, flying accessories etc etc and add them to the quote to match.
- When the staff section is clicked on, your check boxes or tags will allow your overall staff list to be narrowed don to the the ones that are both available, and have the necessary skills/knowledge/experience for this job.
- As the quotation progresses, the job can be marked as initially created, sent to the client, amended (with version history) confirmed, needing action, advances and files received and attached etc etc. Possibly some sort of colour code to easily indicate this, and the job list can be ordered/sorted by this, so you can quickly see which ones are confirmed, which may need a follow up, which are awaiting action from the client, which need action from yourself etc.
- When equipment and staff are assigned to quotes they become marked as potentially unavailable, and when that job is conformed the are marked as confirmed unavailable in the database for other jobs.
- Various reports should then be able to be generated from this. A client facing quote, warehouse picklist, accounting details for office/accounts, return to warehouse checklist etc.
- Ability for user/custom categories and fields in addition to the main ones.
Calender View
As well as just lists of jobs, clients, venues etc etc, a calender can be called up and viewed by day, week, month etc.
- The various categories can all be made visible or invisible as needed, so you can show confirmed jobs, quoted/potential jobs, staff availability, equipment availability, equipment down for maintenance, etc, or any combination of.
This is the best I have seen so far.
Two items.
1 - Calendar view...My current thoughts are to use an API and hook into WhenIwork.com and google calendar apps. Shift scheduling is outside the initial scope
2 - "Fields" are a monolithic data construct and don't really exist anymore. It's objects and containers. Fields are far too limiting and the requests you ask for too granular. A simple example is an item is added to item. So item is a construct. That item is added to a location and a job with a tag. End users see tags as free form fields like an address bar on an email (have you used Office 365 ??) if you need a new field you can use the tag construct of #inventory:numperofinputs:8 then if you want all interfaces with more than 8 inputs you can simply ask the search pane for that data. It's all indexed and fuzzy.
It sounds more complicated than it is in practice.
I am traveling next week. If I don't get slammed I may just mock up a couple of pages and we can have a kick off webinar.
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This is the best I have seen so far.
Two items.
1 - Calendar view...My current thoughts are to use an API and hook into WhenIwork.com and google calendar apps. Shift scheduling is outside the initial scope
2 - "Fields" are a monolithic data construct and don't really exist anymore. It's objects and containers. Fields are far too limiting and the requests you ask for too granular. A simple example is an item is added to item. So item is a construct. That item is added to a location and a job with a tag. End users see tags as free form fields like an address bar on an email (have you used Office 365 ??) if you need a new field you can use the tag construct of #inventory:numperofinputs:8 then if you want all interfaces with more than 8 inputs you can simply ask the search pane for that data. It's all indexed and fuzzy.
When I say fields I just mean areas for input, not actually "fields" in the technical or programming sense. However that was handled on the back end would be up to your experience and recommendation of course. ;D
In terms of staff scheduling, would it be especially hard to add in? You're already maintaining lists of equipment, and dates and times when it's added to jobs and so unavailable. In my head staff members would just, in a broad way, be treated like a another item in the inventory that can be marked as available or not available on certain dates, and attached to jobs just like a piece of gear.
Of course, that big list above is a bit of a long term wish list, and with things like staff scheduling, barcode/RF tag reading etc would be best left to a future version and added after the main core functions of the Inventory Management are sorted.
K
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Scott, I *really* hope this is indeed more complicated on here than it will be in practice! Asking someone to type "#inventory:numberofinputs:8" to find consoles/interfaces with more than 8 inputs would be obscene.
I'm used to (like Riley) the Filemaker concept- here's a field, and if it's a category setup ("Consoles") you select a sub category in another field that has its choices populated based on your entry into the first field. So, after selecting "consoles," you then have console options in the second field.
I might be missing something here. I don't see the correlation of email address fields with this project. =-\
Ray
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Feature suggestion- Not returned alert. Based on an expected return date field and could be set out by a fixed amount of time in a set up field or by a variable on the rental detail.
Anecdotal: This isn't so much for the complete system that goes out that you would miss if it didn't come back, but more the individual equipment that gets loaned out for a week to someone you may know and comes back a year later if you remember it. It's just a "why isn't this back in inventory" reminder.
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Scott, I *really* hope this is indeed more complicated on here than it will be in practice! Asking someone to type "#inventory:numberofinputs:8" to find consoles/interfaces with more than 8 inputs would be obscene.
I'm used to (like Riley) the Filemaker concept- here's a field, and if it's a category setup ("Consoles") you select a sub category in another field that has its choices populated based on your entry into the first field. So, after selecting "consoles," you then have console options in the second field.
I might be missing something here. I don't see the correlation of email address fields with this project. =-\
Ray
It's actually easier. Have you used any software with tags such as Office 365? The old style fields you refer to would be replaced with empty web cells. As you type the selections (some of which would be prepopulated to make sense like consoles, speakers, microphones etc. for device type as you mention).
So once we agree on the container hierarchy. To be it starts with two large groups things and places. From that point on we can drill it down. How we describe things and places.
The whole idea of this in my opinion is to add "where is my stuff" to "when I work". When I work is a fully object oriented PHP scheduler. Could you take a few minutes to go to their website and watch the trial video to get an idea how object tag fields work.
Here is a shot of a schedule box:
Tags are also great for experts because once you get fast at the system you can go to the search box and type site:pj and get all the gigs at PJ McCintyre's. I have been using WhenIwork for about 60 days now and it is nothing short of amazing. Already reached out to the developers about my Whereismystuff plug in. They have other industries that have developed plugins.
The API for WhenIwork is what is called a restful interface (again see below) and allows developers to quickly create these mashup relationships.
I don't want to get too excited (though I really am) but imagine the "where is my stuff" interface becomes the single point of truth for all your configuration data? We could easily store IP info, mappings, templates, scenes etc. and even launch you into the vendor app for configuration of the actual item. If you using one of the asset tagging services we would use their geo tracker API to display a map of where your gear is. Google provides a map API that let's you embed driving directions or birdseye Google Map data in your app all you do is pass them the address.
Since the app runs in a browser all these mashups are created with XML/Frames and rendered behind the scenes with no code required.
It's not your Daddy's linear code.
Filemaker is stone knives and bearskins. The speed at which you can develop in these nextgen platforms is nothing short of amazing.
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I've certainly used Office 365, but not the tagged version, just the traditional versions with files and such. So I don't have that frame of reference yet, sorry!
I assume you mean "whereiwork.com" for your "go to their website;" but there's no info on object tags. =-\ This might be a "waiting until you have a demo" period for me, just to see it IRL as to how this all flows through!
I agree with Kevin that having the scheduling built in to this project would certainly be nice...
(And I'm glad you understand all of this, Scott. I remember turn-of-the-century stuff, and that's really when I was last involved in major web tech-- things have certainly grown. Although that brings up another point- making this project be something that's browser independent. Requiring the use of one browser only would suck, and go against the whole concept of the internet in general.)
-Ray
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I've certainly used Office 365, but not the tagged version, just the traditional versions with files and such. So I don't have that frame of reference yet, sorry!
I assume you mean "whereiwork.com" for your "go to their website;" but there's no info on object tags. =-\ This might be a "waiting until you have a demo" period for me, just to see it IRL as to how this all flows through!
I agree with Kevin that having the scheduling built in to this project would certainly be nice...
(And I'm glad you understand all of this, Scott. I remember turn-of-the-century stuff, and that's really when I was last involved in major web tech-- things have certainly grown. Although that brings up another point- making this project be something that's browser independent. Requiring the use of one browser only would suck, and go against the whole concept of the internet in general.)
-Ray
No it's wheniwork.com
I think we are having a terminology issue. If you click new email in office 365 and start typing in the to: field the names pop up. Those are floating tags. They then create an object (the oblong button) that you can drag around and reorder. It's all the same thing.
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No it's wheniwork.com
I think we are having a terminology issue. If you click new email in office 365 and start typing in the to: field the names pop up. Those are floating tags. They then create an object (the oblong button) that you can drag around and reorder. It's all the same thing.
Sorry, I did mean wheniwork.com :) Still, nothing about object tags in their video section, but that's OK.
So, the reference in email, such as has been used for years in email, such as this-- where my name is now an object tag, and it can be moved from field to field? I've never heard those referred to as floating tags, but still, we have fixed fields that are in use, right?
Or did I miss the point?
-Ray
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Sorry, I did mean wheniwork.com :) Still, nothing about object tags in their video section, but that's OK.
So, the reference in email, such as has been used for years in email, such as this-- where my name is now an object tag, and it can be moved from field to field? I've never heard those referred to as floating tags, but still, we have fixed fields that are in use, right?
Or did I miss the point?
-Ray
What we have here is a failure to communicate. If you were sitting here I could show you in 2 minutes.
That's not a webform you posted is it?
Everything about WhenIWork is tags. You can drag them from date to date, people, places and shifts are the key containers.
I am trying to move away from thinking in terms of fields and records and towards modern array based data structures.
Take a look at my email. I sent one to myself. That round thing is not my name but a tag to another data container. When I click on it see the box on the right, that's all my info. That tags another container....Then I click on another container and up comes a graphical view of my part of the overall organizational unit.
None of those are monolithic structures within the AD database. They can all be freely related in context.
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My post was from email as well, on my computer, and not a webform. (MacOS Mail program)
So if I am getting this correct, what the email program now sees as my contact (and using MacOS, contacts stored in the "Contacts" app) -- what you're saying is that it would now be seen as a snapshot of the "bigger picture," and all of the associated information within my name file in the Contact App is now available through the other program. So, a contact can have multiple data attributes to it (name, email, telephone number, availability, skill set, etc) which would then be available to the other program.... right? Instead of "data attributes," though, you're referring to them as "tags" as a shorter means of reference?
So in reference to this Rental Management Software program, one would have, say, an asset-- "Midas M32" that would have various attributes to it, "Rack Mountable," "32x16 XLR," "Requires Stage Box and Drive Snake," and so on, as well as a tie into the master calendar to broadcast when it's already in use, so if my date field shows "June 9th to 11th" and the M32 already has something booked in that time frame, it would report as unavailable? And when one selects an AVAILABLE M32, it would automagically pull (auto populate) the requisite 'additionally required items' OR would at least prompt the user to select those items ('suggested for you')?
Or a person-- "Jeff, A1" who would show as available (or not) based on the schedule of the proposed event, his availability, and pre-existing commitments within my company's system?
Or feel free to slap me if I'm still not grasping how the system could work. :)
-Ray
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My post was from email as well, on my computer, and not a webform. (MacOS Mail program)
So if I am getting this correct, what the email program now sees as my contact (and using MacOS, contacts stored in the "Contacts" app) -- what you're saying is that it would now be seen as a snapshot of the "bigger picture," and all of the associated information within my name file in the Contact App is now available through the other program. So, a contact can have multiple data attributes to it (name, email, telephone number, availability, skill set, etc) which would then be available to the other program.... right? Instead of "data attributes," though, you're referring to them as "tags" as a shorter means of reference?
So in reference to this Rental Management Software program, one would have, say, an asset-- "Midas M32" that would have various attributes to it, "Rack Mountable," "32x16 XLR," "Requires Stage Box and Drive Snake," and so on, as well as a tie into the master calendar to broadcast when it's already in use, so if my date field shows "June 9th to 11th" and the M32 already has something booked in that time frame, it would report as unavailable? And when one selects an AVAILABLE M32, it would automagically pull (auto populate) the requisite 'additionally required items' OR would at least prompt the user to select those items ('suggested for you')?
Or a person-- "Jeff, A1" who would show as available (or not) based on the schedule of the proposed event, his availability, and pre-existing commitments within my company's system?
Or feel free to slap me if I'm still not grasping how the system could work. :)
-Ray
Bing Bing Bing we have a winner. Tags is not my word it's an HTML5/json/responsive term used to describe the modern "flat" interface.
What is also so cool is everything you mentioned is really just a different "view" of the same data and reuses the components from the original exercise.
The ReSTful API provides a way for our two HTML5 apps (inventory and scheduling) to be "mashed up" into a single coherent UI.
Ditto with the Google calendar. You write a function to publish a pick list into your Google calendar if you are not on the whenIwork bandwagon.
BTW I think it is important that I note I have no skin in whenIwork. They just are nice folks with a cool vision.
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Bing Bing Bing we have a winner. Tags is not my word it's an HTML5/json/responsive term used to describe the modern "flat" interface.
What is also so cool is everything you mentioned is really just a different "view" of the same data and reuses the components from the original exercise.
Here's a wiki article on the Entity - Attribute - Value (EAV) model (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entity–attribute–value_model) and relational database structures. It has a section on the criticality of the metadata.
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It would be nice if there was an open, popular, and standardised software interface to allow different rental software to interwork.
Eg, if a bunch of companies cooperate and cross-rent gear in a city, it would be nice if their inventory/status/schedule/bookings were visible to each other.
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It would be nice if there was an open, popular, and standardised software interface to allow different rental software to interwork.
Eg, if a bunch of companies cooperate and cross-rent gear in a city, it would be nice if their inventory/status/schedule/bookings were visible to each other.
Yes, until you get the one bad apple, "Gosh, here's a show being done by this other company, and I'd sure like to steal, since I know about it" -- and they use that information to poach gigs.
I don't think any company would willingly release that much information about their shows/infrastructure. =-\
HOWEVER, a manner in which you could have a show file created, and it shows that x, y, and z are not available in your inventory, a quick and easy way to create a cross rental request and submit it to another company (either through a network interface, or simply input name and email address of your sales contact at the other company, and it automagically sends a "Do you have this available on this date?" request email. Then, the reply could automagically 'fill in the blanks' for you, indicating a positive response from the other company.
-Ray
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HOWEVER, a manner in which you could have a show file created, and it shows that x, y, and z are not available in your inventory, a quick and easy way to create a cross rental request and submit it to another company (either through a network interface, or simply input name and email address of your sales contact at the other company, and it automagically sends a "Do you have this available on this date?" request email. Then, the reply could automagically 'fill in the blanks' for you, indicating a positive response from the other company.
-Ray
Qwipped already has this. They also have an API. It's on my list of feature list. From an inventory item have a "list on Qwipped" checkbox. The great thing is you don't even have to list prices.
If that worked instead of logging on you could also seach qwipped from within the workspace
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Some random thoughts, in no particular order, based on the limitations I've found with commercial rental inventory software...
1. Ability to choose "any" of a multiple item, or a specific one, when confirming a rental. e.g. You have 4 M7CL consoles, but there's a specific one you want to use on a particular job for whatever reason, you should be able to choose that one when booking. But, if the particular one doesn't matter, you can say so, and when the rig is prepped, whichever one you scan will get pulled from inventory. If a specific one was chosen when booked, it will prompt you to scan that one and not a different one. Choosing "Any" could be a default. Obviously some items will be serialized while others are not and are simply a quantity with no individual serial number. You cannot pick a "specific" item in this case.
2. Inventory should be able to be categorized into multiple "departments". e.g. a power cable could be used for sound, lighting or video. Having a single bin of power cables for any purpose may be one way your shop is set up, so you shouldn't have to be forced to have separate "audio power cables", "video power cables", if the 2 pieces are identical.
3. Warnings when building a quote if you try to quote an item that's not available or is pending on another job. Some systems allow you to quote whatever you want, and wait until you book it to check inventory. You may want to quote only items that you know you have available, or at least allow you to quote higher if you know that you'll be needing to subrent.
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Rental Software Requirements
Im very train of thought - so if this is confusing forgive me
Tags - yay!
One important and probably obvious item of discussion is being non-destructive in edits. For example, if a piece of equipment has it’s rate changed, any events that have already been quoted, should not update, but any future quotes should use the new rate.
Workflows should be somewhat customizable. For example, I am a small shop/org. I am simply NOT scanning shit in and out of the warehouse. I want to book it, and see it on a pull sheet and move on with my life. Some people may not want to do that. It should be a choice.
Ability to suppress all finacials
Equipment - Data to have/track
.csv import
.csv export
equipment categories will be tag based, so I’m not going to get into that.
Serialized vs non-serialized. Both should be options.
Manufacturer, Model, Common Name, Purchase price, purchase date, replacement price, current value. Qty
Base Rate (There should be a base daily rate - users should be able to define the weekly rate as x times base, monthly, etc)
I have two thoughts with regards to maintenance. First is simply a free flowing field where entries can be made. The second is child records with time/date stamps for each item
Item history. User based tracking of creation and change of items.
A boolean value that indicates if equipment requires maintenance between every booking (a fogger for example, topping off fluid)
other people have adequately described the need to package gear into groups and check in and out as a group. There should also be the ability to book packages of non-perm. gear. For example, “Small sound system” That automatically pulls 2 of your 12 small speakers, mixer, cables, etc, in a non-serialized manner
Other customizable alert text on gear. Can choose if alert pops a booking, or a pull, or scan, or whatever. Some people use this with a text field to track lamp hours on projectors.
Contacts
This should be pretty straightforward, but there should be organizations and contact, and organization can have many contacts, but an event or rental can be attached to an org or a contact
Events/Bookings
Event name, pull date, pickup/delivery date, event start date, event end date, pickup/return date. With some auto populate options. A little scheduling module within an event could be nice too. Nothing fancy but a simple date/time/description. So I can say Day 1, 8am crew call, 10am client sound check, 12p lunch, 1p call, 2p doors, 2:30p show, 5:30p show ends, catered dinner, load out, or whatever.
Ability to upload files to events
Workflow - thoughts….
Equipment lists - I like a list. even if we are tag based, there is going to need to be a sortable list. I like to see serialized equipment listed individually, non-serialized with total quantities
An inventory reconciliation screen where you actually do inventory
When I book a show I like to put in dates, then have a pull list type entry of gear in, then a different screen where I can see invoices, and adjust, suppress individual lines, or all line items with just totals
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Rental Software Requirements
Im very train of thought - so if this is confusing forgive me
Tags - yay!
One important and probably obvious item of discussion is being non-destructive in edits. For example, if a piece of equipment has it’s rate changed, any events that have already been quoted, should not update, but any future quotes should use the new rate.
Workflows should be somewhat customizable. For example, I am a small shop/org. I am simply NOT scanning shit in and out of the warehouse. I want to book it, and see it on a pull sheet and move on with my life. Some people may not want to do that. It should be a choice.
Ability to suppress all finacials
Equipment - Data to have/track
.csv import
.csv export
equipment categories will be tag based, so I’m not going to get into that.
Serialized vs non-serialized. Both should be options.
Manufacturer, Model, Common Name, Purchase price, purchase date, replacement price, current value. Qty
Base Rate (There should be a base daily rate - users should be able to define the weekly rate as x times base, monthly, etc)
I have two thoughts with regards to maintenance. First is simply a free flowing field where entries can be made. The second is child records with time/date stamps for each item
Item history. User based tracking of creation and change of items.
A boolean value that indicates if equipment requires maintenance between every booking (a fogger for example, topping off fluid)
other people have adequately described the need to package gear into groups and check in and out as a group. There should also be the ability to book packages of non-perm. gear. For example, “Small sound system” That automatically pulls 2 of your 12 small speakers, mixer, cables, etc, in a non-serialized manner
Other customizable alert text on gear. Can choose if alert pops a booking, or a pull, or scan, or whatever. Some people use this with a text field to track lamp hours on projectors.
Contacts
This should be pretty straightforward, but there should be organizations and contact, and organization can have many contacts, but an event or rental can be attached to an org or a contact
Events/Bookings
Event name, pull date, pickup/delivery date, event start date, event end date, pickup/return date. With some auto populate options. A little scheduling module within an event could be nice too. Nothing fancy but a simple date/time/description. So I can say Day 1, 8am crew call, 10am client sound check, 12p lunch, 1p call, 2p doors, 2:30p show, 5:30p show ends, catered dinner, load out, or whatever.
Ability to upload files to events
Workflow - thoughts….
Equipment lists - I like a list. even if we are tag based, there is going to need to be a sortable list. I like to see serialized equipment listed individually, non-serialized with total quantities
An inventory reconciliation screen where you actually do inventory
When I book a show I like to put in dates, then have a pull list type entry of gear in, then a different screen where I can see invoices, and adjust, suppress individual lines, or all line items with just totals
Cailen,
Some really good stuff here. I am not going to even begin to thing beyond the most basic fields for inventory. The rest you are going to do yourself. I already have a function that adds fields to a table in SQL and looks like this. Just stick this on every inventory item:
For all you procedural code folks, this is all you have to do to make that data construct:
<input type="text" id="custom_key_'+idx+'" name="sip_custom_key_'+idx+'" class="sip-custom" value="'+key+'" tabindex="'+tabindex+'"> =\
<input type="text" id="custom_val_'+idx+'" name="sip_custom_val_'+idx+'" value="'+val+'" tabindex="'+tabindexp+'">\
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Here is the same code in a newer prettier json type wrapper.
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Here is the same code in a newer prettier json type wrapper.
Very cool Scott. And thank you! Topics like this are where I miss like buttons...
I have experience working in a number of commercial event/facility management databases that handle equipment and room bookings as well as POS, class and membership registration, etc... Higher Ed based and Parks and Rec based. Current Day job is transitioning to a salesforce based system...
Anyway, I'm pretty good at defining workflows and such, and may have some other skills that could be helpful. Happy to pitch in where ever I can
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Very cool Scott. And thank you! Topics like this are where I miss like buttons...
I have experience working in a number of commercial event/facility management databases that handle equipment and room bookings as well as POS, class and membership registration, etc... Higher Ed based and Parks and Rec based. Current Day job is transitioning to a salesforce based system...
Anyway, I'm pretty good at defining workflows and such, and may have some other skills that could be helpful. Happy to pitch in where ever I can
Thank you. The reason I am going into considerable detail on the platform is my firm belief in modern design tools. The process of writing, testing and maintaining procedural code is daunting and it is almost impossible to work as a group.
With this stuff if you name your tables and functions well it almost self documents. Easy to add functionality.
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Will it be possible to have like a template for what parameters should exist for a item, preferably different for different categories?
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So I've had my first experience with Flex over the past couple of days, and something I asked about (that it doesn't have) is solid access restrictions. I'm just subbing in at another company, helping them with some warehouse work. But, I won't have my own login into Flex, which means I am working under someone else's name... and if I screw up, there's no way to show who actually screwed up. There's no access control available to give me a log in without me being able to poke through internal company details; pricing, quotes, etc- things I don't need to see (and would be a security risk for a non-employee to see/have access to!).
So,this project should include an easy way to have user levels, including one as basic as "Warehouse only, pick/prep/receive shows."
-Ray
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So I've had my first experience with Flex over the past couple of days, and something I asked about (that it doesn't have) is solid access restrictions. I'm just subbing in at another company, helping them with some warehouse work. But, I won't have my own login into Flex, which means I am working under someone else's name... and if I screw up, there's no way to show who actually screwed up. There's no access control available to give me a log in without me being able to poke through internal company details; pricing, quotes, etc- things I don't need to see (and would be a security risk for a non-employee to see/have access to!).
So,this project should include an easy way to have user levels, including one as basic as "Warehouse only, pick/prep/receive shows."
-Ray
Uh - if you don't get your own log in they have no f*cking clue how to use flex.
It does have solid access restrictions. It's role based so they might have to create a new role for you but it's there
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Uh - if you don't get your own log in they have no f*cking clue how to use flex.
It does have solid access restrictions. It's role based so they might have to create a new role for you but it's there
Yeah, idk. I brought it up today, and the warehouse manager was absolutely adamant that this was a feature/ability that they "will eventually have," but it wasn't there now. Then again, they were also arguing with me, telling me that the 600mhz wireless ranges had already been sold off to emergency use, and I was like "ummm, pretty certain that hasn't been completed yet." Oh well.
Not worth my time worrying about it! If they don't care about documenting what people do, then I'm not going to worry. :)
-Ray
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Yeah, idk. I brought it up today, and the warehouse manager was absolutely adamant that this was a feature/ability that they "will eventually have," but it wasn't there now. Then again, they were also arguing with me, telling me that the 600mhz wireless ranges had already been sold off to emergency use, and I was like "ummm, pretty certain that hasn't been completed yet." Oh well.
Not worth my time worrying about it! If they don't care about documenting what people do, then I'm not going to worry. :)
-Ray
To relate this back to why I like this project, I love data and computer and organizing it, etc. And I found flex hard to use. Building workflows was difficult. The documentation lacking. It's something I look forward to with this is good feature sets without having to be a database programming expert to manage your instance
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Yeah. It does depend on how busy your shop is-- I am coming to appreciate the benefits of computerized inventory and rental management systems, and things like real-time updates of picking needs is nice (and the project managers can see, also in real time, where the pull progress is), but it does take a team effort to jump on board. I'm sitting here, seeing things where the PM asks for 6 of something, and they list the single pack, and the item comes in 2-packs, but you scan the master 2-pack, and that's not counted as "acceptable" for filling the 6qty need. =-\
Until our company really really grows, I don't see a benefit for changing our processes to something like Flex.
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Yeah. It does depend on how busy your shop is-- I am coming to appreciate the benefits of computerized inventory and rental management systems, and things like real-time updates of picking needs is nice (and the project managers can see, also in real time, where the pull progress is), but it does take a team effort to jump on board. I'm sitting here, seeing things where the PM asks for 6 of something, and they list the single pack, and the item comes in 2-packs, but you scan the master 2-pack, and that's not counted as "acceptable" for filling the 6qty need. =-\
Until our company really really grows, I don't see a benefit for changing our processes to something like Flex.
These are the things I think that our little "where's my shit" inventory package will fill this gap. Since the data is responsive a manager with the right permissions could edit the object as it is picked and solve and issue like this.
I am going on vacation March 11'th and bringing my laptop is still a negotiation point with my wife. If she capitulates I will have the prototype ready for review when I get back (not much will work in a prototype but to me it's better than storyboards).
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These are the things I think that our little "where's my shit" inventory package will fill this gap. Since the data is responsive a manager with the right permissions could edit the object as it is picked and solve and issue like this.
Well, that can be resolved in Flex as well- because there's no problem with the objects per se, it's how the PM is asking for them. He needs 6 widgets. They travel in cases of two widgets each. He puts it on the pick sheet as six singles, where what he SHOULD ask for is 3 of the two packs [different SKU for the two packs], then it would have been seamless on the warehouse end. I COULD have substituted in 3-2 packs (and been able to simply scan the case barcode) but ATM it was quicker to just open up each case and scan each widget individually.
So, a good feature for this would be intuitively knowing that the 2-pack fills the need for 6 singles, and so scanning a multi pack barcode would have inserted qty of singles needed into the appropriate area. I could have thus scanned the 2-pack of widgets and the pick qty needed of single widgets would automagically go from 0 to 2. [Instead of presenting me an error message, "This item isn't requested, but is available." Because technically it's NOT available since there's only 6 widgets in the warehouse, and once I send all 3 of the two packs out, none will remain and be available.] This way, the PM can choose whichever sku (single widget, multi pack) is convenient for him to choose, and it can be filled in whatever manner is convenient for the warehouse.
(Since I haven't gone back and read the features list since getting my first hands-on experience with Flex, I'm hoping this wasn't already covered! :) )
-Ray
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(Since I haven't gone back and read the features list since getting my first hands-on experience with Flex, I'm hoping this wasn't already covered! :) )
I would definitely not judge Flex solely on your experience with this company, they seem to have a poorly configured set up or a misunderstanding of the feature set of Flex.
One of the features I really like about Flex is the ability to make storage containers. For example.,our L-acoustics Kara travels three to a case. Each cabinet has an individual barcode, and the case has a unique ID too. There is a storage requirement for the case to have three Kara packed inside it - on deprep we scan the case, scan the three speakers and scan the case to close again. It's tested and packed and on the shelf. Our quotes and pull sheets show the quantity of individual speakers. When the case is scanned out the case itself is added to the manifest and the theee cabinets tick off of the individual Kara line item. On the way in we scan each cabinet and the case back as there is no guarantee they've come back in the same box.
HERE (https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Byi305PX8jpzY1J3Vlo0eTA1cUk/view?usp=sharing) is a PDF from Flex that covers their inventory config options.