Overview
Inventory records are the basis for a variety of reports in Supplyit. The main inventory report which utilizes our product stock and cost tables is located under other reports. The product stock report allows users to report on inventory levels and usage in a variety of formats. To take advantage of the new costing feature and inventory reports your account must be enabled to use advanced production and stocking. Please contact support to ensure your account is configured correctly.
Should I inventory vendor or generic items?
Inventory can be taken on vendor items or their related generic item (a generic item is an item that represents all vendor items that are the same underlying item but usually purchased in a different unit, generic items are used in recipes in Supplyit). Inventorying generic items removes the necessity of replacing inventory items on an inventory records when a new vendor item replaces an existing vendor item as well as having to inventory multiple vendor items when items are purchased from more than one vendor. When inventorying generic items overlaying an inventory unit which represents the vendor's case size makes taking inventory easier. For example you may purchase cake mix from you vendor in 50 pound units. Your generic ingredient might be represented as one pound of cake mix. If you are inventorying the generic item, you can overlay a unit so that you can enter how many 50 pound units you have on hand.
How do I set up an inventory unit for generic items that I want to inventory?
The inventory unit is automatically overlayed on the inventory record.
Navigation
From the location that you are going to take inventory from:
Administration > Catalog > Units
- If you have an inventory unit edit this unit
- If there is no Inventory Unit, click Add to create a new unit. Under the unit name, type Inventory Unit, under unit abbreviation you can enter cs for case.
- Click Add to add your generic items to the inventory unit. Add the quantity that your vendor unit is purchased in in the quantity per unit box.
- Save your changes after you have added all of the generic items to the unit and configured each
Inventory taking methods
Below are the different ways that you can record an inventory in Supplyit
- Pen and paper
- Tablet
- Import from a csv file (Excel file saved as a CSV file)
- Jera's datastream API endpoint
Pen and paper
When recording inventory using pen and paper, it is best to create a blank inventory record in Supplyit and then use the inventory daily report to record your inventory stock levels on. Once you have the written inventory completed, you can return to Supplyit to enter the values in the inventory record.
Tablet
When using a tablet to record inventory stock levels, product labels can be used to filter the inventory items for a specific location in your facility. For example if you have a freezer, you can create a product label with all of the items that are in the freezer. When you go to the freezer, you apply the label to the inventory record so that only the freezer items are displayed. This is especially helpful for long inventory lists. Tablets should be set to use the responsive site design which is a link at the bottom of the browser when in the Supplyit site. Using a tablet reduces the need to write down and then enter inventory values into Supplyit.
Import from a CSV file
Inventory records can be uploaded to Supplyit from CSV files. The easiest way to import an inventory record is to create a blank record and export it. Open in in Excel and enter the values. Users can then import the completed record back into Supplyit. You will need to make sure an inventory record does not already exist on that has the same date and time as the record that you are importing. Import files have to be in CSV format and must contain certain fields.
Jera's datastream API endpoint
Inventory records can be written in code to Jera Supplyit using our datastream endpoint. The endpoint allows for bulk writes and does much of the administration like adding new products when they appear on an inventory. You can read more on Jera's API here.
How to create your first inventory record for use with pen and paper or tablet data entry
The first time you create an inventory record, you will need to select and add all of the items that you want to inventory. For additional inventories, you can use a prior inventory as the basis for the next inventory. The items on the prior inventory will be added to the product picker so that you can quickly create you new inventory.
Navigation
From the location that you are going to take inventory from:
Inventories >Add Inventory > Enter the inventory date > Add the products that you want to inventory > Save Changes to create the inventory record
How to create an inventory based on a prior inventory for use with pen and paper or tablet data entry
Navigation
From the location that you are going to take inventory from:
Inventories >Add Inventory > Enter the inventory date > Under the copy dropdown select an inventory date to copy from > Save Changes to create the inventory record
Using product labels to filter on specific items on an inventory record for use with a tablet
When entering inventory with many items on a tablet, you can use product labels to shorten the list of items on the screen. Learn how to create product labels in our product labels article. Once you have created your product labels, follow the steps below to use the labels while taking inventory.
Navigation
From the location that you are going to take inventory from:
Inventories > Click on the Inventory you want to enter data into or create a new inventory if you have not already created one (see instructions above)
- From the inventory details page click More and Filter
- From the filter screen select the product label that contains the products that you want to filter on. For inventory you may want to create labels that correspond to different sections of your warehouse. For example you may have a label called Freezer 1 that contains all the products that are stored in this freezer.
- Click Apply Filter once you have selected your label to display only the items that are on that label
- Enter your inventory stock levels and click Save Changes
- Repeat the process selecting a different label when you are inventorying a different section of your warehouse
- Save Changes and Close your inventory when done