21st Inventory

Abstract

Currently, Network Infrastructure & Services (NI&S) takes inventory of equipment assigned to employees (computers, laptops, tablets, tools) and sends reports of higher value items to the Controller’s Office. All items have a VT tag number and a CNS number, which can currently only be matched up via an Oracle Forms interface. An inventory clerk must personally verify the existence and location of each piece of equipment. An improvement would be an app that scans an inventory number or bar code and the GPS location where it is scanned and the custodian of that equipment. This data could then be uploaded to a more accessible Google spreadsheet or similar web-based searchable table.

The 21st Century Inventory app aims to solve this problem by employing barcode scanning technology integrated into a mobile app which would then send the accompanying asset ID to a CSV formatted output file. By directly tying a product’s asset ID to the user and their information, along with having the capability to scan a product’s barcode to simplify inventory lookup, saving product information to a CSV file, and giving the user the ability to edit the current information of a product in the application, we are providing a significant upgrade to a system that currently solely relies on an Oracle Forms interface.