A boiler that needs a diverter valve is a job you go back to. The Parts list on a job is where you write down what it's waiting for, so the part gets ordered, picked up and fitted, and nobody forgets the return visit.
Switch it on
Parts comes with the Parts & Van Stock skill. Go to Mucka Skills, then Parts & Van Stock, and install it. It asks what you want to keep track of: tick Parts for jobs. You can tick Van stock as well, or instead: see Keep stock on your vans.
To change it later, go to Settings, then Work, then Parts.
Add parts to a job
Open the job and tap Parts.
- Put in where it's coming from, such as Wolseley, Bedminster. It's just a note, so write it the way you'd say it.
- Pick how it arrives:
- Collect: you're picking it up from the merchant.
- Delivered to site or Delivered to the office: it's coming to you.
- On the van: you've already got it.
- If you know when it'll be in, put in the due date.
- Type each part and how many. Tap Add another part for the next one. Where from, how it arrives and the due date apply to every part you add in one go.
- Tap Save parts.
If the job has an accepted quote, its parts are listed under On the accepted quote. Tick any you want on the list. Labour, call-outs and discounts aren't offered. If the quote is changed later, a part you've already added stays matched to its line and isn't offered again, unless you change what the line says.
While you book or rebook the job
You don't have to save the job first. When you book a job (New Job) or move one (Reschedule, or Edit job on your phone), the sheet has Parts needed under What's the job?
- On a job that already has parts, they're listed there with where each one is up to, such as Ordered, due Wed.
- Tap Add the parts (or Add a part) and fill it in the same way as above.
- Tap Create or Save as normal. The parts are saved with the job, so there's no separate Save parts button here.
If the parts can't be saved, you're told why and nothing else changes, so a new job is never booked without the parts you typed in.
From the job sheet, as you finish the visit
If you can't finish today because you need a part, say so while you fill in the job sheet. After What's on the job, the job sheet asks Need parts to come back? Tap Add the parts it needs, fill it in the same way as above, and tap Save parts. If you go straight on and issue the sheet, anything you've typed there is saved first.
Finished the job? Just tap Next. Nothing is added.
You can also tell Mucka, by chat, WhatsApp, voice or on the phone:
"Need a diverter valve and two condense elbows for the Smith job, Wolseley have them Thursday."
Move a part on
Each part has one button that moves it to the next step: Mark ordered, Mark in (or Mark arrived for a delivery), Mark collected, then Mark fitted. A delivery skips "collected", and a part already on the van goes straight to fitted. The bin icon takes a part off the job.
Or tell Mucka: "The valve for the Smith job is in at Wolseley".
While anything is still needed or on order, the job says Waiting for parts. Once everything has arrived it says Parts in.
What to pick up each morning
Every morning Mucka lists the parts to pick up for today's jobs, grouped by merchant, with which job each one is for. If you use van stock, whatever your van is short of at its last count joins the same list, under the same merchant:
- on your home screen on your phone
- in your WhatsApp morning briefing
- in the morning briefing when you say "morning" to Mucka in the app
Anything a job needs today that isn't in yet is flagged too, so you can check before you set off or move the visit. Deliveries that have already arrived aren't on the pick-up list, because there's nothing to fetch.
What to order tonight
Most of us order the evening before and collect first thing. So your end-of-day summary on WhatsApp ends with the parts tomorrow's jobs still need that nobody has marked ordered yet:
Still to order for tomorrow: 2 × Diverter valve from Wolseley (08:00 · Boiler Repair · BS5 9ZZ).
Once you've ordered it, tap Mark ordered on the job, or tell Mucka, and it's off the list. Parts already ordered, already in or on the van aren't mentioned. If nothing for tomorrow needs ordering, the summary says nothing about parts at all.
Tick a part on your home screen when you've got it. That marks it collected for the whole team, with your name on it.
Engineers see the parts for their own jobs only, in the morning, the evening and on the Parts page. Nothing on the parts list shows a price, so it's safe for everyone to use. What a part cost the business goes on the job's costs instead.
The Parts page: every job's parts in one place
In a team, the office usually orders the parts and the engineers collect and fit them. The Parts page in the menu shows all of it at once, so you don't have to open each job.
If you can see every job, it has five tabs:
- To order: parts written down on a job and not ordered yet, grouped by merchant, so one call to Wolseley covers every engineer's jobs. Tick the parts (or Tick all on a merchant), tap Mark ordered, and add the order reference and the day they're due if you have them.
- On order: parts ordered and not in yet, grouped by merchant. Anything past the day it was due says Late. Tick what's arrived and tap Mark in.
- To collect: parts in at the merchant, or delivered to the office and waiting to go out, grouped by who collects them. That's the job's engineer, unless you pick somebody else from the list beside the part. Tick and tap Mark collected when they've got them.
- Jobs waiting: jobs held up by a part, and jobs where everything is in and nothing is booked to fit it. Book the return visit opens the job ready to pick the day.
- Vans: what each van should carry and what to buy, if you use van stock.
Filter any tab by engineer, merchant, or the day of the job: today, tomorrow or this week.
On a phone, the tabs run along the top under a search box, which finds a part by what it is, the merchant, the order reference or the job. The engineer, merchant and day filters are behind the filter button beside it. When you tick a part, a bar along the bottom shows how many you've ticked and the next step. Mark ordered asks for the order reference and due day in a small sheet. On To collect, tap Collects under a part to choose who fetches it.
If one of the parts you ticked has been taken off its job since the page loaded, nothing is changed and you're asked to refresh, so you never think you've ordered something you haven't.
My parts, for engineers
An engineer opening Parts sees My parts instead:
- To pick up, by merchant: parts in and waiting for them to collect.
- At the office for you: parts delivered to the office for them to take out.
- Not in yet, today and tomorrow: anything their next two days' jobs are still waiting for, so they can check before they set off.
- Your van, if you use van stock.
Tick a part when you've got it and it's marked collected for the whole team. If the office asks you to collect a part for somebody else's job, it shows here too, with the job's type, time and postcode, but not the customer.
Book the return visit
When everything a job was waiting for has arrived and no visit is booked to fit it, a Parts In card appears in your actions. Tap Book the return visit and the job opens with the reschedule sheet ready, so you can pick the day. Nothing is booked until you do.
What it doesn't do
Mucka doesn't raise purchase orders or send orders to the merchant. Order the parts the way you do now, then mark them ordered in Mucka. For what each van should carry, use van stock.