Using automation developed by a staff member, the Garland, Texas, Fire Department can better inventory its thousands of assets and comply with regulations.
“We track everything from large equipment like our apparatus -- our fire trucks, our engines, our ambulances, our staff vehicles -- all the way down to the Band-Aids,” said Debbie Watson, senior business process analyst and citizen developer at the department.
The department used to track inventory with spreadsheets, a Microsoft Access database and pencil and paper, she said. “We found that when we asked questions like, ‘How much hose do we need to buy this year because it’s going to be coming to end of life?’ we couldn’t answer that question in a timely manner.”
Another pain point was the annual audit by the Texas Commission of Fire Protection.