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  • Inventory Control Operations and Transactions

    While writing the prior posts about the 10 Second Rule in inventory control, I started thinking about our end-users and the forms they use to operate our software. Imagine that we could gather every inventory control system ever written by DataWorks (and while we are at it let’s toss in every AR, AP, GL, Payroll or ERP application ever programed by any software company) into a huge vat of creamy digital goodness.

    Then using a yet-to-be-invented silicon-spatula, we would pry the user interfaces from these systems into a giant pile of one-dimensional pelts.

    Next we would rake these skinned bits into the intake scoop of a yet-to-be-invented silicon-shaking machine. After clicking the OK button, we would adjust the lumbar support of  our Herman Miller Aeron chair (mine’s black),  and watch as the mythical machine shakes and sifts the leafy bits though various mesh screens. Eventually all the input will be sorted into five unequal mounds of output. In order of their height and weight the piles would be grouped like this (you may not like the names of the piles, but this is my made-up machine, so these are my made-up names) :

    1. Confirm & Comfort – Little crumbs of programing chaff  that ask yes-no questions,  tell the user that something is happening (Hour Glass or Thermometer Bar), or will happen – once they click the  “OK” button.  These forms generate comfort to the end user – they let you know the software is working away on something, they ask a question to make sure you really want to change all the prices of the beanie babies to 19 cents. They add some flavor to the system, but they don’t really do much. They are the cranberry laced croutons of a much bigger salad.
    2. Configure & Forget- rarely used after initial setup. Super simple to program. If you have seen one you have seen them all. (i.e. System Defaults, Colors, Sizes, Units of Measure, Classes, Departments, Margin Plans, Ticket Type, Currencies, Languages, Addresses).
    3. Daily Maintenance – highly specialized forms that handle the heavy daily lifting of inventory. Lots of code.  Speed and flexibility are important.  (i.e Product Input, SKU definition, Cost Updates,  Price Changes.)
    4. Show & Tell – retrieves and organizes data for your viewing pleasure. This group includes screens used to select date ranges for running reports  and forms used for looking up a particular data set (i.e.  Product look up, Sales Audit review, Comparative Sales Reports,  Best – Worst Analysis,  In-Transit report,  Inventory shrink, General Ledger Batch)
    5. Transactional – an elite group or  highly trained, highly specialized forms,  used to record an inventory control action. These forms are the work horses within any inventory control system.  (i.e. Purchase Order, Receipt, Transfer, Markdown, Inventory Adjustment, Return to Vendor).  Lots of Code.  Lots of business logic.

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    2010.01.14 / 2 responses / Category: Uncategorized