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Parts

The APE! -- CUIP's Auxiliary Parts Exchange

Introduction
What is the APE!?
Where do the Parts Come From?
What does the APE! Have?

Introduction

The APE! emerged from CUIP's official practice of keeping a stash of certain parts, like ethernet cables and network cards, on hand for short notice use and the unofficial practice of holding onto stuff that just might come in handy some day (some call this pack-ratting; I prefer to think of it as "preparing for creatively leveraging future potentialities and unforeseen necessities"). At the same time, there's been a significant on-going discussion over the proper way to dispose of computers that are no longer useful as complete systems. The catalyst (as I remember it) for actually developing APE! from an informal part of our work into a formal system of exchange was the need to clean and re-organize the furniture of the compound to accommodate the CARA folks. So, it was thought, why not take all the gear we have lying around and organize and count it so we can use it more effectively?

So on Mon., Feb. 16th, Sanjay and I went through boxes of components and sorted them out into CAT5 cables, power cables, random cables, keyboards, mice, CD-ROMs, 3.5" drives, hard-drives, network cards, sound cards, etc. The stash of semi-functional PCs from the supply closet was thoroughly stripped for useful parts. We tallied everything, and the tally is currently kept by hand on a sheet of paper stashed with the spares. As of February 27th, the inventory had already been updated twice; once after Shaz took a video card, and a second time after a box of assorted cables, mostly parallel, arrived.

What Is the APE!?

First off, the APE! is an acronym that stands for Auxiliary Parts Exchange (it could also be TAPE! for The Auxiliary Parts Exchange, or CAPE! for CUIP Auxiliary etc..., but I like monkeys). The APE! is designed to be a way for TechCos and NSP-Techs to get spare parts in small quantities. It's a common occurence that an NSP-Tech working at a CUIP school finds that the only solution to a technical problem is hardware replacement, but doesn't have replacement parts on hand. In these situations, NSP-Techs frequently contact someone at the CUIP compound asking "Do we have any extra NICs/Floppy Drives/CAT5 cables/widgets/doodads?" Before the introdutction of the APE!, getting an answer was a matter of luck, first in contacting someone in the office, second in hoping the contact knew where the part in question might be, and third in actually having that part to spare. With the implementation of the APE!, all of these spare bits are centralized and inventoried, thus eliminating as many of the variables as possible in helping NSP-Techs and TechCos find what they need to get that station back up and running.

One snippy caveat: the A in APE! stands for Auxiliary, which should be taken to mean that this program is designed to supply short-term needs. If you need to outfit your whole lab with soundcards, a purchase order through your school and/or CPS is the route you should take.

Where Do the Parts Come From?

The bulk of what is currently on-hand came from the big, grey CUIP storage cabinet in the compound. Added to this was the collection of drives scavenged out of the pile of old machines in the supply closet. Finally, a box of parallel cables came in from a donation, and that completed what is the "seed" inventory for the APE!

However, this stock will only last for so long. The corollary to giving out parts on as-needed basis is receiving parts on an as-no-longer-needed basis. Having a dead (or merely extraneous) computer on hand is almost as common as having one with a broken NIC. Frequently, these "disposable" machines still have perfectly functional components in them. So in addition to putting out an offer of spare parts, we're putting out an offer to receive spare parts. Anytime you have an opportunity and a machine on its way out the door, pull out whatever still works, and at your convenience, bring it by the compound, where it will be logged and stored with the rest of the APE!'s inventory.

It may seem odd to give away your spare parts, but keep in mind that anytime you need them back, or need something else in exchange, the APE! is there, waiting for you, waiting to share the wealth.

What Does the APE! Have?

At present, the inventory is being kept on a sheet of paper with the parts themselves. We foresee this changing in the future (see below for details), but for the time-being, email parts@cuip.net, and someone can check the sheet to see if we have what you need. Of course, a single sheet of paper with an assortment of tick-mark running tallies in various hand-writings is not the ideal way to run a parts inventory. The improvement of the system will proceed in stages, as listed below:

Running Tally -- The system as it is, almost completely informal.
Spreadsheet -- A minor improvement, vis having a typed a sheet of paper with rows and columns for slightly cleaner tracking. This will be implemented by Friday, March 5th.
Database w/Local Interface -- Eliminates the messiness of tick marks and paper. NSP-Techs and TechCos will still use the email contact to arrange for pick-up and drop-off, and their contacts will make the updates.
Database w/Web Interface -- Building on stage (4), we will add a web interface similar to the CUIP/NSP reporting system so that NSP-Techs and TechCos can file requests or offers into the database which can then be centrally co-ordinated, batch, and tracked. Implementation of this face is still somewhat tentative, largely dependent on whether or not it's needed.