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Jack Wallen shows you yet another way to use the powerful Trello project management platform—this time for inventory management.
Every time I dig into Trello, I find there’s yet another way I can use the platform. Project management? Check. Productivity? Check. Trello can even be used for education, engineering, business, design, remote work, sales, support and team management.
So, it came as no surprise when I happened upon a template for Inventory Management. This template was built using Smart Fields and allows you to enter inventory received or disposed and in-stock quantity is calculated automatically.
Although this template might not be ideal for keeping track of massive amounts of products that are sold to consumers, a great use case could be keeping track of hardware inventory within your business, including desktops, servers, peripherals or any piece of hardware you keep on hand for your company.
Let’s find out how to install and use this powerful Trello template.
SEE: Hiring kit: Project manager (TechRepublic Premium)
What you’ll need
To follow along, you’ll need a Trello account with the ability to create new boards within a workspace. That’s it. Let’s get to work.
How to add the Inventory Management Template
Log in to your Trello account, and navigate to a workspace that allows you to add new boards. In the Your Boards section, click + (Figure A).
Figure A
In the resulting popup (Figure B), click Start With A Template.
Figure B
Next, click Explore Templates, which will open the Trello Templates page. In the Find Template search bar (Figure C), type Inventory.
Figure C
Select Inventory Management Powered By Smart Fields, and then, when prompted (Figure D), click Use Template.
Figure D
A new popup will appear asking you to name the new board, select a workspace and disable/enable the two options (Figure E).
Figure E
After you’ve taken care of the initial configuration, click Create, and your new inventory board is ready to go.
How to use the new Inventory Management board
Using the new Inventory Management board is quite easy. When it opens, you should see there are already a few lists and cards created to help you get started (Figure F).
Figure F
The first thing you’ll probably want to do is rename the current lists to meet your needs. To rename a list, simply click the existing name and type a new one. For example, you might rename the lists Desktops, Servers, Routers, Switches, Printers, Tablets, etc.
Once you’ve done that, you then need to enable Smart Fields. To do that, click on any one of the cards, and then click Show Smart Fields (Figure G).
Figure G
You will then be prompted to select an import option. Make sure to choose Import Configuration From Inventory Management Powered By Smart Fields, and click Let’s Go (Figure H).
Figure H
Why enable Smart Fields?
The reason why you must enable Smart Fields for this template is that it adds the ability to actually keep track of quantity on hand as well as price, value, and other important fields (Figure I).
Figure I
You can also customize the Smart Fields being used by the template to make it better fit your needs. After enabling Smart Fields, you’ll find the cards far more revealing about your inventory (Figure J).
Figure J
It might take you a bit of time to get this template exactly how you need, but once you do, it’ll be an invaluable tool to help you keep track of your inventory. If you’ve been looking for a tool to easily track hardware or just about any type of product, and you’re already a Trello user, this is the way to go.
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