As a power app developer, I am always looking for ways to improve the efficiency and accuracy of our school district’s inventory management system. One of the challenges we faced was how to allow schools to clean up the records in the system without losing oversight and accountability. In this blog post, I will share how I solved this problem by creating a new system to track deletions in our inventory management system.
The Problem
Our school district has a large inventory of various items, such as computers, furniture, books, and supplies. These items are distributed among different schools and locations, and they need to be tracked and managed properly. We use a power app that I built to manage our inventory system. The app allows users to add, edit, view, and search for items in inventory.
However, there was no easy way to delete items from the inventory. Sometimes, items get lost, damaged, or obsolete, and they need to be removed from the system. But we did not want to allow users to delete items without any oversight or documentation. We wanted to keep track of the reasons and dates for the deletions, and who requested and approved them.
The Solution
To address this problem, I created a new system to track deletions in our inventory management system. The system consists of two main features: a deletion request button and a deletion review process.
Deletion Request Button
The first feature is a deletion request button that allows users to request the deletion of an item from the inventory. The button is located on the item detail screen, next to the edit button. When a user clicks on the button, a pop-up window appears, asking the user to enter the reason for the deletion request and confirm it.
The deletion request is then sent to the central office staff, who are responsible for reviewing and processing the requests. The request also creates a record in a separate table, called the deletion log, which stores the information about the request, such as the item ID, the requester name, the reason, the date, and the status.
Deletion Review Process
The second feature is a deletion review process that allows the central office staff to review and process the deletion requests. When a deletion request is submitted, an email is sent to the central office staff. The request email contains the unique ID of the record in the database. The central office staff will also see the comments or reasons for the deletion request. When the power app sends the deletion request email, it also records this information into a separate database to record the request.
With the information in the email, the central office staff can use the unique ID to locate and process the deletion request. This action is also recorded in the same database with the requests. Requests and deletions can be filtered if the database is pulled for review.
The names of users are recorded in the database as well, which helps to track who requested the deletion and when. In the same way the central office staff is also recorded for the deletion event.
Additional Feature: Decommissioning Documentation
As an additional feature, I also integrated the ability to document the decommissioning of old equipment. Decommissioning is the process of removing equipment from service and disposing of it properly. Decommissioning is important for environmental and security reasons, as well as for compliance with regulations and policies.
The decommissioning documentation feature works as follows: when a user requests the deletion of an item, they have the option to mark the request as decommissioning the equipment. The user then continues by submitting the request. The decommissioning information is then stored in the deletion log, along with the deletion request. The power app then sends an email to central office staff where they can review the decommissioning information and approve or reject the request accordingly. The approved requests are then marked as decommissioned in the inventory, and the deleted items are removed from the system.
By integrating the decommissioning process into this new system, we can eliminate paper forms and the workload of passing these forms through email to the central office. This improvement has increased efficiency and reduced the use of resources such as paper, toner, and time.
Conclusion
By implementing this new system to track deletions in our inventory management system, I was able to achieve the following benefits:
- Improved the accuracy and integrity of the inventory data, by preventing unauthorized or accidental deletions.
- Enhanced the oversight and accountability of the deletion process, by requiring approval and documentation for each deletion request.
- Simplified the workflow and user experience, by providing a user-friendly and intuitive interface for requesting and reviewing deletions.
- Streamlined the compliance and reporting, by integrating the decommissioning documentation feature for old equipment.