Inventory
Keep count of the equipment and consumables in each store room, see what is running low, and know who took or restocked every item, on the web and on a store-room iPad.
Inventory (/pms/inventory, in the clinical workspace) keeps a count of
everything the practice stocks: gloves, bibs, burs, cartridges, instruments.
Every take, restock and count is recorded with who did it and how many were
left, so each item has its full history.
Rooms and General stock
Stock lives in rooms. Add the rooms where you keep it under Settings → Calendar → Stock rooms, for each location. You can rename and reorder them there too.
An item that isn't in a room is the location's General stock, so a practice with one store cupboard doesn't need any rooms. A room that still holds items can't be archived: move its items to another room, or archive them, first.
Add items
Owners and managers add and change items.
Open Inventory and click Add item. The most common items are listed straight away.
Start typing to search Smileline's catalogue of dental equipment and supplies. The list narrows as you type and understands abbreviations (OPG, CBCT, BPE), brand names (Septanest finds articaine), both spellings (steriliser, sterilizer) and names in English, Spanish and Italian. Pick an item to use its name, unit and stock photo.
If the item isn't in the catalogue, choose Create “…” at the end of the list to add it under the name you typed.
Check the name, then choose its room (or General) and, if you like, the unit you count it in, such as box or pack.
Enter the Starting count: how many you have now. It becomes the first entry in the item's history.
Set a Min level to be warned before the item runs out. Leave it empty if you don't need a warning.
Photos
Every catalogue item comes with a stock photo, shown in the list and when you open the item. For an item you created, or to show your own product instead, click Upload photo when adding or editing it. Remove photo goes back to the catalogue photo, if the item has one. Some catalogue photos are shared under a Creative Commons licence; their credit is shown under the photo when you open the item, and listed under Photo credits.
To move an item to another room, rename it, change its min level or photo, open it and click Edit. A renamed catalogue item keeps its photo. Archive removes an item from the list without losing its history; turn on Show archived to find it again and restore it.
Take, restock and count
Anyone who works the clinic can take, restock and count: the front desk, dentists, hygienists and nurses as well as owners and managers. On the web, the change is recorded under your own name.
- In the Items list, click − to take one or + to add one.
- For a larger amount, open the item and click Update quantity. Choose Take or Restock and enter how many, or choose Count and enter how many there are now.
Stock never goes below zero. If you try to take more than the count shows, nothing is saved and Smileline tells you how many are left. The count was wrong, so correct it with Count.
A count is checked against the number you saw. If someone takes or restocks the item on another screen before you save, Smileline asks you to count it again rather than overwrite their change.
If the connection drops before Smileline answers, your change may or may not have been saved, and the item shows Not confirmed. Click − or + on it, or Save in its quantity window, which still shows your change: either one sends that same change again, and Smileline records it only once, so nothing is taken twice. Once it is confirmed, the next click is a new change.
Low stock
An item at or below its min level shows Low stock, and at zero Out of stock. Choose Low stock above the list to see only what needs reordering. Search and the room filter narrow the list further.
History and activity
Open an item to see its history, newest first: what was taken, restocked or counted, by whom, when, and how many were left afterwards. The Activity tab shows the same for every item at the location.
The history can't be edited or deleted. If a number is wrong, record a new Count.
Set up a store-room iPad
The Smileline app turns an iPad into a stock station for one room. Staff tap − or + on what they take or put back, then tap their name, so every item has a record of who took it. You can put an iPad in each store room.
Install Smileline from the App Store on the iPad. On an iPad the app opens straight into the stock station. It never rings for calls and shows no notifications.
Sign in with a team member's account that can take stock, as on the mobile app. If that person leaves the practice, sign the iPad in again with another account.
Choose the location, if the practice has more than one. Then choose the room the iPad is in. General shows every item at the location, with a filter for each room.
Keep the iPad on and on Smileline: in the iPad's Settings, set Display & Brightness → Auto-Lock to Never, and turn on Accessibility → Guided Access so the screen can't leave the app.
Use the iPad
- Tap − on each item you take, or + on each one you put back. For more than a few, tap the number on the item and choose Take, Restock or Count.
- Tap Save. Who's this? lists the changes you are about to save.
- Tap your name. The iPad confirms Saved for your name.
The names are the practice's active team members who can take stock; staff from an agency that works with the practice aren't listed. A name is a tap, not a password, so the record is only as honest as the people using it.
If an item has run out, or another iPad changed it after you counted, nothing is saved and the item is marked. Correct it and save again. To move the iPad to another room, use Change room. To sign out or switch practice, open Account.
Photo credits
These catalogue photos are shared under a Creative Commons licence. Each link opens the original photo and its licence.