INSPECS: Set Up, Step 3. Setting up Categories, Issues, Resolutions, Priorities and Vendors
By this point, you should have your Profile set up, your Users set up and your Locations set up. If you missed any of those during steps 1 and 2, now is the time to go back, as the order of set up is important before you begin to create anything further relating to inventory, or custom forms.
Okay, now that you are here on Step 3, let’s continue. We’ll focus on the simplicity of setting up categories, issues and priorities. The good news is that for some industries there is a “cheat” for this. Where we know there are some standard forms used, we have already created those as templates and you can download those from the Form Center on the left of your dashboard. Downloading these will also auto populate any related category, issue or priority so it can be a significant setup shortcut. All of this can then be edited for your specific use as needed.
If there aren’t any forms in the form center, we’ll focus on how to set up each of the categories, issues and priorities now through the Setup tab.
Setup: Categories
This process becomes very simple. You will simply define and setup whatever the standard Categories are for locations or items that you will be inspecting and managing. This is similar to Locations in that you can create a category and a parent category. This would apply where a broad category may be further defined. Ideally you will set up your Parent Categories first so that when you have base categories to enter you can assign them to the Parent as needed in the drop down box.
Once you have created the new category and assigned a Parent category if desired, hit Save and move on to the next category. It takes a little thought of how you want to organize this best for your use, but once you have that defined, it’s very simple.
Setup: Issues
You’ll be getting used to this process by now and you are well on your way to getting your fully customized system setup. This process is the exact same as what you just did to enter Categories. Issues are any problem that you may see during the course of an inspection or audit. You undoubtedly will miss some, but don’t fear. You can always come right back here to add more into the database.
Once you select Add New, it will open up the Issue Detail box. This is where you will enter all of your Issues that you commonly (or uncommonly) experience. You can also assign Issues to a particular Category if it is specific to that Category.
Once you have entered all of your Issues, it is time to move on further with the Setup. Now you will enter your Resolutions.
Setup: Resolutions
Resolutions are simply the actions necessary of all possible actions to respond to an Issue found. Remember that there has to be a step if no Issue is found too, such as “Continue preventive maintenance as needed”. Again, once you have defined your Resolutions the setup is exactly the same as you’ve done before. As you enter Issues, you’ll want to likely tie them to a category when applicable since Issues may only pertain to a specific category.
Once you have entered all of your possible Resolutions, it is time to move on to the Priorities
Setup: Priorities
Let’s face it, not all issues carry the same weight in terms of how fast corrective action must be taken. This is where you can setup the range of Priorities to create that ability to clarify urgency to a situation.
As you enter your Priorities, you will simply hit Add New as you have done countless times by now. The Code entry is really just how you classify importance. In the example you can see that we defined it is Priorities 1–5 with 1 being the most urgent and 5 being the least. You can label this in any way you would like. The Description should define the urgency clearly based on your particular industry or application.
Setup: Vendors
You have really tackled the bulk of the main set up by this point. The last basic area to setup, are your Vendors. Based on how you engage this system, it can be a very powerful tool to how common information that you may need to refer to, whether in your office or out in the field. This is simply a list of all of your vendors for your equipment or items that you could be inspecting or creating as inventory. We’re setting Vendors up at this point, so that when you set up your inventory at the Location level, you can tie the inventory to a Vendor. The process … you guessed it, is the the exact same as the rest of the setup.
Congratulations! You’ve made it through the basic setup. At this point you have created the foundation of everything that will drive this system going forward for your use. In the next article, we will focus on what we will call Step 4, and that will be Creating and setting up your own inspection Form templates. Don’t worry, most likely you have paper based forms so this will be a matter of simply creating those forms for electronic use. Hopefully, you’ve seen how easily (albeit tedious) this setup has been to this point. And remember, if you are in an industry where you found common forms in the Forms Center that you downloaded, you are a step ahead.
Built for you … Customized by you
It is our goal to constantly evolve and to continue to be trusted as the most secure, powerful, flexible, intuitive, and functionally relevant inspection and asset management software on the market.
We know that everyone operates differently in a variety of industries, has unique needs and a wide range of skill-sets. We are not trying to be everything to everyone and know that a one size fits all approach is not the best one. This is why we have created a powerful platform that is completely customizable for your needs.
