Inventory Manager

The Inventory Manager is a management window in Acctivate that allows users to filter and and perform actions on product warehouse records in one central location. The Inventory Manager can be configured to group product warehouse records together based on user defined criteria.

The Inventory Manager can be accessed by going to Inventory → Inventory Manager or by clicking the Inventory Manager icon on the Icon bar.

Inventory Manager Bars

The Inventory Manager is made up of Bars, which are a collection of Buttons. To view the bars, click the View... button at the top of the Inventory Manager window. The Inventory Manager includes four default bars:

  • Product Classes: This bar shows a collection of buttons which group products by Product Class.
  • Product Types: This bar shows a collection of buttons which group products by Product Type.
  • Warehouses: This bar shows a collection of buttons which group products by Warehouse.
  • Restocking: This bar shows a collection of buttons which group products based on their stocking level and whether they need to be reordered or built.

Custom bars can be created to meet your needs. See Configuring the Manager Windows.

Inventory Manager Buttons

Once you've selected an Inventory Manager bar you will see a collection of buttons. A button is a group of product warehouse records that meet specific criterion.

A button can display up to three different pieces of information:

  • Button name: The button's name will display prominently and provide a description of the products included in the Button. For example, the Product Class bar's buttons will be named after Product Classes.
  • Amounts: A dollar amount can be displayed in the bottom left corner of the button. The dollar amount displayed is the sum of the on hand value for all the products included in this button.
  • Product Count: The number in the bottom right of the button indicates the number of product warehouse records that are included in the button.

See the Definitions section below for definitions of each button.

Inventory Manager Columns

When viewing a Button columns of data will appear. The Inventory Manager only shows one row per product warehouse.

For example, if a product is stocked in three warehouses then you would see three rows for that product.

This means that some columns show product level information, such as the product's description, while other columns show warehouse level information, such as the On Hand quantity.

Filtering, Grouping, and Sorting

While each button is pre-configured to show products warehouse records that meet certain criterion, you can use the Filter button to apply additional filtering to a button.

When you click the Filter button, a new window will appear. The bottom of the Filter window will include a description of the current button's configuration. In the Filter window, use the filter editor to add to the existing button filters.

These additional filters will remain in effect until you close the Inventory Manager or click the "X" button next to the filter button (when the "X" button is a dark gray it means there are additional filters in place).

When the Find panel is enabled (View → Find Panel or Ctrl+F), type in text to search and further filter the grid results. Use Ctrl+F to place the cursor in the Find field. To hide the Find panel, uncheck it from the View menu.

When the Grouping panel is enabled (View → Grouping Panel or Ctrl+G), drag columns from the grid to the Grouping panel to group the grid by the field. Multiple levels of grouping are supported. To hide the Group panel, uncheck it from the View menu.

Sort by a single column by clicking the column header. Click the column header again to change the sort direction. Multi-column sorting can be achieved by holding shift while clicking on other column headers.

Actions

Besides presenting product warehouse information for easy review, the Inventory Manager allows you to perform actions on selected rows. Actions include creating reorders or assembly sessions, printing forms, updated product statuses, creating product notes, and deleting warehouses with zero quantity and no related transactions. To perform an action:

  • Open the Inventor Manager.
  • Select the appropriate Bar and Button.
  • Check off one or more rows.
  • Click Action... to view a list of Actions and select one.

Actions

  • Create Reorders: This action loads product warehouse records into the Create Reorders window, if they are not already present in the Create Reorders window. This action can only be applied to inventoried, assembly, and non-inventoried products.
  • Create Assemblies: This action loads product warehouse records into the Create Assemblies window, if they are not already present in the Create Assemblies window. This action can only be applied to assembly products.
  • Print Product Info: Prints reports associated with the Product Information document type.
  • Print Product Labels: Prints reports associated with the Product Label document type.
  • Update Product Statuses: Allows making bulk updates to the selected product's statuses.
  • Create Product Note: Opens the Note window to allow adding a note. If multiple products are selected, the same note will be added to all the selected products.
  • Remove From Warehouse: Deletes the warehouse from the selected product. The product warehouse must not have any on hand quantity or open transactions.

The action will apply to the selected products if they are eligible.

After the action is completed, the selected products remain selected. This allows you to perform additional actions on the selected products. However, if the action caused some or all the product warehouse records to move to a new button, you must click on that button in order to perform a secondary action. Or to put it another way, actions only apply to the rows selected in the button which is currently being viewed.

Tip

There are a few different ways to select rows:

Check off all rows: Click the checkbox column's header to select all the rows in the current button.

Check off a range of rows: Click anywhere in a row, then hold the down the shift key while clicking on a row above or below the first row. The first and last rows clicked and all rows between will be checked off.

Check off a group of rows: Enable the Group panel (Ctrl+G) and then drag a column header to the panel to group by that field. Once rows are grouped, you can click the checkbox in the group section to check off all rows in the group.

Check off rows using a USB scanner: You can also check off records in the current button using a USB scanner configured with a carriage return/line feed (Enter key) suffix.

  1. Click the Check by ID button on the toolbar.
  2. In the Check Products window, scan a barcoded Product ID to select and check off the row.
  3. Repeat, scanning additional barcodes.

Using the spacebar: Click a checkbox to select it, then use the up/down arrows on your keyboard to move to another checkbox and press the spacebar to check the checkbox.

Restocking

The Inventory Manager provides key information about inventory availability and restock suggestions.

Below are some fields which can help in identifying stock level issues and identify products which need to be restocked.

  • Stock Level: The Stock Level field provides information about the product warehouse's availability in relation to its minimum stocking level. This values does not factor in open purchase orders or assemblies.

    • In Stock: The availability is equal to or greater than the minimum stock level.
    • Low Stock: The availability is greater than zero, but less than the minimum stock level.
    • Out of Stock: The is zero or negative.
    • Non-Stock: Inventory is not tracked for this product.

  • Restock Suggested: This indicates that a Suggested Restock Qty exists for this product warehouse. A product may have a Stock Level status of "Low Stock" or "Out of Stock", however a restock may not be suggested because an open Purchase Order or Assembly session exists.

  • Pending Reorder: This product is currently in the Create Reorders window.

  • Pending Build: This product is currently in the Create Assemblies window.

  • Is Assem Component: Used to identify products which are components of an assembly product. This information can be helpful since this product's availability may be impacted by the creation of its related assembly product. For example, you may wish to wait on creating reorders for products marked as an assembly component until after you've created Assembly sessions.

  • Suggested Restock Qty: The Suggested Restock Quantity formula is based on the net available, min stock qty, max stock quantity, and min reorder quantity defined at the warehouse level of the Edit Product window.

    The Suggested Restock Qty is calculated as:

    1. First, the Available quantity is calculated:

      On hand quantity
      - Total scheduled and backordered quantity from customer sales orders (excluding special order quantities)
      - Total scheduled and backordered special order quantity from customer sales orders
      - Total component quantity from unposted inventory assemblies (WIP)
      - Total outbound quantity from unposted inventory transfers
      - Total outstanding quantity from vendor PO returns (negative outstanding quantities from a vendor purchase order)
      - Reserved quantity for the warehouse (i.e., safety stock)

    2. Next, the Net Available quantity is calculated by adding in open Purchase Order and Assembly quantities:

      Available quantity
      + Total outstanding quantity (not received yet) from issued vendor Special Order purchase orders
      + Total outstanding quantity (not received yet) from issued vendor purchase orders
      + Unposted assembly quantity

    3. The Net Available quantity is then compared to the Minimum Stocking Quantity for the warehouse.

      • If the Net Available is greater than the Minimum Stocking Quantity, then the Suggested Restock Quantity will be zero.
      • If the Net Available is less than the Minimum Stocking Quantity, then the Suggested Restock Quantity will restore inventory to the Maximum Stocking Quantity for the warehouse

        Suggested Restock Quantity = Maximum Stocking Quantity – Net Available

    4. If there is a Minimum Reorder Quantity for the warehouse it will be used if it is higher than the computed Suggested Restock Quantity.

      If Suggested Restock Quantity < Minimum Reorder Quantity then Suggested Restock Quantity = Minimum Reorder Quantity

  • Preferred Price: The price that is selected by default in the Create Reorders window. The hierarchy used is:

    • The preferred vendor's price
    • The last PO price for the preferred vendor
    • If the product's default purchase unit is the same as the product's stocking unit, then the Last Cost for the warehouse will be used
    • If the product's default purchase unit is the same as the product's stocking unit, then the Average Cost for the warehouse will be used.
    • 0.00 will be used as the price.

  • Preferred Unit: The unit that is selected by default in the Create Reorders window. The hierarchy used is:

    • If the preferred vendor has a price and price unit set, the unit will be used
    • The last PO Unit for the preferred vendor
    • The last receipt unit for the preferred vendor
    • The product's default purchase unit

Button Definitions

The following table contains the definitions of the default Inventory Manager bars and buttons.

Bar Button Definition Amount
Product Classes (Your Product Classes) A button will be created for all Product Classes. Includes all products that are stocked in a warehouse, are active, and are not discontinued. The total on hand value.
Product Classes (Your Product Types) A button will be created for all Product Types. Includes all products that are stocked in a warehouse, are active, and are not discontinued. The total on hand value.
Restocking Restock Includes products in which a restock is suggested (by either reordering or assembling). Includes only inventoried products that are stocked in a warehouse, are active, and are not discontinued. The total on hand value.
Restocking Reorder Includes products in which a restock is suggested by reordering; i.e., assembly products are excluded. Includes only inventoried, but not assembly, products that are stocked in a warehouse, are active, and are not discontinued. The total on hand value.
Restocking Build Includes products in which a restock is suggested by assembly; i.e., only assembly products are included. Includes only assembly products that are stocked in a warehouse, are active, and are not discontinued. The total on hand value.
Restocking Discontinued Includes products that are stocked in a warehouse, are active, and are discontinued. The total on hand value.