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Consigned Inventory
The Consigned Inventory system is used by the Site Ops team to manage the inventory of the replacement parts in the data centers. The Pitney Bowes system is used to manage the checking-in of parts into the system, and returning of replaced parts to their respective manufacturers.

Consigned Inventory vs CI+
The CI+ system is an extension to the existing Consigned Inventory system. The main difference being the CI+ system is used for Facebook-owned inventory, while the original Consigned Inventory is for vendor-owned inventory. In addition, the CI+ system can track equipments that are not in production.

Consigned Inventory Logistics Guide
This section describes the logistics related tasks that you can perform with the Facebook Consigned Inventory system. You can use this system to track movements of parts at Facebook data centers.

The Consigned Inventory system uses a "Hub and Spoke" model for managing parts. The parts that arrive are received at a hub, like PRN1-HUB, and are then distributed to spokes. Spokes are individual suites and cabinets in the data center.


 * Spokes follow one of the two naming conventions:
 * VENDOR-DC-SUITE-CABINET-SHELF - shelf in a given data center for the vendor's part
 * VENDOR-DC-SUITE-RMA - RMA shelf where the Site Ops technician places swapped out parts

About Parts
The following are the characteristics of the parts used at the data center:
 * Consumable:The parts that do not get returned to the vendor after it is swapped out are classified as consumable. For example, consumable parts include SCSI cables, SATA cables, and power supplies.
 * The following are the steps involved in inventory management cycle for consumable parts:
 * Create an RMA for a consumable part after it is swapped out
 * Decrement the item from the inventory when the movement status is 'Shipped'
 * Part status changes to 'Consumed' on the inventory
 * Site Ops tech to dispose of or otherwise destroy a consumable part.
 * When the part status changes to 'Consumed' on the Consigned Inventory, it is to be understood that the part has been disposed by the technician.


 * Serialized/ Non-serialized: Some parts have serial numbers, while others don't. A part which comes with a serial number is classified as a Serialized component. Few of the parts like DIMMs have serial numbers, but their packaging does not include it. Such parts are considered as Non-serialized component. Non-serialized components may have a vendor ID and may or may not be consumable.


 * Vendor ID: Some vendors add their own specific vendor ID that is associated with all their parts. The vendor ID is also referred to as an order ID. For example, Dell parts use vendor IDs that start with EX###. The vendor ID is also the RMA ID. They also have serial numbers, but the vendor ID is used as the identifier on the Consigned Inventory.

Parts can have one or more of these attributes. So it is possible to have a serialized component that has a vendor ID; other parts that have one of these while still others have neither.

Lifecycle of a Part
The logistics person is responsible for the inventory check-in process which involves the following steps:
 * 1) Scan newly arrived parts into the Consigned Inventory system.
 * 2) Transfer actual parts to their appropriate spoke.
 * 3) Scan every item in the 'Ready to RMA' shelf once per day.
 * 4) Transfer ready to RMA parts back to the hub within the Consigned Inventory.
 * 5) Create a movement to notify the vendor or dispose of a consumable part.
 * 6) Physically return a 'Ready to RMA' part to an RMA shelf.

Parts that are already in the system can be transferred between locations. Movements are for inventory and RMA purposes only.

The steps involved in the Lifecycle of a Part is explained in detail here-in below:

Logging In
To access the Consigned Inventory system, a Facebook Site Ops admin will provide you with the URL and user credentials. Access the provided link and enter your login credentials. The Home tab appears.



Check-in New Parts
The new vendor parts that arrive at the data center are received into the 'Shipping and Receiving' station. They are then checked into 'Send Suite'. Once checked into Send Suite, they are delivered to the hub for scanning into the Consigned Inventory system and putting each part into the appropriate vendor's cabinet. This will create a check-in.

To check in a new part on the Consigned Inventory, you need to perform the following steps:  Log in to the Consigned Inventory. Click the Inventory Check-In tab followed by clicking on the Beta - Inventory Check-In Plus Page link. Scan the location of the shelf in the vendor cabinet onto where the new part is being placed. The details of the shelf location will appear in the To Location field. Scan the Vendor, Facebook or Manufacturer part number details. The scanned part number will appear in the Part # field. Click Check-In 

Other Related Steps
 * To back out/remove a part from the inventory, click Backout
 * To enter details of another part into the inventory, click New Check-in

Transfer Parts between Data Centers within the Same Region
After the parts are scanned into the system, they need to be physically transferred to their appropriate spokes. The parts can also be transferred between other locations, like between two suites or cabinets or even between data centers within same region (like ASH1 to ASH2 or SNC1 to SNC7).

After the part is successfully transferred, a Site Ops technician can swap in this new part with the part to be replaced. The swap is done in SORT, and is then captured in the Consigned Inventory system.

When you arrive with the part at the new location, scan the part into the system again, so the Consigned Inventory system knows the part is in its new location.

When a part has been swapped out and is placed on an RMA shelf, you must transfer the part back from the spoke to the hub. For more information, see Creating Movements for RMA Items.

To transfer a part on the Consigned Inventory, you need to perform the following steps:  Log in to the Consigned Inventory. Click the Inventory Transfer tab. </li> <li>Scan the location of the shelf to where the new part is being moved. The details of the shelf location will appear in the To Location field.</li> <li>Scan the part number details. The scanned part number will appear in the Part # field. The part information will appear in the table on the right. A list of locations where the part can be found will appear below.</li> <li>Click Check-In</li> </ol>

Readying Parts for RMA
The Consigned Inventory system cannot identify how many faulty parts are installed until they are identified and entered as bad parts into the system. Before you can create a movement for a part that must be returned to the manufacturer, you need to ready the part for RMA.

To ready parts for RMA on the Consigned Inventory, you need to perform the following steps: <ol> <li> Log in to the Consigned Inventory.</li> <li> Click the Parts tab.</li> <li> Click the link for the required part. The Part Detail screen appears for the selected part. </li> <li>Click the Consume button. This indicates that you are using the part for a repair. The status will change from Inventory to Consumed and its quantity will decrement by 1.</li> <li>Click the Ready for RMA Check-in tab to check-in the faulty part.</li> <li>Follow the same steps for checking in new parts, except you need to enter an RMA location in the To Location field. </li> </ol>

Other Related Steps
 * To back out the check-in, click Backout. Consigned Inventory backs out the checked in parts and resets the check-in count to 0.