BSIP Training 2006

1. BSIP Training 2006

2. Receiving Fuel into Inventory The Importance of Timely Entry

3. The Problem • Monthly and Yearly reporting show the dollar value of fuel charged to buses • Dollar value of fuel comes from the moving price at the time the fuel is issued on ZFE2 • When your inventory is negative your moving price does not adjust

4. Fuel Inventory: 7000 Gallons Moving Price: $2.00/Gallon MIGO 7000 Gallons of fuel Price: $2.50/Gallon Exact LC Entered: $17,500 How it should work New Fuel Inventory: 14000 Gallons Moving Price: $2.25 What you will charge to buses for the 14000 Gallons: $31,500 What it cost for the 14000 Gallons currently in your tank: $31,500 Amount not reported because of late data entry: $0 Price being charged to buses after the MIGO: $2.25

5. Fuel Inventory: -10000 Gallons Moving Price: $2.00/Gallon MIGO 7000 Gallons of fuel Price: $3.00/Gallon Exact LC Entered: $21,000 When You’re Negative New Fuel Inventory: -3000 Gallons What you already charged to buses for the 7000 Gallons: $14,000 (7000 at $2/Gallon = 14000) Amount not reported because of late data entry: $7,000 Price being charged to buses after the MIGO: $2.00

6. Fuel Inventory: -5000 Gallons Moving Price: $2.00/Gallon MIGO 7000 Gallons of fuel Price: $3.00/Gallon Exact LC Entered: $21,000 When You’re Less Negative New Fuel Inventory: 2000 Gallons What you will charge to buses for the 7000 Gallons: $16,000 (5000 at $2/Gallon + 2000 at $3/Gallon = $16,000) What it cost for the 7000 Gallons (2000 remaining) : $21,000 Amount not reported because of late data entry: $5,000 Price being charged to buses after the MIGO: $3.00

7. Implications • You may not be seeking sufficient reimbursement for fueling county/local vehicles. • You could be charging fuel to activity buses at too low or high a rate. • When seeking additional allotments of money for fuel costs you will be reporting incorrect data and could be far below your actual cost. • The data on operating costs in the system could be vastly different from the actual costs. This may impact future funding.

8. Determining where you stand on Fuel Entry • Use MM03 to determine current stock and moving price • Use MB51 to check on relatively how well you have been doing at charging the correct price for fuel to vehicles

9. Process Suggestions • Get the invoice faxed to you and into SAP as soon as possible • Make sure if you adjust inventory with MI10 that all invoices are in and all fuel issues current • Be aware of your fuel level when issuing fuel • If the person who receives fuel into inventory is not the person who issues fuel to vehicles in SAP: COMMUNICATE

10. Fuel Issues and MileageZFE2 / IK22 / IK11

11. Common ZFE2 Errors • The standing order is not set to released • The standing fuel order for the vehicle is technically completed, usually done when maintenance plans are suspended (For Sale/Sold vehicles as well as wrecked, cannibalized, and vehicles available for transfer) • Confirm the vehicle number and determine the vehicle status, this vehicle should not be fueled because it’s maintenance plans are most likely not active. • The reading is below the last reading taken • Current Mileage in the system is greater than the mileage you have attempted to enter • Confirm the mileage of the vehicle, If the true mileage is really below the last reading in the system email the helpdesk to reverse the incorrectly entered mileage • Review upper range limit • Often occurs when entering more fuel than the capacity of the vehicle • Check for typo, and assure that it is a reasonable amount of fuel for the vehicle in one fueling, if so email the helpdesk

12. Common ZFE2 Errors • The fuel entered is outside the range allowed for this vehicle • Wrong fuel type entered, bus number typo • Measurement reading is over the tolerance • You have tried to advance the mileage on the vehicle by more miles than one tank of fuel could have possibly carried the vehicle • Confirm the mileage of the vehicle, if still over tolerance because it was fueled in another location in between then email helpdesk or issue a measurement document with IK22 to correct the mileage • Counter reading must be less than counter overflow reading • 100k mile odometer vehicles in the system when a reading over 100,000 miles is entered (Rare error because it is often pre-empted by one of the above errors) • Received AFTER the fuel is issued to the vehicle • This one is tricky because the fuel movement goes through, but the odometer is not changed • Do not re-enter fuel for the vehicle from the same fuel sheet

13. Total counter reading Not directly alterable by the user Keeps track of the total number of miles the vehicle has traveled regardless of odometer rollover or replacement Current counter reading Should be what the odometer reads When the odometer rolls over or is replaced this number may return to zero Total Counter Reading vs. Current Counter Reading

14. The Pitfall of IK22/IK11:No Error Checking • It will accept almost ANY odometer reading you enter without question • It will prevent you from entering mileage above the counter overflow • It will warn you about a mileage below the current mileage • Then it will accept the mileage and roll the odometer over to the next 100,000 or 1,000,000 miles

15. Vehicle Maintenance Monthly Inspections + Preventative Maintenance

16. Mileage and Maintenance Mileage entry drives maintenance plans: Incorrect Entries = Incorrect Maintenance No Entries = No Maintenance Either of these leaves the county open to litigation and invalidation of the warranty

17. 30-Day Inspections North Carolina General Statutes § 115C-248 (a) The superintendent of each local school administrative unit, shall cause each school bus owned or operated by such local school administrative unit to be inspected at least once each 30 days during the school year for mechanical defects, or other defects which may affect the safe operation of such bus. A report of such inspection, together with the recommendations of the person making the inspection, shall be filed promptly in the office of the superintendent of such local school administrative unit, and a copy thereof shall be forwarded to the principal of the school to which such bus is assigned.

18. Correct Records • Paper and computerized records should match • When technically completing an order the reference date should be changed to match the date the inspection was done • This can only be done in the IW32, Change Order, screen • If TECOd in IW42 the reference date is set to the current date • That reference date determines when the next inspection is due

19. Parking buses for the Summer: • Whenever buses are used to transport students they MUST be up to date on their 30-day inspections • If only a limited number of vehicles are needed to service the schools in the summer months you may TECO the 30-day inspections at any point without entering mechanics time • If any vehicles at all run during the summer, it is essential that a list be maintained of vehicles that are up to date on their inspections; Only vehicles on this list may be utilized to transport children

20. Vehicle Statuses:What do they mean?

21. Why Maintenance Plans are Suspended • When a vehicle should no longer be run on a route for any reason the maintenance plans are suspended • This includes vehicles sold, for sale, totaled, cannibalized, turned in for credit, and any vehicle in transfer (E0B) status • Once suspended this vehicle should no longer carry any passengers unless it is reinstated and brought up to date

22. Reasons Never to Ask to Suspend Plans • We now do it automatically when a vehicle changes to a status where it should no longer be run • Sometimes when you ask to have them suspended, we actually do it • When the plans are suspended, the standing fuel order is closed to add a layer of protection

23. When to Ask to Suspend Plans: I know I said never… But… • If the vehicle should have had its plans suspended, but it was missed; Check the status of the vehicle first! • E0B, E4, E6, E3, and EZ can be suspended • E2RB, E2RC, E2LC, ESS, ESP, and E8 should not be suspended • If you sell an E8 (local) vehicle, or are simply no longer responsible for it, you should inform DPI of the change in vehicle status so that we can correct the information in SAP

24. Inventory Management

25. SAP Can Help Manage Inventory • SAP will automatically create requisition documents when inventory of particular items drops below a certain level • All you need to do is set the appropriate inventory level to maintain, and check the report for suggested materials to order

26. Benefits of Using this System • Allows you to maintain your inventory without continuous manual monitoring of the stock level for every part • Reduces the likelihood of running out of a part • Reduces the amount of inventory necessary to ensure parts are available when needed • Reduces the amount of time needed to determine the order for the day/week

27. Cost of Using this System • Large initial time investment in SAP • Requires setting of initial order points and order amounts for each material number to be checked by the system • Requires adjustment of order points and order amounts as deficiencies are seen in effectiveness or overstocking • To be fully effective it requires a user who understands SAP, how parts flow from the stock room, and how often certain parts are used

28. New DOT Numbers • Go to: http://www.ncbussafety.org/BSIPresources.html • Fill out DOT number form • Submit to bsip@dpi.state.nc.us • You will be contacted when a new DOT number has been issued for that part

29. Variably sized inventory must be issued in SAP units • SAP has a default unit size for all items in inventory • Items such as oil (Quarts) and anti-freeze (Gallons) may not arrive at the shop or appear on the invoice in the standard units • If oil is listed on the invoice as 250 gallons but oil’s standard unit is the quart, then you must receive the 250 gallons as 1000 quarts • You must also issue goods in the standard unit; If anti-freeze is in gallons you must issue out gallons or portions of a gallon. Thus, 2 quarts used on a vehicle would equate to half a gallon

30. Obsolete Code for a Material • If the P2 code appears on the basic view, the DOT number has been made obsolete by the main DOT plant; Most likely there will be a new number listed in the description. • If P2 is listed in the MRP1 view, that is a field set on a per plant basis. Usually it means that that part is not to be ordered because it is no longer useful on any of your vehicles. • Rarely will you find a P2 on MRP1 that wasn’t set by someone at your plant

31. Obsolete Materials:Change in DOT Material Number • ZMM01Z: Extend new number to plant • Receive all new inventory to the new number and label it as such in parts room • When old number has no stock left use ZMM06 to flag the material for deletion

32. Obsolete Materials:No longer in use at the garage • ZMB19 (single value feature): List the items to be removed from inventory and total the value • MI10: Remove the items from the system • ZMM02Z (Purchasing View): Set the P2 code in the Plant-sp.matl status field • ZMM06: Set the deletion flag • Subtract the amount received from surplus from total value and report balance on TD-1 as a loss

33. Miscellaneous Common Issues

34. VMRS Codes • ZPMVMRS • New transaction for looking up VMRS codes • ZFB61 – External Material Purchase • Material number is just the VMRS code for the operation with ‘m’ in front of it

35. New Vehicle Prep (DP07 Order): • These are created when the helpdesk is informed of the receipt of new buses and receives the associated vehicle information • Look for these orders using IW38 with order type DP07 and print them out from there • Do NOT create your own new Order! • If you don’t see the order you need to put the vehicle in service, email the helpdesk • Not only is it unnecessary extra work for you, it places the order with the wrong parameters, and makes it difficult to track down

36. Deleting Created Orders • Orders can not be deleted, only teco’d with no costs. They still show up. • If you roll an odometer over to the next million miles with IK22 and wind up with 200 PMs on ZIP24 tomorrow morning those orders will forever show up as having been completed

37. Releasing/processing another county’s order: • Be careful, it is very easy to make a typo when entering in an order number • Check to make sure your plant number appears somewhere on the order or in IW42 as the default plant for the operations • Contact the helpdesk immediately if you realize you have made an error or suspect someone else has processed one of your orders

38. Consistency in Text when Updating Sort, Location, or Room Fields: • For your convenience and our ‘not-having-to-do-it-over-and-over-again’, please be consistent with your naming conventions • If you use the field for the last name of the mechanic, don’t submit that you want 5 new vehicles with the first name of a mechanic • If you use it for school location don’t use WRaleigh sometimes and WestRlgh other times; They may not sort together anymore.

39. Purchase Order Searches • If you’re in ME22N, click the matchcode icon for the document number field and use the last tab in the search box “Purchasing document per agreement, plant, material, vendor” • This tab allows you to search by plant, date/date range, and material number • Transaction ME2M is an easier way to look up purchasing document numbers • Use plant, material, and document date to narrow your search

40. Physical Inventory Suggestions: • Make sure all entry into SAP related to parts usage has been completed • Don’t try to do it all the same day, in most cases you will be unsuccessful; In all cases you’ll be frustrated. Break it up into sections. • Don’t wait until the last minute to start inventory. If you have a problem, you’ll get help much easier if it’s not the day before it has to be done.