Let's start by defining inventory-related terms - 'collection', 'item', and 'stock'
Collection: Contains various items (samples) from a certain category (for example, plasmids, antibodies, compounds, kits, etc.)
Item: A theoretical entity containing general and descriptive information regarding the sample (for example, information regarding an antibody item includes clonality, antigen, reactants, source, manufacturer, catalog number, price, etc.)
Stocks: Copies of an item representing its physical entity and containing information regarding its location and condition (concentration, volume, status, etc.) |
Labguru offers two types of import templates for populating and updating your inventory.
A collection import template:
A collection-specific Excel template for uploading items into a collection. In this template, each row represents an item. Uploads should be performed via the relevant collection page.
A stocks import template:
An Excel template for uploading stocks to a certain item by specifying the item’s SysID, name, and collection type. In this template, each row represents a stock. Uploads should be performed via the stocks page.
The selected template depends on the final outcome you wish to achieve.
To help you decide whether to use the collection import template or the stocks import template, we’ve gathered a few use cases.
New account - building your inventory
The first step in setting up your inventory is to define the categories of samples that you have in your lab and create & customize a collection for each of the categories.
Once collections are defined, it’s time to populate them by importing items using the collection import template.
The next step, following the creation of items, is to create stocks for each of the uploaded items. You’ll have two options, depending on how many stocks you wish to create for each item and whether these stocks are identical or not:
Creating identical stocks
Use the collection import template if you wish to create one stock or multiple identical stocks per item (i.e., all the information that will be recorded in the stock-related columns is the same for all stocks). In these cases, this step will be combined with the creation of items by specifying the number of identical stocks you wish to create for an item, under the 'stock count' column.
Creating non-identical stocks
Use the stocks import template if you wish to create non-identical stocks for an item. Non-identical stocks can only be created with the stocks import template. Each row in the template will contain information regarding a different stock, which will be linked to its item by specifying the item’s SysID, name, and collection type in the corresponding columns.
Guru Tips:
Non-identical stocks require a row per stock (to document different information for each stock) which will then result in multiple rows with the same item name (as they are all related to the same item). This can cause errors when the collection import template is uploaded since each row in this template represents an item and should therefore contain the information of a unique item. |
Existing account - maintaining and updating your inventory
During routine work, whenever stocks must be added to the system, use the stocks import template and link the stocks to the relevant items by specifying the item’s SysID, name, and collection type.
If new items arrive at your lab, use the collection import template to upload them to the right collection. Finally, choose a suitable way to upload stocks from the above-mentioned options (identical or non-identical).
If updating the information of an existing item, go to the relevant collection index page and export the items you wish to update (by checking their checkboxes). The export file is identical to the collection import template (contains the same columns) and will contain information regarding the chosen items. Once you’ve updated the required information, import the file back into the system. Note that it is not possible to create new stocks by adding information to the stocks-related columns in the exported file.
Guru Tips: Import files are only intended for creating or updating stocks/items, deleting an entry using import files is not possible. |