Assemblies - Bulk Stock Items

Within Stock Assemblies you can be using stock items such as screws, nuts, bolts and washers where there is no need to track each individual item as they are used – instead stock for these items is issued in packs or boxes manually as needed. Often these items could be classed as non-stock items but in some cases whilst they have a minimal value of fractions of pence within each assembly they do have a value for stock holdings when viewed accumulatively.

New in Release 6.5 is the facility to flag a stock record that is used as a component within an assembly as a ‘bulk stock’ item. When used in an assembly build, either within Stock Control or via a Bill of Materials Works Order, the system will not down-date stock or write an issue transaction for these items but for the rest of the system (purchases, stock issues and valuations) it is a ‘real’ stock item.

Installation

Database Changes

A new data item is required on the Stock file to allow flagging of a stock item as bulk stock.To add this new item select Installation from the main menu followed by Application Manager and then Restructure A Database. Select the Stock Control application. Elect to update the Live Files and then select the Stock File. The existing data items are then displayed on screen, scroll-down to the next available blank entries and create the following items: File, Item, Name, Type, Description

STA BULK-STOCK ? Flag to identify stock item as bulk stock. When used as a component within an assembly build no stock transaction is generated nor is physical stock updated.

To insert a new item press <Enter> against a blank entry, enter the title as required and press <Enter>, select the item type (using the drop-down list if required), and depending on item type select the size required.

Once the additional item has been recorded press the <ESC> key and select the UPDATE button to save the database changes.When prompted respond ‘Y’ to the prompts to ‘Extract Existing Data to New Database Structure’ and, if appropriate, ‘Copy Table Entries from Old Database to New Database’. Final prompts ask to ‘Remove (.OLD) Database’ and to ‘Carry Out the Same Restructure on the BASE File as Well’ – respond as required.If you select to update the base file you need to manually insert the new items at the same data item positions as on the live file.

System Profiles

To reference the newly added data item a new parameter has been added to the Stock System Profiles.To update the profiles select Installation from the main menu and lock out the system before selecting the System Profiles option and the Stock Control application. The new parameter setting has been added to screen 3 of the parameters.

Stock Item to indicate whether Bulk Stock – select the newly added data item on the stock file which identifies a stock record as a bulk stock item.

Update reserved quantity for Bulk Stock Items – if set then when bulk stock items are used in works order entry they will update reserved (and down-date reserved during issue) but will continue to omit the update of physical stock.

Application User Facilities

To allow stock items to be flagged for bulk stock you need to update the stock maintenance screen(s) to include an input item for the bulk stock flag. To update the screen layout(s) users can sign on as the SYSTEM user-id (or if Premier any user with Installer rights) and right-click on the Stock Maintenance menu option and select Configure Option before selecting the Add New Stock Screen. Alternatively users can select the Installation option from the main menu followed by Application Manager and then Application User Facilities. Select the Stock Control application before selecting Maintain Stock and then Add New Stock Screen.

To insert the flag item you’ll first need to add a text label of ‘Bulk Stock’ (or similar), to do this use the mouse to position the cursor where required and then type the required text. To insert the data items position the cursor where required and press the <F4-Select> key and choose the new flag item. Once complete choose File and then Save & Exit.

 Notes