Consolidating Stock Take Counts (Done by multiple users happening at different Locations)

iVend 6.5 introduced a new feature where the stock take count can be done with multiple users for the same or different locations at a time and thereafter all counts will be merged into a single stock take count where selected cycle counted inventory will be displayed in a single view to make final reconciliation and inventory postings to the system. This feature provides the facility to retailers who are keeping the same inventory at different locations in the same store and where multiple users are involved in the stock take at the same time.

On top of this, the feature, stock count can also be done location-wise which will help the retailers to maintain stock in an efficient way for different areas of different stock types like saleable, freeze, quality check, etc.

To maintain stock location-wise, the location feature must be enabled under iVend. For more information on Location management in iVend, please refer to “Locations Overview” a separate article on Locations:

 

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Note: When multiple stock counts need to be merged then individual stock count inventory should not be reconciled at the individual stock count level. Reconciliation will happen at the newly created stock counted document from the individual stock counts.

Business Benefits

1. Helps the retailers to scan the same inventory simultaneously from multiple locations.

2. With the introduction of this feature retailers will be able to perform stock counts in less time as comparative to historical standard stock taking processes.

3. Multiple users can be involved in the stock take activity.

4. Provides the facility for the Inventory Controller to obtain a single view of multiple stock take counts for the inventory reconciliation.

Stock take count

Let us see how the stock take count can be configured. For demonstration purposes, Locations is enabled to show the feature of the stock take along with multiple locations (different stock type).

Inventory view

Just to make it easier to understand, let us view the inventory status first. The Inventory View screen provides a view of the physically available inventory at different locations.

1. Log into the iVend Management Console and navigate to: Operations > Inventory > Product – the Product Search window comes up.

 

2. Choose a Product and click the [F4 Edit] button to edit or [F7 View] the record. The Product settings page will comeup.  

 

3. Click on the [View Inventory] button – the Inventory View page comes up.

 

Note: The Inventory View page gives you a summary of the item’s availability at various stores along with the status.

Inventory Counting Selection

Inventory Counting can be found under the Management Console. Go to Operations > Business Transactions > Inventory Counting – the Inventory Count Search screen comes up.

 

On the Inventory Count Search screen, search for an existing count and press the [F4 Edit] button to edit or click on the [F3 New] button to create a new count.

This screen provides the facility to initiate inventory counting for the selected product(s), which can be one or a range of products. All defined storage locations under the system will appear for the inventory count, out of which the required storage location will need to be selected for which the stock take will be performed. In the subsequent screen of Inventory Counting only the selected storage location will appear, which are selected in this screen.

Note: Location only appears in the Inventory Count search screen if Locations is enabled in the system. To enable the Locations option, log into the iVend Management Console and navigate to: Administration > System Initialization > Enterprise, and put a tick [  ] against the check box that says “Enable Locations”.

 

 

Inventory Count Setup

Inventory Count Setup helps the user to add the items in by auto or manual selection from the range of selected items in the Inventory Count selection.

 

Field Name	Field Type	Description/Activity
Id	Grid line	Used to capture the Id of the stock count.
Description	Grid line	Used to capture the description of the stock count.
Pricelist	Grid line	Used to select the pricelist, if the stock count needs to be done on a particular price list otherwise this can be left empty.
Comments	Textbox	Used to capture comments if any.
Product Id	Grid line	Used to view the selected product Id.
Product Description	Grid line	Used to view the selected product description.
Location	Grid line	Used to view the storage location for which the stock count is initiated.
In Store Quantity	Grid line	Used to view the available inventory at different storage locations under the store.
Count	Grid line	Used to stock take only those products in which this checkbox is checked. By default, all products will be marked as checked.
Auto Add Products	Button	Used to add all products automatically which come under the range of selected products under the inventory count selection screen.
Add Product	Button	Used to add individual products from the list of products selected under inventory count selection screen.
Delete Product	Button	Used to delete added products from the grid upon selection.
Count Inventory	Button	The [Count Inventory] button will help to save the settings done on the screen and allow the user to move to the next screen of the stock take which is Inventory Counting.
Cancel	Button	Used to exit from the screen without saving altered information.

Inventory Counting

The Inventory Counting screen provides the facility to count the actual physical quantity available at the physical scanning area for different storage locations (Stock types).

Note: If multiple inventory counting needs to be done then reconcile checkbox of line products should be unchecked, otherwise inventory counting will not be available for merging with any other inventory count.

Field Name	Field Type	Description/Activity
Product id	Grid line	Used to view the product code.
Product   Description	Grid line	Used to view product description.
Location	Grid line	User to view the storage locations which are selected for the stock take process.
Starting Qty	Grid line	Used to view the available stock qty when the stock take process starts.
Instore Qty	Grid line	Used to view the product qty for the selected store.
Counted Quantity	Grid line	Used to enter the physical counted product qty.
Difference Qty	Grid line	Used to view the difference between instore qty and counted qty
Price	Grid line	Used to view the existing cost price for the products and allows the facility to change the price. If a difference in the quantity is positive then a Goods Receipt will be done with the entered cost price.
Reconcile	Grid line	Used to reconcile the inventory by Inventory Controller or user.
Reconciled	Button	On confirmation by the user, the inventory will be posted. This is the last step of the stock take process.
Hide Instore Quantity	Button	Used to hide the Instore Qty column from the grid view.
Hide Difference	Button	Used to hide columns where there is a difference between the Instore Qty and Counted Qty.
Import File	Button	Used to import data from a predefined MS Excel template.
Count UOM Inventory	Button	Used to enter counted quantities that are Units of Measure (UOM) managed products.
Print	Button	Used to print.
Reconcile All	Button	Used to select all products available in the grid.
Auto Update Prices	Button	Used to populate the price from selected pricelist otherwise this button will be disabled.
Reconcile Inventory	Button	Used to reconcile the inventory by user. In the case of a single count all products will need to be checked for which the inventory counting needs to be done and will not allow the user to merge any other stock counts.  In the case of multiple counts, no product should be checked since it will be required to be merged first with other counts and thereafter reconciliation will be done.
Cancel	Button	Used to discard the changes and quit from the screen.

 

Inventory Count Merging

In the case of multiple stock counts, upon finishing of the initial count it will appear on the Inventory Count search screen with an Open mode. Select the inventory counts which need to be merged and click on merge button to internally create a new inventory count by clubbing all the quantity of products for which multiple inventory counts were performed.

Once the new merged Inventory Count is created by iVend Retail, all the individual stock counts which were selected to be merged will move to the Closed status and no further inventory changes can be done on those individual stock counts.

The Delete option can be used to delete the inventory counts which are not required but this can only be done for those counts with the Open status. There will be no impact on inventory when deleting Open inventory counts.

Note: Multiple stock counts can be selected but the minimum must be two (2).

 

After merging two or more inventory counts, a new inventory count will get generated by the system. 

 

Inventory Counting

The Inventory Counting is the final screen to view of all merged quantities for the stock in a single view, which also helps retailers to reconcile the inventory counted so far for the selected products from the different storage locations (e.g. Stock types: saleable, quality check, etc.).

Note: Storage Locations will appear here, only if Locations have been enabled in the system otherwise the products will be visible without locations.

In the following example, the screen shows that the counted quantities are finalized but not posted and this is because the Reconcile and Reconciled checkboxes are unchecked. Once these are checked then the differences will be actually posted to system.

To reconcile the inventory, finally counted quantities need to be verified by the user and the Reconcile checkboxes for each product needs to be selected. For selection of all products, click on Reconcile All otherwise manual selection can be performed by clicking on Reconcile checkbox next to each product individually. The following screen illustrates that all products have be Reconcile checked ready to complete the reconciliation process.

 

Finally, after all physical variances have been checked and verified by the user, the reconciliation can be processed. Click on the [Reconcile Inventory] button and upon confirmation the reconciliation of the inventory will be posted.

· If the difference for the products quantity is positive, then the system will create a Goods Receipt document automatically.

· If the difference for the products quantity is negative, then the system will create a Goods Issue document automatically.

· If there is no difference in quantities then the system will not create any Goods Receipt or Goods Issue documents.

Note: Upon completion of the stock take process if the same Inventory Count is viewed again through Inventory Counting screen, then the Reconciled checkbox will be checked for all those products for which the reconciliation was done. The Reconcile Inventory button will still be enabled until such time that all products in the Inventory Count have been reconciled.

Note: You can view the inventory status by selecting the products to see the adjusted inventory quantities through the stock take process.

 

This concludes the document on - Consolidating Stock Take Counts.