Listen in on a training session between a Chronotek Pro coach and a new user of the complete supply management system.

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Coach: "Today I'm going to show you our new supply management system. If you've been using job boards or paper lists to track supplies, this is going to make your life much easier."

NEW USER: "Yes, we definitely need help with that. We're constantly having emergency supply runs when locations run out of things."

Coach: "Let me show you how we'll prevent those emergencies. When you first log into the system, you'll see this main screen. This is your command center for everything."

NEW USER: "I see some colored squares here - yellow and red ones. What do those mean?"

Coach: "Those colors are your early warning system. Yellow means you should start thinking about restocking - you're not in trouble yet, but you need to plan ahead. Red means you need immediate attention - something is at a critical level. But before we get into those, let me explain how the system thinks about your supplies."

NEW USER: "Okay, because I need to understand how this all works together."

Coach: "Think of it like a bank account for your supplies. Your warehouse is like your bank - that's where you keep everything. When you create a delivery, it's like writing a check - the supplies are spoken for but haven't moved yet. When you deliver to a location, that's like the check being cashed. Everything is tracked through this process."

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NEW USER: "That makes sense. So where do we start setting this up?"

Coach: "First, let's set up your warehouse. Click Manage Supply Setup at the top of the screen. It’s the camera icon. Then click List Management and then Warehouses. Now click Add, which is the plus button. Give your warehouse a name and a description, maybe the street it’s on."

NEW USER: "We only have one warehouse location. Is that going to be a problem?"

Coach: "No problem at all. The system works great with one warehouse or multiple. Now, let's add some supplies. Still in Supply Setup, click List Management, then click Supplies and Add Supply."

NEW USER: "What information do we need to put in here?"

Coach: "This is really important - when you name your supplies, use exactly what your cleaners call them. Don't worry about catalog numbers or technical names. So instead of 'Foaming Hand Soap #247', put 'Betco Foaming Soap' if that's what everyone calls it. This makes it easier for your team to request the right items."

NEW USER: "I see checkboxes for 'Consumable' and 'Billable' - what are those for?"

Coach: "'Consumable' means it gets used up, like soap or paper towels. 'Billable' is for things you might charge clients for. We're not using the billable feature much right now, but it's there for the future. The unit of measure is really important though - are we counting individual rolls? Cases? Boxes? This needs to be clear because it's what everyone will see in the app."

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NEW USER: "Okay, so now we have our warehouse and our first supply. What's next?"

Coach: "Now, we need to set up your warehouse quantities. Go to Supply Assignment and Warehouse Assignment and click the plus sign. Choose your warehouse, and for the supply, let's pick that soap we just added. Here's where we set three important numbers to help prevent running out of supplies."

NEW USER: "What numbers do we need?"

Coach: "You need a target quantity - that's how much you want to keep in stock. Let's say 50 bottles. Then your warning level - let's make that 15 - this is when you should think about ordering more. And finally, your critical level is 5 - when you hit this, you really need to act fast. Don't worry about getting these numbers perfect right now - you can always adjust them later as you learn your patterns."

NEW USER: How do I set a quantity for a larger container like a 50-gallon drum of chemicals when I only stock one?

Coach: Great question! Base your thresholds on percentages. Target is 100%, Warning is 50%, and Critical is 25%.

NEW USER: "How do we set how many we actually have right now?"

Coach: "Good question. Let’s exit out of Manage Supply Setup and go back to the Supplies screen. Look under Warehouse Inventory. You may have to scroll down if you’re using a smaller monitor. Click the name of your warehouse and a Warehouse Supply Profile screen opens. Click into the available quantity field for the supply, enter the current number to reconcile the inventory quantity, and save.”

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NEW USER: "What about our different locations? We clean several buildings."

Coach: "Let's set up a location now. Go back into Manage Supply Setup, then Location Assignment, and click the plus sign. Choose your customer and location, then pick the supply, and set your thresholds."

NEW USER: "Do we use the same Target & Threshold Quantities as the warehouse?"

Coach: "No, locations need much smaller numbers because they just need enough to get through until the next delivery. Decide what the target is, meaning that's fully stocked for them. Then your Warning level - that's when they should think about requesting more. And critical - when they really need a delivery soon."

NEW USER: "That makes sense. Before we start making deliveries, how do we set up our delivery methods? I have several supervisors who deliver supplies."

Coach: "Right - let's set up your delivery methods first. The system calls these 'delivery trucks' but they can be any way you transport supplies. Go to Supply Setup, List Management, then click on 'Delivery Trucks. Click Add to create your first one."

NEW USER: "What information do we need to enter?"

Coach: "Enter the name of the truck or van, whatever you call it. Even if a supervisor uses their personal vehicle, you could name it for the supervisor."

NEW USER: "Yeah, we have a supervisor who her SUV for deliveries."

Coach: "Perfect, let's set that up:

You can add as many delivery methods as you have. Each one will be available when creating deliveries. Now, when you create a delivery, you'll select which method you're using."

NEW USER: "Okay, now how do we actually create a delivery?"

Coach: "Great question. You can create deliveries from the website sitting in your office, or a manager can do it from the field with their app. The supply system is very dynamic.”

NEW USER: “Nice!”

Coach: “We’ll start with the app. Your supply manager will click on More, Manage Supplies, choose a location, and select the supply. Then click Create Delivery. Next, select the warehouse from which to deliver the supply, the quantity, delivery method, and the delivery date. Then click Create Delivery. The delivery gets logged to your account in real-time for the office admin to see, and a notification goes to the delivery driver. The app will also show supply threshold warnings to your supervisors, and they can also set up push notifications for them.”

NEW USER: “That is crazy!”

Coach: “It’s pretty cool. Now, from the admin side, your admins will also see supply threshold warnings float to the top with yellow and red tiles. They can click on the tiles to see the supply issues. This takes you to the Supplies screen, and the supplies causing the issue tiles are highlighted in red or yellow. Click into the Current Quantity field for the supply that you need to order. A delivery screen pops up, and you’ll see the warehouses with this particular supply. Under Take, use the plus button to select the quantity you’re pulling from this warehouse. You’ll see the numbers added to the location shown below in the Current and Out For Delivery columns. Then, choose your Delivery Method and Target Delivery Date, and save. That creates a delivery and your delivery driver is notified.”

NEW USER: "Can we track what's currently out for delivery?"

Coach: "Yes, click on the Supplies screen, go to Delivery. It shows you:

It's a great way to track what each delivery method is handling at any time."

NEW USER: "What if something changes? Like if we get there and they need less than we thought?"

Coach: "Things don't always go as planned, and that's okay. Maybe the delivery person gets to a location, and it only needs five bottles instead of eight. The delivery person can complete the delivery and enter what they actually delivered. Or maybe there's an emergency at another location, and they need that soap more urgently. They can click Reroute and send it there instead. You can even return items to the warehouse if you need to, and everything a delivery person or field employees do from the app is synced to the website for office admins in real-time.”

NEW USER: "Can we change the delivery method after we've created the delivery?"

Coach: "Yes, you can change the delivery method at any time before completion. Just go to the Supplies screen, look under Location Inventory, and click into the Current Qty field for the supply that needs to change its delivery method. Change the delivery method on the next screen and save. This is helpful if one delivery vehicle isn't available and someone else needs to handle the delivery instead."

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NEW USER: "So how do the cleaners request supplies when running low?"

Coach: "They will open the app, and since they are already on the clock, they will tap the green section that shows them on the clock. This takes them to the job they are clocked into, and then click on Supplies at the bottom. Click on the supply, then the Request More button at the bottom. Enter the current stock quantity of the supply and submit."

NEW USER: “That’s pretty easy.”

Coach: “Sure is. Now, here's a pro tip - before you create a delivery, check the location and look at all their supplies. If a supply is at 50%, we might as well top them off while going there, even though no one has requested them yet. This prevents extra trips later."

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NEW USER: "How do we know if one location has extra of something another location needs?"

Coach: "Let me show you something really useful for that. In the Location Inventory section, see the tabs for Supply and Location? You can pivot between them for different views. Let’s pivot to Location, and you can see everything laid out - all locations and all their supplies at once. The Forecasted Stock % column shows quantities relative to their thresholds. You can quickly see when one location has an excess of a supply while another location is running low.”

NEW USER: “What if I wanted to move supplies from one location to another?”

Coach: “You can move supplies between locations just as easily as delivering from the warehouse."

NEW USER: “How would I do that?”

Coach: “Again, this function can be completed from the field with the mobile app as easily as it can from your desktop. The app is very powerful. The field manager would go to Manage Supplies, Locations, click on the location that needs a supply, Create Delivery, and click the Deliver From dropdown. The warehouses appear at the bottom with More Options. Click More Options and it will show the other locations with the supply, and the inventory amount. Select the location and finish the delivery as usual. The process is the same on the website when you’re creating deliveries. Instead of taking from a warehouse, a More button opens other locations with the supply. Choose the location, click done and that location appears on the delivery form.

NEW USER: "Can we track who's making all these changes in the system?"

Coach: "Absolutely. This is probably one of the most powerful and unique features of Pro’s supply management system. Click into any location and hit the Activity tab. Every single action is logged - when someone requests supplies, updates quantities, or completes a delivery. You always know who did what and when. You can also see this notification feed on the main dashboard, and field supervisors can see them on the mobile app."

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NEW USER: "What happens when we want to switch to a different brand of something?"

Coach: "That's a great question. Let's say you're switching from one type of soap to another. Don't delete the old soap from the system - keep it active until everyone uses it up. Add your new soap and set it up in the warehouse and locations. Both will run at the same time until the old one's naturally used up. Then it just disappears from view at that location."

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NEW USER: "What about managing different employees? Some are new and I'm not sure I want them ordering supplies yet."

Coach: "Let me explain how access levels work because this is really important for setting up your team. There are four different levels of access. By default, every employee gets full supply access - they can see quantities, request supplies, and update numbers. But for new employees, you can go into their settings and disable supply access. They'll still see quantities but can't request supplies or make changes."

NEW USER: "What about my supervisors? They need to manage their own locations."

Coach: "Supervisor access is tied directly to team assignments. Let's say someone supervises certain locations - she automatically gets supply management access for just those jobs. She can handle deliveries, manage requests, update quantities, everything needed for her specific locations. This keeps things organized - supervisors focus on their own jobs."

NEW USER: "And if we have someone managing all the supplies company-wide?"

Coach: "That's your Supply Manager role. They get access to everything - all locations, all supplies, all features. They can see the big picture and move supplies between locations. This is perfect when you have multiple supervisors and need someone to coordinate everything. Finally, there's Supply Admin access - this comes automatically with being a system admin, but here's something useful - you can make a supervisor into a supply admin. When you do this, they can log into the website but only see the supply screens."

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NEW USER: "How much of this works on phones? Our team is usually out in the field."

Coach: "The mobile app is really powerful. You can do nearly everything we've just done on the computer right from your phone."

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NEW USER: "So they don't have to come back to the office to manage supplies?"

Coach: "Exactly. They open the app, and they see all their assigned locations. They can create deliveries, update quantities, handle requests, everything. And here's the best part - it all updates instantly. When someone makes a change on their phone, everyone else sees it right away."

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NEW USER: "What about those warning levels we set up earlier? How strict are those numbers?"

Coach: "Good question. When you're setting up quantities, they have to follow a specific order - your target quantity must be higher than your warning level, and your warning must be higher than critical. If you try to set them as 2-2-1, the system won't let you save. Think 3-2-1 as a minimum. But don't worry about getting these perfect right away - you'll adjust them as you learn your patterns."

NEW USER: "How do we keep track of all the alerts and updates?"

Coach: "You can control what notifications you get. Supply reconciliation notifications tell you when someone updates quantities. Low supply notifications warn you when you hit those warning levels. The system can send these to your phone, so you're always aware of what's happening."

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NEW USER: "How often should we be checking inventory?"

Coach: "Here's what works well for most companies. Do location counts weekly - just quick checks to keep numbers accurate. Do a warehouse count monthly - this helps with ordering. But really, update quantities whenever you notice they're off. The system is very forgiving - if you make a mistake, just click the number and fix it."

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NEW USER: "Are there any new features coming that we should know about?"

Coach: "Yes, there are some great features coming soon. The system will be adding:

• Enhanced reporting for tracking usage patterns

• Cost tracking to help with budgeting

• More detailed usage analysis

• Automated ordering features

• Job costing capabilities

But don't wait for those - start using the basic features now. They'll make an immediate difference in preventing supply emergencies."

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NEW USER: "Can you compare this to our current job board system? Just so I'm clear on the advantages."

Coach: "Sure! With your job board system:

• You only know there's a problem when someone tells you

• You can't see patterns in supply usage

• You can't plan ahead

• Everything becomes an emergency

But with this system:

• You see problems coming before they happen

• You can plan efficient delivery routes

• You know exactly what you have and where

• You prevent emergencies before they start

• Everyone stays connected through the app"

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NEW USER: "What's the most common mistake new users make?"

Coach: "Trying to get everything perfect from day one. Remember:

• Start with just the request feature

• Add inventory tracking later

• Adjust your threshold numbers as you learn

• Expand to more locations when ready

The system works well whether you're managing three locations or thirty, and it can grow with you."

GETTING STARTED TOMORROW

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NEW USER: "How can I quickly start using this supply management system?"

Coach: "Start slow:

1. Log in and set up your warehouse

2. Add your most common supplies

3. Set up your busiest location

4. Make sure that location's cleaner can log into the app and has supply access

5. Start tracking just those supplies at that location"

Remember, the goal here is simple - no more supply emergencies, no more guessing what you have or need, and no more inefficient supply runs. Just straightforward, proactive supply management that makes everyone's job easier."

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NEW USER: "This seems much more manageable than I thought it would be."

Coach: "That's exactly right. Start simple, grow into the features, and let the system help you prevent problems before they happen. Ready to set up your first warehouse?"

NEW USER: "Yes, I think I've got it. Let's get started."

Coach: "Perfect. Remember, you can't break anything in the system, and we're here to help if you need anything. Good luck with your setup!"

Check out our Collection of articles on the complete supply management system.