SciList
School science department stock management
School Science Department Stock Management System.
School science laboratories contain a plethora of equipment and apparatus, tools, consumable items, learning aids, and chemicals that require management. Management tasks include storage of items, being able to find them, accounting for them, performing stocktakes, ordering new and replacement stock, maintaining class sets, dangerous goods lists etc.
SciList has been used in schools across Australia since 2007. It has been gradually changed and improved with user feedback and suggestions. It has also been used as a stock management system for a uniform store, for library consumables and for general stationery supplies within an organisation.
Everything the department owns, and where it is
SciList provides school science technologists with a tool to perform these tasks, and allows general staff to view and print lists via the network.
SciList maintains a list of all stock held by the science department. The stock can be organised by location, e.g. a room, and by sub-location, e.g. a specific shelf in the room. Stock can be grouped into one or more categories — glassware, electrical, junior science, consumables — and into one or more disciplines such as Physics or Chemistry.
Equipment used solely by the laboratory staff can be listed in Prep Gear and is not visible to general staff, but is still available for stocktake.
- Stock items can include a description and a photo
- Keyword search to locate specific items
- Supervisor and Operator levels of access
Browsing stock
The lab technician manages all stock through easy-to-access screens and menus.
- Easily see locations and quantities
- Add a description to aid keyword searching
- Locate an item by typing letter by letter using a progressive filter
Stocktaking, in a logical sequence
For stocktaking, SciList provides tick sheets of stock items listed by location or category with expected quantities. Actual quantities can be entered into SciList, which can then produce written orders for restocking.
You are led through a logical sequence: print checklists, enter stock counts, automatically produce a re-order list, check and revise re-order quantities if required, create orders, and save stocktake results to archive.
Chemicals have trigger levels set. At stocktake, chemicals below their trigger levels are flagged for re-ordering.
A complete ordering system
Orders received can be marked off, so outstanding orders can be easily seen. SciList remembers suppliers, product codes and prices of stock items, so re-ordering is simplified. A live link to the supplier's website can be used for product checking.
- Print orders to paper or to .pdf and email to the supplier
- Record quantities received; print a list of items on backorder for a selected date range
- Record invoice details for orders, and use them to calculate expenditure for a date range
Reports and import
All reports print to screen and can be saved as .txt, .pdf or html files. Existing data can be imported from a text file, including chemicals with their dangerous goods details.
