Reference > Containers
Containers are actual (physical) inventory of materials. In some cases, containers are really things like equipment, or packaging materials, but CISPro Global uses the term 'container' to mean an inventory record with a net (current) quantity.
Viewing Containers
Containers are displayed on the material Containers tab. The containers tab displays a grid of container data, such as barcode, lot number, owner, and location. Individual container details (the Container Information page) are accessible via the Barcode link in this grid.
| 1. | Go to the Home Page |
| 2. | In the Material Search section, type the material name (or the beginning of it) into the Name Begins field |
| 3. | Click the Search button |
| 4. | Select the material from the results list on the left of the page |
| 5. | Click the Containers tab |
Filtering Results: Use the Filter drop-down list to control which containers of the material display (e.g., the 'My Home Inventory' filter displays all containers of that material that both belong to the logged on user and are located at his default home location). Click the barcode ID link to view the Container Information page for that container.
Use the cont_inv_fltr configuration variable to set the default filter option (choose from My Home Inventory, Site Inventory, My Inventory Groups, and My Containers).
Container Page Options
A user who has the necessary permissions has access to the following container options
Quantity |
Edit Quantity (when system configuration does not prevent this action) |
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Reprint Label |
Reprint the container label |
Dispense |
Dispense from the container |
If the container is a member of a container group, the group code is displayed as a link
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Current Location |
Change the container's location and/or owner |
Transfer the container to another site |
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History |
View the History (audit trail) for the container |
Manufacturer Lot# |
Change the container's Manufacturer Lot# |
View Container Family |
View the Container Family Genealogy |
Request a move for the container: Allows the user to request that the container be moved to a different location. Move requests can be viewed via the Global menu (Manage Inventory | Move Requests). |
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Open Container? |
Open the container |
Reserve |
Set the container to Reserved for the Owner or an Inventory Group. *Reserving constitutes a flag that identifies that container as "set aside" for the use of a particular user or inventory group). When Owner is selected, container is reserved for container owner. When Group is selected, an Inventory Group list is displayed, from which a group can be selected. |
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Dispose the container (i.e., delete it) |
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Change container status (see Configuration Variables) |
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Create or edit Container Properties |
Certificates of Analysis |
Add/View/Change/Delete C of A: Manage Certificates of Analysis for the container. Certificates of Analysis remain attached to containers that are disposed/undisposed. (Using C of A on containers requires the 'allow_cofa_cont' configuration variable to be set to '1') |
Comments |
Add Container Comments |
Container Properties |
Assign or edit container properties |
Owner |
Change the container's owner, with the option to move the container to the new owner's default location |
Status |
If the show_cust_contstatus configuration variable = 1, the container's status can be selected from the status picklist (includes custom status options) |
Fire Reporting |
If Fire Reporting is enabled, change the container's Storage Pressure, Storage Temperature, and Use Type values |
Label Name |
A pick list of options. The selected and saved option serves as the material name for the current container on worklists such as Transfer/Dispose and My Inventory. Applicable to non-waste containers. |
See the Batch Edit Containers topic for information on how to perform some useful container modifications on all containers in a receipt lot simultaneously.
Container Expiration Dates
When a container is created, CISPro Global checks in a series of places to find the appropriate expiration date for it. A user can override all of the system defaults by specifying a particular expiration date manually upon container creation.
If no date is specified, the system first checks the Expiration Interval (on equipment materials, the term 'Maintenance Interval' is used) on the material's Identity tab, and calculates the date from that.
If the expiration interval is blank or 0, the Work Unit configuration is checked for a Material Default Expiration Interval. If no interval is set for the work unit, the container is assigned no expiration date upon creation.
After a container is created, however, an expiration date may be set for it manually on the Container Information page, (depending on what type of container it is), or on the Receipt Lot Details page. Changing the expiration interval on the Identity tab or the Work Unit configuration page, as described above, has no effect on existing containers.
The other way that the expiration date for a container may be set or changed after it is created is to "open" the container.
Open Expiration Interval
On the Identity tab, there is an Open Expiration Interval setting. The Open Expiration Interval accounts for the accelerated deterioration of some materials in an opened container. Open Expiration Interval consists of a text box and a picklist. The text box accepts an integer value, and the picklist is used to set the measurement option of days, months, or years.
When a container is marked as "open," its expiration date automatically changes to the earlier of:
| • | Open date + the open expiration interval |
| • | The current expiration date set for the container |
If there is no Open Expiration Interval defined, the expiration date doesn't change when the container is marked as open.
Opening a Container
There are three ways to open a container:
| • | Click the "Open Now" button on the Container Information page. |
| • | Go to the Home page, and click the Keyboard/Scanner link (in Basic Mode) to enable the use of a keyboard wedge scanner. CISPro Global provides a special operation, "open," which is used to open a container. (See the Wired Scanner Mode topic for explicit instructions on how to mark containers as open using the scanner.) |
| • | If the 'dispense_opens' configuration variable is set to 1 (default), dispensing a container automatically marks it as open. |
To tell whether a container is open, look at the Container Information Page. If the container is not open, the Open Now button is displayed. If the container is open, you will see something like this on the Container Information page, in place of the Open Now button:
CISPro Global supports comment trails for containers. With the proper permissions, a user who can edit a container can add container comments. These comments are displayed on the Container Information page in a grid at the bottom of the page (the grid does not display if there are no comments). Container comments include the container identification number, the full name of the person who made the comment, the date the comment was made, and the comment itself. These comments can not be edited or deleted.
To Create a Container Comment
| 1. | Click the Comments link at the bottom of the Container Information page (This opens the Add Container Comment for [Container ID] page, which displays the Submitted By user's full name, the Submitted On date, and a Comment text box.) |
| 2. | Enter the comment text into the Comment box |
| 3. | Click Save (the Container Information page will display, with the new comment added to the bottom of the page, under Comments) |
Comment Filtering
Container Comments can be filtered using the filter drop-down list as follows:
Filtering by 'for this container' will display only comments made for the container being viewed.
Filtering by 'for lot [Lot Number]' will display comments made to all containers within the lot to which the current container belongs.
Comments attached to a deleted container are displayed when the container itself is viewed (and with the 'for this container' filter), but not when the filter is used to show the deleted container's lot.
Disposing a container requires the container Delete permission in addition to the container Modify permission.
| 1. | On the Container Information screen, select the Disposed Container check box |
| 2. | Click the Save button |
| 3. | On the 'Are you sure you want to dispose of this container?' prompt, click OK |
Undispose Containers
Users with the container Delete and Modify permissions can reverse a Dispose action if the container_undelete configuration variable is set to 1. To do this, view the Container Information page for a disposed container and click Undispose.