Frontline Education is pleased to announce the latest enhancements for Asset Management (formerly TIPWeb-IT), which include low stock alerts and the ability to bulk change the location of assets in statuses of “In Repair,” “In Use,” and “Available” to a different “Room,” “Staff,” or “Student.”

Release Overview

Highlights include:

• Parts Management: Low Stock Alerts
• Location Update: Bulk Import Site, Student/Staff/Room, Status Changes

Parts Management: Low Stock Alerts

As part of our comprehensive inventory management system, we have implemented a powerful feature called "Low Stock Notifications" to assist our admin users in maintaining optimal parts inventory levels. This feature ensures that "Admin Admin" users are notified nightly when the available inventory falls below a specified threshold, enabling them to take immediate action to replenish stock and avoid disruptions in operations.

Navigating to the Parts Catalog

Asset Management users can add and track untagged consumable parts at each site. "Parts Management" will help inventory the untagged parts needed for repairs across your district. Whether those parts are for technology, maintenance, or operations, your teams will have the perfect spot to track your consumables. This feature was released in version 13.1 in March 2023.

Catalog: Product Catalog Menu

Upon logging in, "Admin" and "Site" users can now click Catalog from the top navigation and see a new drop-down menu displaying “Parts” and “Products.”

All user types will view the "Parts Catalog" by default. Steps to modify permissions are described further in this article.

Clicking Products from the "Catalog" menu takes you to the traditional "Product Catalog."

Clicking Parts from the "Catalog" menu takes you to the new "Parts Catalog."

Setting Up Minimum Stock Requirements

"Admin Admin" users have the ability to set a minimum stock threshold at the district level for each part in the inventory. This threshold represents the minimum quantity of a particular part that should be available before a notification is triggered. Notifications are triggered nightly.

Minimum Stock

• Field accepts up to 500,000 in minimum stock
• Field type is integer
• Field is not required

The "Quantity" number appears in red when the "Part Quantity" has fallen below the "Minimum Stock" required by the district.

Our system monitors the inventory quantities and compares them against the minimum stock thresholds defined by the admin users. This process is automated and requires no manual intervention.

Setting Up Admin Admin Notifications

As an "Admin Admin," navigate to your "Profile Settings" in the top right corner of the Asset Management system by clicking the arrow next to your name. Then click the Profile Settings option.

The "Profile Settings" now have additional “Email Notification Settings.”

By clicking on Send District Low Stock Consolidated Daily Email, the system will send you a nightly email of parts below the minimum tock threshold set forth by the district.

Parts Management Email Notification: Admin Admin

The email notification includes essential details to assist the "Admin" in identifying and addressing low stock. The email includes a list of all parts that have fallen below the threshold set, along with the "Part Number," "Part Name," and "Quantity."

Additionally, the email notification contains a link below the part details that directs the admin user to a dedicated report within the "Parts Management" tab. This report offers a comprehensive overview of the inventory status, highlighting the parts that are below the minimum stock threshold.

Replenishing Low Stock

When the "Admin Admin" sees the notification or navigates to “Show Parts Below Minimum Stock,” more inventory can be added to the parts in need by following the steps below:

1. Click on the caret > to the left of the "Part" to see additional details and the Inventory tab.
2. On the Inventory tab, you can add or remove inventory quantity to sites through in-line editing.

Add Inventory to Sites

1. Click Add Inventory to view a list of sites to which to add parts inventory.
2. Make sure to check the box so the new site inventory quantity is added for the part.
3. Tab or use your mouse to click into the next site quantity box.
4. Click Save to associate the part to selected sites.
5. Click the checkbox at the top left of the grid to select all sites in the system.

• "Sites" already assigned to a "Part" will no longer display in the "Assign Sites" listing.
• Once the "Site" is added to the "Inventory" tab, use in-line editing to add or change the Minimum Stock.

• When performing a "Site Name" search in the grid, clicking the checkbox at the top will only select the sites returned in the search results, allowing you to add site inventory in bulk.

• As an admin, you can add sites without a parts inventory quantity, allowing your site users to add their quantity later.

Inventory History Tab

1. Click on the caret > to the left of the "Part" to see additional details and the Inventory History tab.

• The "Inventory History" tab will show all adjustments made to the "Parts" inventory quantity: who made them, when they were made, and quantity count changes.
• The "Inventory History" tab will track the "Date," "User (First and Last Name)," "Site Name," "Quantity Adjustment," and "Final Quantity" of the "Part."
• Negative adjustments are indicated in red and with a negative (-) sign
• Positive adjustments are indicated in green.

Location Import – Import Site, Student/Staff/Room, Status Changes

The ability to bulk change the location of a assets in statuses of “In Repair,” “In Use,” and “Available” to a different “Room,” “Staff,” or “Student” is now available through the "Location Import" feature. "Location Update" is performed through an Excel file import to mass collect or distribute assets.

This feature is only accessible for "Admin Admins" in the system. No other user role will be able to access "Location Import" to collect or distribute assets in bulk.

Navigating to Location Update

For "Admin Admins," there is a new option on your left navigation panel under "Admin Tools" called “Location Import.” "Location Import" is restricted to only "Admin Admin." No other user roles will see this additional menu option.

Clicking Location Import will open a modal pop-up to start the import process.

"Import Details" on the left of the modal pop-up describe important details of this feature.

• Import Type: Will always be set to "Location Import"
• Required Fields: "Tag," "Serial Number," "Location ID," "Site ID," "Location Type," "Status"

• "Support Status" changes: Will accept changes in status for “In Repair," “In Use,” and “Available.”
  • If a tag is in any of the following statuses or is attempting to be changed to these statuses, they will be blocked: “Lost,” “Stolen.” “Pending Lost,” “Pending Stolen," and all “Transfer”

Preparing your .XLS or .XLSX Import File

A template file is available from the modal to download and fill with the location change information. Click on the here hyperlink to access the template.

The template file includes columns A-F, and row 1 includes headers of the required fields for "Location Import."

After clicking Browse and selecting your file, press Import to receive certain validations if there is an error in your file before the system can start to process your import.

Clicking Import will start the import process and add the file to the "Import History" grid, with the most recent file added at the top.

Import History: Error and Success Files

As an "Admin," you have access to detailed error reports and a successful task file. These files provide valuable insights into the outcome of the "Location Import" process, enabling you to address any errors and have a record of successful task completion.

Error Report

At the completion of the "Location Import" process, the server will generate an error report in the same format as the import file if any records encountered an issue. This report will contain an additional column, G, “Exception Reason(s)”. "Exception Reasons" are defined in detail later in this article.

Exception Reasons

Tag and/or Serial (required column in file)

Location ID (required column in file)

Site ID (required column in file)

Location Type (required column in file)

Status (required column in file)

Overall Record Validation

Tag and Serial Validations

"Tags" and "Serials" must be linked to a single, active asset. At least one of the "Tag" or "Serial" columns must contain a value, although both can contain values. If "Tag" is null and "Serial" is specified, the row must be marked as an exception if that "Serial" is linked to multiple assets.

Note: Serial numbers for assets are allowed to be duplicated and there is no validation requiring them to be unique. If only the serial number is used in the "Location Import" file and there are multiple matching assets in your data, an error message will appear.

Duplicate Detection

If a "Tag" or "Serial" is present multiple times in the import file, all occurrences of those records will be marked as duplicates. However, if the entire row is identical, only the first occurrence will be retained, and the subsequent fully identical rows will be marked as duplicates.

Parent Tag and Component Tag Handling

When the location of a parent tag is changed, the component tags will be assigned accordingly. However, the location of a component tag cannot be changed in the bulk upload, and the error message will indicate: "Tag is a component of Parent Tag (###)."

Location and Site Validations

The "Location ID" and "Site ID" must be linked to each other in the database and must be active. Additionally, the status specified must be valid for the "Location Type" (e.g., "Room," "Staff," or "Student").

Status Change Error Handling

If the asset's current status is "Pending Transfer," "In Transit," "Pending Lost," or "Pending Stolen," the status change error will display as: "Unable to change status for tag in status of [status name]. Row [Row Number]."

Warehouse Location Handling

The bulk location change feature is not applicable to warehouse containers. Warehouse locations can only be assigned to staff and rooms, not to students. Untagged inventory management is not included in this import process.

Department Tag Assignment

"Admin Admin" users, who have access to all departments and tags, can assign department tags without any restrictions.

Component & Parent Tags

• Parent Tag: When the location of a parent tag is changed, the system will automatically assign the new location to all associated component tags. This streamlined process eliminates the need for manual adjustments, allowing for efficient management of parent and component tags.
• Component Tag: In the bulk upload process, the location of a component tag cannot directly be changed. If an attempt is made to change the location of a component tag, an error message will be displayed to the client: "Tag is a component of Parent Tag (###)." This message indicates that the location change should be performed on the parent tag instead.

Restricted Funding Validations

When performing the bulk location import, if a tag has a restricted funding source that prohibits its movement to a particular site, the system will generate an error.

The error message displayed for such case will read: "Tag has restricted funding source."

The process for validating the tags against the funding source and site matches the process for "Quick Transfers."

This validation enhancement helps maintain data accuracy and adherence to funding restrictions while performing bulk location changes. By preventing tags with restricted funding from being moved to incompatible sites, you can ensure compliance and avoid potential complications.

Note: Missing leading zeros will cause an error. When working with Excel files, it is important to note that leading zeros may be dropped by Excel. This behavior is not specific to our software but rather an inherent characteristic of Excel. To ensure the preservation of leading zeros in your "Tag," "Serial," or "ID" fields, we recommend following the steps outlined below:

• Using Custom Number Format: Excel provides a custom number format feature that allows you to display leading zeros. You can apply this format to the specific cells or columns where leading zeros are required. Microsoft provides detailed instructions on using a custom number format to display leading zeros in Excel, which can be found in their support documentation, "Using a Custom Number Format to Display Leading Zeros."
• Opening Files with Leading Zeros: If you need to open a file that contains leading zeros, such as a downloaded file from our software, you can follow these steps:

1. Save the downloaded file in .txt file format.
2. Open Excel and choose the File menu.
3. Select Open and navigate to the location where you saved the .txt file.
4. In the "Open" dialog, select the file and choose the Open button.
5. The Text Import Wizard will appear. Select the appropriate options, ensuring that you choose Tab as the delimiter if the file is tab delimited.
6. Click Finish to import the file into Excel. This process will help retain the leading zeros.

• Please keep in mind that whenever you export data from our software into an Excel or CSV file, the leading zeros may no longer be present due to Excel's default behavior. To preserve the leading zeros, it is crucial to follow the steps outlined above.

Previous Releases

The following are release notes for prior releases.