Inventory

The Stock -> Inventory section contains an overview of all items' inventory levels in stock right now and on historical dates. It also allows to update the inventory levels after a stocktake.

Jump to:

1. Demo video: Setting up inventory levels.
2. Adjusting inventory levels after a cycle count.
3. Starting inventory values.
4. Import new inventory levels from CSV.
5. WIP (Work in Progress) values meaning.
6. Historical inventory levels.
7. Distorted or negative numbers in the stock history.

Warning!

• Update inventory quantities with caution, this function is not for everyday use.  
• Changing inventory values at Stock -> Inventory can terminate existing bookings.
• Back up your database before entering new quantities.
• If inventory count values differ, reasons need to be investigated carefully, before taking any action in the software.
• Be mindful of user access permissions.
  • Usually, only one user (e.g. a member of the management) should have the Update right for the Inventory functionality.
  • Any other user should not be able to adjust inventory manually.

Updating inventory values after a stocktake, cycle count

Jump to:

• Warnings - read before manually updating inventory levels.
• Where to adjust inventory levels.
• Updating inventory at Stock -> Inventory.
• Manually updating a stock lot quantity.

Where to adjust inventory levels

After making a physical inventory count, stock levels for items can be adjusted:

• At Stock -> Inventory to have MRPeasy automatically create stock lots or write-offs.
• At Stock -> Stock lots by creating new stock lots to add new items.
• at Stock -> Write-offs by writing off extra items.

Generally, the Stock -> Stock lots and Stock -> Write-offs may be preferred when inventory values differ because these allow manually setting all the variables, choosing the stock lots, entering comments, or using special write-off codes. The Stock -> Inventory page creates stock lots and write-offs automatically.

Updating inventory levels at Stock -> Inventory

For updating the stock levels at Stock -> Inventory:

1. Choose the current date.
2. Choose the Site, if you have several warehouses.
3. Choose the Location, if you wish to update inventory levels only in a particular location, e.g. shelf.
   • Or choose the By location value to see and update each storage location separately.
     • By default, the software shows locations where an item exists or existed before. If you want to see all possible locations, find the item by the part number or description.
4. Enter the new total quantity.
5. Click Save or Save all.

If the new quantity for an item is greater than the previous quantity:

• A new stock lot is created.
• The new stock lot will have the same cost per unit as the latest stock lot of the same item.
• If this item has not been in stock previously, the vendor's price will be used. If the item has several purchase terms, the price with the highest priority will be used.
• If the item has neither previous stock lots nor purchase terms, the software will ask to enter the cost manually.

If the new quantity for an item is smaller than the previous quantity:

• A new write-off is created from existing stock lots in status Received, by FIFO (FEFO, if expiry dates are used).
• First, the software tries to write off items that are available, not reserved.
• If more items should be written off than is available at the stock, then software tries to cancel bookings by LIFO until it is possible to create a write-off.

Updating a stock lot quantity

If you have labeled your physical products with stock lot numbers, and the quantities do not match in stock and in the software, this can mean one of the following:

1. Some actions are not yet reported in the software (materials are used in manufacturing, but not yet reported as consumed).
2. Stock lot's source document is incorrect (e.g. PO or MO quantity is wrong).
3. Consumption actions are reported incorrectly (e.g. materials in MO are consumed in the wrong quantity or from the wrong lot).

To correct a stock lot quantity, there are two options:

1. Find the root cause, and correct the wrong document in the software (e.g. correct a wrong consumption in an MO).
2. Or, make an inventory adjustment:
   • For a negative adjustment, create a write-off.
   • For a positive adjustment, create a new manual stock lot.
     • Define the cost.
     • If necessary, number it accordingly (e.g. take the original lot number and add a suffix) and re-label the physical item.
     • If necessary, fill in the custom field(s) of the lot (e.g. use a persistent custom field to track the batch number), notes, and other data.
     • Existing lots cannot be inflated. These are the technical objects of the system, which must have a discrete source. For tracking batch numbers, please use persistent custom fields instead.

Historical inventory information

For any historical date, at Stock -> Inventory, it is possible to see:

• the total "In stock" quantity of every item,
• the quantity which had been consumed in unfinished production,
• the inventory value.

It is not possible to adjust historical inventory levels.

Distorted or negative historical inventory numbers

If some planned item is written off stock before it was received, this will distort historical inventory levels, as negative adjustments are before positive adjustments. Even a negative number may appear in the inventory history.

The software works as follows:

1. If the software setting "Use planned goods = Yes" is used, then it is possible to consume (ship, write off, etc.) an item before its receipt has been reported into stock.
2. When a planned item is consumed, the transaction is saved, but it is hidden from the stock history.
   • This means, that when looking at today, you will never see negative numbers.
3. When the planned item is finally received, then all its transactions are written into stock history.
   • This means that if the receipt date is after the consumption date, then numbers are distorted in the lapse between those two dates.

Example, how an inventory report may be distorted if item receipt or consumption dates are incorrect:

To prevent this situation:

• Enter data in real-time: PO receipt, parts consumption in MOs, shipments to customers, etc.
• Report PO receipt with the correct date, when reporting receipt later, it is possible to backdate the arrival date.
• Consider that it is not possible to backdate parts consumption or shipments.
• When using "Finish production as planned", before using it, make sure that MO start and finish dates correspond to actual dates.
  
  • Materials will be consumed according to "Start date" if it is in the past.
  • Finished products will be counted to stock according to "Finish date" if it is in the past.
• Use the software setting "Use planned goods = No".

Work in progress: WIP cost and WIP quantity

The "WIP Quantity" and "WIP cost" numbers are not included in the inventory balance.

• The column WIP quantity shows the number of raw materials that have been consumed for manufacturing orders, which are still in progress.
• The column WIP cost shows the cost of materials in work in progress.
• At the moment when materials are marked as consumed in production, they are moved from inventory to Work in Progress (WIP). When the Manufacturing Order is finished, the WIP is cleared (the value is counted in the cost of the finished products).

Entering initial inventory levels into MRPeasy

Demo video: Setting up inventory levels.

There are several ways of entering initial inventory levels, which can also be combined:

• At Stock -> Items -> Import from CSV.
  • Together with the initial article creation upload, it's possible to include the quantities and costs.
  • However, from there it is not possible to upload inventory at particular locations or sites.
  • Read: How to import items?
• Stock -> Inventory (-> Import from CSV). 
  • It is possible to update or initiate inventory levels, and also to upload a CSV file with quantities and costs.
  • Read: How to update inventory levels?
  • Read: How to import inventory levels?
• Stock -> Stock Lots -> Add a stock lot or Import from CSV.
  • It is possible to manually create stock lots. Caution: use this in case of critical need only.
• Procurement -> Purchase orders -> Add new Purchase Order. 
  • Fill out a PO with all items in stock and mark it as received.