Toner Pool for multiple machines

Overview

If you have groups of machines at remote sites that all need to access spare toners, that fit in any of the machines. Then you should consider using toner pools. As toner pools can reduce cost and provide better tracking information for your customers and staff.

Keeping spare toners for every machine is costly and inefficient. Toner pools may help you reduce your investment in spare toners at customers sites. 
The toner pool allows a group of machines to share the same spare toner/s. As a result, many machines can be supported with just a few spare toners.  Toner pools also provide tracking and reporting information that helps you see at a glance the status and history of toner usage for groups of machines.

To set up a toner pool you:

• Define the toner pool, each toner pool manages a single toner ( that is one toner pool for mono and then another toner pool for every other coloured meter)
• Define which meters on which machines have access to the spare toners in the pool
• Ensure you set up a meter supplies product onto the meter before you set up the toner pool on the machine that stands for the master machine in the toner pool, or add the parts to the product that stands for that model on the machine.
  
  
  
  
• Ensure that you have a toner replacement increase percentage on each of the machine meters. 
  Do not insert a min supply on the machine meters that are in the pool.
  
  
• Ensure a data feed is reporting the toner levels in the machines back to Readysell
• That's it. Readysell then automatically manages the stock of spare toners at the site using the toner pool

We’ve improved our toner tracking capabilities to allow the creation of “toner pools”. Customers can now maintain one or more pools of spare toners, which you can individually track.

Requirements

1. How many pools required for a site
2. How many machines are in each pool
1. we create one pool for each location and each kind of toner used. You can name the pool eg the customer name and toner productid and the model - optional
3. Which toner suits each machine
1. we use this to decide if we need to break up pools as you must have 1 pool for each kind of toner. Add the meter part to the pool and the right machine eg Colour meters
4. Which particular meter uses that toner for that machine
1. we need to link meters to the toner so that the toner pool can track toner usage for each of those meters
5. How many toners are already on site for that pool
1. we need to create an existing machine product part for any toners that are already on-site so as to establish our initial stock of available toners for each pool
6. If automatic data feeds including toner lever are already set up from the machines in the pool to Readysell eg FM Audit
1. toner tracking requires an automatic data feed from the machines and that data feed must include toner level

Workflow

• A data feed sends toner levels for all meters in the meter pool to Readysell on a regular basis
• Readysell monitors for cases where the toner percentage on a meter has increased. The field of ‘toner replacement percentage increase’ will need to be mass updated to 15% on each meter. Readysell can construct a script or it can be done manually.
• When a machine reports that the toner level on a meter has increased by a specified percentage. A few actions are triggered:
• Readysell checks to see if there is already a toner in use for the meter. If there is toner on the meter, the toner product is the same as the toner product for the toner pool and the toner product part in the machine has a start date and no end date
• Then Reaydsell sets the end date on the toner currently being used. That toner is regarded as having been replaced.
• Next Readysell checks to see if there is a free (spare)toner in the toner pool. If there is, that toner is assigned to the meter on the machine. The start date on that toner is set to today. To record the fact that the new toner is no longer in the toner pool. It is now on the machine and has a start date to signify it is now being used
• The number of free toners in the toner pool is reduced by one
• Periodically, a process in Readysell checks to see if the number of available toners in the pool is less than the minimum number of available toners for that pool. The system will notice that one free toner has been used. If the toner pool is set to automatically reorder. Readysell will generate a sale order to have a toner for the pool shipped out to the location. That sale order will be for one of the machines in the pool
• When a sale shipment for a toner is posted for any machine in a pool. Then a machine part is created on one of the machines in the pool.
  That machine part will have no start or end date.
  Signifying that it is a free toner available to any appropriate meter in the pool.
• The toner pools store the parts onto one of the machines in the pool.  Usually the master machine as spare toners for the quantity set to be reserved.
• Note: the first time a data feed comes in that provides a supply level, the system will set the supply level on the product part to be whatever the data feed reads and it will not apply any other rules, that is, it will be regarded as the initial level.
  As a result, the first data feed will never trigger a supply level.
• If you manually end a machine part and don't start another one, when the data feed comes in, the system will not find any currently in the machine and it will go and create a part, start it and set a supply level. So basically if you have a toner pool, if the user manually ends a part you should manually start the next part.

Procedure

Creating a Toner Pool

Toner Pools on the Test Database firstly:

1. Log onto Readysell>Administration>Toner Pools
2. Click on New
3. Insert a Name to stand for the Pool (could be the customer, location, toner part or master machine)
4. Assign the product to the pool. That is the Part that is for that Meter (eg the mono toner part for that machine meter, each pool is for one toner, so if you have multiple toners in the one machine, you will need to create a toner pool for each toner part.)
5. Insert a Quantity to stand for the Reserved Supplies (ensure reserved supplies is greater than the stock already in the pool)

6. If you wish to automatically reorder turn the tick on for 'Automatically Reorder' (this will be controlled and ordered when the task runs)

7. Now on the Meters Tab click on the Insert action button and search for all the same meters and machines that use up this part (eg if its a machine with a mono toner, you select only the machine meters for MONO for all the machines within the pool)

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8. Highlight each of the same meter (eg mono) for each machine for this Toner Pool and click on OK
   Ensure that there is value in the field of 'Toner Replacement Increase' for each meter. (Readysell can help by running a script to set this for you if you have a lot of machine/meters)
   
   

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9. Now you can assign a Primary Machine.
   This is the machine that the sales order will be created against from the task and the spare toners are to be held against.
   This machine meter part in the pool and on the master machine parts tab will have no start and end date but will hold the reserved stock when shipped.

10. Select the address for this primary machine.

    This is the address where the toners will be delivered to

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11. Once all the meters for the machines have been inserted into this Toner Pool click on Save or Save and Close.
    By setting up the toner pool, the system populates the Toner Pool Name and the Toner Replacement  Increase onto the Machine Meter. You can see this in the Machines>Meter>Supplies>Toner Pool on the Machine Meter.

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12. A Schedule task will run if you have 'Automatically Reorder' turned on for that toner pool. 
    Task Type = Generate Recurring Transactions
13. The scheduled task will run either automatically or you can run it manually.
    Note: Do not run the task on the live database if you can help it, as this task runs for all recurring transactions set up in readysell.
14. To run it manually log onto Readysell>Administration>Tasks
15. Task Name = Generate Recurring Transactions
16. Highlight it and click on the Run Task Now action button in the top ribbon
17. When this task runs whether it be Enabled or Manually, the system will generate a Sales order if a part is required.
18. When this task runs, the system will generate a Sales order to fulfil the parts required for each toner pool based upon what the reserve supplies quantity is on each toner pool vs the parts already provided and not started (available on the toner pool)
    When the task is finished running you can see in the log entries tab a message if a part was ordered or not and the sales order related.
    If a sales order already exists that has not been shipped and/or invoiced the system may not create another sales order (depends upon the reserve stock vs the available parts) but the task will show you the outstanding sales order number.
19. Check for Outstanding Sales orders and complete them. Once completed the system will update the 'Quantity Available' on that Meter Pool. 

Once the sales order is shipped and the shipment is Finalised, the sales shipment is linked to the primary machine listed within each Toner Pool.
It is not until the Sales order is shipped and finalised that the part is populated onto the toner pool machine part tab.

You can manually use the 'Allocate' action button from within the Toner Pool>Machine Parts tab and allocate a toner to each of the machines just the first time around from within the toner pool (that is the initial setup).

Building your own worked example of toner tracking for a pool of machines
Note: for each toner part create a toner pool
Always do this on test database for one toner pool

• Follow the instructions above to ensure that the product part, machines etc are set up prior to setting up the toner pool
• Create a toner pool/add the product part that stands for the toner eg mono/reserved supplies and select the machine meters
• Turn the tick on 'Automatically Reorder' on the toner pool
• Add a toner replacement percentage if there isn't one on the meter itself
• Assign a primary machine and address
• Click on Save
• Manually run the task - Administration>Advanced>Task>Generate Recurring Transaction - click on Run Task
• A sales order will be Generated if the automatically reorder flag is activated on the toner pool and if a part needs to ordered (that is reserved is greater than available).
• The number of parts ordered is based upon the Reserve supplies on the toner pool part less any toners parts that don't have a start date. (Reserve Supplies - Quantity Available >0)
  Check the message on the task to see if a sales order was created for that machine and part
• Go to the Sales Order Module and either Ship and finalise the shipment or just click on Complete to invoice it.

• Once the shipment is finalised and/or invoiced the system will populate the machine parts that are on the meter pool onto both the tab of 'Machine Parts' on the toner pool and onto the tab 'Parts' for that machine.

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• All of the toner parts are first off assigned to the Primary Machine on the toner pool
  Check the field 'Quantity Available' in the header on the toner pool. It should be the sum of the toner parts not including any parts with a start date.
• Click on the Machine Parts tab in the toner pool, highlight each of the machines individually and click on Allocate
• Select the machines individually just once the first time around and click on Save as you go. The part first time around will be assigned to each of the machine meters within the pool. (initial starting position)
• Navigate from each of the machine parts from the pool to the Machine>Meter>Part to start the toner tracking by clicking on the 'Related' action button
• On the Machine>Parts tab Click on the Start action button to apply the start date to the toner you just allocated the machine to.
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• Manually change the Supply Level on the part to be 99% as though the toner was just inserted into the machine
  Click on Save
  As you are manually decreasing the supply level on the machine part, go back to the toner pool and have a look at the supply level and the toner percentage
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  Gradually reduce the supply level to 15%
  Click on Save

  Now increase the supply level to 95% as though the toner has been replaced with a new toner

• At one point when the supply level is lower than usual or lower than the value that is set in either 'Toner Replacement Percentage Increase field' or 'Min Supply level' field on that meter, increase the supply type by at least 15% to something like 95% (so that the system thinks that the toner has been replaced) and click on Save. 
  This means that a new toner has been replaced into that machine
• The system will set an end date on that machine part and fill in a start date on the next available part based upon how many reserved supplies were set onto the toner pool. 
  The system will set the percentage used on the new part to be the percentage on the old part
• The task will then run again once the Quantity Available <> Quantity reserved in the toner pool for that toner part.
  The system will set the current toner part with an end date and then grab a toner from the toner pool and set the start date with the high toner level 
• The quantity available on the toner pool will reduce by this one that has been consumed by the machine.