installation & quick start

Installing the Inventory Monitor Pro

The installation for Inventory Monitor Pro (IMPro) is quite simple and straight forward.  You can press the Cancel button anytime to abort installing the Inventory Monitor Pro (IMPro) on your computer. 

Where to install the Inventory Monitor: A single installation of the IMPro is all you need.  It is not necessary to install it on more than one computer.  We recommend you install the IMPro on a server or workstation which runs 24/7/365.  Typically, servers are always running and never power down so it is the optimal place to install the IMPro.  In the event the server or workstation is powered down for any length of time, the IMPro will pick up where it left off once it is restarted.  The only downside is the loss of any alerts or daily summaries which would normally have been generated during the period the IMPro was not active.

The following steps will guide you through the installation:

• Download the installation file InvMonProSetup.exe from our website using the provided link.

• Navigate to the folder where you saved the downloaded InvMonProSetup.exe file and run it.

• When the setup program is displayed you may begin installing the IMPro.

• While at the welcome screen, click the Next button to proceed with the installation

• While at the license agreement screen, read the license agreement.  Accept the license and then press the Next button, or decline the license agreement and press the Cancel button.

• While at the Start Menu Folder, you can accept the default menu folder name, or change it to whatever you like.  When you are done, press the Next button to continue with the installation.

• When you arrive at the Select Additional Tasks screen, you can choose to have a desktop icon/short cut placed on your desktop for easy access to The IMPro.  You can also choose to create a Quick Launch icon for the Quick Launch toolbar.

• The Ready to Install screen displays the previous choices you've made.  Click on the install button to install the IMPro.

• When the installation is complete a finish button will be displayed.  Click on the finish button to finish installing the IMPro.

Now that you have finished installing the IMPro on your computer, it is ready for you to run.  If you choose to have a desktop icon placed on your desktop, or a quick start icon placed on your quick start toolbar then you can click on either one to start the IMPro.  If you did not choose those options then you will need to go to the start menu button for Windows 7, Vista, or Windows XP and find the program group and start the IMPro from there.  By default the IMPro is installed in the Communiqué V3 folder.

Connecting to your StoneEdge database for use with the Inventory Monitor Pro

The IMPro can be connected to your enterprise database in the following manner:

1. The IMPro will first look for the InvMonSEPro.cfg found in your IMPro directory to see if there is already a server and database defined.

2. If a Server and Database are already defined in the InvMonSEPro.cfg file then the IMPro will use this for connecting to your database.

3. If there is no StoneEdge database defined in the InvMonSEPro.cfg file then you will need to select the server from the dropdown and enter the database you want to connect to.

4. For those user's requiring Server Authentication to log in to their SQL Server, be sure to toggle on the "Server Authentication" option, enter the "User ID" and "Password" in addition to selecting the "Server" and "Database" to connect.

5. Once the options for your database has been entered, you can connect to it using the connect button located next to it.

Once you have successfully connected to your StoneEdge database, a message will popup and indicate the success.  In the event there is an error connecting to your StoneEdge database, a message will popup and indicate an error has occurred and that you are not connected.

When connecting to the IMPro for the very first time, you will be prompted to initialize and configure your database so a baseline of you inventory can be established.  You must select "Yes" in order to continue with the Inventory Monitor.

During the initialization and configuration process, the IMPro will add several tables to your database so it can manage changes to your inventory for monitoring purposes. 

After these new tables are added, the Inventory Monitor will check for out of stocks and reorder points, and add these to the initial inventory image for monitoring.  Once the initial inventory image has been processed, the monitoring process can begin to check for changes requiring notification.  The changes will be check at whatever interval you select. 

The default interval is set to 30 minutes, but is user configurable and can be set to whatever number minutes you require.  This means whenever the interval is reached, the IMPro will compare the current inventory image to the current state of the inventory table and process any changes and send an email with an attached Product Replenishment report detailing the items which require your attention.

1. Alert Notification - Product Replenishment report
2. Daily Summary - Product Replenishment report

Configuring the Inventory monitor, the various options and what they mean are covered, and extensively discussed in the following webinars (Inventory Monitor Pro Webinar for Monsoon Stone Edge).  The IMPro will use the existing email settings if you already defined those via Communiqué for scheduled reports.  For more information on configuring you email settings click here.