Understanding MultiSite Inventory Organization. Deciding how to setup your inventory system is important. Please consider the following information.

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1 Understanding MultiSite Organization Deciding how to setup your inventory system is important. Please consider the following information. MultiSite Master Options Before you begin there are two options that will define the way inventory numbers are controlled and issued. numbers and descriptions are held in the Master. The Master holds and control Unique (inventory numbers), descriptions and some default values. The distinction between the two options is how many Master Inventories exist in the property portfolio. Is there to be one Master where all properties and users share the same inventory numbers and descriptions or will each property have its own independent Master. See Figure 1 1) Centralized Numbering System controls the inventory number and descriptions at the central office and the properties may not add new inventory numbers. 2) Scattered Numbering System allows property managers to add/edit/delete inventory numbers in any fashion they desire. Master The Master controls the (inventory numbers) so there are no duplicate Item Codes. Each Item Code will have a, Category Grouping and a few default settings to make data entry easier and your inventory more consistent. The structure and purpose of the Master is the same if there is one Master or a separate Master Inventories in individual properties. The centralized Master system does not mean the inventory is stored in a centralized location. MultiSite Organization Structure Category Groups is organized first by two basic Category Groups: Asset or. Each new MultiSite customer inherits this basic table. Asset items are materials or equipment owned by the property. items are materials stocked for use by the property. Categories is further organized by Categories. Each new MultiSite customer inherits this basic table and categories filled with records common to most management companies. categories can be unique to each property or defined by a Master. Categories can be customized according to your company needs. This category structure is created before you begin entering inventory and no changes to the inventory category items once you begin, but you may safely add new categories if necessary. Categories have fields which can further define the category and fields that are common to every inventory item in the inventory table.

2 MultiSite provides a standard list of inventory categories for you to start with. You may use the standard or create your own. Here is a list of the standard categories: The list to the right represents the Category table. This table keeps other default values besides the fields represented in the graphic. Other fields kept include: Require Serial Number Expected Life in Months Default Default Reserve Account Is Reserve Item (Y/N) Items (Item Code) The Last level of basic organization is the inventory items. Each inventory item needs to have a unique Item Code. Basic Item Code strategy you should know: o At the simplest level your inventory is broken down into two groups, as defined in the Category: Items with Serial Numbers and Items without Serial Numbers. o Items with serial numbers will have a unique Item Code. E.g. each refrigerator will have a unique Item Code. o Items without serial numbers can have items grouped any way you want. There are three major challenges to overcome when defining your inventory Item Code strategy: (1) Defining an Item Code structure. (a) E.g. are your going to code all grass seed with a code like: (i) GS-100 ; GS100 ; GS00100 (GS for Grass Seed) (ii) ; (iii) S-100 ; S100 ; S00100 (S for Supplies) (2) Who is going to monitor the item codes to keep them from becoming a big jumbled unorganized mess with duplicate item descriptions?

3 (a) Typically un-monitored inventory systems become so duplicitous and inaccurate that dumping the inventory records and starting over is the only remedy. (3) Defining a unique inventory record. (a) This may seem easy but an exact definition should be adopted by your management company maintenance manager or inventory expert. (i) Example of unique for category Finishing Supply a. P001 : Ceiling White b. MB001 : Mini Blinds 2030 Off White c. MB010 : Mini Blinds 3030 Off White General rule that will make your inventory database happy: Group similar items into an Item Code that have the following characteristics in common: Category; GL & Reserve Account numbers; Reorder Level & Reorder Quantity; Unit of Measure (UOM) and Expected Life in Months. For Example: each category record has a default General Ledger Number and Reserve account number. We use the category table to pre-fill the and Reserve Account Number when you enter a new inventory record. This keeps you from having to lookup the account numbers or making a typographic error. Other default fields are: Unit of Measure (UOM); product; Life Expectancy and a few others.

4 Additional Strategy Considerations Numbering Strategies numbers are alphanumeric codes that uniquely identify something you carry in your inventory or catalog as an asset. Other names for an number are: item numbers, part numbers, product codes, etc. MultiSite calls their unique code Item Code. Item codes can also be made semidescriptive to help you remember certain classes of inventory. If you are not going to import your inventory into MultiSite and you need to develop your own numbering system here is a few guidelines we recommend: Keep the item code length between 4 and 8 alphanumeric characters. Do not try and make item codes that have too much meaning. This will make your item codes longer and may limit the types of items you can place in your inventory in the future. Consider using a few letters in the beginning of the code. listings can be lengthy. If you use letters to begin your item codes they will sort together in the reports. For example if you begin all Paint item codes with P, all the paints will sort together in the list. Remember that alpha numeric numbers sort differently than you might expect. For example, two item codes: D5 and D100. May not sort in a printed list the way you want them to sort. In this example the D100 will sort before the D5 code. If you want D5 to sort before D100 then name the D5 code as D005 and it will sort before D100. Strategy Resist the urge to make your inventory descriptions complicated with too much information. Don t try and put vendor names or part numbers in descriptions unless you want that item code to be forever exactly for that vendor and part number. Don t make your descriptions to simple. Example of a too simple description is Doors So we do not recommend creating descriptions overly simple or too complicated what are you going to do? Consider two inventory item codes: DXW3060 : Exterior Wood Doors 3060 Ajax Hardware Part Number , special order. DXW3060 : Doors One is to complicated and the other is to simple. How about this: DXW3060 : Exterior Wood Doors 3060 w/ deadbolt Units of Measure (UOM) The default unit of measure should be expressed in units you normally purchase or stock the items. Your inventory will be happier if you standardize the spelling of the units of measure. We even recommend that the UOM is in lower case letters. Examples: ea, Each, Ech, EA, each. Pick one and keep it consistent. MultiSite calculates and displays Average Cost for all items in stock with the same UOM. If there are different UOM s in an item code the average cost will be inaccurate and meaningless.

5 Figure 1 CENTRALIZED INVENTORY NUMBERING SYSTEM (One Master properties draw from Master ) CATEGORY Company Defaults -Appliance SCATTERED INVENTORY NUMBERING SYSTEM (each property has their own independent Master ) CATEGORY Company Defaults -Appliance - - -