In this article you will learn about unit inventory management (UIM), how to set it up, use it, and learn about frequently asked questions.
User Roles: Admin, Inventory, Procurement Manager, Procurement User, Sales Manager, and Scanner.
This feature is currently on the beta testing phase, so access is limited to testing companies. Once this feature becomes available to everyone, we’ll let you know via email or our in-app notifications.
Table of Contents
What is Unit Inventory Management?
Unit Inventory Management offers businesses more flexibility and efficiency in managing their live inventory using special labels and features that facilitate warehouse management when selling products in bunches.
Some of these functionalities include settings to turn UIM features on or off at the location level for multi-location companies, distribution and bunch labels to track inventory in units, automated scanner options, and open box reports.
Setup
This section contains the steps you need to follow to enable and customize the Unit Inventory Management feature.
Requirements
To successfully implement UIM in your operation, you will need the following requirements:
2”x2” size labels for the Bunch Labels.
4”x3” size labels for the Open Box labels.
Have the “Sell by Units Only” and the “Allow Overselling” settings deactivated.
If you are a multi-location company, you will need to set up this feature in each location.
Complete the setup described in this article.
When UIM is enabled, UPC labels will be replace by Open Box and Bunch labels.
Step One: Enable the UIM Feature
To begin managing your live inventory in units, you must first enable and set up the UIM from the company’s settings.
To enable UIM, do the following instructions:
Go to Setup and select Settings.
Click on Unit Inventory Management from the Inventory group of settings.
Check the box in the modal to enable the feature.
Select if you want to include Vendor information on the bunch labels.
Select the date that will be displayed on the bunch labels.
Select if you want to encode the date on the bunch labels.
Click on Save.
When you enable UIM, the system will create a new carrier named POS CHECKOUT with the carrier code POS Checkout. When products are scanned or marked as shipped from the order entry, the system will assign this carrier to those products.
For Multi-Location Companies:
The UIM feature is managed on a location basis, you will find the Unit Inventory Management settings in the Setup > Settings > Locations tab.
Step two: Set up the Default Printer
To have the system automatically print bunch labels, you must set the default printer for the bunch labels.
To set a default printer, do the following instructions:
Go to Setup and select Settings.
Click on Manage Remote Printers from the Shipping group of settings.
Click on Add new printer.
Add the name of the printer.
Select POS CHECKOUT as a carrier.
Select Open Box Labels as the document type.
Optional: Modify the number of copies you want to print for these labels.
Check the Default box and click on Save.
Once the default printer is set, the system will automatically print the open box labels when opening boxes from the Inventory Summary and Add Order screens.
If you don’t set up a default printer for these labels, the system will print them as a PDF file when done from the system but will prevent scanner users from printing and processing UIM orders.
Open Boxes
There are two ways to open boxes: through the Inventory Summary screen and with the scan gun.
Open Boxes With the Scanner
To open boxes with the scan gun, do the following instructions:
Start the scan gun.
Select option eight (8).
Follow the instructions on the screen. This process can vary based on independent factors. To learn more, read Scanner Behavior.
Continue scanning boxes.
When you open boxes, the system will print the Bunch labels in the default printer. To learn how to set a default printer, read Step Two: Set up the Default Printer.
If there is no default printer set, selecting a printer from the scanning gun will not be possible.
Scanner Behavior
When opening boxes with the scanner, there can be several factors that affect the process of verifying and opening a box. Depending on these factors, one of the following actions will apply:
Available Boxes. When the scanned box is not marked and “Don’t Open” is not sold or open, the system will open the box in Komet and automatically print the Bunch labels in the default printer.
Boxes marked as “Don’t Open“. If the scanned box is marked as “Don’t Open“, the system will ask the user if they want to open the box anyway. The selected option will trigger any of the following:
If the box has not been sold, the system will check if there is another box with the same lot # that has been opened. If there is one, the system will make a Box Number Swap with the open box that has no printed labels. If there is not, the system will open the box and print Bunch labels.
If the box was sold, the system will check if the shipping labels have been printed; if they were, the scan gun will tell the user to return it to the original rack position.
If the box was sold but has no printed shipping or bunch labels, the system will check for an open box with the same lot # and check if any labels were printed. If the system finds an available box, it will perform a Box Number Swap; if there is no alternate box, the system will tell the user that there are no available boxes and return the box to its original rack position.
If there are no open boxes with printed bunch labels, the system will open the scanned box and print the bunch labels.
If the scanned box is not available, but there is another available box with the same Lot #, the system will make a Box Number Swap, open the box, and print the Bunch labels.
Open Boxes. If the scanned box is open in the system, the system will verify the following:
Open Box with Printed Bunch Labels. The system will inform the user of the situation and ask if reprinting bunch labels is required.
Open Box with No Printed Bunch Labels. The system will print the Bunch labels.
Open boxes without printed bunch labels. If the scanned box is open in the system but has not had the Bunch labels printed, the system will print them.
At the end of the scanning process to open boxes, the scan-gun will return to the Open Box screen, where users can keep scanning boxes or exit the process.
To learn more about the Swaps mentioned above, read Box Swaps.
The scan gun has a sound alert system that informs the user of a problem or successful operation. Two (2) beeps mean success, and three (3) beeps mean that the user should check the screen to see the situation.
Open Boxes from the Inventory Summary
When you open boxes, the system automatically uses this label to facilitate inventory management.
To print open box labels, do the following instructions:
Go to Inventory and select Inventory Summary.
Search the order.
Select the order:
Click on the button in the Actions column of a specific order and select Open Boxes.
Select multiple orders and click the Open Boxes button.
Enter the information.
Click on Open Boxes.
The system will automatically print the bunch labels on your default printer or as PDFs if no printer is set up.
You can also open boxes and print their labels from the Order Entry - Add Order screen.
Box Swaps
When opening boxes with the scan gun, the system will verify if the box is available to be opened. This means that it will check if the box has been sold, marked as don’t open, if it belongs to a PB, if it is open, or if the labels have been printed. To learn more, read Scanning Behavior.
Depending on which of these criteria is met, the system will continue the process and mark the box as open and print the labels, or it apply one of the following swaps:
Open Box Number Swap. When the scanned box is sold or marked as don’t open, the system will look for another box with the same products and lot #. Depending on box availability, the system will do one of the following actions:
If there’s another box open, the system will check if Bunch labels were printed for that box; if they were, the system will ask the user if they wish to reprint the labels, or if they have not been printed yet, the system will swap the box’s number and print the Bunch labels.
If there’s no other box open, the system will open the box and print the Bunch labels.
Unopened Box Number Swap. When the scanned box is unavailable, the system will search for another available box with the same lot #. Depending on availability, the system will do one of the following actions:
If there’s another box available, the system will automatically swap the box’s number and print the bunch labels for the scanned box.
If there’s no other box available, the system will display an error message telling the user to return the box to the original rack position.
Labels
Open Box Labels
Open box labels contain the following information:
Lot number. The lot number of the scanned box.
Position. Box location in the warehouse.
Product description. Product name or description.
Vendor code. Vendor’s code.
Box number. Box number.
AWB. Airway Bill number of the order.
Box Header Labels
When the unit inventory management setting is turned on, and the bunch labels are printed, at the beginning of the PDF or printout.
This label contains the following information:
Label: Labels for box #
Box Number
Lot #
Full Product Description
The total of Bunches in the box
Size: 2”x2”
This only applies when UIM is enabled.
This label head only appears when the scanner triggers the printing of the bunch labels, not when the user prints labels from the Inventory Summary or Add Order screens.
Open Boxes Report
The "Boxes Pending to be Open Report" is available for users with access to the Inventory Summary screen. With this report, you can see which boxes have been opened in the system but not physically. When a user selects this report, the system will take the information based on search filters and request a date range for the report. This date range is limited to 60 calendar days.
To create this report, do the following instructions:
Go to Inventory and select Inventory Summary.
Multi-location company users will also be requested to select the location the report will consider. It is only possible to make a report for one location at a time.
The Inventory in Units report has new columns to include relevant information. To learn how to generate this report, read Export Inventory in Units to Excel.
FAQs
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