Creating ABC Codes and Tracking Methods in the Part Module

We could keep talking about Fishbowl’s Part module forever; it has that many intricate pieces to it. But all good things must come to an end, and this week we’ll finish talking about the last two major components of the Part module: ABC codes and tracking methods.

As Easy as ABC

Classifying your inventory into three groups, marked A, B, and C, is quite helpful. The A group includes the parts you manufacture and/or sell most often, and the B and C groups have parts that you go through a bit more slowly. Knowing which parts fall into the A group helps you focus your attention on them more than the rest when it comes to reordering and manufacturing them. There is an Auto ABC wizard next to the Auto ROP wizard in the toolbar atop the Part module. Click on it and it will bring up a new window with an easy setup. All you have to do is set the filter to include sales and/or manufactured goods and then choose a date range. Click Next and your parts will all be instantly categorized into A, B, and C groups. You can even see which group they were in before and after that grouping.

Part Tracking

To add new tracking methods in the Part module, you’ll have to go above the toolbar all the way up to the menu and find the Tool option. Then select Module Options and click the Tracking tab in the middle of the other two tabs. There should be four options already in there: Lot Number, Revision Level, Expiration Date, and Serial Number. You can change their order, add descriptions, and more. To add a new tracking method, simply click the green plus sign on the right. You can call it whatever you like and then select from a number of options to indicate its type. These types include:

• Text
• Date
• Expiration Date
• Serial Number
• Money
• Quantity
• Count
• Checkbox

To set a tracking method for a part, select it and click on the Details tab above. Then just click the checkbox next to it. As long as the part is not included in a currently issued order, it will save that change. Like I said, there’s plenty more to talk about in the Part module, but this blog post and the two previous ones have hopefully given you a good overview of the main features contained within it. We’ll continue next week as we explore how to add and modify products in the Product module.