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Inventory Administration

Inventory Administration

Here you can set up and manage your inventory store transfer and restocking rules. The Inventory Administration section comprises three tabs:

Contact your Customer Success Manager to start using these features.

Setting Up Rules for Inventory Store Transfers

Each inventory store transfer that you are going to create in Inventory Manager will be associated with a work order. Transferred parts will be listed as materials on such work orders. Before you create a transfer, define default parameters for all work orders created in the event of inventory transfers.

⦿ How to Set Up Store Transfers
  1. Click the hamburger menu, and select Admin > Inventory > Inventory Administration section.Accessing the Inventory Administration section via the hamburger menu
  2. Make sure you are on the Rules tab. Then, specify the following information for work orders that are going to be associated with store transfers:
    Rules tab where you can configure inventory store transfer rules
     
    1. Work Order Category

       Expand this section to view the best practice.

      BEST PRACTICE

      Create the Inventory Transfer category in the Admin module to easily manage transfer work orders. Ensure that the category is associated with the proper GL code in your Admin settings. This will allow you to properly account for inventory transfer costs. 

    2. Priority

       Expand this section to view the best practice.

      BEST PRACTICE

      We recommend that you create a new priority for store transfers with the default 0 hrs ETA. Since all inventory transfers are immediate, they will be created with the scheduled date matching the call date.

    3. Work Order Status

       Expand this section to view the best practice.

      BEST PRACTICE

      Keep in mind that when the Open status is picked for transfers, inventory transfer work orders will be visible in the SC Provider mobile app.

    4. Work Order Extended Status
    5. Trade: To set the default trade for all store transfers, pick the required option from the Trade drop-down list. 

       Expand this section to view the best practice.

      BEST PRACTICE

      Ensure that the trade you select here is associated with the proper GL code in your Admin settings. This will allow you to properly account for inventory transfer costs.

      If you want Inventory Managers to decide themselves which trade should be associated with each store transfer, you can let them select the required trade when they are creating a store transfer. Read about the Require Trade Selection option below for more details.

    6. Require Trade Selection: Select this checkbox if you don’t want to impose a default trade and provider for store transfers. In this case, Inventory Managers will be able to decide themselves which trade should be set on a store transfer work order and which one of your providers should perform the transfer. When creating a store transfer in Inventory Manager, users can pick the required trade and provider. It allows you to be more flexible in terms of GL codes as you ensure the store transfer WO gets associated with the right GL code and the parts are billed correctly.
    7. Default Provider

       Expand this section to view the best practice.

      BEST PRACTICE

      If you do not have an FTM internal provider, we recommend that you create one and assign this provider to all locations that may request inventory parts to be shipped from a warehouse. Make sure that the provider is also assigned to the trade that you select in your inventory transfer rules. 

      Please note that the provider in this context is actually your organization's Inventory Manager who is responsible for transferring inventory items.

      When the Require Trade Selection checkbox is selected, your default provider preference isn’t taken into account. Inventory Managers will be asked to pick the required provider when creating a store transfer. 

      Should you want to restrict store transfers to a single trade and provider combination, ensure that the Require Trade Selection checkbox is cleared.

  3. Click Save.

Once you have specified all the required parameters and saved your settings, you can get down to creating store transfers.

If you have not yet assigned employees who should be responsible for creating and managing transfers in your organization, read Subscriber Permissions to learn how to enable the corresponding permissions for your employees.

Work orders for store transfers will be created strictly by the book:

  • Transfer-related work orders will belong to the specified category and trade.
  • They will have the predefined priority.
  • They will be submitted with the status you’ve set.
  • They will be dispatched to the default provider
  • The not-to-exceed (NTE) amount of such work orders will equal the number of parts transferred multiplied by the part price per unit.
  • Transfer-related work orders will be created for the destination location — the location that is supposed to receive the requested items.

Parts Purchasing

When external providers are performing service on a work order and it requires a part(s) to finalize the job and change the work order status to In-Progress/Parts on Order, there is the ability to add an additional step which includes you. This requires providers to specify the specific part(s) needed to complete the work order. When the option is turned off, providers will not be required to include you during the part(s) checking or ordering process. 

Checking Inventory First

You can incorporate the Checking Inventory First for Internal Providers to search and locate the part(s) if they are in stock and available within your inventory. If not checked, internal providers can go ahead and submit a Non-Catalog request.

When Checking Inventory First checkbox, external providers are not able to access the Parts Order in Provider Automation.

Requiring Parts Extended Status

Adding an extend status allows for the option to add parts purchasing whenever a work order’s status has been changed to that specific extended status. You can add as many extended statuses to the parts purchasing as you would like. 

Restocking Options and Schedule

Inventory restocking allows you to automate the process of replenishing a location that has had a reduction in inventory. The automated process is run based on the rules you configure under the Restocking Options and Schedule tab.

Tab where you can configure restocking schedule and rules

Restocking is available for warehouses and trucks only.

When the time comes to restock parts to ensure that the location has enough on-hand quantities, Inventory Manager takes the required part quantity from the primary supply location to replenish the inventory.

Configuring the restocking process is performed in 2 steps.

Step 1

You can specify how and when you want to have your warehouses and trucks restocked.

⦿ How to Set Up the Restocking Process
  1. Click the hamburger menu, and select Admin > Inventory > Inventory Administration section.Accessing the Inventory Administration section via the hamburger menu
  2. Switch to the Restocking Options and Schedule tab.Tab where you can configure restocking schedule and rules
  3. Decide for which inventory location type you want to configure the restocking schedule: warehouses or trucks.

    Restocking settings you set up here get applied to all inventory locations of the Warehouse and/or Truck types.

  4. Under the corresponding inventory location type, select the Restocking Option:

    1. Based on the part’s minimum and maximum values
    2. Based on the number of parts used

      Specifying the restocking method

      Learn more about Restocking Options.

  5. Pick the days of the week when the location inventory should be restocked. Restocking transfers will be created on this day for any parts at these locations that need to be restocked.
    Picking the days of the weeks when the restocking transfer should be created

  6. Pick the time and time zone for the restocking to occur.

    To avoid issues with generating restocking transfers, please confirm your time zone.

  7. Click Save at the bottom of the page.


Restocking Options

The restocking process depends on the restocking method you apply.

METHOD 1. Based on the part’s minimum and maximum values at a location.

Min and max quantities of a part

When you opt for this method, ensure that Minimum and Maximum Quantities are provided for your parts in stock records.


Part detailed view showing the part min and max quantities at the location

As soon as the part on-hand quantity meets or falls below the minimum, the system will request the restock of the part, bringing it back to the maximum. By setting minimum and maximum quantities, you can ensure that there is at least the minimum amount of inventory on hand at all times.


METHOD 2. Based on the number of parts used.

Image showing how restocking process happens when the second restocking method is applied

The concept here is only to replenish what has been used. On the scheduled date, Inventory Manager automatically creates restocking transfers to restock all the parts that have been used since the last restocking at warehouses and/or on trucks. The part quantity to be restocked will equal the part quantity taken from the inventory location since the last restocking.

Step 2

Your next step is to specify which parts should be included in or excluded from the auto-restocking process. By default, all your inventory parts are included in the restocking process. By clearing the Auto Restock checkbox in the overlay for editing part information in your Parts Catalog, you exclude the part from the process.

Restocking Process

In line with the above settings, restocking will take place on the specified date, at the specified time, across the selected locations (warehouses and/or trucks), for the specified parts.

Learn more about Restocking Transfer Statuses and Lifecycle.

GWP Equivalents for Refrigerant Parts

Each refrigerant part group you have loaded in Inventory Manager can be assigned the corresponding Global Warming Potential (GWP) equivalent.

GWP allows comparisons of the global warming impacts of different refrigerant gases. The larger the GWP, the more the given gas warms the Earth compared to CO2.