Inventory Management is a process used to control the location and quantity of Physical Goods and to follow their movement.
Specifically, Inventory Management tracks:
- The importation of new Physical Goods into Warehouses.
- The location where Physical Goods are stocked and who their Supplier is.
- The availability of Physical Goods Stock.
- The inventory movements between Warehouses and customers.
What Comes First
To start using Inventory Management configure the System to support your business model. In the following table, find the configuration modules related to Inventory Management
| Sub-module | Type | Classification | Navigation | Dig In |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Warehouse Types | Configuration | CONFIGURATION FOUNDATION APPLICATIONINVENTORY MANAGEMENTSET UP WAREHOUSE TYPES | Configuring Warehouse Types | |
| Inventory Management Business Definitions | Configuration | CONFIGURATIONFOUNDATION APPLICATIONINVENTORY MANAGEMENTSET UP BUSINESS DEFINITIONS | Configuring Inventory Management Definitions | |
| Installed Items | Application | FOUNDATIONINVENTORY MANAGEMENTMANAGE INSTALLED ITEMS | Managing Installed Items | |
| Warehouses | Application | FOUNDATIONINVENTORY MANAGEMENTMANAGE WAREHOUSES | Managing Warehouses | |
| Installed Item Categories | Configuration | CONFIGURATIONFOUNDATION APPLICATIONINVENTORY MANAGEMENTSET UP INSTALLED ITEM CATEGORIES |
Step 1: Setting up Warehouse Types
Start by configuring Warehouse Types
Warehouse Types are used to group Warehouses according to their function. Warehouse Types are used in CRM.COM configurations to put in place business rules and restrictions, such as the Inventory Management Definition, or for creating Warehouses.
Step 2: Setting up an Inventory Management Definition
Proceed to configure an 'Active' Inventory Management Definition.
Inventory Management Definitions is a set of business rules used to control the behaviour of Inventory Management throughout its Life Cycle. Through Inventory Management Definitions you can define the Warehouse Types from which Physical Goods will be retrieved or returned when used on Jobs and Subscriptions. For each Warehouse Type, one of three Classifications below must be selected, which determines for which Type of Sale the Physical Goods of the Warehouse will be available.
- Rentals: Used for rented Subscription Installed Items. The customers do not purchase the item and return it when the Subscription is terminated.
- Direct Sales: Used for Installed Items that are sold through Jobs and are extracted from your business' Warehouses. The customers get billed for the Physical Good through CRM.COM, and the good does not have to be returned if a customer stops cooperating with your business.
- Indirect Sales: Used for Installed Items that are sold through Jobs and are extracted from your business partners' Warehouses. The customers do not get billed for the Physical Good through CRM.COM, and the good does not have to be returned if a customer stops cooperating with your business.
Set up the Warehouse Types to be used in each of the following cases, where movement of Physical Goods is required:
- Adding Physical Goods
- Removing Physical Goods
- Adding Physical Goods during Swap
- Removing Physical Goods during Swap
Step 3: Creating Warehouses
Warehouses are the locations where Physical Goods are stored before distribution. Warehouses can be created through the Inventory Management module. To add a Physical Good to a Subscription or a Job, it must be located in a Warehouse whose Type is defined 'FOR ADDING' in the 'Active' Inventory Definition.
The Group of the Warehouse should also be the same as the User Group you used to log in.
Step 4: Creating Installed Items
Installed Items are instances of Physical Goods which are classified as Traceable (see Products). Each Installed Item is a unique instance of a Product, with a unique serial number used for identification and tracing.
There are three ways in which Installed Items can be created:
- Manually through the Manage Installed Items screen
- Manually by performing Stock In Warehouse Transactions
- By Importing Installed Items via the Utilities module
To create an Installed Item, the following attributes must be defined:
- Product: The traceable Physical Good.
- Serial Number: The unique identification of the Installed Item (usually sent to the Provisioning Provider System as an identification of the subscriber).
- Components: Required in case the Product is a Fixed Product Bundle, i.e. it is made up of multiple other Products.
Once an Installed Item is created (if not imported) it must then be added to a Warehouse.
Step 4: Setting Up Installed Item Categories
Configure the following modules for additional functionality and categorisation. You can skip configuration of these modules if not required by your business model.
- Installed Item Categories: Used to classify Installed Items into generic groups based on common attributes. Installed Item Categories follow a hierarchical tree structure. Each Installed Item can be classified only in one category.
Your Inventory can be managed through the Inventory Management Module, from which you can:
- Add Stock into your Warehouses by performing Stock In Warehouse Transactions. Use this Type of Transaction with Physical Goods which were already imported into the System or by creating the Goods while performing the Warehouse Transaction. Specify the items that should be added to the Warehouse and post the Warehouse Transaction when you are ready to add the stock.
- Removing Stock from your Warehouses by performing Stock Out Warehouse Transactions. Use this Type of Transaction to remove stock from your Warehouses, by specifying the items that should be removed. Post the Warehouse Transaction when you are ready to remove the stock.
- Moving Stock between your Warehouses by performing Stock Movement Warehouse Transactions. Use this Type of Transaction to move stock between your Warehouses, by specifying the source and target Warehouse and the items that should be moved. Post the Warehouse Transaction when you are ready to move the stock.
- Viewing the location of all your Physical Good, through the Location Information sections available on Installed Items. Access this area by navigating to Inventory Management > Installed Items. Use this information to see whether a specific Installed Item is located in one of your Warehouses or if it was already distributed to a specific Subscriber. View all the Warehouse Transactions that were applied on a specific Installed Item through the Installed Item History Section.
Do it Yourself!!
Let's see how you can quickly set up the System to start using Inventory Management module.
No configuration is necessary for the modules, sections and attributes not mentioned below.
Create the following Warehouse Types & Inventory Management Definition & Warehouses
Company ZX would like to set up Warehouses for each of its Sales branches as well as its Sales Partners. It also requires that the new hardware to be provided to its customers is stored in different Warehouses than returned hardware.
Warehouse Types
| Name | Information |
|---|---|
| Direct Sales WT | For Warehouses that belong to your business and from where Installed Items will be sold. |
| Indirect Sales WT | For Warehouses that belong to partners of your business and from where Installed Items will be provided (not billed from CRM.COM). |
| Rentals WT | For Warehouses that belong to your business and from where Installed Items will be rented (not billed). |
Returns of Direct Sales WT | For Warehouses that belong to your business and where sold Installed Items that are replaced for free (through Warranties) will be returned. |
Returns of Indirect Sales WT | For Warehouses that belong to partners of your business and where indirectly sold Installed Items that are replaced for free (through Warranties) will be returned. |
Returns of Rentals WT | For Warehouses that belong to your business and where rented Installed Items will be returned. |
Inventory Management Definitions
| For Adding | For Adding During Replacement | For Removing | For Removing during Replacement | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Warehouse Type | Classification | Warehouse Type | Classification | Warehouse Type | Classification | Warehouse Type | Classification |
Direct Sales WT | Direct Sales | Direct Sales WT | Direct Sales | Returns of Direct Sales WT | Direct Sales | Returns of Direct Sales WT | Direct Sales |
Indirect Sales WT | Indirect Sales | Indirect Sales WT | Indirect Sales | Returns of Indirect Sales WT | Indirect Sales | Returns of Indirect Sales WT | Indirect Sales |
Rentals WT | Rentals | Rentals WT | Rentals | Returns of Rentals WT | Rentals | Returns of Rentals WT | Rentals |
Warehouses
| Warehouse Name | Warehouse Type | Group (Sales Branch or Partner) |
|---|---|---|
| SBA Direct Sales WH | Direct Sales WT | Sales Branch A |
| PBA Direct Sales WH | Direct Sales WT | Partner Branch A |
| SBA Indirect Sales | Indirect Sales WT | Sales Branch A |
| PBA Indirect Sales | Indirect Sales WT | Partner Branch A |
| SBA Rentals | Rentals WT | Sales Branch A |
| PBA Rentals | Rentals WT | Partner Branch A |
| SBA Direct Sales Returns | Returns of Direct Sales WT | Sales Branch A |
| PBA Direct Sales Returns | Returns of Direct Sales WT | Partner Branch A |
| SBA Indirect Sales Returns | Returns of Indirect Sales WT | Sales Branch A |
| PBA Indirect Sales Returns | Returns of Indirect Sales WT | Partner Branch A |
| SBA Rentals Returns | Returns of Rentals WT | Sales Branch A |
| PBA Rentals Returns | Returns of Rentals WT | Partner Branch A |