Parts Tracker meets the needs of managers, head technicians and pinspotter/pinsetter mechanics, for managing the maintenance division of tenpin bowling centers.

It not only organises ordering and spare parts inventory - it also covers finance, maintenance and trouble calls.

Inventory Tracking
	Editable AMF and Brunswick default parts lists
	Stock movement tracking: ordering, ins/outs, borrowing, stock card facility, bin list print out, stock usage reports, stock value reports
Ordering
	Easy order creation
	Backorder tracking and reminders
	Ordering suggestions based on low stock levels
Financial Tracking
	Accounts, budgets, reports
	Miscellaneous spending and account transactions (such as non-catalogue items)
Maintenance Tracking
	service logging, service checklist creation, last-serviced reporting
Trouble Call/Stop Tracking
	Record calls/stops per week, per call type, per machine; mutliple graphs by week, type and machine, frames-per-stop, prior year comparison
Other
	System security: usernames and passwords, privilege based access to specific functionality

Suggest a Feature: If Parts Tracker doesn't have a feature you want, you can suggest it on the Parts Tracker discussion forum.

The Parts Tracker parts list is fully editable and parts can be added, changed or removed as required. Parts Tracker comes with a default parts list of 82-70, 82-90, A/A2, GSX or GS-90 parts (which you can customise). You can also import your own parts list (if you have it in electronic format such as a spreadsheet or another database), or you can enter your parts manually.

The parts catalog lets you do a lot more than a simple spreadsheet or database. The Parts screen makes it easy to find parts, edit details, see when you last used or ordered each part and more. There is also a screen that shows all your parts in a list letting you sort, filter, print and export.

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An intuitive order screen makes creation of orders easy. Automatic part name/number lookup makes selecting what you want fast and accurate. Just type in the part number and quantity; or type in an approximate name of the part (e.g. “spring post”), and a list of possible matches will appear for quick selection. The part's full name, default account and current price will be filled in automatically.

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“What am I low on right now?”

Using the stock suggestion function, you’ll be shown a list of parts that you’re low on – determined by current stock levels and your own preferred minimum quantities. The number to order is even calculated for you based on your preferred re-supply level. Just make your selections from the suggestions list and they’ll be added to the order.

“There was something I needed from last month”

Was there a part you couldn’t get last month, but now you’ve forgotten what it was? Don't leave sticky notes all over your workshop reminding you of parts you need. Just consult the reminders list – right there on the order form. Select an item and it’s added to the current order. Decide you don’t really need that widget this month? Press a button and add it to your reminders list. Then you won’t forget it next month.

Receiving Orders

When an order arrives, a few clicks and key presses will mark the order as received, update your stock levels and financial records. If some items are on backorder, just type in how many you received and the backordered items will be stored for later reminder.

Often, the supplier doesn’t have enough of what you want (sometimes none at all). When you receive the order, you tell Parts Tracker how many you received, and it automatically remembers the missing parts. Later, when you receive notification that your parts are ready, you can quickly move the backordered parts on to a new order form. When you print the order, the backorder entries are separated from the rest of the order and labelled with a note that they are backorders. You can also bring up a list of outstanding backorders at any time, and optionally add them to an order, or print them out.

Order Filing

The Open Order Dialog allows you select from any of your orders – categorised for easy searching: current, pending, waiting, received and old. You can even find orders based on the parts they contain.

Inventory Tracking and Stock Control

Parts Tracker makes tracking stock movements easy. The Stock Card function acts just like a set of stock cards, storing ins and outs for all your parts, including machine number (optional). You can even track lending and borrowing of parts to other centres.

You can print Stock Sheets for each bin, listing the parts contained in that bin (a bin is a group of parts usually stored together – like in the same cupboard or drawer).

And, of course, ‘ins’ are recorded for you automatically when you receive an order.

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Stock Reports

Parts Tracker lets you view and print listings of current stock, parts usage summaries, and parts value summaries. There’s also a graphical chart of part expense per machine.

Parts Tracker lets you set up budgets for each month and lets you track them against actual spending. And, if your business practices require, parts, spending and budgets can be recorded against different accounts (such as Pinspotter, Lanes, Tools, etc).

Accounts at a Glance

From the Order screen, you can see the amount allocated to each relevant account for the current order, as well as the totals for all orders. You can also see each account’s budget and how much is left before you go over your budget.

Finance Reports

The Finance Summary screen shows you a summary of all spending – either by month, or by account. 

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Also available is a report which you can view and print showing a summary of orders and other transactions. The Ordered Parts report also lets you get a full list of all parts bought over a specified period, broken down by supplier.

Maintenance Tracking

“When did Lane 12 last have it’s pit overhauled?”

To answer the above question you could look through your backend diary (if you have one – and if you fill it in). Or, you can ask Parts Tracker. Select a maintenance event type (such as ‘Pit Overhaul’) or a lane number, and Parts Tracker gives you a list of work done (which you can also print).

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You can define any type of maintenance task/job, such as motor changes, table lubes, underlane cleaning – whatever parts of your maintenance regime you would like to keep track of.

You can then view and print reports – e.g. print a list of all motor changes this year, or all the work you’ve done in the last month, or everything done on lane 6, etc.

Logging a maintenance event is easy – just select the event type and lane (optional). You can even record comments such as parts replaced, other faults noticed, the serviceman who did the job, etc. These details can later be viewed/printed.

Parts Tracker lets you record trouble calls (stops) per week, per machine and per call type.

You can then view this information on a range of charts, including calls per week, calls per machine, and frames-per-stop.

You can filter by week, machine, or call type. For example, see a chart of pin pile ups across each machine for the year. Or, monitor the number of offspots/OORs over each week.

You can optionally include the previous year on the same chart for comparison.

And, all charts are printable.

You can also print a weekly report showing the numeric breakdown of calls per machine per call type.

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Security

Parts Tracker is protected by user-based security, letting you define usernames and passwords for each user of the system (separate to any Windows® security you might have set up).

You can then assign permissions to each user allowing access to certain areas within Parts Tracker - for example, 'Freddy the Casual' can add to the maintenance log or trouble call log, but he can't see your budgets, etc.

System Requirements

To run Parts Tracker, you must have Microsoft® Access 2000, XP, 2003 or 2007 or the Access Runtime Version XP, 2003, or 2007 installed. If you don't have Microsoft Access installed already, you can download Access Runtime from here. Only do this if you do not have Access installed already (or you will break your Access installation).

The minimum system configuration is a Pentium 166MHz or greater and at least 128MB of RAM.

However, a Pentium 300MHz (or greater) with 256MB (or greater) is preferred – less than this will result in some operations being slow.

The preferred screen resolution is 800 x 600 or greater.