INTRODUCTION:
So the first consideration is how you want to use Central.
If you have a host accounting system that manages inventory on hands then launch Store Data Pump and click >Multi-store >Setup. Set update on hand quantities to No.
SECTION ONE: You wish to use Central for reporting of sales and vendor activity, not pricing and purchasing.
If it is for sales reporting only and you are not going to do pricing and purchasing in Central then you will never send data to stores, you will only get data from stores.
Items will be set up in the stores and if they have been assigned to the stores location they will get sent to Central. If two stores send the same item with the item number they will be merged at Central. Purchasing and on hand information can be reviewed at Central, but PO's will be created at the stores. Pricing will be maintained at the stores.
Customers added at stores will get sent to Central.
The rest of this topic can be ignored.
SECTION TWO: You wish to use Central for all pricing. Purchasing can be done at Central or Stores.
The section assumes you send data from Central out to the stores. If you don't do that then the stores can control all of their own data as described in Section One.
The main reasons people send from Central to stores is to see other store's inventory on hand, and to refresh customer balances. It is also possible to send transaction information, so you can monitor transactions made at other stores. Send to stores is also done if a host accounting system is involved and it manages inventory.
If you have distribution centers or warehouses they can be up as their own locations as well.
Add item into Central Acme:
1.It will get pumped out to all stores, regardless of locations assigned. Newer versions of Acme add all items to all locations, see point 4.
2.If it is a stocking item, it is automatically added to all locations. You cannot edit On Hand or Reorder Point in Central, that is done at the respective store.
3.All items get pumped out to all stores. This allows stores to see each other's inventory levels.
Using the new item in the stores:
1.All items will be visible in Item Maintenance and Item Maintenance NAV View.
2.All items can be sold in Ticket Entry, if clerk does one of the following:
a.Select the item using Inventory Item Lookup, including Super Find.
b.Scan (or enter) the item code or PLU
1.If an item is not stocked at a particular store, that store can mark the item as such and it will not be included in the Ticket Entry Item List. It will still be available for sale if scanned or added to a Ticket by other means. Items marked in this manner can also be excluded from label printing, inventory reports, etc.
Add PLU to Central
-it will get pumped out to the stores.
Add Item to Store
It will get pumped to Central, and locations ??
Edit Item in Store (change description, department, prices, etc.)
If the item has previously been sent to Central the edits do not flow to Central. If we did that it would be possible for next import from Central to overwrite store edits. For this reason you should edit items, pricing, departments etc. in Central.
See User Privileges below.
See Preservation below.
Departments
The list of departments gets moved from Central to Satellites. If you want to add or edit departments do it at Central.
If you need to move an item to a new department, do this at Central, or use preservations discussed elsewhere in this help topic.
Change On Hand Qty in Store
The store is the source of on hand quantities, so changes in the store are pushed to Central. To configure this, launch store Data Pump and click >Multi-store >Setup. Set update on hand quantities to no.
Average Unit Cost is maintained for the enterprise AND each store location, if you have more than one store. See the On Hands tab in Item Maintenance.
1.Ability to edit cost can be set using privileges and by design. Enterprise Average Cost should only be edited in SINGLE store Acme. If you edit Enterprise Average Cost in Central it will be overwritten if you Get Data from Stores.
2.Each satellite store can edit their own average cost.
Add PLU to Store
The PLU does not get pumped to Central. For this reason it is best practice to add PLU's to Central. See User Privileges below.
Receiving Items / Adjusting On Hand Counts
The store is the source of on-hand information.
Physical Inventory Counts are done at the store.
On hand counts are sent from the store(s) to Central Acme. They are also sent to other stores, so each knows what the other has.
Purchase Orders -Can be created at Central or Stores. Central PO's get pushed to stores for receiving. All Store PO's (Suggested and Submitted) get sent to Central for planning.
All Purchase orders will be received at the store, regardless of whether they are delivered to a Central, Store or a Custom addresses.
A Purchase Order created in Central cannot be voided in a store, it can only be received and/or closed.
Vendor Item Information (displayed on the item Purchasing tab) that is added to a store pumps into Central. It then pumps out to other stores.
Key Concepts and Best Practices
Since purchase orders are received in Store (or warehouse), the stores are considered to the source of on hand and item average cost information. Typically, on hand quantities and average cost are only changed via sale, return and PO receipt. On hand quantities can also be changed via Physical Inventory process.
Central Acme automatically excludes ability to edit
Best Practice in Satellite Stores and Portable Acmes...
1.Deny most users the privilege to EDIT INVENTORY. By inference this will also deny the the ability to SET INVENTORY COST.
2.Set one special case user (maybe called "Editor") and grant them two additional privileges, EDIT INVENTORY and SET INVENTORY COST. Only log in as Editor when you need to make changes to Cost. Know that changes other than to the cost field will likely be over-written by Central*.
Best practice in Central Acme...
1.Grant desired users ability to ADD NEW INVENTORY and EDIT INVENTORY. Even with this they cannot edit On Hands tab, since they are in Central.
2.Deny all users ability to SET INVENTORY COST, since it would be over-written when they Get Update from Stores. This does not impeded Central Acme users from being able to enter and edit Vendor Cost, or set inventory cost when adding new items.
*Preservation Logic: If you wish to allow users to edit items in the stores (instead of Central) this can be handled in the "preservation" logic of our "recalcsellprice.exe" custom utility. Inquire for details.
