Stock Items
Stock items are defined as material resources that are held in storerooms and issued to activities that require the materials to be completed. The stock item record determines whether or not the type of stock can be purchased, repaired, tracked, and so on.
As stock items leave the storeroom, a reorder of stock items will become necessary. Some stock items get purchased when the reorder points, defined on the stock item detail, are reached. Other stock items need to be ordered only when there is a demand for them. The system is able to create a reorder review record for “On Demand” stock items whenever the quantity of stock items needing to be “On Hand” exceeds the total quantity of that stock item in inventory.
The stock item record can also provide a list of vendors and manufacturers who provide the item as well as appropriate alternative stock, as applicable. Only stock items in an “active” status can be purchased or entered as a material requirement on an activity. When they are entered in the system, stock items are categorized in some of the following ways:
- General: Regular stock items are kept in inventory until they are needed.
- Direct Purchase: Direct purchase stock items can only be directly purchased when needed for work.
- Trackable: Trackable stock items merit being individually identified and followed from initial receipt on-site through complete usage. These are typically large, expensive, or specialized assets or materials which are inspected when they are received into inventory, repaired if they break, or installed on other assets, and are otherwise carefully dispositioned in the system.
- Lot Managed: Lot managed items are tracked in a special way in the system. These types of items are fabricated, sold, and delivered in “lots” or “batches” of the item. This is significant when there are qualities of details about the item that might vary between lots. If this item is lot managed, the system tracks a lot number with any transaction that changes the quantity of the item for the storeroom. Since each received lot also has its inventory tracked independently, lot managed item details all have “child” stock item details for each lot that is received. This means a “master” stock item detail that is classified as “lot managed” on its stock item detail may have many “lot” stock item details (one for every lot that is received). When an activity references lot managed items as a resource requirement, the master stock item detail is referenced. Lots only become relevant when material is issued from or received into inventory. This means the material issue for lot managed stock items reference a lot stock item detail, but the planned activity references the master stock item detail. During receiving of a lot managed stock item, the system verifies whether or not the storeroom has a lot specific Stock Item Detail (SID) for that lot number and creates one if one does not exist.
- Capital Spare: Capital Spare items are identified during accept and return as fixed assets so that an external Fixed Asset Management System can maintain their depreciation. A property unit is required on capital spare items.
Some stock items, such as Lot Managed stock items, should be inspected when they are received from the vendor. The “Accept on Receipt equals No” setting on the stock item record forces the inspection of the stock item upon receipt. This setting also enables a shipment deficiency to be created when there is an issue with the shipment. The deficiency can then be displayed in the Shipping Deficiency zone of the Receipt Line portal.
When a stock item is maintained in the inventory of a storeroom, a corresponding Stock Item Detail record must be created. Stock item details define how the stock item is managed in the storeroom and contain storeroom-specific information for the stock item such as pricing, reorder information, unit of issue, unit of purchase, expense code, and so on.
One stock item might be stored in multiple storerooms. When it is needed, stock transfers can be used to move items between storerooms. For example, an organization might have a central storeroom from which satellite storerooms request stock.