MTS# 4A - Inventory Maintenance
Purpose: To gain a working knowledge of the Inventory Table and maintenance of inventory items.
Keywords: The following is a list of key terms used in the SMARTSystem that you should be familiar with and understand.
On-Hand Inventory - Inventory in the computer that represents what is in the warehouse/cooler. On-Hand includes the On-Hold quantity.
On-Hold – is an inventory quantity set aside in the computer and removed from the Net Available Inventory for sale by the sales staff.
Net Available Inventory – On-Hand Inventory less On-Hold Inventory is the Net Available Inventory for sale.
Product Type – Is similar to Product Category but used to establish margins for each Customer Sales Level and when printing the Pick Ticket. Pick Ticket products are organized in groups by product type.
Unit of Measure – Is the standard of measurement for physical quantities.
Training Areas for this Session:
Inventory View
The Inventory View provides user access to Inventory Items and the purchase order detail items. Select the Inventory Main Menu > Inventory View and the following screen shows a list of Inventory Items.
Initially, the screen will display all products in alphabetical sequence by Product Description and as shown below the information can be filtered by Category, Sub-Category and Subset:
When you highlight an inventory line item you can:
- Double click to open the detail view for that inventory item or
- Right click, to show options to Open Detail View or View Inventory Detail Items.
This is a view of inventory detail from purchase orders or inventory receiving:
Below, the checkbox in the upper right is used to display only inventory with On-Hand balances. To show all inventory items, un-check the box.
You may have a need to export your displayed inventory items to excel. If so, you can include additional information when you check the second box to “Show Category, Sub-Category and Image Links.” Image Links are links to your pictures associated with the inventory item. This button, at the bottom of the screen, will export inventory items to excel:
Selection options to display inventory items on the Inventory View are:
- Primary Vendor
- Category
- Sub-Category Filter
- Subset Filter (used for color, variety, etc.)
- Product Code/SKU (partial code entered will list all matching)
- Description Search
- MFG Code Search
The bottom of the Inventory View screen will:
- PRINT a list of items you have selected
- Create a NEW inventory item
- View Inventory Detail Items & Enter Adjustments
- Export to Excel
- Export IFD Data
- Clear Searches
- Refresh Screen
Inventory Item Maintenance
Inventory Items are the focal point of the SMARTSystem.
By selecting the Inventory Menu you can access your Inventory using the Inventory View or Inventory Entry. The Inventory Menu lists many sub-menu selections to manager your inventory items.
There are certain pre-requisites that are required for inventory maintenance to function smoothly. These pre-requisites on the Inventory Menu and include:
- Product Type
- Product Category Filter
- Product Sub-Category Filter
- Product Subset Filter
- Product Size
- Unit of Measure View
- Unit of Measure to create Associated Products
- Item Location
Select the following from the Purchase Orders Main Menu:
- Vendor
- Buyer
On the Inventory Main Menu, select Product Filter Maintenance to access most of the items listed above:
The Inventory Table Maintenance program has 6 tabs. These tabs are:
- General Info
- Inventory Info
- Vendor Info
- Accounting Info
- Customs Info
- Product Picture
General Info Tab:
The General Info Tab provides for the basic, minimum setup information needed for a new Inventory Item as illustrated below.
Required fields to create an inventory item are:
- Category
- Sub-Category
- Product Code
- Description
- Product Type
- Purchase Unit of Measure
- Purchase Item Quantity
- Selling Unit of Measure
- Selling Item Quantity
Each Inventory Item has specific filters assigned to it for quick access to inventory information. These filters are Category, Sub-Category, Subset and Size as shown.
Each of these filters are pre-requisites and if you are in the middle of creating an inventory item that does not have a filter defined, select Product Filter Maintenance from the Main Inventory Menu and create it. After it is created, select the Refresh List button (upper right) to make it available in the drop down menu.
The “Generate Product Code” button will be highlighted for a new entry. If you click it, the Product Code for this inventory item will be created from the codes used from each of the filters you selected. Normally, this button is not used and you enter a Product Code with a maximum length of 14 characters.
The Product Description can be up to 70 characters, but its best to keep it under 35 characters for easy readability on screens and reports.
You can set a color background for each description by clicking the “Select Background Color” button and selecting a color.
The Product Type has two main purposes:
- 1. To establish the percent of Mark-up or Margin for each inventory item, and
- 2. To organize products by Product Type printed on the Pick Ticket.
There are checkboxes to identify characteristics of this inventory item:
- Mixed Box / Bouquet (this option can be hidden)
- This is a packing material
- Net Item (No Discounts)
- Drayage Charge
- Pre-book Not Allowed
- Do Not Charge Sales Tax for this Product on Taxable Sales Orders
The SMARTSystem will calculate your preferred Mark-up or Margin based on Product Type specified for each inventory item and apply that margin to Customer Sales Price Levels. Each customer is assigned a Sales Price Level.
Typically, your Sales Price Level 1 would be your most widely used margin down to Price Level 5 as your lowest margin. Only Price Level 1 is required. See example below:
Products on the Pick Ticket are organized by Product Type. In the example below, Fresh Flowers and Supplies are Product Types.
Next, the Units of Measure are defined in the Units of Measure Table as illustrated below:
In the Inventory record as illustrated below, the Purchase Unit of Measure is the default box size defined in the Unit of Measure Table and will be used to automatically create purchase order entries when the option is selected. Associated with this entry is the default Purchase Item Quantity showing the number of items, stems, pieces, etc. that would normally be packed in the Purchase Unit of Measure entry.
Selling Unit of Measure and Selling Item Quantity defines the way you sell product: stems, bunches, each, etc. and the quantity. For example, Roses sold by bunch containing 25 stems.
Units per Tag are used to calculate the correct number of tags to print. A Tag or Sales Label is used to tag the product set aside for customers. The following is a Tag without bar code:
The following check boxes are used to set characteristics of each inventory item:
Current Landed Cost is updated when a purchase order is received or costs are entered when using Inventory Receiving program for non-purchase order items.
Average Landed Cost is updated depending upon the cost options specified in System Control. Select Menu Control Info menu > System Control > Options:
Sales Price Levels 1 – 5 are updated automatically when the PO is received unless you have Manually Updated Sales Prices set in System Control:
When Manually Update Sales Prices are unchecked, the purchase order receiving process will update Sales Price Levels 1 – 5 based on your Price Level Factors in the Product Type for each inventory item. Otherwise, when the checkbox is set, you control the Sales Price Levels manually.
The Buyer Code is used to identify who is responsible for buying this product.
Retail Price (for Labels) is used for retail price labels.
Print Receiving Labels checked on will force the printing of box receiving for each purchase order received. There is an option in the purchase order to set this option when you want to print Receiving Labels for boxes.
Inventory Info Tab:
There are no required fields on this screen:
Item Locations are defined in the Item Location Table. Using the drop-down menu you can select the location of this Item. Product Shelf Location and quantity can be updated automatically using the 3190 wireless scanner for physical inventory counts.
Minimum and Maximum Stock can be updated using a spreadsheet or on this screen. These fields are used in several Buyer Reports.
The On Hand, On Hand Hold, and On Order are automatically updated and you cannot change this information.
Cur. Purchase Item Cost, Cur. Freight Cost Per Item, Avg. Purchase Item Cost, and Avg. Freight Cost Per Item are automatically updated when a purchase order is received.
The Costing Method field is not currently being used.
Item Classification will default to “Stock Item” if not entered.
Old Inventory Code, Substitution, Special Note Information, Special Order Information and Default Shipping Description provide for free form entry and are not restricted.
Vendor Info Tab:
This tab is used primarily for hard goods. The Preferred Vendors are identified on this screen. There are no required fields on this screen:
Vendor Info Screen Fields:
- Primary Vendor
- Primary Vendor Product Code
- Factory
- Substitute Vendor
- Substitute Vendor #3
- Substitute Vendor #4
- Substitute Vendor Product Code
- Mfg. Product code
- Purchase Report Status (AC, SM, OB)
Accounting Info Tab:
These are required fields on this screen to create an inventory item:
G/L Sales Account
G/L Inventory Account
G/L COGS Account
G/L Adjustment Account
Select the Control Info Main Menu to select and set G/L Accounts.
This accounting information can be set manually for each inventory item or globally. Global assignment can be found under the Management Menu, sub-menu Assign Inventory GL Accounts.
Customs Info Tab:
The Customs Info screen is used when you are clearing your own flowers.
There are no required fields on this screen:
Product Picture Tab:
Pictures can be captured and additional product information entered.
Before pictures can be selected, SMARTData Services must be installed.
Additional Product Information is a large area for text and normally used with the e-commerce SMARTSite.
There are no required fields on this screen:
Refer to Management Training Series #12 for more detailed information about Pictures. Some of our preferences for pictures are:
The preferred format is .jpg or .bmp.
Must have URL assignments in:
o Control Info > System Control> Doc & Dir Config
o Add the URL’s for data and the root then SAVE:
Statistics Tab:
This tab will provide “real time” statistics about this inventory item.
A summary of PO Discounts and Buyer Remarks are at the bottom of this page.
Mixed BoxTab:
This screen will be displayed when the Mixed Box / Bouquet when the checkbox is set on the General Info Screen.
Create a New Inventory Item using Copy
An easy way to create a new inventory item with a minimum amount of data entry is to select a similar inventory item, bring it up for display and click the “Copy to New Item” button.
This will duplicate all of the inventory information except you will be required to enter a Product Code and Description for the new item you are creating.