Locker Usage (Apex Lockers)
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      3. Locker Usage (Apex Lockers)

      Locker Setup and Operation (For Preloaded Workflow)

      Learn how to set up a PantrySoft installation to interact with Apex Lockers. (assumes the preloaded-locker workflow)

      Overview

      The following chapters below show you step by step how to set up your pantry to interact with Apex lockers:

      • Authorize Users as Locker Users. Staff interacting with the Locker features need special Additional Roles attached to their User record.
      • Verify Locker Settings. Fine tune how your locker usage will work, especially switching to the Preloaded Locker setting.
      • Create a Locker Location. Best practices is to create a dedicated Location to hold locker-items.
      • Create *Locker* Storefront Option (Schedule Template). Set up appointments in your Client Portal to pick up items.
      • Create *Locker* Inventory Scheme (One of Each setup model). Best practices is to create locker-specific items.
      • Receive Locker Items. Receive your locker-specific items into the general "Locker" Location.
      • Build Lockers (Build the PantrySoft Locker Interfaces). Create the actual Locker interfaces in PantrySoft.
      • Pack your Lockers. Pair the locker-specific item quantities with the individual locker interfaces.

      Authorize (locker-overseeing) Users as Locker Users

      • Assign Users to the Locker Role. Admins need the Locker role to see the Locker Dash. The Locker Role for a Kiosk User makes it an login autoload experience to the Locker Dash.
      • Assign Users to the Storefront Notification Role. Admins who wish to receive Locker-related email notifications will also need the Storefront notification Role turned on, as they do for other Storefront notifications.

      Verify Locker Settings

      • Go to Setup->Inventory: Lockers.
      • Set Expiration Window. Set Locker Expiration Time (In Days). This is how long food can sit in a locker after being loaded before the locker will consider itself expired.
      • Set to Preloaded Lockers. Set the Use Preloaded Lockers setting to yes. This means each locker will assume its role is to pack a single-quantity Visit Item (e.g. Locker A1 will always contain a single quantity of a Bag of Food Item).
      • Verify Automatic Locker-related Email sends. Verify you want to automatically email students (and those admin Users with the Locker and Storefront Notification Additional Roles) with Locker-related notification emails.
      • Create Locker-Notification Email Content. Supply content for the Locker-related notification emails.

      Create Locker Location

      • Go to Account Settings: Locations under your User Profile at the upper right.
      • New Location. Add a Locker Location, to represent and contain the items you'll place in the locker.
      • Connect Location to Apex. Give the Location an Apex Account Id in the Location field of that name.

      Create Locker Storefront Option (Schedule Template)

      • Create Locker Visit Type. Go to Setup->Question Picklists and add a "Locker" Visit Type to Visit Types.
      • Create a Locker Pickup (Storefront) Schedule Template. Build a Schedule Template using the Locker Location and the Locker Visit Type. Ensure the Show on Store checkbox is checked.

      Create Locker Inventory Scheme (One of Each setup model)

      • Add Special Locker Items Item Type. Go to Inventory->Item Types; create a new Item Type called Locker Items.
      • Recommended: Adjust Item Type's Item Limits (to 1 per item). Adjust the per-Item Limits (the "Default" field) to 1 for Items inside the Locker Items Type.

      The "One Item Per Locker" Rule. If you allow folks to pick up multiples of each item, the system will auto-disperse them to available lockers as best it can. For instance, Johnny goes online and orders 3 food bags, and 5 of your Lockers (A1, A2, A3, A4, A5) are married to the Food Bag item. If all five lockers were empty at the time, the system would assign Johnny's 3 food bags to A1, A2, and A3 respectively).

      For this reason, many pantries will want to restrict the per-item limit to 1 for all household sizes so their lockers don't fill up really quickly from just a couple Orders.

      Add Special "Locker Items". Go to Inventory->Item Types; Add special Locker-specific Items. (e.g. a Locker Foodbag Item even if you have a Foodbag item already).

      Bulk Locker Items. Most pantries using the pre-loaded locker system will want locker-unique "catch-all" items like "Bag of Food - Locker" for their Locker program. This lets them make the item limit for this item separate from its normal (e.g. "Bag of Food- Standard") counterpart.

      Receive Locker Items

      Go to the Inventory Management Screen (Inventory->Management).

      Transform Real Items Into "Bag of Food-Locker"

      Pantries maintaining a scheme of individual items (e.g. Can of Tuna, Apples...) might use these items build their "Bag of Food-Locker" catchall item. If that's the case, they'll need to "transform" the constituent items into a "mega-item" like Bag of Food- Locker.

      In this case, perform the following steps in the Management Screen:

      1. Transaction Type. Choose Transaction Type: Distribution.

      2. Source Location. Left Side: Choose the Source Location (Main by default). This is the Location where you're already keeping your constituent items.

      3. New Inventory Source. Right Side: Add a new Inventory Source called "Locker Transfer"

      4. Add All "Bag Contents" Quantities. Determine how much of which items you'll need to build one "Bag of Food-Locker" Item for each empty Locker. a real items from a normal Location to the Locker Transfer Source. Change Transaction Type to Distribution. Transfer all the individual real food items you'll use to create

      5. Move Quantities. Click Move Quantities; selected quantities will disappear from that Location's inventory.

      Receive (Load) Bag Items into the "Locker" Location:

      1. Transaction Type. Choose Transaction Type: Receive.

      2. Source. Left Side: Choose Source called "Locker Transfer" (create it if it doesn't exist).

      3. Recipient Location. Right Side: Choose the actual "Locker" Location created previously.

      4. Add "Bag" Quantities. Add 1 "Bag of Food-Locker" item for each bag you intend to load into a locker.

      5. Move Quantities. Now visitors to the online portal will see bags available for locker-distributions.

      Build Lockers (Build the Pantrysoft Locker Interfaces)

      *Go to Pantry->Locker Dashboard. Add one Locker for each Apex Locker you intend to operate:

      1. Choose the new Locker Location. If you see a Location selector, click the Locker Location you set up above.

      2. New Locker. Click New Locker.

      3. Name. Name must be the exact name on the physical locker.

      4. Item. Assign the Locker to a specific Item. This locker will be dedicated to holding exactly one of this item from now on (e.g. 1 of the Bag of Food- Locker Item).

      5. Location. Select the Locker Location you set up above.

      Pack your Lockers

      Staff members will have to manually load each locker with an actual bag of food, and then set the locker codes to match the PantrySoft Locker registers:

      1. Take note of the codes belonging to each locker (see screenshot of Locker A1 and B1 and their codes).

      2. Change the locker codes to their locker-interface counterparts in PantrySoft.

      3. Physically move one bag of food into each open locker.

      You can now verify the following effects on the Locker Dashboard:

      • Per-Locker. Manual Packing Icon toggles to "Manual Unpack" icon. (If you needed to, you can manually pack/ unpack a PantrySoft locker register by clicking the Manual Packing Icon [see pic of Loaded icon].

      • Per-Locker. Status changes to Set - Full.