On this page
Overview
Inventory management is used to handle physical goods stock in your company's warehouses and follow their movement in and out of your warehouses.
Major features
- Import new physical goods into warehouses
- Move multiple items in, out or between warehouses
- Distinguish traceable physical goods (aka installed items) through unique number. i.e serial number
- Track the location where physical goods are stocked and who their supplier is
- Track the customer location of traceable physical goods
- Track inventory movements between warehouses and customers for installed items
- Keep a balance of physical goods in each warehouse
- Handle sales of physical goods
Setting Up Inventory Management
Warehouse Types
Warehouse types are used to group warehouses and assign them different functions. They are added in the inventory definition to designate the types of warehouses that installed items can be taken from, to be provided to a customer or moved to if the customer no longer needs them. For example, one warehouse type can be defined for use when selling physical goods directly from your company's point of sale, another when selling physical goods from a partner's point of sale or when renting physical goods.
Installed Item Categories
Categories are used to classify installed items based on common attributes.
Inventory definitions
Inventory Management Definition is used to define and control the movements of physical goods in and out of warehouses when sold or rented to customers through Jobs or Subscriptions. This is achieved by providing the warehouse types used in each event (addition or removal of physical goods) and assign a classification to each type, determining the type of sale that the physical goods of the warehouse will be available for. There are three types of sale:
- Rentals: Installed items are added to subscriptions and are not purchased by the customers. The goods must be returned when the subscription is terminated.
- Direct Sales: Installed items are sold through jobs and are extracted from warehouses that belong to your business. The customers get billed for the physical good through CRM.COM, and it does not have to be returned after the customer stops cooperating with the business.
- Indirect Sales: Installed items are sold through jobs and are extracted from warehouses that belong to a business partner. The customers do not get billed for the physical good through CRM.COM, and it doesn't not have to be returned after the customer stops cooperating with the business.
Definition fields
The table describes the sections of Inventory Management Definitions Data Entry page, and explains how the fields in the page are used.
Mandatory Configurable
Allowed Warehouses | |
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For Adding | Determines the Warehouse Types that warehouses should be of, to allow adding physical goods to subscriptions or jobs. For each warehouse type specify its classification: Rented, Direct Sales, Indirect Sales |
For Adding During Replacement | Determines the Warehouse Types that warehouses should be of, to allow adding physical goods to subscriptions or jobs during a replacement. (i.e. Swap Installed Item) For each warehouse type specify its classification: Rented, Direct Sales, Indirect Sales |
For Removing | Determines the Warehouse Types that warehouses, where physical goods will be returned, should be of, when removing them from subscriptions or jobs. For each warehouse type specify its classification: Rented, Direct Sales, Indirect Sales A default warehouse type must be set for each classification.
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For Removing During Replacement | Determines the Warehouse Types that warehouses, where physical goods will be returned, should be of, when removing them from subscriptions or jobs during a replacement. (i.e. Swap Installed Item) For each warehouse type specify its classification: Rented, Direct Sales, Indirect Sales A default warehouse type must be set for each classification.
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Price Plans | |
Price Plans: Price plans that will be used when selling physical goods to customer through the Quick Sales process available through the Accounts Receivable. Multiple Price Plans can be specified and the default one must be set in order to be used during Quick Sales automatically. Classification: For each selected price plan you can select the accounts receivable classification for which the price plan will be applied for. |
Warehouses
Foundation > Inventory Management > Manage Warehouses
A warehouse is a storage place for physical goods. In CRM.COM physical goods (traceable and non-traceable) reside in company warehouses from where they can be accessed and moved to customers or between warehouses.
The table describes the sections of Warehouse Data Entry page, and explains how the fields in the page are used
Mandatory Configurable
Main Information | |
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Type: The type of the warehouse. Owned By Group: The group that owns the warehouse which automatically defaults to the group of the logged-in user. Select a different group if required. Only users that have access to the specific group will be able to view and use the products of the warehouse. The combination of the Warehouse Type and Owned By Group must be unique. On returning physical goods from a customer to one of your company's warehouses, is it based on the warehouse type and owned by group of the warehouses that the system will decide to which warehouse the good should be placed. Refer to Inventory Definition for more information. Allow Negative Stock: Enable, to allow removing non-traceable physical goods from a warehouse even if there is no stock available. This is not possible when moving goods between warehouses. | |
Balances | |
The running stock balance of all physical goods which are kept in the specific warehouse. Click on the Quantity number to view all the warehouse transactions that resulted in this balance. Click on the "Included In Bundles" number to view the stock of this product across each bundle. |
Related configuration areas
The following modules are related to Inventory Management and may be configured for the Inventory Management module to operate at its full capacity.
Manual Link | Area | Description |
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Products | Products | Create the physical good products which will be stocked in warehouses or used to create Installed Items (instances of traceable physical goods) |
Using Inventory Management
Foundation > Inventory Management > Manage Warehouse Transactions
Before we start explaining how you can manage your stock it is important to understand the difference between traceable and nontraceable physical goods.
Traceable physical goods are physical goods that can be traced through a unique identifier which is usually a serial number. A traceable physical good is often referred to as an installed item in CRM.COM. For example, a modem with a unique serial number
Non-traceable physical goods are goods which are not traced to a single instance and are measured based on their quantity. For example, antennas. You care to know how many antennas are left in your warehouse but not the serial number of each and which antenna has been sold to which customer
Adding stock to warehouse
Once your warehouses are setup you are now ready to start adding stock to them. There are four ways by which stock can be added to a warehouse
- Import stock through a file using the import utility which can be used for traceable goods
- Create installed items (one by one) and then use a 'stock in warehouse transaction' to place the items in the warehouse. Can only be used for traceable goods
- Create a stock in warehouse transaction and add multiple traceable and non-traceable goods to a specific warehouse
- Create a 'stock movement warehouse transaction and move stock from one warehouse to another. Can be used for both traceable and non-traceable goods.
- Remove an installed item previously rented or sold to a customer either because it is no longer required by the subscription or because it was swapped with a new item
Removing stock from a warehouse
Stock is removed from a warehouse because it is no longer usable, it is sold or rented to customers, or moved to another warehouse.
- Remove stock from a warehouse using a 'stock out warehouse transaction' because it is no longer needed, such as outdated hardware or broken.
- Move stock from one warehouse to another using a 'stock movement warehouse transaction'
- Rent an installed item to a subscriber by adding it directly through subscriptions or through a job.
- Sell a traceable or non-traceable physical good to a customer through a job
- Sell a traceable or non-traceable physical good to a customer directly through a quick sale
Move stock between warehouses
Stock can be easily moved between warehouses to assist in the logistics process. For example, you can have all stock imported to your main warehouse and then allot goods to multiple warehouses. This is achieved by using a 'stock movement warehouse transaction'.
Managing Installed Items
Foundation > Inventory Management > Manage Installed Items
Installed items are instances of traceable physical goods that can be traced through their serial number. Installed items either belong to the business or to a customer (if purchased). They can either be sold or rented to customers, either through subscriptions or jobs or sold through the quick sales process
In order to create installed items in batch use:
- Managing Warehouse Transactions to create one or more installed items and move them to a warehouse.
- Importing Installed Items via Utilities, a batch process used for importing multiple items from a file adds them to a specific Warehouse.
Creating an installed item via the installed item Data Entry page does not place the item in a warehouse. A Stock In Transaction must follow to transfer the Item to the correct Warehouse.
Navigate to Manage Installed Items and specify the criteria that match the item you are interested in, or click on NEW from the Actions Menu to create a new installed item. Proceed by providing the mandatory information as defined in the table below, before you SAVE.
The table describes the sections of installed items Data Entry page, and explains how the fields in the page are used. Use the filter to view information available for all installed items or select a specific filter.
Mandatory Configurable
Managing Warehouse Transactions
Foundation > Inventory Management > Manage Warehouse Transactions
Use warehouse transactions to move stock from or to warehouses. Warehouse transactions can be manually created or they can be generated by the system, in case that the transaction is the result of a user's action, such as using the 'Remove Installed Item' subscription action.
There are three classifications of warehouse transactions
- A Stock In transaction will add stock to a warehouse
- A Stock Out will remove stock from a warehouse
- A Stock Movement will move stock between warehouses
Manual warehouse transactions can either be created through the respective Manage Warehouse Transactions Data Entry page or through Warehouse Data Entry page.
The table describes the sections of a Warehouse Transaction Data Entry page, and explains how the fields in the page are used
Mandatory Configurable
Main Information | ||||||
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Life Cycle State: The life cycle state of the transaction which denotes whether items are successfully moved and the warehouse balance updated (Posted), or the movement is still pending (Draft). Click on SAVE to directly post a transaction or SAVE AS DRAFT to save without making actual changes to the stock balance, until goods are physically received and accounted for.
Batch Number: A reference number which is used to keep track of multiple warehouse transactions made for the same batch. Supplier: Supplier that provided the stock which should already be created as a contact information. Posted date: the date on which the transaction was posted | ||||||
Items to Stock In / Items to Stock Out / Items to Move | ||||||
A list of physical goods that will be added removed or moved between warehouses. View the 'Adding Items to warehouse transactions' for more information on how to add physical goods to a transaction through the Data Entry page.
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Transaction Totals | ||||||
An aggregated quantity and total cost for each physical good included in the transactions. If a product bundle is added then its constituent components are counted as separate products. For example, if an 'Installation Kit' product bundle is added, which is made up of 2 Modems and 1 Decoder, then the following will be shown in the transaction totals:
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Post a warehouse transaction
You can create warehouse transactions for received, removed or moved goods, but keep them open (Draft) until checked that all goods have been physically accounted for. Not posting a warehouse transaction means that the goods will not be made available to agents to use them yet (for stock in and stock movement transactions) while they will still be available in the warehouse for using for stock-out transactions. In none of the three cases will the stock balance be amended. While the transaction is still draft you can make changes such as adding or removing goods from the transaction.
Once all physical goods have been successfully acknowledged you can close (Post) the transactions to make the changes final and update the stock balance.
To directly post the transaction use SAVE from the Actions menu when saving the transaction
To create draft transactions use 'SAVE AS DRAFT' from the Actions menu when saving the transaction
To post the transaction once finalised, navigate to Manage Warehouse Transactions and go to the Data Entry page of the transaction you wish to post. From the Actions menu click on Actions > Post.
Adding items to warehouse transactions
Stock out and Stock Movement' Warehouse Transactions
The following are options available through the 'Manage Warehouse Transactions' Data Entry page for 'stock out' and 'stock movement' transactions, that allow you to select the installed items and non-traceable physical goods to be moved
Adding single installed item (Traceable)
While in edit mode go to the Add Single Installed Item search box.
Either run a quick search or open the search modal and search for the item to be moved.
Adding multiple installed items (Traceable)
Click on ADD MULTIPLE INSTALLED ITEMS link
Search for existing installed items and select the ones to be included in the transaction, by checking the checkbox next to the installed item.
- Click on Select
- Click on Select
Adding Physical Goods (Non-Traceable)
Go to Add Physical Goods section.
- Product Type: Select the product type of the product you want to include from the drop-down list.
- Product: Select the product from the drop-down list.
- Quantity: provide the number of Non-Traceable items to be removed from the warehouse.
Stock In Warehouse Transactions
The following are options available through the 'Manage Warehouse Transactions' Data Entry page for 'stock in' transactions, that allow you to create new installed items and non-traceable physical goods or select from installed items that already exist in the systm but are not assigned to a specific warehouse
Adding existing installed item (Traceable)
Enable Search for Existing Installed Item
In the Installed Item search box, run a quick search or open the search modal and search for the item to be added.
- The item is added in the list of items below and you can provide a unit cost
Adding non-traceable goods
- Product Type: Select the product type of the product you want to include from the drop-down list.
- Product: Select the product from the drop-down list.
- Quantity: provide the number of non-traceable items to be removed from the warehouse.
- Press Enter from the keyboard to add
- The item is added in the list of items below and you can update the quantity and provide a unit cost
Adding new installed items (Traceable)
- Product Type: Select the product type of the product you want to include from the drop-down list.
- Product: Select the product from the drop-down list.
- Serial Number: Provide the serial number of the new item (alphanumeric)
- Press Enter from the keyboard to add
- The item is added in the list of items below and you can provide an alternative code and unit cost. If you don't provide an alternative code then it is set equal to the serial number.
Adding physical good bundles to warehouse transactions
Physical good bundles are goods made up from multiple components. When adding a bundle to a warehouse transaction additional information related to the components is required. Components can either be traceable or non-traceable physical goods.
Once the items are added in the Items list (as explained above) follow the steps below:
- Click on COMPONENTS to view and set information regarding the Bundle's components where applicable. The following information is available:
- Product: the component product which is set by the system as defined in the product bundle components
- Serial Number: provide a serial number for installed items components
- Alternative Code: provide an alternative code for installed items components
If no Alternative Code is set, then the Serial Number is used. - Quantity: If the component is non-traceable, the quantity is set as defined in the bundle settings of the Product. If it is traceable, the quantity is always set to one.
- Unit Cost Amount
- Total Cost Amount.
Importing installed items through the utility
Foundation > Utilities > Import Data > Import Installed Items
The fastest way to import stock in your warehouse is by using the 'Import Installed Items' utility which will add stock to your warehouses through external files, such as an excel file.
Define settings applicable when importing installed items, in the utility definition. From the Actions menu click on Actions > Submit and proceed by selecting the file with the installed items. The file must be prepared for import, and can have one of the following formats:
Templates can assist in the preparation of the file and ensure correct formatting.
The table describes the sections of Import Installed Items Transaction Data Entry page, and explains how the fields in the page are used
Mandatory Configurable
Input Settings | |
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Warehouse: The Warehouse in which the Installed Items will be imported. Warehouse Transaction Life Cycle State: The life cycle state of the stock in warehouse transaction that will be created once the run is executed, which can be 'Posted' or 'Draft' When a Run is executed, a warehouse transaction is created and assigned the selected life cycle state. If 'Draft', then the imported Installed Items are not available to be rented or sold. Supplier: The Contact Information of the supplier that provided the stock. Installed Item Product: The Physical Good related to the items to be imported. Two options are available for selection:
Installed Item Category: The Category related to the items to be imported. Two options are available for selection:
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Process Runs | |
Displays the Runs that were executed for the specific definition. Each run includes the items that were processed. In the case of an error, its code and description is displayed. |
Preparing the import file
- Navigate to Import Installed Items and from the Definition's Data Entry page and click on ACTIONS > DOWNLOAD TEMPLATE.
- Chose between XML, Excel, CSV to select the type of template you wish to download.
The import file must be prepared according to the downloaded template. All three types of files include the fields defined in the table below:
Name
Description
Type
Serial Number
The unique and mandatory Installed Item serial number.
String
Alternative Code
The unique and mandatory Installed Item alternative code.
String
Unit Cost Amount
The unit cost amount of the Installed Item.
Number
Product
The alternative code of the Product that will be related to the Installed Item.
String
Category
The code of the Category that will be related to the Installed Item.
String
Notes
Notes for each Installed Item.
String
Bundle Serial Number The `serial number of the Bundle Installed Item (for use if the Installed Item is created as a component to a Bundle Installed Item).
String UDF String 1-8
User Defined Field of type String
String
UDF Float 1-4
User Defined Field of type Float
Number
UDF Float 4
User Defined Field of type Float
Number
UDF Date 1-4
User Defined Field of type Date
Date
dd/mm/yyyyhh:mm
If a bundle good is being imported, then the bundle installed item must defined in the file before their components.
Import File Templates
Excel
The Excel file contains one column for each field that can be imported. The first row includes the headers. An Excel template is provided during the import process
CSV
The CSV file contains one column for each field that can be imported. The first row includes the headers. A CSV template is provided through the import process.
XML
An XML template is provided during the import process. The XML file has the following structure:
<installed_items> <installed_item> <serial_number></serial_number> <alternative_code></alternative_code> <unit_cost_amount></unit_cost_amount> <Product></Product> <Category></Category> <notes></notes> <bundle_serial_number></bundle_serial_number> <udf_string_1></udf_string_1> <udf_string_2></udf_string_2> <udf_string_3></udf_string_3> <udf_string_4></udf_string_4> <udf_string_5></udf_string_5> <udf_string_6></udf_string_6> <udf_string_7></udf_string_7> <udf_string_8></udf_string_8> <udf_float_1></udf_float_1> <udf_float_2></udf_float_2> <udf_float_3></udf_float_3> <udf_float_4></udf_float_4> <udf_date_1></udf_date_1> <udf_date_2></udf_date_2> <udf_date_3></udf_date_3> <udf_date_4></udf_date_4> <error_message></error_message> </installed_item> </installed_items>
Managing stock
Foundation > Inventory Management > Manage Stock Balance
Traceable and non-traceable physical goods are imported into warehouses from where they can then be sold or rented to customers.
A clear view of the stock balance of each product is available through a dedicated Stock Balance Summary page. From this page, the user can search for products by using products, product types or product families. The displayed results provide the collective sum of the product(s) from all Warehouses as well as detailed information of the Stock Balance in each Warehouse.
Applying business flows on Inventory Management
Selling and renting physical goods
Physical goods can be sold or rented to customers.
Sold physical goods can belong in one of two classifications
- Direct Sale : purchased by your company in which case CRM.COM will also bill the item
- Indirect Sale: purchased through a partner, in which case the item won't be billed but simply added and used
You can sell a good either by adding it to a billable job (direct or indirect sale) or by using 'quick sale' process (direct sale) from the accounts receivable.
Physical Goods can also be rented through subscriptions. In this case, the customers don't get billed for the item, which is returned once the subscription comes to an end. Warehouses from where such physical goods are taken are classified as:
- Rental
Different warehouses are used to extract the goods resulting from sales made directly or indirectly or rented and these are distinguished by their classification as defined in the inventory definitions.
Inventory Management Analytics
Printouts
A Printout displays all the information contained in a . It is available through the Data Entry page in one of the following formats: HTML, XLS, CSV, RTF, PDF.
Refer to Printouts for information on how they can be created, printed and sent.
Warranty Policy Printout
Warranty Policy Printout displays detailed information of an installed item's warranty policy coverage in terms of duration and coverage reasoning. The printout is available through Installed Items data entry page and unlike other printouts, it is not available for sending by email.
Inventory Management Business Examples
Warehouse setup
Scenario
Company ZX wants to set up different warehouses from where goods will be sold rented and returned to. Warehouses should be categorised based on the following:
- Warehouses for goods sold directly from Company ZX.
- Warehouses for goods sold by Company ZX partners.
- Warehouses for goods rented to Subscribers.
- Warehouses for goods that were sold directly from Company ZX and are returned once replaced through Warranty Policies.
- Warehouses for goods that were sold by partners of Company ZX and are returned once replaced through Warranty Policies.
- Goods rented to Subscribers, returned to Company ZX once the customer cancels their Subscription.
Internal Sales Branch (Sales Branch 1) and Partner ZX (Partner 1) are two departments responsible for handling Physical Goods. Goods should be extracted from their original location and returned to the actual warehouse from where the came. Note that both Sales Branch 1 and Partner 1 can handle all Types of sales:
- Direct
- Indirect
- Rentals
For example, a new Subscriber registered from Partner 1 may select to rent or buy the Physical Good from Company ZX.
CRM.COM Solution
- Create the following Warehouse Types (refer to the instructions on Configuring Warehouse Types):
- Direct Sales WT
- Indirect Sales WT
- Rentals WT
- Returns of Direct Sales WT
- Returns of Indirect Sales WT
- Returns of Rentals WT
Set up the Inventory Management Definitions as follows (refer to the instructions on creating 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 - Create one Warehouse per Warehouse Type owned by Sales Branch 1:
- Direct Sales WT: Sales Branch 1 Direct Sales
- Indirect Sales WT: Sales Branch 1 Indirect Sales
- Rentals WT: Sales Branch 1 Rentals
- Returns of Direct Sales WT: Sales Branch 1 Returns of Direct Sales
- Returns of Indirect Sales WT: Sales Branch 1 Returns of Indirect Sales
- Returns of Rentals WT: Sales Branch 1 Returns of Rentals
- Create one Warehouse per Warehouse Type owned by Partner 1:
- Direct Sales WT: Partner 1 Direct Sales
- Indirect Sales WT: Partner 1 Indirect Sales
- Rentals WT: Partner 1 Rentals
- Returns of Direct Sales WT: Partner 1 Returns of Direct Sales
- Returns of Indirect Sales WT: Partner 1 Returns of Indirect Sales
- Returns of Rentals WT: Partner 1 Returns of Rentals
- Create the following Warehouse Types (refer to the instructions on Configuring Warehouse Types):
Creating installed items
Scenario 2
Company ZX wants to set up Smartcards and Decoders as Traceable Physical Goods (Installed Items) so as to track them with a unique identifier, and cables and Remote Controls as Non-Traceable Physical Goods so as to only track their quantity. They need to be able to manually create single installed items to correct errors that may be caused by batch import
CRM.COM Solution
Configuration
- Create the following Products classified as Traceable Physical Goods
- Smartcards
- Decoders
- Create the following Products classified as Non-Traceable Physical Goods
- Cable
- Remote control
User actions
- Create an Installed Item:
- Navigate to Manage Installed Items page and create new installed items for smartcards and decoders by specifying their serial numbers
- Move to a warehouse
- Once the items are created, navigate to Manage Warehouse Transactions
- Create a new 'stock in' warehouse transaction
- Select the warehouse they should be moved at
- Search for the installed items created in step 1
- Save the transaction
Use Stock In Transactions to import new Cards and Boxes in the System
Scenario 3
Company ZX wants to add in the system a new batch of smartcards and Set Top Boxes which it received. They don't want to import them as there are only a few units and the agent must check each one individually as it is passed in the System (Alternatively, a Barcode scanner could be used to obtain the Serial Number).
Solution
- Navigate to Warehouse Transactions.
- Click on NEW > STOCK-IN TRANSACTION.
- Provide the warehouse where the items should be placed.
- Provide the product type and the product
- Provide the serial number of each card and Set-Top Box (Barcode scanner can be used here).
- Save the warehouse transaction.
- Navigate to the Stock Balance screen and confirm that the Balance for each Product in the Warehouse has been updated accordingly.
Movement of Items between Warehouses
Scenario 4
Company ZX imports all new Physical Goods into a Central Warehouse for an initial stock-taking and then distributes them to the other Warehouses.
Solution
Use 'stock in' warehouse transactions (preferably for Non-Traceable physical goods) and 'import installed items utility' (for traceable physical goods) to import all goods in the central warehouse. Use 'stock movement' warehouse transactions to move the goods to the correct warehouse.
- Import all Installed Items into Temp Warehouse using the Import Utility.
- Import all Non-Traceable Physical Goods into Temp Warehouse using a Stock- In Warehouse Transaction.
- Navigate to Temp Warehouse.
- Click on ACTIONS > NEW STOCK MOVEMENT TRANSACTION.
- Specify the target warehouse that goods will be moved to.
- Specify the product type and the product of the installed items that are being moved
- Either type or scan the installed items.
- Specify the product type and the product of the non-traceable physical goods that are being moved.
- Specify the quantity of the non-traceable physical goods.
- Save the warehouse transaction.
Check the stock balance to ensure that the correct traceable physical goods and quantities of non-traceable physical goods have been moved.
Notes
- If you are using a previous release, view CRM.COM Release Changes.
- Use the Inventory Management WEB API to create and manage Inventory Management from an external system, such as a customer portal. View Warehouses, Warehouse Transactions, and Warehouses WEB API for a complete list of actions available through the WEB API.
Glossary
CRM.COM Term | Definition |
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Accounts Receivable | A ledger of the financial transactions carried out between a company and its customers, such as invoices and payments. The accounts receivable keeps a running balance of debits and credits and displays the amount a company is owed in exchange for goods supplied and services rendered. |
Job | A small project initiated by the operator for customers, involving the delivery and billing of services, products and activities. Customer requests and orders, such as that for a new subscription, can be initiated and registered through a job. |
Product bundle | A combination of component products offered for sale as one product. Flexible product bundles have a variable selection of constituent products as components. Fixed product bundles have a fixed selection. |
Subscription | A selection of customer services billed on a recurring, usage or one-time basis. |