Introduction

An adequate information system support is absolutely necessary to fulfil specific needs of a centralised Home Equipment Loan Service, tracking each item throughout its movement from store to client and back.
               

What is MESaLS?

MESaLS stands for Managing Equipment Stores and Loans System.

The system allows for full management and control information on areas such as daily scheduling, waiting list management, delivery hit rate analysis, equipment maintenance scheduling, hazards control, stock ordering requirements and financial analysis for the purposes of budget monitoring and control.

In short, this is the complete Home Loans Service software solution.

What does MESaLS do?

The system has portable handheld scanners, which can record all types of stock movements. Equipment write-offs, repairs, purchases, issues, collections and even the cleaning of equipment can all be recorded via the scanners or directly via the PC. As all movements are date and time stamped, it is even possible to monitor the times at which equipment is issued and collected using the ‘Driver Tracker’.

The system offers the flexibility to operate a two-tier system of specifically labelled equipment and generic equipment types.

An accurate and efficient stock control is achieved with a slick scanner interface with comprehensive validation. Collections of labelled equipment are automatically assigned to the relevant client regardless of where the collection is made.

The system can handle Satellite stores set-up and each item can be identified to a different location. Supplier’s serial and batch numbers are also recorded uniquely to individual items of equipment.

The system allows stamping of each request for delivery with a target collection date using easy to use loan periods.

User defined reminder letters to clients and / or requisitioners are available along with other accurate control reports, which help to increase equipment turnaround, improve recycling and save money.

The web-based version of the system is also available, allowing for professionals to process requests, browse the service catalogue or get an up-to-date report on spending to date. The net platform negates the problems of low bandwidth connectivity and allows the software to be distributed over a wide geographic area and over multiple disciplines.

Reports are one of the system’s strongest features.

MESaLS provides information on every aspect from stock turnover analysis, hazards reporting, individual maintenance schedules, breakdowns of repairs and write-offs, Warranty date indicators, outstanding orders, waiting lists, reminder letters and much more. Many screens offer the drill-down facility to expand the information shown on the screen.

Delivery and Collection Management

Scheduling of delivery and collection is critical to the efficiency of any Community Equipment Service. MESaLS provides instant access to the current schedule for any given date-van-route combination. It also allows creation of localised routes and automatic route allocation through client postcodes. Requests by item, van or date can be cancelled or rescheduled and items can be moved on and off the waiting list with ease.

Incomplete deliveries and collections can be recorded at source, with handheld scanners or later, via the PC and reason codes assigned for providing meaningful management information.

Each request can be allocated a user defined priority and hence urgent and emergency deliveries can be handled accordingly. Each equipment type can be allocated a user defined storage unit value, thus enabling the management of vanloads, with appropriate warning messages. Where equipment requires fitting or a two man job, this can be highlighted easily and allow further control over day to day scheduling.

General Features