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Creating a New Inventory Item

 
Choose the ProjectPAK Library Item
1.    Select   File | New  from the ShopPAK menu or click the New Record icon   from the speed bar.  This displays the “Select Library Item” dialog box”. 
 
TIP:  Never start typing into a blank Inventory form before doing step one.  If you type information into the Inventory form prior to step one, the results are unpredictable.  To back out of this situation, it is recommended you delete the Inventory Item and start again by clicking “File | New”.   
 
2.    Choose the ProjectPAK Library Item that the inventory item is related to and click the OK button.  This returns you to the Inventory Form.  You’ll see the inventory item’s description is initially the same as the associated library item’s description. You’ll also see a value in Inventory Code, as well as the extended description fields, if the library item had corresponding values for these fields.
 
        You can edit ‘Inventory Code’, ‘Description’, and the ‘Extended Descriptions’ if it makes sense.  If you’re using a one-to-many relationship between the inventory item and the ProjectPAK library item, then you’ll probably need to expand upon these fields to make this instance unique from the other inventory items that are based on the same, generic ProjectPAK library item.
 
Note:  Changes made to the Inventory form are not copied back to the ProjectPAK library item.  Although they’re linked in the database, you can change inventory item descriptive information without changing the corresponding library item’s descriptive fields.
 
Inventory Category
Category is mandatory. 
 
Track Individual Pieces Of Inventory Checkbox
There are two types of inventory items – those inventory items that are managed as a batch (checkbox blank), and those inventory items that are managed ‘by the piece’ (checkbox checked). 
 
Make sure you decide how to set up the new inventory item.  Managing inventory by the batch or by the piece influences many aspects of inventory management.  Managing ‘by the piece’ is a little more work, but if you need to manage an inventory item this way, ShopPAK can help you.
 
Choose ‘by the batch’ if all you care about is how many of an item is available.  In other words, it doesn’t matter if employees pull one instance of the inventory item from stock or some other instance.  The individual pieces of a ‘by the batch’ inventory is unimportant.  One piece is the same as another piece. 
 
On the other hand, if you need to track when employees pull a particular piece of inventory out of stock because each instance of the inventory item has unique characteristics.....then you need to manage ‘by the piece’.
 
TIP:   When setting up a new inventory item that is going to be managed ‘by the piece’, leave the ‘Track Individual Pieces of Inventory’ checkbox  blank.  After you set up the inventory item, come back and place a check in the checkbox.  At that time, ShopPAK will automatically create all of the Inventory Piece records for you.  This is a real time saver. 
 
Inventory Code
‘Inventory Code’ is mandatory.  It must be unique for each inventory item. 
 
Description
‘Description’ is mandatory.  It can be up to 160 characters long.  Use description to thoroughly describe an inventory item. 
 
User Defined List Boxes
In the upper right corner of the Inventory form, you’ll find the user defined list boxes.  You can define two list box names, and for each list box, you can define the values that drop down.  Use these list boxes to further define the inventory item attributes (e.g. color, species, etc.).
 
Purchase Information
Re-order Point
The threshold inventory quantity that signals it is time to re-order the inventory item.
Lead Time
The amount of time is usually takes between giving a purchase order to a supplier and receiving shipment.
Standard Order Quantity
The quantity you typically purchase when placing an order for the inventory item.
Box / Bag Quantity
Number of units contained in a given inventory item.
Size
Typical size of the inventory item.
Weight
Weight of one unit of the inventory item.
Purchase UOM (Unit of Measure)
The unit of measure used to purchase the inventory item.   When creating a new inventory item, this defaults to the ProjectPAK library item’s UOM.  Make sure you check the UOM to make sure it is appropriate for the inventory item.
 
Stock UOM (Unit of Measure) Conversion
ShopPAK gives you the option of purchasing with one UOM, and stock using another UOM.  For example, you might purchase a pallet of material, but stock the material by the ‘each’.  If your ‘Purchase’ UOM differs from your ‘Stock’ UOM, you need to provide a conversion formula so ShopPAK can calculate ‘Stock’ quantity and cost when shipments are received.
 
Avg. Stock Unit Cost
When creating a new inventory item, the ‘Avg. Stock Unit Cost’ is painted red.  This is the only time you’re allowed to manually edit average unit cost.  It defaults to the associated ProjectPAK library item’s unit cost.  If you changed the purchasing and/or stock UOM, make sure you change the unit cost accordingly.
 
Once the inventory item is created, ShopPAK protects this fields and calculates the average cost based on the inventory valuation method you’re using, as well as, the quantity on hand.
 
Overhead %
The overhead percentage is used during job costing to address the percentage of burden that you assign to materials.  If you wish, you can change the percentage on different inventory items, if you have determined that different types of inventory reflect different overhead markups.  For new inventory items, the default material overhead percentage appears in the field. 
 
 
Finished Product Job Costs
If the inventory category you’ve chosen for an inventory item is for “finished goods”, you’ll enter the material and labor costs required to produce one unit of inventory, as well as, the selling price of one unit of inventory.  If you create shipping tickets by dragging finished goods to the ship ticket grid, and then invoice from the shipping ticket, also supply the applicable ‘Sales GL Account so ShopPAK can properly export invoices to your accounting package.
 
When a finished good is shipped out of inventory, the “Shipping” tab automatically applies the finished good’s material and labor costs against the target Job and Job Item’s labor and material cost accumulators.
 
If the inventory item is not for a finished good, these fields are protected .  See Finished Goods Processing for details on working with finished goods and semi-finished goods in ShopPAK.
 
Location
An inventory item can be stored at multiple locations throughout your shop.  ShopPAK maintains inventory counts at each physical location, for each inventory item stored at that location.  If you store inventory stock at multiple locations in your shop, employees must identify not only the inventory item code, but the exact location they ‘pulled’ stock from.  This is the only way ShopPAK can maintain accurate inventory counts. However, if you always store an inventory item at just one location, employees only need to identify the inventory item they ‘pulled’ from stock.  (If it’s located at only one physical location, ShopPAK knows to adjust the quantity of the one location under the inventory item).
 
When you create a new inventory item, you must identify at least one inventory location.  See “Setup and Options” for instructions on creating inventory location values.  You won’t be able to add a new inventory item unless you’ve got your inventory location values created.
 
     Auto Receive Location
 
A handy feature in ShopPAK is the ‘Auto Receive Location’ option.  If you always store an inventory item in the same physical location when you receive a shipment that contains that inventory item, ShopPAK can automatically adjust the location’s ‘On Hand’ quantity accordingly.  This saves you from manually choosing the correct location upon receipt of a shipment that contains inventory items.