OD - Inventory Maintenance

What to Expect:

When RMA fulfilment amounts are low, there may be small pockets of time available to complete maintenance tasks. These tasks are small, but make a big impact for prepping for future RMA fulfilments when proactively done.

SD Card Creation (Supply Chain and Retail)

To upgrade devices, micro SD cards are used. To help increase efficiency, creating additional is recommended. There’s also a need to re-create sd cards that’re in devices that, most times, come from evaluations. 

Do the following for either Supply Chain or Retail *** Be careful not to mix them when creating ***

1. Take one SD card from the "SD Cards (Loaded) bin

2. Insert the SD card into the first slot of the duplicator.

3. Take SD cards from the "SD Cards (Needs Reload)" or "SD Card Blanks" bin (only use blanks if there're no "Needs Reload" available)

4. Insert the two SD cards into the second and third slot of the duplicator.

If the SD Cards that were pulled came from the "SD Cards (Needs Reload) bin, they will need to be formatted before having any files copied over to them. Follow the "Formatting SD Cards" steps below to format the SD Cards if needed. If not, skip to the "Copying SD Cards" steps.

Formatting SD Cards

1. • • Power on the duplicator and use the "^" and "v" keys on the duplicator to cycle through the options until the "6.Utility" option is visible. Use the "X" key to back out of options if the "6.Utility" option is not visible and use the "0" key to select options.

       • • Select the "1. Do Format" option

         • Select the "1. Auto Format" option

         • Press the "0" key to confirm.

From here, the duplicator will begin formatting the SD cards in slot 2 and slot 3 only (slot 1 will not be formatted). Green lights from slot 2 and 3 will begin flashing. The flashing green lights will switch to a solid green light when the formatting is complete. Once complete, proceed to the steps below to copy files from the master SD card in slot 1.

Copying SD Cards

1. • • Power on the duplicator (the first option, "USB Duplicator", should be visible and underneath that should be the option "1.Copy")

       • • If this is not seen, use the "^" and "v" keys on the duplicator to cycle through the options until the "1.Copy" option is visible (use the "X" key to back out and the "0" key to select.)

         • Once the "1.Copy" option is visible, select the option.

The duplicator will begin copying files from the SD card in the first slot (the master) to the other SD cards in slot 2 and 3. 

5. Once complete, remove the SD cards from slot 2 and 3 and place them into the "SD Cards (Loaded)" bin and repeat the process if needed.

Remember to remove the master SD card in slot 1 and place it into the "SD Cards (Loaded)" bin when not copying SD cards.

NEW Battery Label Creation (Supply Chain)

This process only applies to the TC51, TC52, TC52X,TC53 and TC58 batteries

While fulfilling RMAs, batteries are included with every package (no matter the business unit type). Overtime, inventory will deplete and will require a new batch of batteries to be purchased by Office Depot if enough isn't supplied through checking-in devices. When these batteries are purchased, they will be shipped to Strategic to be added to Office Depot's battery spare pool. Once received, these batteries will need to have a deployment label placed on them at some point before they can be used to fulfill an RMA. Due to the varying frequency of RMAs needing to be fulfilled, do not create too many labels at once. Create labels up to how many RMAs are generally fulfilled in a month (having up to 15 labels created at any given time is usually a safe amount). Follow these steps if there's not at least 15 labels stored (with the appropriate month of deployment) in the supply chain spare pool. Created labels are located in a bin in the REX Lab named "Supply Chain Battery Labels":

1. Open the "Bartender" software on the REX Lab's Laptop

2. Select and open the "Battery Label" template *** the template will show a label pre filled with the text "Supply Chain Battery Deployed xx/xx *** 

3. Edit the "xx/xx" with the current month and year.

4. Print the label

If you're creating the labels just to have on-hand, store the labels in the "Supply Chain Battery Labels" bin. 

TRIAGED Battery Label Creation (Supply Chain)

During the check-in process, the following accessories will be taken from defective devices and placed in a bin labeled "Accessories - Retail" or "Accessories - Supply Chain":

• Boot Case

• Boot Strap Returned

• Battery 

The battery will need to be graded, labeled and placed in the "Supply Chain Batteries - Charged", "Supply Chain Batteries - Not Charged" bin once complete. Do the following:

1. Grab a Supply Chain battery from the "Accessories - Supply Chain" bin.

2. Go to the "Zebra Battery Code" website. *** follow the instructions and determine the month and year of the manufactured date ***

   1. • If the manufactured date is older than 2 years, discard the battery.

      • If the manufactured date is not older than 2 years, continue through the next steps.

3. Open the "Bartender" software on the REX Lab's Laptop

4. Select and open the "Supply Chain Battery Label" template *** the template will show a label pre filled with the text "Supply Chain Battery Deployed xx/xx *** 

5. Edit the "xx/xx" with the battery's manufactured date.

6. Print the label

7. Stick the label on the back of the battery.

8. Place battery in the appropriate bin *** will usually be one of the following bins: "Supply Chain Batteries - Charged" or "Supply Chain Batteries - Not Charged" ***

If you're grading a TC58/TC53 battery, use a device to access the "Battery Manager" app. The battery manufacture date can be found there.

Charging Batteries (Supply Chain & Retail)

New batteries and triaged batteries will come with various levels of charge. While it's not a customer requirement, it's recommended to have batteries charged to at least 30% before shipping a replacement device to fulfill an RMA. Supply Chain and Retail has their own separate battery spare pool and will be located in bins labeled "Supply Chain Batteries - Not Charged" or "Retail Batteries - Not Charged". Follow these steps:

1. Grab some batteries from the desired bin

2. Place the batteries in a battery charging cradle 

3. Once batteries are charged, place batteries in the "Supply Chain Batteries - Charged" or "Retail Batteries - Charged" bin

The following models have batteries:

• TC51

• TC52

• TC52X

• TC58

• TC53

• RS507

• RS5100

Device Boot and Strap Consolidation

During the check-in process, the following accessories will be taken from defective devices, graded and placed in a bin labeled "Accessories - Retail" or "Accessories - Supply Chain":

• Exoskeletons

• Hand straps

• Battery 

Eventually, these exoskeletons and hand straps will need to be moved to the bin named "Supply Chain Exoskeletons and Hand Straps" or "Retail Exoskeletons and Hand Straps" located in spare pool storage. 

As this happens, these bins will start accruing both exoskeletons and hand straps in various states (exoskeletons w/ the hand straps already attached, exoskeletons w/o hand straps attached or just hand straps with no available exoskeletons).  

Regardless of the various states, attach straps to boots that don't have them from the "Supply Chain Exoskeletons and Hand Straps" and "Retail Exoskeletons and Hand Straps" bins. DO NOT MIX THE INVENTORY WITHIN THE BINS. 

Bad Battery Disposal 

Throughout the check-in process, batteries are one of the few items that are graded. If a battery is either failing to hold a charge or exceeds Office Depot's expiration date of two years (Supply Chain only), it will need to be disposed of.   

• Place bad batteries in the bin labeled "Bad Batteries".

• If the bin is full, make a box and transfer the batteries.

• Label the box with the words "OD Bad Batteries".

• Place the box in a disposal area (This location could change occasionally. Ask your manager)

This can be done whenever it is needed. There are no reoccurring timeframes or expected dates of completion. However, to prevent unnecessary space consumption from holding too many bad batteries, it will be your responsibility to make the call when it's time to transfer your bad batteries.

Sealed Inventory (Supply Chain & Retail)

Throughout the Office Depot device evaluation processes, model bins will overflow.  Use downtime to reallocate excess inventory.  A sealed box will be used to store this excess, improving inventory control and facilitating easier inventory counts. Follow the steps below: 

1. Make a box or grab an empty bin

2. Scan the serial numbers of any model needing to be reallocated

3. Place the devices in the box/empty bin   

   1. • Make sure to keep devices that contain different statuses/business unit separate. 

      • Example: Reallocating from Supply Chain Spare Pool and reallocating from Supply Chain Off-Contract are two separate statuses and should be placed in separate boxes/empty bins 

      • Example: Reallocating from Supply Chain and reallocating from Retail are two separate business units and should be placed in separate boxes/empty bins

4. Write the business unit and status that the device has somewhere on box

   1. • If a bin was used, use a sticky note. 

5. Once complete, place the box in an area where it can be easily identified.

6. Let someone know - The rest will be handled for you

   1. • As of 2/7/25 - Inform Brandon