The inventory module manages and controls the assignment of all types of equipment and features for each customer, department, or campus. It supports purchase order processing, warehouse functions, and equipment assignment status. The system should track equipment on hand, out for repair, available for use, reserved, installed and on order. It ensures that we have sufficient stock levels while minimizing waste and controlling costs. It controls physical resources and allocates costs accurately.

General:

1. The system must provide an equipment inventory module to track rented, leased or purchased equipment as defined by The University. The equipment inventory system should be fully integrated with all other system modules. Upon a work order initiation, an instant assessment of equipment availability to fill that work order should be performed. Initiating a work order should increment the reserved inventory count of a particular type of equipment selected or create a purchase order if it is not in stock. Completing the work order should decrease the inventory count and quantity on hand, assigning the specific piece of equipment to the customer.
2. The system must provide basic warehouse functions including the following:
   • orders
   • receipts
   • issues
   • adjustments
   • returns
   • audits / physicals
3. The inventory system must track a variety of equipment, including but not limited to the following:
   • desk-top equipment
   • voice communications equipment
   • data network communications equipment
   • video communications equipment
   • wireless communications equipment
   • other equipment provided by Communications
   • parts
   • supplies
4. For all equipment types, warehouse management information should include the following:
   • new equipment quantity on hand (in stock)
   • refurbished equipment quantity on hand (in stock)
   • reserved-for-trouble-tickets quantity on hand (in stock)
   • stock location
   • quantity out for repair
   • equipment reserved (allocated)
   • equipment installed (in use)
   • minimum stock level (par stock level)
   • quantity on order
   • quantity failed (waiting for removal)
   • fund sourcing
5. The system should support the distribution model (LIFO, FIFO, etc.) defined by The University.
6. The system should support non-physical inventory, such as software licensing, maintenance agreements, contracts, and FCC licensing.
7. The system should allow entry of purchase information and increase inventory levels respectively upon receipt.
8. The system should provide the capability to view the inventory configuration, using parent/child pointers, from the top down or bottom up from any point in the network. For example, the system should show all equipment and its components and their relation.
9. The system must provide a method for grouping equipment and features into packages. Packages are defined as typically assigned groups of equipment and features used by the Communications department on a regular basis. Packages should be University-defined.
10. Feature inventory assignments should be models of typical customer configurations and may contain one or more features, one or more pieces of equipment, or any combination of the two. These templates should be defined by The University. Selecting a feature group should bring in the entire definition, eliminating the need for staff to key in each individual item.
11. Inventory tracking should include minimum stock level to initiate a stock replenishment purchase order with funding source and preferred vendor and/or manufacturers.
12. The system should warn the operator when a reorder point has been reached, or when a pending work order will hit a reorder point.
13. The system should allow The University to determine whether to track stock levels and serial numbers on certain items in inventory Some inventory items will not receive UC property numbers. Others will not have their stock levels tracked.
14. The system must give The University the ability to track all equipment from purchase to storage to assignment for installation. All features assigned to the equipment must also be tracked.
15. Inventory charges should be able to accommodate recurring and one-time equipment charges.
16. The University may require charges to be assigned to main IDs other than the extension number. The system must provide a method for assigned equipment and feature charges to main IDs different from the extension number.
17. Equipment must be able to be categorized into equipment types, as defined by The University.
18. The system should maintain a master catalog of all equipment types and charges.
19. The system must provide the capability to reserve equipment for future use, without being attached to a work order.
20. The system should provide accounting of all The University's services and facilities for the purpose of budgeting, cost allocation, and recharge rate analysis.
21. The system must have a method of tracking all vendors who supply equipment and services to The University.
22. The system must provide for building inventory records from data imported from external systems.
23. The system must provide for the export of inventory data.
24. The system should support bar-coding.
25. The system should support bulk changes of information, including equipment Ids. There should be "un-do" capabilities for all bulk changes.
26. The system should track IP address(es) associated with equipment, both for installed equipment and equipment not yet installed (in stock).
27. The system should have the ability to link host names to IP addresses. IP addresses are stored with the equipment record. Hostnames are retrieved from the DNS. The host name should then become part of the equipment record.
28. The system should have the ability to issue a Domain Name Server request and receive and store a response.
29. One host name can map to one IP address. The system should accommodate this.
30. One host name can map to many IP addresses. The system should accommodate this.
31. One IP address can map to one host name. The system should accommodate this.
32. One IP address can map to many host names. The system should accommodate this.
33. One host name can be an alias to another host name. The system should accommodate this.
34. The system should be able to easily differentiate between installed equipment and equipment not yet installed (in stock).
35. The system must provide a method for performing long-term equipment rentals. Pagers and radios are common examples of equipment which are rented to customers on a long-term basis.
36. The system must provide a method for performing short-term equipment rentals. Charges for short-term equipment rentals may be on a flat-rate per month basis or on a prorated per day basis.
37. The system must provide a method for performing vendor equipment rental, working under the terms and conditions of the vendor service agreement.
38. The system should provide a method for performing equipment buy back programs. Included in this is the process of identifying the locations of a particular type of equipment, removing identified equipment and replacing it with the upgrades, and returning traded-in equipment to inventory and eventually to the vendor. All equipment swaps, trade-ins, and upgrades must have the capability of being performed without de-assigning and re-assigning attached items, as defined by The University.
39. In addition to purchasing equipment on a one-time payment program, The University offers the customer the alternative to purchase equipment on an equipment purchase plan. Monthly equipment costs are based upon a period of time (currently 24 months) purchase plan that includes the equipment price plus the purchase plan costs. The system should have the capability of performing this function.
40. All telephone equipment is covered by a one year warranty and is added to the maintenance program at warranty expiration. With key systems, there is no maintenance fees for "common equipment"; maintenance charges are based on the number of individual stations. There are different maintenance rates, depending on the type of equipment and whether the equipment is owned or rented. The system must do the following:
    • The system must have a method of identifying whether equipment is under warranty or under maintenance.
    • The system must have a method of recording the warranty period.
    • The system must have a method of automatically charging maintenance upon expiration of the warranty period. There should be no human intervention required in order to begin the maintenance charges.
    • The system must provide the capability of the operator identifying which maintenance rate is to be used.
41. The system should have a method of tracking vendor maintenance contracts and warranty information. This information should be associated with each equipment record, not only to the type of equipment.

Information to Track:

1. For a given type of equipment or part, the following data should be supported:
   • equipment or part ID
   • manufacturer name
   • manufacturer model number
   • stock number
   • description
   • remarks
   • preferred vendor(s)
   • alternate vendor(s)
   • maintenance vendor(s) that service this equipment
   • contract price
   • order and price history
   • price on recharge or resale
   • charge back schedules
   • depreciation schedule
   • equipment billing type (fixed flat rate, prorated (based on a 30 day period), billing in advance, or zero cost billing)
   • other attributes
2. The equipment record should support the following data for a particular item of equipment:
   • equipment or part ID
   • description
   • supplier (vendor)
   • model number
   • serial number
   • UC property number
   • purchase order number
   • purchase price
   • purchase date
   • asset status (capital, fixed, etc.)
   • warranty period
   • warranty start date
   • warranty end date (calculated)
   • service contract type
   • service contract number
   • service contract start date
   • service contract end date
   • location (building, room)
   • department
   • account/fund
   • software and version
   • other attributes