This issue has come up several times this year on our team. The question is, how much responsibility should a student have when a part needs to be ordered for the robot? Should a mentor talk with the student, and then try to order a part which fits the criteria? Or should it go to the other extreme, with the student being handed a team credit card and a $ limit and told to order the part himself?
Also, does your opinion change based on how specialized or expensive the part is?
Is it a “team” credit card, or the school’s credit card?
Be very careful if it belongs to the school, and a student is making the purchase (even if it is only for the robot, with mentor/teacher approval), the school can be extremely strict about it. Would hate to see a student get expelled for it.
Probably best to have the student send a link for the parts to the teacher/mentor, who can then make the purchase.
Great question!
We have a PO system on 1678. If a student or sub-team wants parts ordered, they fill out a PO for each supplier and include all items, with information including cost, qty, and a link to the item.
As Lead Technical Mentor, I go through, approve all items, then either myself or our Lead Mentor makes the purchase. We save receipts and are reimbursed by the school.
For travel costs, our Main Team Parent makes all necessary purchases/reservations and is reimbursed by the school through the same process.
Hope this helps!
-Mike
We have been using Cheesy Parts this year and has worked great. Most students have access to add parts (but it’s almost always me adding orders). Then the mentor with the team Credit Card orders what’s on there.
IMHO
I believe that parts ordering should be done by whomever is going to pay for the part. If someone orders a part, they bear the responsibility of whether it is needed or not if they expect to get reimbursement from the team’s money.
For our team, I (the Coach) order most of the parts, except for a few from the design team mentor lead…and some for marketing.
Students fill out a requisition with justification, and then I order it. This gives me an idea of how this fits into the budget. It also allows me to stop an order of something that we already have that students don’t know about.
Thanks for the replies! Followup question:
If it’s a specialty part (for example, a custom made actuator), should the student be calling the suppliers and asking about the possibilities available, or should a mentor handle that part and then decide if it works, or somewhere in between?
I love it when my students talk to suppliers!
It’s definitely not for every student, but for the ones that have a strong grasp of technical topics, I encourage them to make the call (I’m usually at work when they call), and then I’ll debrief with them afterwards to make sure they got the necessary information (cost, specs, delivery schedule, etc.)
Best,
-Mike
We have one person responsible for purchasing. You talk to that person, and decide between the two of you how you want the part ordered.
If the part is ordered on-line, we e-mail that person a link, and the parts person orders it.
Sometimes, after discussion, we go to the hardware store. That can either be the team credit card (for someone over 18), or they submit a receipt for reimbursement.
Sometimes I (mentor) buy (without discussing) some parts (under $25) for something I am wokring on with the team, and submit receipts.
Students should always get permission first. With that permission will come the acquisition method. Mentors have more leaway, but then they also have the financial resources to eat the cost if there is a disagreement.
On Team 237 a few head mentors have the team credit card and do the ordering. They will also contact suppliers along with most of the other mentors, as some of us have connections with some of them. I’m a mentor but don’t hold the card BUT I do work professionally in the robotics and automation field so I do check into parts at times with some specific suppliers I deal with, I pass the info along to the ones who actually buy to order. A few times I may be able to get free samples or a donation that I just handle myself with those I know in the industry.
I’m somewhat against having the students do direct ordering, it has to be done professionally, I’m not saying they can’t but it would have to watched closely. You also want to be taken seriously and a supplier may not do that with a 14 year old. I’m not trying to bash, just saying how it is.
My team gets no monetary support from the school, all funds are raised or donations. The school has no say in anything we order. Atleast two mentors keep an eye on what’s ordered, cost and the funds we have. Sometimes we may look for a cheaper alternate part from another supplier. It does pay to shop around at times.
Our team is small enough that people just tell me what we need, I run it past the head build coach, then send a detailed email with everything we need, the exact website to buy it from and why we need it to the head marketing coach, who has the credit card.
Our team uses a google spreadsheet for parts ordering. We enter the parts we need along with links, quantities, and part numbers. When it comes to actually ordering the students do not have access to the account (so there is a safety net), but almost all orders are handled and researched by the students (except when the coach wants to order earplugs or something).
It might not be the most efficient system, but it is very empowering to the students.
It varies. Most of the time members order the parts and get reimbursed by the team, although minor purchases need to be reviewed by the Engineering Lead. Mentors review the purchase if it’s a major one, and often make large orders on their own.
Do you have this automated at all or in a custom application or is it just a series of emails/spreadsheets? I’m not judging either way but I would like to know more about it. We struggle with parts procurement and getting all of our groups to get the necessary info to me, the ordering guy, in a timely manner.