Total Party Planner provides the ability to create a packing list specific to each Event. Any Inventory item built (Food, Beverage, Equipment, or Other) can be associated to Menu Items (cheese board with cheese and crackers), Beverages (martini glasses with martinis), Rentals (linens for the tables), and Miscellaneous items (dry ice with ice carving).
For further clarification, a chafing unit (Equipment) can always be associated to Fresh Steamed Vegetables (Menu Item). Anytime the Fresh Steamed Vegetables are used on an Event, the packing list will automatically know to print chafing unit.
Finally, equipment such as aprons, spice box, cleaning box, etc. can be associated with all events.
Step 1 – Navigate to Creating Packing List Associations Area(s)
Associations To Menu Items
1. Select the ‘Menu Items> Full Search’ option from the Navigation Bar.
2. Select the appropriate Menu Item by clicking the ‘View’ link.
3. Click on the ‘Pack List Items’ tab.
4. Optionally, follow the ‘Other Event Items>Pack List>Pack List Association Summary’ link to view all Pack List items.
Associations To Beverages or Rentals
1. Select the ‘Inventory> Full Search’ option from the Navigation Bar.
2. Select the appropriate Inventory item by clicking the ‘View’ link.
3. Click on the ‘Pack List Items’ tab.
5. Optionally, follow the ‘Other Event Items>Pack List>Pack List Association Summary’ link to view all Pack List items.
Associations To Miscellaneous
1. Select the ‘Misc.> Full Search’ option from the Navigation Bar.
2. Select the appropriate Miscellaneous Item by clicking the ‘View’ link.
3. Click on the ‘Pack List Items’ tab.
6. Optionally, follow the ‘Other Event Items>Pack List>Pack List Association Summary’ link to view all Pack List items.
Step 2 - Adding (Editing & Deleting) Standard Pack List Associations
1. Click the ‘Edit Pack List’ button.
2. A list of your Inventory items, grouped by classification (Food, Beverage, Equipment, Other) is available for selection.
3. Select a classification in the ‘Classification:’ drop-down list. Then click the ‘Search’ button.
Helpful Hint: To narrow down the inventory item list even more, select an appropriate category from the ‘Category’: drop-down list. In addition, use the ‘Find’: drop-down list and textbox.
4. Notice that the packing list items shown in the ‘Available Inventory in Database’ list come directly from the Inventory module. Refer to the topic Updating Inventory for further detail on adding inventory items.
5. Check the checkbox to the left of the desired inventory row from the grid.
6. If this item is actually deducted from inventory, and ultimately affects the bottom line profit, check the ‘Costed?’ checkbox. When calculating the financial numbers for this Event, checked items will be subtracted from the profit.
7. Decide on the pack type in the ‘Amount to Pack’ column.
· ‘% Guest Count’ - will multiply the number entered (in percentage) by the actual Event guest count. For example, 100% ‘Guest Count’ would pack an inventory amount exactly equal to the Event guest count.
· ‘% Item Qty’ – will multiply the number entered by the quantity for the item on the Event. For example, setting 12 x ‘Item Qty’ of sugar packets to Coffee Box Drop-off, would list 36 sugar packets to pack for 3 Coffee Boxes on an Event.
· ‘Item’ – will pack exactly the amount specified for each Event. For example 1 cleaning box.
8. Click the ‘Add Association(s)’ button to create the Inventory association.
9. Repeat the above steps for all Inventory items required for the Menu Item, Beverage, Rental, or Miscellaneous item.
10. Click on the ‘Current Packlist Association(s)’ tab to view the added associations.
11. Click the ‘Back to Menu Item’ button when finished.
Editing an Association After Saving
1. Select the appropriate item from the search page by clicking ‘Edit’.
2. Adjust the ‘Amount’ and ‘Costed’ fields as necessary.
3. Click the ‘Save’ button or ‘Cancel’ to rollback any changes.
Deleting an Association After Saving
From the Pack List Items Tab
1. Select the item you wish to remove by clicking the ‘Delete’ link.
2. Confirm the deletion by clicking ‘OK’.
From the Edit Pack List Page
1. Select the item you wish to remove by clicking the appropriate box.
2. Click the ‘Remove Association(s)’ button.
Step 3 – Reviewing the Event Pack List
The default pack list for an Event is built based on the associations created in the above steps. As Menu Items, Beverages, Rentals, and Miscellaneous items (that have pack list detail) are added to an Event, the pack list gets dynamically generated behind the scenes. There may be times where the default list needs to be reviewed or modified.
1. Select the ‘Event> Full Search’ option from the Navigation Bar.
Helpful Hint: To quickly load the previously viewed Event, use the ‘Event> Previously Selected’ option from the Navigation Bar.
2. Select the appropriate Event by clicking the ‘View’ link.
3. Click the ‘Pack List’ button.
Helpful Hint: There is a shortcut to loading the most recently viewed Event packing list. Hover over ‘Event’ on the Navigation Bar and click the ‘Current Event Pack List’ button.
4. Click the ‘Pack An Item’ button.
5. Select an inventory classification from the ‘Classification’ drop-down list.
6. Click the ‘Search’ button.
Helpful Hint: To narrow down the inventory item list even more, select an appropriate category from the ‘Category’ drop-down list. In addition, use the ‘Find’ drop-down list and textbox.
7. Notice that the packing list items shown in the ‘Available Inventory in Database’ list come directly from the Inventory module. Refer to the topic Updating Inventory for further detail on adding inventory items.
8. Select items by clicking the check boxes.
9. If this item is actually deducted from inventory, and ultimately affects the bottom line profit, check the ‘Costed?’ checkbox. When calculating the financial numbers for this Event, checked items will be subtracted from the profit.
10. Decide on the pack type in the ‘Amount to Pack’ column.
· ‘% Guest Count’ - will multiply the number entered (in percentage) by the actual Event guest count. For example, 100% ‘Guest Count’ would pack an inventory amount exactly equal to the Event guest count.
· ‘% Item Qty’ – will multiply the number entered by the quantity for the item on the Event. For example, setting 12 x ‘Item Qty’ of sugar packets to Coffee Box Drop-off, would list 36 sugar packets to pack for 3 Coffee Boxes on an Event.
· ‘Item’ – will pack exactly the amount specified for each Event. For example 1 cleaning box.
11. Select an option from the last drop-down list in the grid. It contains two general options: ‘<This Event Only>’ and ‘<Always Pack this Item>’.
Helpful Hint: ‘<Always pack this Item>’ tells Total Party Planner that this item should be loaded for this, and any future event automatically. You will not have to add it again for future Events. ‘<This Event Only>’ loads a piece of equipment for the current Event only.
12. Click the ‘Pack Item(s)’ button.
13. Repeat the above steps for any necessary inventory required for the Event.
14. Click the ‘Current Packlist Associaton(s)’ tab to view the items added.
15. Click the ‘Back to Event Pack List’ button when finished.
Step 4 – Justifying "Why" an Inventory Item is Packed for an Event
Currently Defined Packing List Associations
1. From the Event pack list screen, click the ‘Associations’ link in the grid.
2. Previously defined inventory associations are listed in the grid.
Step 5 – Options to Modify a Generated Event Pack List
There will most certainly be times when you want to add, remove, or modify selections automatically placed on the Event packing list.
1. Select the ‘Event> Full Search’ option from the Navigation Bar.
Helpful Hint: To quickly load the previously viewed Event, use the ‘Event> Previously Selected’ option from the Navigation Bar.
2. Select the appropriate Event by clicking the ‘View’ link.
3. Click on the ‘Pack List’ button.
Helpful Hint: There is a shortcut to loading the most recently viewed Event packing list. Hover over the Event button on the main toolbar and click the ‘Current Event Pack List’ button.
4. Select the item by clicking the ‘Edit’ link.
5. The fields ‘Send’, ‘Costed’, and ‘Unit Cost’ can be edited appropriately.
6. Click the ‘Save’ button to save the data to the database or ‘Cancel’ to rollback any changes.
Helpful Hint: As a shortcut, the ‘Send’ quantity can be edited directly in the grid on the Event page. This allows for quick updates to many selections rather than editing each row individually.
Rebuilding the Packing List
1. To rebuild the list from scratch (perhaps the menu has changed significantly), click the ‘Rebuild Pack List' button.
2. You will be prompted with a warning confirming that you really want to re-generate the list.
Changing status of Packing List Item (Packed/Not Packed)
1. Click on the ‘Toggle Status’ link next to the appropriate item. A status of ‘Skipped’ means that the item will not show up on the packing reports.
See Also: