Jack Wallen shows you yet another way to use the powerful Trello project management platform – this time for inventory management.
Every time I dive into Trello, I find that there is another way I can use the platform. Project management? To check. Productivity? To check. Trello can even be used for education, engineering, business, design, remote working, sales, support, and team management.
So it was no surprise when I came across an inventory management template. Created using Smart Fields, this template allows you to enter received or removed inventory and the quantity in stock is calculated automatically.
While this template may not be ideal for tracking massive amounts of products sold to consumers, a good use case could be tracking hardware inventory across your business, including desktops, servers, peripherals, or any other piece of hardware you have. used. hand for your business.
Let’s take a look at how to install and use this powerful Trello template.
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What you need
To participate, you need a Trello account with the ability to create new boards within a workspace. That is it. Let’s get started.
How to add the inventory management template
Log into your Trello account and navigate to a workspace where you can add new boards. In the Your boards section, click + (Image A).
Image A
In the resulting popup (Figure B), click Start with a template.
Figure B
Then click Explore Templates, which will open the Trello Templates page. In the search bar Search Template (Figure C), type stock.
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 toggle the two options on or off (Digits E).
Digits E
Once you’ve done the initial setup, click Create and your new inventory board is ready to go.
Using the new Inventory Management board
Using the new Inventory Management board is quite simple. When it opens, you should see that a few lists and maps have already been created to get you started (Figure F).
Figure F
The first thing you probably want to do is rename the current lists to suit your needs. To rename a list, click the existing name and type a new one. For example, you can rename the Desktops, Servers, Routers, Switches, Printers, Tablets, etc. lists.
Once you’ve done that, you’ll need to enable Smart Fields. To do that, click on one of the cards and then click on 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 you should enable Smart Fields for this template is that it adds the ability to track available quantity, price, value, and other important fields (Figure I).
Figure I
You can also customize the smart fields used by the template to better suit your needs. After you enable Smart Fields, you will notice that the cards are much more revealing about your inventory (figure J).
figure J
It may take some time to get this template just the way you need it, but once you do, it’s an invaluable tool to help you keep track of your inventory. If you’re 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 one for you.
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