Inventory Management

[MikeFulton]

We've been using LANSWEEPER here for several months and we love it. Worth every penny!

However, I feel like we've only scratched the surface in learning what it can do, and in some ways I think we've got it into our heads that it can do certain things that it can't really do.

Case in point is inventory management. We use it for asset tracking for equipment that's deployed, but we need a way to keep track of inventory that's still brand new, in the box, not yet deployed.

For example, most of our people have at least two monitors attached to their computer and some have three and a few even have more. We have a lot of employee turnover in certain areas so we're frequently buying monitor stands and new monitors, not to mention keyboards, mice, new laptops, desktops, network switches, etc., etc., etc.

We like to stay ahead of the game so we keep a certain stock of equipment on hand. Then if we get told "A new guy is starting tomorrow" we're not scrambling to make sure we have enough gear to get them going.

The problem is, we don't have any good way to keep track of what we've got in stock in our equipment closet. My boss thinks that Lanweeper can be used to track this, but it doesn't seem to me like it's really well suited to track assets that aren't connected to the network, or at least connected to a computer that's on the network.

Maybe I've just not figured it out yet. I see that Lansweeper has a way to enter an asset into the system manually, but it doesn't really seem to line up with the idea that the asset will at some point become part of the regular scan results.

I'd love to hear people's thoughts on this.


Mike

[Arno]

Hi All

Thank you for the input. Our needs are simple. The IT storeroom is full of items that are not assets. Keyboard, mice, dongles, hdmi cables and so on. It would've been great if Lansweeper has a 'storeroom' module that i could ve issued these items to bind it to users\assets, thereby keeping track of where it is going and keep an eye on stock numbers.

Will have to continue with a spreadsheet for now it seems.

Regards

Thank you

Arno

[Esben_D]

You make a very valid point. Barcode scanning is indeed something which has already been mentioned a few times since this is often something companies use to track non-connected devices. If combined with the current license compliance module and help desk it could indeed be good feature to improve the capabilities of Lansweeper to track IT stock inventory.

At this moment we are primarily focusing on scanning more asset types and scanning more from the assets we already scan. Since we log everything feature related on our forum, once this feature is being evaluated it will be very interesting feedback.

[wcb]

I don't understand how not having the spreadsheet already changes anything. You have to start somewhere if you're going to start tracking the stuff. USB barcode readers are easy to use for scanning serial numbers into a spreadsheet ready for import. This would work fine for monitors. You can set the asset status to stock and setup reports that will show you all assets in that state. When someone leaves and is not immediately replaced, asset state gets changed back to stock then, too.

What you are missing in Lansweeper is handling commodity items, like mice and keyboards. You need a single inventory entry that tracks quantity on hand and re-order points. We don't use the helpdesk or the ticketing system but I don't think those capabilities are included. You can create a ticket to issue or purchase hardware but not fill the order from inventory. Plus I don't think you want to start treating commodity items as individual serialized assets.

[Esben_D]

Only monitor assets will be automatically linked to the asset they are connected to. Since generic P&P devices like keyboards and mice do not have a unique identifier within Lansweeper, they will not generate asset pages, even if you manually enter them in Lansweeper, they will not be automatically linked to the devices they are connected to.

In short, yes you can do it in Lansweeper. But you will have to add the peripherals manually first and manage the relations manually. The real benefit will be having everything in one place. But obviously its not the perfect solution.

[MikeFulton]

Thanks for the reply, Charles.

Unfortunately, this is the sort of thing that if I had the assets listed in a spreadsheet already, I wouldn't be asking the question.

Sounds like I need to keep looking.


Mike

[lkeyes]

One thing we determined in our shop (municipal electric utility, about 120 staff) was to "outsource" commodity items to our stock room. So, monitors, mice, keyboards, external webcams, mousepads are monitored with re-order points maintained by those folks using their purchasing system, which also deals with purchase orders and vendor relationships. If users find they need to replace their mouse, for example, we just tell them to go there.  Monitors are flagged as "on approval from IT"....so the stock room just doesn't give them out without consulting us.  I will periodically ask the stockroom for a count, of items if I'm anticipating, (say) an influx of new users.  If the purchasing system was more user-friendly, I'd ask for read-only access, or make a report of IS inventory items....but it is a bear, and it is just easier to ask the stockroom staff.  (and they have better coffee).  
For new laptops,  once we receive them from the vendor we re-image them with our own version of Windows and a basic application suite.  I give them a generic machine name,  something like ISStageXX (numbered).  They go into the Lansweeper inventory...and then back in the box. Once the machine is allocated to a user, I will change the machine name, so the machine appears under the appropriate name in our Active Directory.  One piece that I haven't quite figured out, is I'd like Lansweeper to check the Active Directory, and any machine that isn't there (i.e. has been renamed), should be purged from the LS Asset listing.  Right now, I have several ISStagexx machines that I know have been allocated and renamed. 

[Esben_D]

I would recommend going through the following article about importing assets: https://www.lansweeper.com/kb/88/importing-assets.html

You can import any asset, even if it is not connected to the network. If you plan on connecting these assets to the network at some point and scanning them with Lansweeper, I would go through the following article as well: https://www.lansweeper.com/kb/149/how-lansweeper-uniquely-identifies-assets.html

As long as they unique ID of the asset you import is the same as when Lansweeper scans the asset, they will automatically be merged.