Do you need more visibility into all the resources being used for different projects across your organization? Project administrators can benefit greatly from a consolidated view of these resources which can include items, procurement, and maintenance work. This is especially useful for projects that go on for long periods of time.
Accurately tracking disparate items and resources related to a single project can become a major challenge. This is why EZOfficeInventory has launched a Project View to enable seamless workflows during business projects. This module enables you to link all related resources such as Assets, Locations and Purchase Orders etc. to a project. Pull information from within the system to get a consolidated and transparent overview from a centralized platform and always stay on top of your projects.
Step 1: Enable Project View
To create a Project View and track associated items/work, go to Settings → Add Ons → Projects and enable this setting.
A project can be linked to the following modules with a specific relationship:
- People- many people to many Projects
- Work Orders – Many Work Orders to One Project
- Purchase Orders – Many Purchase Orders to One Project
- Checkouts – Many Checkouts to One Project
- Reservations – Many Reservations to One Project
- Items – Many Items to Many Projects
- Carts- Many Carts to One Project
- Locations- Many Locations to Many Projects
Step 2: Create a new Project
In order to create a new project, go to the Navigation Menu → More → Projects.
You can toggle between the tabs on the Projects listings page to add an actual start and actual end date.
To start a new Project, click on Add Project. You can start off by filling in all the relevant information and then select the related modules.
Note: You can only add/remove modules until the Project is in a New State. Once a Project is In Progress you won’t be able to add new modules.
For a Project in New State, you can remove a module, however all linked associations will also be removed with the following warning.
Next, choose the assigned users for your Project and click submit. Now the Project is in New State. Here you can make any changes you require. Once all modules are finalized Start Project.
Step 3: Reference modules in Projects
These modules include Items and Locations and act as a reference for Projects. With all Items and Locations linked to the relevant Project, users can easily keep track of resources.
Step 3.1: Link Items to Projects
After starting your Project, you can link the enabled modules. Let’s start with linking Assets. Go to the Asset Listings page, select all the Assets you to link with a certain project. This option allows you to mass add multiple assets to Projects. Go to Actions → Link to Project. You can also use this option to Unlink from Project.
Note: You can add up to a maximum number of 5 Projects when linking to Items.
If you want to add individual Assets, you can do so from the Asset details page:
A third option is to Edit the Asset Details and add the required Projects. Only the Projects that have the Items module enabled will be available in the dropdown options.
After adding the relevant Projects, you can also view the linked Projects on the Asset Listings View page. Simply Edit the columns you want to view and add Projects.
By clicking ‘view’ in the Projects column, you can have a look at the different projects linked to all the Assets.
You can link Inventory and Asset Stock the same way as Assets. Once you have linked all relevant Items, you can view them on the Projects Details page. You can toggle between buttons to check which Asset Stock and Inventory items are linked.
For instance, you want to add new Asset Stock to the Project. You can do this directly from the Projects page as well.
Step 3.2: Link Locations in Projects
Locations also follow the same workflow as the Items module. You can mass link locations to Projects from the Location Listings page.
To add individual Locations, you can link Projects from the Details Page or Edit Page. All Locations will be visible on the Project Details page under the Locations tab.
Step 2: Action modules in Projects
Next up, you can take actions like Reservations, checkouts and via Carts directly from the Projects you have created.
Step 4.1: Link Checkout in Projects
To enable Item Checkout for a specific Project. Go to the Projects Details page → Items tab → Asset/Asset Stock.
From here you can mass Checkout any Asset/Asset Stock you want. Make sure that the Item you want to Checkout is in the Available State.
Once you select the Items you want to Checkout, an overlay will appear asking you to enter associated Users and Projects.
Note: You will only be able to add Projects that have the Checkout module enabled.
Once done, you will be able to view the Items Checked Out, under the Checkouts tab on the Project page.
Checkouts on the Projects page streamline the workflow by having all related Items present under a single Tab. Users don’t have to find Assets from the Details page, instead they can directly take actions from the Projects page.
Step 4.2: Link Carts to Projects
You can create a new Cart to add to your Projects. Once you have added Items to the Cart, you can link it to a specific Project.
Once you link a Cart to a Project, it will be visible under the Carts tab in your Project. From there you can Checkout and Reserve Carts for your Project.
Note: Items in a Cart will retain their own Projects when added to a Cart. Once you checkout the Cart, it will be visible under Checkouts under the Project.
Read more: Carts in EZOfficeInventory: Equipment Management for Jobs and Events
Step 4.3: Link Reservations to Projects
By using the Reservations module in Projects, you can reserve both Items and Carts. Simply go to the Items tab for your Project. You can mass select Items from the Items Tab and click on Reserve.
An overlay will appear asking about the new Reservation. Here enter the details about the Users, Locations and Project. You can view the reserved Item under the Reservations tab of the linked Project,
Following the same workflow, you can even Reserve Carts for your Projects. Go to the linked Carts for your Projects and mass select for Reservation. In this example we select Cart 5 to Reserve. Here note that Cart 5 has a HP laptop charger.
Once you Reserve the Cart, the Cart Items will be displayed under the Reservations tab under the Project. Since the Cart 5 had an Asset Stock Item, it will be reserved under Asset Stock under Reservations for your Project.
Note: Reservation requests are not added to Projects until the requests are approved.
Step 5: Work done in Projects
There are two main work done modules in Projects: Work Orders and Purchase Orders. These are linked to a specific Project so users can track events related to a certain project from a single space.
Step 5.1: Link Work Orders to Projects
To link a Work Order go to the Navigation Menu → Work Orders. From here you can select the Work Order you want to link to a Project.
The linked Work Order will be visible under the Work Order in your Project.
Step 5.2: Link Purchase Orders to Projects
To start off, create a new Purchase Order and add Line Items. When you add Line Items in the Purchase Order, no Project is defined for them.
After you have created the Purchase Order, then you can assign a Project.
Now the Project you assign to the Purchase Order will be automatically assigned to all the Line Items as well. If you change the Project for the Purchase Order, it will be changed for all the Line Items as well. Users can change the project on a line item level manually.
However, if you want to associate the Line Items to a different Project, then before assigning a Project to the whole Purchase Order, add Projects for the Line Items. To do this simply click the Edit button and add the Projects.
Now you can add a Project for the Purchase Order. You can view the associated Purchase Orders under the Purchase Order tab in Projects. Here you can track the status of all Purchase Orders and expedite the progress if needed.
In order to change the view, select the Items view on the toggle on the right side of the page.
Here you can view all associated Line Items with the Project individually and their details.
Step 6: Check Project history
To track Project activities go to the Projects Details Page → More → History. An overlay will appear showing the start and create dates for the Project.
You can even access linking history for your Projects. Go to the Details page → More → Linking History. This displays all actions and modules linked to the Project in a chronological order.
Step 7: Turn on Project Alerts
You can turn on Alerts for various changes made to your Project. Go to the Navigation Menu → Alerts → My Alerts → Projects and select all Alerts you want to enable.
Step 8: Run Reports for Projects
Go to Reports → Projects and select the required Report for All Projects or Line Items. The regular Report for All Projects displays all modules enabled for projects along with the number of Items/Locations/Work Orders/Purchase Orders linked.
You can also run a Custom Report for Projects. However the Custom Report can only be selected for a single module except Items and Locations. When you choose a module like Work Order, the other modules are automatically disabled. This means you can just view one module across all Projects. For instance a Custom Report for Purchase Orders looks like this:
Step 9: Enable Project KPIs
To view Projects on the Dashboard, you can enable Project KPIs. Go to the Dashboard → Add/Edit Widgets and select Projects.
The Projects widget will be displayed on the Dashboard in the following form. You can then select whether you want to view All Projects or My Projects. My Projects will only display the ones where you are an assigned user.
Step 10: Define Custom Roles for Projects
When setting up a new Custom Role, you can choose the Project permissions for that specific role. Settings include viewing, creating, updating, deleting and linking/unliking Projects.
Step 11: Printout templates for Projects
For every Project, you can even print out all the details through a print out template. Simply go the Project Details page → Print Project
You will then be prompted to choose a Print Template. You can use the default EZOfficeInventory template or even customize and make your own from the Navigation Menu → More → Printout Templates → Project → Start Designing Template.
A print shows all linked modules with a Project :
Read more: The EZOfficeInventory Print Labels Knowledge Base
Step 12: Delete a Project
When finished, you can even delete a Project. Go to the Project Details Page → Delete. An overlay will appear with the following warning:
About EZOfficeInventory
EZOfficeInventory is a leading asset tracking software. It allows you to track, maintain, and report on inventory from anywhere, at any time. We offer a free 15-day trial – no credit card required!
