The Material Kit Setup module streamlines the process of adding resources to Work Orders or PMs by allowing agencies to group items that are frequently used together into a virtual "kit." Users can then add the Material Kit to a Work Order or PM Task through a single step, rather than adding the Material records individually.
Examples:
The city is getting ready to convert older electric meters to new smart meters that can be read remotely. So, it creates a Material Kit called "Meter Swap" that contains the items technicians will need to make the switch: two pipe connector clamps, four 1" lock-nuts, 2 ft of #6 gauge grounding wire, 2 ft of #2 gauge grounding wire, and eight wire connectors.
Winter is over, and it's time for city road crews to complete spring pothole repairs. It creates a Material Kit called "Pothole Repair" that contains the items a crew will need to repair 10 potholes (the workday average): 55 gallons of asphalt binder; 10 bags of aggregate, five bags of sand, and 55 gallons of sealant.
How it works
On its own, a Materials Kit has no effect on inventory counts or costs. Only when a user adds a Kit to a Work Order or PM does Lucity copy the Kit contents to the Task's Materials grid, creating Material Resource records for each item.
The user specifies the number of Units or Estimated Units of the Kit to add to the Work Order or PM. Lucity multiplies the Kit's Units value by the Units value of each Material in the Kit to determine the Units value of each new Material Resource record it adds to the Work Order or PM.
If a Material in a Kit has a standard Unit Cost, that value is carried over to the Material record. The Unit Cost, multiplied by the Units value, determines the Total Cost of the Material. The Total Cost of each Resource is rolled up into the Task Cost.
If the Materials in the Kit are linked to Lucity's Parts Inventory and the Units values are supplied, Lucity will disburse the items from inventory and alert the user of the action.
Creating kits
Creating a Material Kit is a three-step process:
Create the Kit record.
Assign the Kit to one or more Work Categories, making it easier for you to add Materials to the Kit and for users to locate the Kits that relate to the Tasks on the Work Order or PM.
Add the Materials* you want to include to the Kit and identify the quantity of each item.
*Note that a Material Kit may consist only of Material records; you cannot add Fluid or Equipment records to a Kit.
Common tasks
To access the Material Kit Setup module, select Work > Administration > Work Flow Setup > Material Kit Setup.
Open the Work > Administration > Work Flow Setup > Material Kit Setup module.
Expand the Material Kit Setup record to which you want to add Materials.
Select the Material Kit Material grid and click Add . A new Material Kit Material record appears.
Select the desired Material from the picklist (required).
The picklist options represent records from the Material Setup module.
Use the search bars at the top of each column to locate relevant terms or item codes.
Create an Alt (Alternative) Description for the item, if desired.
Enter the number of Units of the material that you would like to include in this kit.
If you do not enter a Units value, users will be required to split the Kit into individual Material Resource records to supply the Units value on a Work Order or PM.
Select the Unit of Measure that applies to this material for this kit.
If necessary, indicate the Account # or Project No - Acct that applies to this Material when used in this kit.
It may become necessary to deactivate a Kit if, among other reasons, you no longer perform that type of work or materials in the Kit are temporarily unavailable. Use the following procedure to remove the Kit from the Material Kit picklist on Work records.
Open the Work > Administration > Work Flow Setup > Material Kit Setup module.
Open the Material Kit record that you want to deactivate.
Uncheck the Active Material box to indicate the Material Kit is no longer active in the Work program.
Change the Status, if desired.
Save and close the record. The item will no longer appear in the Material Kit picklist on new Work Orders, PMs and Templates.
Critical Final Step: Search PMs and Task Setup records for this Material Kit and remove it where found. This step ensures that the inactive Material Kit is not automatically added to a PM or Work Order.
Warnings
Users can delete a Material Kit from a Work Flow Setup module. Doing so does not affect existing data [that is, the deleted Material Kit still appears in existing PMs and existing Work Orders (completed or incomplete)];
Lucity will not generate a PM that includes a Material Kit that has either been deactivated or deleted from the Material Kit Setup module.