Materials record maintenance overview
Fundamental to the successful and efficient fulfilment of all works order tasks included within an assigned job is the availability of comprehensive materials catalogues. These electronic reference publications contain individual component parts that are required to complete the scope of all SOR codes assigned to contractors via a work instruction. To help navigate through each catalogue, part codes should be listed under customised categories and subcategories, with the nested hierarchical structure devised in accordance with the type of parts being documented. Separate catalogues can also be maintained in parallel, reflecting the different supply chains and wholesalers working in partnership with the housing organisation.
Within Civica Cx Contractor the term 'part' refers to any material item that may be used when carrying out planned or reactive maintenance work on an asset. Matching SOR descriptions - the work to be carried out - with the relevant part codes needed to deliver the service - electrical cabling, switches, screws, trunking, etc. - ensures that jobs can be completed in their entirety over the allotted duration. Taking the necessary time to create and maintain part code catalogues delivers extensive operational benefits over the long term and ensures that all undertaken work is well defined. Each part can also be ascribed with attributes linked to the catalogue, such as colour, dimensions, weight, power rating, etc. and, whilst not mandatory, these support its unequivocal identification and also supplement standard search functionality.
Unit of Measurement records can also be composed to define in quantitative terms the amount, size, or quantity of a catalogue item. By way of example, ‘metre’, kilogram’, ‘litre’, or ‘each’ are all valid and unambiguous Units of Measurement, and used extensively throughout Civica Cx Contractor when materials are purchased, stocked and issued. Integral conversion factors are also used to describe how defined units translate onto others, for example, where an allocated job only requires one linear metre from a large reel of electrical cable.
Separate help articles have been created for each key aspect of materials record maintenance, including: