Manage Inventory Levels

OpenBoxes offers a feature to set inventory levels for particular products. Inventory levels can be set by administrators of each location to show much of a particular product we want to have in stock at all times. Inventory levels can be set for specific products for specific locations.

There are three inventory levels that we can set for products:

• Maximum: This is the amount that we would like to replenish a specific product up to. This can serve as a guide when placing orders for products. We can choose to order up to the maximum level for a product and if a product stock reaches above this level, it will be marked as Overstock.
• Reorder: Based on the consumption, lead time, and other forecasting tools for products, site users can set a reorder quantity for a product. When a product stock reaches the reorder quantity, sites can order more of the product to fulfill their requests and inventory needs. See all products below reorder with suggested replenishment quantities in the Reorder Report.  
• Minimum: Minimum and Reorder can be used interchangeably to determine the reorder quantity for products. However, minimum quantity can also be used as a secondary checkpoint to prompt an urgent order or expedite the current orders to avoid stock out.

There are two ways to add inventory levels for products. We can import inventory levels using a template file, or we can edit inventory levels for each individual product.

Edit Inventory Levels

To edit inventory levels or add inventory levels for individual products, follow the following steps:

1. Go to the Electronic Stock Card for the product; You can enter the product code on the Global Search bar to get there. 
2. Go to "Edit Product".
3. Click on the "Inventory Levels" tab. In the "Inventory Level" tab, we can see the inventory levels set for the product in ALL locations. 
4. You can either Create a stock level by Clicking on "Create stock level" or edit an existing stock level for your site by clicking on "Edit" for the specific location. 
5. To create/edit inventory levels, there are different tabs we can enter information in. 
   1. Target tab.
      • Status: Select "Supported." The options do not have functions at the moment so choosing "Supported" will allow us to create inventory levels. 
      • Product: is already chosen.
      • Location: is already chosen.
      • Bin location (Optional): This can be left blank. 
      • ABC Analysis Class (Optional): This can be used to enter the ABC class. ABC class categorizes products based on their impact on cost. Products in Class A contribute to the majority of costs and must be given priority. Class B products can be checked occasionally and Class C items are items that are not high value so do not need many follow-ups. 
      • Comments: Any information or comments regarding the product can be entered here. 
6. Replenishment tab.
   • Min quantity: enter the minimum quantity you want to set for the product.
   • Reorder quantity: enter the reorder quantity you want to set for the product.
   • Maximum quantity: enter the maximum quantity you want to set for the product.
   • Expected Lead Time Days: Expected Lead time days refers to the number of days it takes for a product to reach the site after it is ordered. This is used in the forecasting report. 
   • Replenishment Period Days: This refers to how often we reorder the product. This also contributes to the forecast report in OpenBoxes. 
   • Default Replenishment Source (Optional): This can be left empty. 
7. Receiving (Optional): We can designate a Default Putaway Location for the product when we receive it. When we receive the product, it will autofill the selected bin with the received quantity.
8. Forecasting (Optional): This is a way to record your forecast. We can set the forecast quantity and forecast period based on past data. This allows us to compare it with the actual demand and consumption.  

Import Inventory Levels

If we want to add inventory levels to multiple products at the same time, we can do so by importing a file. 

1. Hover over "Configuration" on the top navigation pane. 
2. Under the Transaction column, click on Import Inventory Level. This will take you to the "Import Data" page. 
3. On the Import Data page, "Inventory Level" must be pre-selected under the Type column. Click on "Download Template". This will download the template for you to fill and upload. 
4. Open the downloaded template and enter data only for the following columns (* indicates required):
   1.  Status*: You can enter "In Stock" for the status.
   2. Product Code*: Enter the product code for the product you wish to set inventory levels for.
   3. Product*: Enter the product name. This need not match the exact name for the product in OpenBoxes. 
   4. Preferred bin Location: Enter the preferred bin location for the product you wish to set inventory levels for. This preferred bin will be suggested to warehouse users during the putaway process for the product.
   5. Min Quantity: Enter the minimum quantity you wish to set for the product. 
   6. Reorder Quantity: Enter the reorder quantity you wish to set for the product. 
   7. Max Quantity: Enter the maximum quantity you wish to set for the product. 
   8. Expected Lead time Days: Enter the expected lead time in days for the product. If entered, this will be used to generate the forecast report for this product.
   9. Replenishment Period Days: If you place regular replenishment orders, enter how frequently you will reorder the product. For example, if you place an order every three months, the replenishment period would be 90 days.
5. Once the above columns have been added to the template. Save the template. 
6. Go back to OpenBoxes to the Import Data page. In the "Data file" row, click on "Choose file". 
7. Select the template you just entered the data into.
8. Towards the bottom of the page, click on "Upload".