52 Certification Study Guide Series: IBM Maximo Asset Management V7.1 4.1 Inventory module The Inventory module is used to manage spare parts inventory. The business goal is to find a balance of inventory stock, allowing maintenance work to be performed with minimum delays if materials are unavailable, but without keeping unnecessary or seldom used item in stock. In summary, it works to balance two conflicting objectives: Maximizing the availability of items for upcoming work tasks Reducing excess inventory balances and related carrying costs The Inventory module consists of the following applications: Item Master Service Items Tools Stocked Tools Inventory Issues and Transfers Condition Codes Storerooms Companies Purchase Orders 4.2 Initial setup This section describes the initial settings that must be set up before you start using the applications to create and manage items. 4.2.1 Units of measure and conversion Before you create item records, define all units of measure and the conversion values for those units. To configure the units of measure, access the Select Action menu ( shown in Figure 4- 1 on page 53) that is available in the following applications: Item Master Service Items Tools Stocked Tools Inventory

Chapter 4. Inventory 53 Figure 4- 1 Unit of Measure and Conversion selection Add or modify units of measure A unit of measure describes the increment that you order or issue, or the item or tool that you transfer, or service you order. The three attributes that define a unit of measure are: Unit of Measure, Description, and Abbreviation. However, only two of them, Description and Abbreviation, are editable after the unit of measure is created. Figure 4- 2 shows how to create the unit of measure. Figure 4- 2 Add/ Modify Units of Measure window Add or modify conversions A conversion factor is a numeric value that is applied to relate one unit of measure to another ( ratio).