Warehouse Management
Define your warehouses and check at any moment what sits in each one, with stock updated by every real movement rather than by a count somebody keys in when they get a chance.
A warehouse is not always a building. It can be each shop's back room, a technician's van or consignment stock at a customer's site, and they are all valued and queried the same way. That flexibility is what makes stock add up in companies where material really moves: what leaves for a job does not vanish, it changes warehouse.
Stock updates with every operation (a goods receipt, a sale at the POS, material consumed on a work report, a transfer between sites), so the figure is good enough to decide on the same day you look at it.
Each product also carries its minimum stock and reorder point per warehouse. When it is reached an alert fires and the purchase can be raised from there, which is the difference between running out on a Friday and having three months of consumption tied up on a shelf.
What counts as a warehouse
A building, a van or consignment stock at a customer's site
Most systems assume stock lives in a building. In companies that really work with material it is spread across very different places, and if the software does not allow for that the inventory stops adding up within a month.
- The main warehouse, with its internal organisation.
- Each shop's back room, deducted automatically with every sale at the POS.
- Each technician's van, the source of the materials they consume on a work report.
- Consignment stock at a customer's site, material that is yours even though it sits on their premises.
They are all valued and queried the same way. What leaves for a job does not disappear from inventory: it changes warehouse, and that is what lets the figures add up at month end without creative adjustments.
In real time
The figure is good on the day you look at it
Stock updated by a weekly count is only reliable on Monday morning. From Tuesday on, every decision (accepting an order, raising a purchase, promising a date) is made on old data.
Here stock moves with every real operation, the moment it happens:
- A goods receipt books material in at its real cost.
- A sale, in store or on a marketplace, deducts it.
- Material consumed on a job leaves the technician's warehouse.
- A transfer moves it between warehouses, leaving it in transit until receipt is confirmed.
Because there is no overnight process and no dump between programs, there is none of the one-day lag that forces you to check twice before committing to a customer.
No stockouts, no idle money
Both mistakes cost, in opposite directions
Running out of material means a job not done or a customer buying elsewhere. Overstocking means money tied up on a shelf and, depending on the product, goods that expire. Most companies know one of the two well and discover the other too late.
Each product carries its minimum stock and reorder point per warehouse, because what the main site needs to hold is not what a van needs to carry. When the level is reached, an alert fires and the purchase can be raised right there, with the supplier and terms already filled in.
Inventory valuation is always available, so the question of how much money is sitting in the warehouse is answered by looking, rather than at year-end closing, when nothing can be done about it any more.
Clearing things up
Frequently asked questions
Answers to what we get asked most.
Can a technician's van be a warehouse?
Yes, just like a shop's back room or consignment stock at a customer's site. They are all valued and queried the same way, and material leaving for a job does not disappear from inventory: it changes warehouse. That is what makes the figures add up at month end without adjustments.
How often does stock update?
With every real operation, the moment it happens: a goods receipt, a sale at the POS or on a marketplace, material consumed on a work report, or a transfer between warehouses. There is no overnight process and no dump between programs, so there is no one-day lag.
Does it warn before I run out?
Yes, each product has its minimum stock and reorder point per warehouse, because what the main site holds is not what a van carries. When reached, an alert fires and the purchase can be raised from there, with the supplier and terms already filled in.
Do I know how much money is tied up?
Yes, inventory valuation is always available by warehouse and by family. You look it up when you need it rather than at year-end closing, when nothing can be done about it any more.
Warehouses, stock and manufacturing
Real-time multi-warehouse stock, locations, stock counts, transfers and traceability by batch or serial number, connected to purchasing and sales.
Warehouse Locations
Organise each warehouse by locations (aisle, rack, bin) and know exactly where each product is and how much sits in each place.
Stocktaking
Full or partial counts with automatic adjustment of differences against theoretical stock, without stopping operations.
View moduleTransfers
Goods movements between warehouses with their own document: what left, from where, to where, who moved it and when it was received.
Product Batches
Full batch traceability: which supplier and which purchase each one came in on, which warehouse it sits in, which customers it went to and what stock is left, with its expiry date.
View moduleSerial Numbers
Individual tracking of each unit by its serial number, from goods receipt until it is sold or installed at a customer.
Production
Planning and tracking of plant production: what is manufactured, in what order, with which resources and in which building, with input and output records for each process.
View module