is there a tutorial for this idea?

[dbfreak]

I havent even jumped into this yet but I have an idea id like to make happen. I have gone over a tutorial and i think i have a pretty good idea on how to put some of what i want to do together.

Basically I'd like to create an inventory sheet much like the excel sheet our merchandise manager is using now. We are dealing with t-shirts, cds, stickers, etc.

Basically what they have going on is:

item

qty started with (in)

qty added

qty given away

qty discounted

qty left with (out)

qty sold

item price

total sales

the excell sheet lists all these items and has everything on one page.

I started an inventory file and started on a portal but could only add line items with drop downs > following the tutorial.

Is there a way to have a portal display all the items all at once in an order i choose instead of having to select them? This way my new "form" isnt foreign to our merch manager.

Also If i have a one to many situation set up will pulling information from the portal to another file be as easy as a look up?

My plan is to have all these files connected by a field called "show id"

If anyone knows of anywhere to find a tutorial online to help me with this I would be very appreciative.

thanks!

[bcooney]

I have more questions than answers, I'm afraid. You are starting, it seems, an inventory solution (search using "inventory" for some threads). However, you are also managing items at a show. So, what is the goal? Can you please explain how the inventory sheets are used now, and why you are thinking of replacing Excel with a FM solution?

[dbfreak]

Great question!

My first though was to import the data over from excel but im not sure if i can do that with a portal.

So..in a perfect world i can get our merch guy to input that data twice. Realistically I am probably creating more work for myself.

Here's the idea though.

There are times when the artist I work for would like to know exactly how much profit was made on either a particular item or in merch sales altogher. I thought it would be great to have the ability to come up with those numbers on the spot.

Im cheating myself out of some entertainment as its funny to watch merch and management scramble when he does ask for that info...

I also thought I could also create reports based off off of the history of individual venues or markets. For instance:

Three weeks out i could look ahead at the routing and show a history of each shows sales over the last 12 months and maybe have an idea of what should be stocked heavier than the rest.

My job does consist of watching over and managing all aspects of the touring side of the business.

So having this information available would give m the opportunity to beter watch over it all.

The end result - in my mind- was to have:

main inventory (warehouse stock)

road inventory (items that came from the warehouse and sold on the road)

and websales inventory

This way i could track actual loses and keep up with what we actually had in the warehouse, and have the ability to show what was sold, and the profits on each individual items, type of items (t-shirts, cds, etc) or just over all per show, week, month or year.

I hope that helps.

oh also...I wanted the portal to show with all the items so it would be a little easier to read off the excel sheet as i entered the info.