Containers

In Deacom, Containers represent storage units that hold inventory. Once inventory lots have been moved to Containers, inventory transactions can be performed by referencing the Container instead of the lots inside. This allows inventory to be moved more easily and means fewer transactions. In addition, Containers, like Work Centers, can be depreciated as a fixed asset and have maintenance performed on them via MRO.

Containers may sometimes referred to by other names, such as totes, however in Deacom, the master record used for the container or tote is a Container.

System Navigation

Inventory > Maintenance > Containers

Edit Container form

Opened via the "New" or "Modify" buttons on the Containers form.

Field/Button	Description
Post Depreciation to G/L	If clicked, allows users to Post Depreciation for all the selected container in a single click. Details on how the system handles the posting of depreciation to the General Ledger is available in the Fixed Assets tab section below.

General tab

Field/Flag	Description
Number	Enter appropriate number
Part Number	Option to link a part number to the selected container. Only active part numbers with the "Unit Serialization" property checked will be displayed in the list. Used in situations where Containers will be assigned to Bills of Materials which allows visibility and tractability in MRP.
Unit	Select the appropriate Container unit.
Tare Weight	Enter the appropriate tare weight for the selected Container. Tare weight represents the empty weight of the Container.
Active	Check to make the Container active. Only active Containers may be used in the system.

User Fields tab

Deacom allows the creation of user-defined fields that, once created, are available on various master data records such as items, Vendors, and Ship-to Companies. These fields allow companies to enter and store information outside of the fields provided in the system. User fields may be added via Tools > Maintenance > User Fields.

Fixed Assets tab

Field/Flag	Description
Acquired	Enter the date the Container was acquired.
Acquisition Cost	Enter cost at time of acquisition.
Depreciation	Pick list used to select the method with which depreciation costs are posted. Options are: None - A specific method is not used to reduce the carrying amount of a fixed asset. Straight Line - Generally used to gradually reduce the carrying amount of a fixed asset over its useful life. Designed to reflect the consumption pattern of the underlying asset, and is used when there is no particular pattern to the manner in which the asset is to be used over time. Usually the easiest method to calculate and therefor results in fewer errors.
Account	Account to which depreciation charges will be credited. The corresponding entry is a debit to the "Depreciation Expense" account Accounting > Options.
Months	Indicates the useful life, in months, for this Container.
Current Cost	Displays the current cost for this Container. This field will display the "Acquisition Cost" if "Depreciation" is set to "None". If set to "Straight Line", this field will display as a linear interpolation from the "Acquisition Cost" to zero, based on the "Acquired Date".
Last Posted Cost	Displays the last depreciation cost for the Container that was posted to the GL.

Maintenance tab

The maintenance tab allows for the setup of routine maintenance tasks for the Container and is integrated into MRO Management.

Maintenance form

Opened via the "Add" or "Modify" buttons on the Maintenance tab of the Edit Container form.

Field/Flag	Description
Name	The name for the repair or maintenance task associated to the selected Container.
Recurring Type	Pick list used in connection with the "Frequency" field to specify the unit of when maintenance will be performed on the Container. Options are: Calendar Days - Used in connection with the "Schedule Type", "Day Of", and "Day", the number listed in the "Frequency" field is the number of days on a calendar that will pass until maintenance must be completed. Hours Used - The number listed in the "Frequency" field is the number of hours the Container may be used until maintenance must be completed. Manual - Maintenance is not completed on a set schedule, but as the company/operators see fit. Selecting this option removes the ability to use the "Frequency" field. Metered - Used in connection with the "Meter Reading" flag and "Max Meter Reading" field on this form, the number listed in the "Frequency" field is the meter reading of when maintenance must be performed. A "Metered" task will be due immediately once the meter reading exceeds the Frequency. Quantity Produced - The number listed in the "Frequency" field is the number of units that may be produced on the selected Work Center until maintenance must be completed.
Frequency	Provides the interval indicating how many days, hours, or how much usage is allowed between maintenance task completion.
Schedule Type	Only used with a "Recurring Type" of "Calendar Days". Pick list used to specify the basis of how recurring maintenance tasks, based on the number of Calendar Days specified, will be rescheduled. Options are: Completion Date - Maintenance tasks will be scheduled based on the date a Maintenance Job was completed. Creation Date - Maintenance tasks will be scheduled based on the date a Maintenance Job was created. For example, assume a maintenance task is set on the Maintenance tab of a Container with a "Recurring Type" of "Calendar Days", a "Frequency" of "7", and the "Schedule Type" is set to "Created Date". Assume a Maintenance Job is created on Monday, Sept 7th. If an MRO report is run, the "Due" column for this Maintenance task will be set to Monday, Sept 14th. Likewise, if the "Schedule Type" was set for "Completion Date" and the same Job was completed on Wednesday, Sept 9th, then running the MRO report would indicate that the "Due" column for this maintenance task would be set to Wednesday, Sept 16th.
Initial Date	Indicates the first date that the system should consider when scheduling maintenance for this Container. When a value is entered and MRO is run, if a Maintenance task has never had a Job finish against it, the system will use this date as the last Job finish date instead of an empty date. When a date is entered in this field, the "Last Date" in MRO gets updated with this same date. If no Jobs have been created for a Maintenance task with a "Recurring Type" of "Calendar Days" previously, then the Initial Date will be set as the "Initial Date" + "Frequency" days.
Day Of	Only used with a "Recurring Type" of "Calendar Days" and used in conjunction with the "Day" field. Pick list used to indicate how the maintenance task due date should be snapped on a calendar when using MRO. Options are: Month - The maintenance task will be snapped to the "Day" indicated for the current month. For example, if "Day" is set to "3" and "Day Of" is set to "Month", the task will snap to the 3rd of the month on the calendar. If the day of the month is less than the current date, it would snap to the following month. None - The maintenance task does not snap based on calendar week or month. Week - The maintenance task will be snapped to the "Day" indicated for the current week. For example, if "Day" is set to "6" and "Day Of" is set to "Week", the task will snap to Saturday on the calendar. If the day of the week is less than the current date, it would snap to the following week.
Day	Only used with a "Recurring Type" of "Calendar Days" and used in conjunction with the "Day Of" field. The value entered in this field indicates the specific day of the month or week (depending on the "Day Of" selection) that the MRO calendar will snap to when scheduling maintenance tasks. The system begins a week with Monday, so with "Day Of" set to "Week", a "Day" set to "1" represents Monday and a "Day" set to "7" represents Sunday.
Part Number	Search field used to select the non-stock item that represents the maintenance or repair activity associated with the selected maintenance task.
MRO Group	Search field used to assign the maintenance task to a group. MRO Groups, managed via Production > Maintenance > MRO Groups allow maintenance tasks assigned to the same group to be placed together on the same Job when creating the Job via MRO.
Unavailability Level	Pick list used to select what impact this maintenance task will have on a machine's or location's availability. Options are: Facility - Used when performing the maintenance task will stop the ability to operate in the Facility to which the Work Center belongs. None - Used when performing the maintenance task permits the ability to operate as normal (no machinery or locations must be shut down or taken offline). Shop Area - Used when performing the maintenance task will stop the ability to operate in the Shop Area to which the Work Center belongs. Work Center - The default value, assuming that the Work Center cannot be used when performing the maintenance task (must be shut down or taken offline). When Maintenance Jobs are scheduled for maintenance tasks that contain an "Unavailability Level" other than "None", the Master Production Calendar will black out the appropriate Work Centers, Shop Areas, and Facilities to indicate that they will be unavailable while maintenance is performed.
Priority	Used for scheduling purposes and to provide the default value when creating Maintenance Jobs via MRO. Tasks may be set with priorities starting from 1 to an unlimited number, with 1 being the highest priority and 5 being the default. If multiple tasks are set on one Container, the tasks are scheduled according to the value entered in their respective "Priority" fields.
Max Meter Reading	Used in connection with the "Meter Reading" flag. Indicates the point at which the meter will roll over when entering meter readings on Job lines that include a Container with a recurring type of "Metered". This field allows the system to calculate the difference before the meter rolled over to estimate when the next reading should occur.
Copy Document Category	Search field used to copy any documents attached to the Container (via the "View Docs" button on the Edit Work Center form) over to MRO Jobs created for this maintenance task. The documents must belong to the selected Document Category (selected when initially attaching the documents to the Container) to be copied to the Job. The documents can be used as part of the batch ticket record for the Job and may be viewed via the "View Docs" button on the Job.
Notes	Memo field used to store additional details or instructions for IT/Dev/Support MRO tasks.
Meter Reading	Used in connection with the "Max Meter Reading" field. When finishing a Maintenance Job for a task with a "Recurring Type" of "Metered" or this "Meter Reading" flag checked, the "Finish Quantity" field on the Input Production and Close/Relieve Job forms becomes the "Meter Reading" field to enter the current meter value. In addition, The MRO report looks for the last meter reading for each Container compared to the meter reading when the last Metered task was performed to estimate when the next Metered task should be performed. Notes: The Meter Reading from the time the Metered task was performed is displayed in the MRO report. A reasonable due date is estimated once the Metered task has been completed and another Meter Reading is entered. A Metered task has no due date if the meter has never been read. Meter-reading Maintenance Jobs update the Meter ("Meter" variable from the report grid) column of the MRO report for the Metered maintenance task. The maintenance tasks based on the meter will show the Meter Reading at the time they were last performed. Due dates for Metered tasks are calculated regardless of previous production. The system will also extrapolate dates for Metered task functionality to search up the tree for production in parent Work Centers. This is designed on the idea that Work Centers below top level production Work Centers on the Work Center tree, possibly several levels deep, are for MRO purposes only, and will usually not have Production Jobs assigned to them.