Clicking Campus Tools, Inventory, Create Inventory System allows you to create a new inventory instance.
Only the Inventory system administrator can create a new inventory. However, once the inventory is created, the Inventory administrator can set the contents and properties of the new inventory by using the Inventory Administrator Tools.
This is basically the same screen that appears when you select to edit the properties of a current inventory. However, when you are editing an existing inventory, the current institution and inventory name appear on the title bar of this form. When you are creating a new inventory, only the institution name appears because you have not yet named the inventory.
When creating a new inventory, enter the following inventory properties:
Name: Enter a name for the new inventory.
Description: Enter a short description of what the point of this inventory is. Please be specific, especially if you are using CNAV within a multi-campus or consortia environment. You really want to be sure that you can tell from the name and description that you are selecting the correct inventory.
Color: Select a color to be assigned to this inventory. The color you select will appear on the left-side of nearly every screen that applies to this inventory. Ideally, you should select a color that is unique for the CNAV installation. To specify the color, use the Color Picker tool.
Icon: Use the Browse button to select an icon file to be uploaded into CNAV. This icon will represent this inventory and will appear in the upper-left corner of most screens for this inventory. Inventory icons must be 32 x 32 pixels. (If you specify a larger icon graphic, CNAV will automatically scale it to 32 x 32.) Currently, the icon file formats supported are JPG, GIF, and BMP.
The security groups determine who can view and modify the inventory. Modify the security groups for this inventory as required:
Admin Entity: This entry specifies the Inventory administrator(s).
User Entity: This entry specifies the current Inventory worker(s).
View Entity: This entry defines the inventory viewers. Exactly which users are authorized to view inventory contents and reports must be decided on a case-by-case basis for each inventory in accordance with the business practices at your institution.
Inventory type: CNAV supports the creation of three distinctly different types of inventories. The three types of inventory are:
Item: An item inventory is what most people consider to be a traditional inventory. All items are counted separately with a distinct entry for each item. In an item inventory, records are uniquely identified by the combination of manufacturer and serial number.
Count: In a counting inventory, users expect a separate entry for each type of item, not each individual item. For example, if you were to inventory your home food supplies, you would want to know how many cans of peas were in the pantry and how many cans of peas were in the storage cupboards. You would probably not care about the UPC code (i.e. serial number) of each individual can. In a counting inventory, entries are uniquely identified by the combination of model, building, room, and department.
Lot: A lot inventory is a cross between an item inventory and a count inventory. In a lot inventory, CNAV keeps track of lots of items having unique identification numbers. For example, you might track cases of peas having a specific use-by date.
After entering all desired changes, click Submit.
Note that you can go back and change many of these items later. Or, you could leave many of these items to be completed by the inventory administrator(s). However, you MUST specify the following three items at this point:
Inventory name
Security groups
Admin entity (i.e. Inventory administrator(s))
User entity (i.e. Inventory workers)
Viewer entity
Inventory type