Inventory Control

Overview of Inventory Control

The aims of Inventory Control include controlling stocking levels so as to reduce overhead without hurting sales, as well as simply controlling user procurement of products that might be limited in quantity stocked "on hand". PageDNA supports multiple inventory control features designed to help you manage your supply levels, control ordering of restricted inventory items, and manage backorders.

Inventory-Controlled Items

Every item in the PageDNA system can be one of several available item types. Each item type has unique behaviors and properties. PageDNA has created several item types that are specifically designed to help with inventory control tasks:

Stocking Items

The standard item type for inventory control item is the "Stocking Item". This item class tracks its own inventory status and has configuration options including the following attributes:

On Hand Quantity - the "On Hand" inventory value tracks the current number of items stocked for a particular line item. Back Order - allow products to be backordered and set minimum levels to keep in inventory Bin Number - indicate where in the warehouse a particular 'pick and pack' item is found to help with routine fulfillment tasks. Condition Stock Level - this value set the inventory level at which you wish to show the product "unavailable". This can be used to allow backorders or to conversely retain a buffer of supply for orders that might be coming in through other channels. Unavailable Text - This field controls the text to show when an item is out of stock to suite your purposes (e.g. "out of stock" or "n/a").

Multi-Size Items

The Multi-Size Item is most commonly used for clothing or other items that come in a variety of different sizes and colors. This item type allows the site builder to create a single line item in the catalog that can have multiple sizes and/or colors, each with their own product name modifier (e.g. "Blue, XL"), part number, and most importantly: their own "on hand" inventory stocking level. This allows a site builder to quickly add a large number of sizes/colors to a site and to allow users to only order from items that are currently stocked.

Restocking Item

This item type is the opposite of a Stocking Item. Orders for a restocking item can optionally increase the inventory on hand for another item when a particular "restock" item is ordered. This item type has a special field where you may enter in the product that gets re-stocked when a purchase is made. The Restock item is useful where you wish to maintain two separate site catalogs: one for ordering from inventory (general public access), and the other where authorized individuals (purchasing managers) can authorize the re-supply of a certain line item. The restocking can be controlled manually if desired.

Displaying Inventory to Users

The available or "On hand" inventory can be shown to the user while ordering in the "catalog" step of the ordering process. Items that are out of stock or are below a certain minimum order threshold can be shown as unavailable using configurable text.

Inventory is also shown at the Checkout (Shipping) step of the process, and if desired users can be restricted so as to only be able to order a quantity less than the total number of products on hand.

Low Stock Email Notifications

Each inventory-controlled item can have a threshold at which an email notification is dispatched once stocking levels reach a certain threshold. Each product can have an independent threshold settings and email address(es) to notify for depletion notification.

Inventory Control Administration

Each of your items under inventory control has a wide variety of configuration options as described above; all are controlled using the "Item Editor" interface. To change an item's inventory settings, administrators simply change the values in this form, then save changes to instantly update item status.

Product Usage Reports

To assist in forecasting required stocking levels, PageDNA provides a number of different reports that help analyze ordering trends. One of the most frequently used of these reports is the "Product Summary" report. This product shows usage of a particular line item (both order count and total impressions ordered) over a given date range. This report allows analysis of product usage so as to adjust purchasing planning. Summary of Benefits

Maintaining profitable and competitive stock levels was once an art, but with PageDNA's inventory control software now it is an exact science.