Toner stock control

[mcloum]

Ok im getting fed up of PHPPOS as for some reason its never correct with stock details and the reports are a bit naff.

 

Is there any stock control systems out there (opensource preferably) that i can use to enter stock, show number on order, reports on who i have given toners too and their cost etc.

 

I dont need anything fancy really, just the basics so i can track what i have, how much it costs, what i have on order and who i have given inks to that month.

 

Cheers

 

Mike

[EvLPhenom]

We use GLPI for this and also use the built in asset register and helpdesk part of it also.

 

it is quite good and allows you to allocate cartridges to printers and enter and delete stock where necessary.

[mcloum]

tbh GLPI is fugly! i never like the look of it. But if thats the only thing out there......

[Ric_]

Another vote for GLPI I'm afraid... mind, if you haven't looked at it in the last few months you won't have seen the new shiny interface!

[mcloum]

just looking at it now, still fugly lol:getmecoat:

[ChrisH]

just looking at it now, still fugly lol:getmecoat:

 

Compared to what?

[mcloum]

Help Desk / HelpDesk and Task Management - Open Source, Free and Supported Software by OneOrZero in terms of a helpdesk/ticket system and PHP Point of Sale Login

 

in terms of stock, nice a simple both of them

[EvLPhenom]

its nice and simple and does the job...thats all we are really interested in for our department.

[localzuk]

I'd say a spreadsheet would do this job just nicely. No need to overly complicate things really...

[alan-d]

Another vote for GLPI here

[mcloum]

I may just be looking at it wrong but has anyone got an example of a report with regards to charging inks to people from GLPI? Screenshot would be great.

 

I want a month by month break down of what ink/toner they took, the cost of each and an overall cost for that month so finance can charge their budget.

[Crispin]

The way we do it is we get a local IT retailer to come and refill our cupboards. A toner mini-bar style setup.

We keep all our toner and cartridges in two big cupboards in our office and have a certain required stock level based on past usage.

We keep spreadsheets with all the printers and their locations and when staff come to collect one we make a record of whats taken.

The company then comes and audits what we have and restocks us accordingly.

Absolutely zero hassle and haven't had any mistakes made as of yet. If you get a nice company they will help you out with other hardware/software supplies too if you're lucky.

Maybe worth looking into.

[SpuffMonkey]

Wrote a little db in Lotus Approach (!! - takes you back!!)

[El_Nombre]

My first week here I got an old classroom whiteboard and marked out a grid in permanent marker. It sits in the stockroom and shows cartridges (names and numbers,) the minimum stock we should keep, a tally of the amount we have, and the names and dates of people who use them. Every month or so, the list of used cartridges and users is drawn up and sent to finance on a template spreadsheet and once the order comes in, the cartridges are re-stocked and rotated, the names wiped off again and the tallies re-marked.

 

Low tech but it works alright.

[Geoff]

What's the process for doing this in GLPI. I'm staring at the cartridge section, but I still don't get it.

[mcloum]

What's the process for doing this in GLPI. I'm staring at the cartridge section, but I still don't get it.

 

Ditto!

[Geoff]

Nevermind I worked it out.

 

1) Create a cartridge.

2) Associate it with a Printer Type.

3) 'Stock' the cartridge' and set an alarm level.

4) Now on your individual printers, you can 'replace' cartridges from your 'stock' and GLPI will do all the hard work for you.

5) (Optional) Fill in the page counters and costs for extra stats fun.

 

Edit: Also make sure you've got your notifications turned on!

Edited December 9, 2008 by Geoff

[mcloum]

Nevermind I worked it out.

 

1) Create a cartridge.

2) Associate it with a Printer Type.

3) 'Stock' the cartridge' and set an alarm level.

4) Now on your individual printers, you can 'replace' cartridges from your 'stock' and GLPI will do all the hard work for you.

5) (Optional) Fill in the page counters and costs for extra stats fun.

 

Edit: Also make sure you've got your notifications turned on!

 

So it doesnt tell you how many a person has used and the cost of the ink/toner?

[Geoff]

No it tells you how much a printer has used, plus if you give it the numbers the real monthly duty cycle and associated costings. So for example, you can find out what your most expensive printer is to run.

 

If you want to find out who is using the printer the most, you need to look elsewhere. Something like Papercuts logger for example.

 

However if you combine the information from the above two systems, you can work out how much it costs on a per user basis. You can then feed this into a printer quota system (or just a spreadsheet if your cheap).

[Ric_]

No it tells you how much a printer has used, plus if you give it the numbers the real monthly duty cycle and associated costings. So for example, you can find out what your most expensive printer is to run.

 

If you want to find out who is using the printer the most, you need to look elsewhere. Something like Papercuts logger for example.

 

However if you combine the information from the above two systems, you can work out how much it costs on a per user basis. You can then feed this into a printer quota system (or just a spreadsheet if your cheap).

 

You can also assign the printer to a person so GLPI would tell you how much to charge a person.

 

As you know, I use PyKota for user billing... the GLPI stock control just helps me to make sure I have sufficient ink in and shows up any waste.