Inventory

The Inventory menu is broken into two sections, Inventory, and Lists. The lists on the Inventory menu play a vital role in entering your data. Your lists must be populated before you begin adding your items and receiving inventory in. These lists can range vary. They include Suppliers, Units of Measure, Categories, Center Codes, and more.

Inventory → Inventory → Inventory Overview

This is the default landing page when you log on to Inventory Pro, This screen shows a general overview of inventory levels and inbound/outbound stock. It also allows you to manage all aspects of your inventory configuration for item definitions, reorder levels, item images, history, warehouse mappings and more.

Not all fields may be shown on the screen. The list below is of the standard fields available. There are a number of other fields which can be turned on or used for unique requirements. See the customization section of the manual or contact CISS for more information if you would like to know more.

System → Lists → Categories → “Add New Item Categories” Button / Pencil Icon in Edit Column

The Category field is one way of classifying your inventory. For example, if your business makes pens, you might use “ballpoint”, “felt tip”, and “gel writer” as your categories. If this list is left blank, this category will be listed as “all” for your inventory items. To add to the categories list:

1. Click on System and then on Categories.
2. Click on the “Add New Item Categories” button to add a new category or click on the pencil next to an existing category to edit it.
3. Enter a description for the category in the Description field and make sure that the checkbox in the Use in Lookups field is checked. (Note: if you wish to retire a category, simply uncheck that checkbox after clicking on the pencil icon next to a category.)
4. Press the “Save” button to save your category.

System → Lists → Center Codes → “Add New Item Center Codes” Button / Pencil Icon in Edit Column

The center code provides another way of classifying your inventory items, by cost center instead of category. Center codes are used for accounting purposes. For example, if you receive the same item from a number of sources, you can use the center code to track the source of each item for cost purposes. Many users of Inventory Pro Online choose to treat the center code as a secondary category list rather than as an accounting feature. To add a center code:

1. Click on System and then on Center Codes.
2. Click on the “Add New Item Center Codes” button to add a center code or click on the pencil next to an existing one to edit that code.
3. Enter a name for the center code in the Name field.
4. If necessary, enter a description for the center code or a warehouse to which the center code is restricted in the Description and Warehouse fields, respectively.
5. Make sure the checkbox in the Use in Lookups field is checked. (Note: if you wish to retire a center code, simply uncheck that checkbox after clicking on the pencil icon next to a center code.)
6. Press the “Save” button to save your center code.

Orders → Management → Packages

A package refers to the visual packaging of an item. It is not considered in calculations in the application but will assist you in describing your inventory. For example, if the unit of measure is “each”, you will be counting “each”. The package type is the descriptive portion. For example, you could be counting [cases] as your package, with varying UOM's to describe [case][12], [box][each], [drum][55]. You can have as many package types as needed. To add a new package type or edit an existing one:

1. Click on Orders and then on Packages.
2. Click on the “Add New Package Type” button to add a new package type or click on the pencil next to an existing package type to edit it.
3. Enter a description for the package type.
4. Make sure the checkbox in the Use in Lookups field is checked.
5. Click Save

System → Lists → Units of Measure

The “Unit of Measure” field on the “Item Master List” screen is used to define how you count your inventory (for example each, foot, pound, or ounce). Your unit of measure should always be the lowest countable unit. You may have as many units of measure as necessary. See below for adding new units of measure.

System → Lists → Units of Measure

Inventory Pro Online will also allow an item to be inventoried as one unit of measure but ordered or shipped in a larger unit of measure or vice versa. This can be used when your supplier requires the items to be ordered in a larger unit of measure than you store it or when your customer needs it to be sent in a unit of measure smaller than you store it.
The base unit of measure refers to the smallest unit of measure in which you wish to keep track of an item. So if you inventory your items in feet, a foot is the unit of measure. But if you will be receiving in inches, an inch would be the base unit of measure of the unit of measure foot. You must enter the conversion factors of different units into this list prior to being able to utilize this feature. To add a standard or conversion unit of measure:

1. Click on System and then on Unit of Measure.
2. Click on the “Add New Unit of Measure” button.
3. Enter the name of the unit of measure in the Unit Of Measure field.
4. If you want to add a standard unit of measure (e.g. inches in the example above), you would enter it as not having a base UOM but place 1 in the “Contains” field. If there is no base UOM enter it will default to itself when you save.
5. To add a conversion unit of measure (e.g. feet), add another unit of measure the same way you added the standard unit. However, instead of leaving Base UOM blank, click on the drop-down menu and then click on the unit which you wish to use as a base. As well, enter the conversion factor in the “Contains” field (in this example, the number in “Contains” should be 12).

Inventory → Tracking → Item Aliases

Item aliases work with the scanning functionality in different areas of the system. They allow a client to assign UPC, ISBN, or other barcode numbers to a product. It's also helpful for clients who purchase several different brands of the same item but treat it as a single internal item number. They can scan the barcodes and they will link back to the proper item number. To add or modify an item alias:

1. Click on Inventory and then on Item Aliases.
2. Click on the “Add New Item Alias” button to add a new item alias or click on the pencil icon next to an existing item alias to modify it.
3. Click on the three dots icon to select the item to which you want to add an alias (note that you can only add aliases to items in the warehouse in which you are currently working) and type the alias in the box labeled Alias.
4. Click on the “Save” button

Inventory → Management → Inventory Catalog

The inventory catalog is a listing of all of the items in the item master list. It contains their item ID, description, category, and image as well as a barcode label for each item. If an item requires a serial number, that information will also appear in the item’s entry in the inventory catalog. To use the inventory catalog,

1. Click on Inventory and then on Inventory Catalog.
2. If you wish to sort your catalog by item ID, click on the “Sort By ItemID” button. If you wish to sort by description and category instead, click on the “Sort By Description/Category” button.
3. The inventory catalog (sorted based on the method you chose on the previous page) will then appear. The inventory catalog is in .pdf format so you can save or print it as you could any other .pdf file.
4. To return to IPOL from the inventory catalog, click on the back arrow in your browser.

Inventory → Management → Barcode Catalog

Like location labels, the barcode catalog is an easy way to view and print barcodes. Note that unlike location labels, which can be formatted for multiple types of printers, the barcode catalog is formatted only for Avery 5260 and other similar printers. To use the barcode catalog,

1. Click on Inventory and then on Barcode Catalog.
2. Select the category of barcodes that you wish to print using the dropdown menu in the Select Category field. If you wish to print barcodes for all items, choose All Categories in the dropdown menu in the Select Category field.
3. Click on the “Submit” button to generate a .pdf of the barcode catalog. You can save or print this file as you would any other .pdf file.