Stock control settings allow you to organise the stock in your inventory and how it is handled through Commusoft. Everything from their storage and usage to replenishing diminished stock levels and dealing with wastage and loss can be set up through this section.
Watch a quick video giving you an overview of Stock control:
It is useful to arrange your stock control settings to optimise your workflow. The stock locations and picking lists will help your engineers organise the stock they require for the jobs they carry out as well as when and where they'll need to pick them up from. If you have a number of engineers that do not store their stock in your own stockroom, it can help to set up their own locations (such as their vans) to ensure you're keeping up to date with what is being taken from where.
There are various settings that fall under 'Stock control' that will allow you to establish the manner in which you organise them:
- Stock locations
This allows you to set up the various locations in which your stock will be stored. This can be anything from a stock or storeroom, to individuals' vans. You can add, edit and delete them from this page and it is important to keep them up to date. - Stock inventory system
From here, you can configure the inventory system that your stock rooms will be using. This setting cannot be changed once set, so it is important to know exactly which system you wish to use. Selecting 'First in first out', will assume that the first stock items entered will also be the first to be taken out. 'Last in first out' assumes the last items entered will be the first to be removed. - Stock wastage reasons
Here you can create a list of possible wastage reasons. If your stock ends up being damaged, lost, misused or wasted for some other reason, this setting allows you to create a dropdown menu to select from in these instances. - Part reorder lists
You can set these lists to automatically reorder your stock when it dips below a certain level. If you wish to maintain a certain amount of any particular parts, you can set up a part reorder list. This will allow you to define how much stock you would like to have and when the threshold is reached, a purchase order will be raised for your selected supplier (the PO will be sent at 8 pm, and you will get a notification letting you know). - Setup part collection workflow
This setting will affect your users' mobile app. Setting your picking list to 'off' means that your engineers will be able to access their stock at will and take what they need without liaising with a stockroom manager of any kind. Putting your picking list on means that your engineers will have a pre-defined list of stock with their name associated that they can then use their app to scan and collect from a stockroom manager. - Supplier returns email
This email is for you to inform your suppliers that parts need to be returned and collected from the stock room.
You can use tagging to customise your message with dynamic fields and set up (then edit) your templated email message. - Stock location page
Stock locations can be accessed by searching for them by name in the search bar. This will take you to a page where you can access the general stock location page showing the stock location details, any parts reorder lists as well as a list of all current stock (which can be filtered by part name or part number) as well as the History and Reserve list tabs.