Clever way to cost out consumables to a Job:

This past week as I was working with a customer setting up their warehouse and inventory movement structure and a common question came up; How do my technicians and installers identify the consumables they use on a job?  Now I know most companies aren’t bar-coding strips of Duct Tape or ½ cans of sealant, but there are some ways where we can still identify the consumables they use from a cost standpoint, and also hold the technician more accountable for what’s on their trucks.

At this customers location we implemented a 3 tier structure of consumables for both Installers and Service Techs, and assigned a price to each tier.  For arguments sake let’s say the Installer’s Tier 1 was $50, Tier 2 was $100, and Tier 3 was $150, and the Service Tech's were $10, $20, and $30 respectively.  Now when the technician is identifying the inventory they use on a job they select an appropriate tier corresponding to the amount of work they did and that will cost those consumables to the job.  Also, when its time to restock the trucks consumables, they simply transfer (in SuccessWare21) a tiers worth of consumables back to the truck.

Quick Tip #1: If you bill with time and materials or plan on making the consumable cost something you add to the invoice and ultimately customer facing then I recommend naming the Consumable parts something other than “Consumables,” or you risk the concern that your customers think they are paying you for the technicians lunch….

Quick Tip #2: In SuccessWare21 you can identify a group of items to an expense type, if you set up an expense type for consumables and assign those items to it then you can purchase to and cost out from that account and get a good idea of where the consumables costs are going, as well any gaps that may need further investigation.