V8 - Bins

Bins are a means of managing the storage of items within a specific bin-tracked location. The Bins list (Company menu > Miscellaneous > Bins) contains the records of all bins that you have created. Its list columns allow you to view the bin name, description, and location.

The contents of a selected bin can also be viewed on the Bins list by enabling the Contents column under the Column Chooser—or for an individual bin by clicking the Actions dropdown and selecting Contents. All items in the bin, along with their respective quantities, will be displayed.

The PDF action of a bin record displays the bin's barcode label, which you can print if desired.

The topics covered below contain important information on the steps needed to set up bin tracking for a location, the procedure for assigning default bins for an item housed at multiple locations, working with bin-tracked items on transactions, transferring bin-tracked inventory, and the process for changing bin tracking status.

Steps for establishing bin tracking at a location

To use bin tracking at a location:

1. Create the bin-tracked location.
2. Add bins that will be used for that location.
3. Assign items housed at that location to the bins.

Each of these steps are explained in further detail below.

Creating a bin-tracked location

To enable bin tracking for a location, go to the Locations list (Company menu > Miscellaneous > Locations) and select Add new. Complete the data fields--and be sure to turn on the Bin tracking option before saving. Once bin tracking is enabled for at least one location, the Bins list will appear under the Miscellaneous section of the Company menu (Company menu > Miscellaneous > Bins).

Adding bins to a location

To add bins at a bin-tracked location:

1. Go to the Bins list (Company menu > Miscellaneous > Bins).
2. Select the Add new button.
3. On the bin page:
   1. Enter the Bin number. If you have multiple locations that use bin tracking, be sure to follow the naming convention your company has established to distinguish a bin at one location from a bin at another.
   2. The Barcode field is used for display purposes only. The barcode appears only after the bin number is assigned and the bin definition is saved. It allows you to see what the bin barcode would look like if you used a form template to produce bin tags.
   3. Enter a description for this bin in the Description field.
   4. Select the location of the bin from the Location field drop-down list.
   5. Enter a number between 0 and 9999 in the Sequence number field to indicate the order of this bin.
   6. Select Save and close.
4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 until all bins have been added.

Assigning items to bins at a bin-tracked location

The method you use to assign items to bins depends on whether you have a few items or many:

Making bin assignments for a few items. To assign a bin to an item, go to the Items list (Operations menu > Inventory > Items), open the item's Edit page, select the appropriate bin from the Default bin dropdown list, and then save. Although this method works well if you need to assign bins for just a few items, it is inefficient if you have to assign default bins for many bin-tracked items.

Making bin assignments for many items. If you have many items that need to be assigned to bins, executing a bulk edit of items at the bin-tracked location is the most efficient way to make those assignments:

1. Go to Company menu > Data tools > Export data.

2. Under the Standard section, select Items.

3. On the Item export page:

   1. Under Filters, select from the Location dropdown where you want to assign items to bins.

   2. Under Columns, select the Add all columns required for import button.

   3. Under the Actions block:

      1. Select from the Format drop-down the file format you want for the export. (If you have many items to export, the fastest option is to have SOS send the file in a CSV format.)

      2. Select either Save as Excel/CSV or Send via email. If you have many items, SOS will instruct you to use the Send via email option.

4. Edit the spreadsheet.

   1. Enter the appropriate bin number under the Bin column (Column O) for each physical item in your inventory that can be stored in bins at the specified location.
       

      warningIMPORTANT: If you wish to add stock into the bins via a bulk edit, you will need to do so by performing a second bulk edit. The first upload adds only the default bins to the item definitions. The second upload contains the item quantities and values.

5. Go to Company menu > Data tools > Import data and upload the modified spreadsheet back into SOS Inventory. The system will place your item counts into the bins listed for each item. If you have an item housed at multiple locations, SOS Inventory will import an item's bin assignment for that location into the item's Location settings table.

Assigning different default bins to an item at multiple locations

On an item page, you can set the default bin to which the item is assigned. But if your item is stored at multiple locations—each of which has a different default bin for the item--you can use Location settings action on the Items list. Location settings allows you to establish an item’s default bin, as well as its reorder point and maximum stock level, at each of your company’s locations. 

For more information on this feature, refer to Using Location settings to assign different maximum stock levels, reorder points, or default bins to an item at multiple locations.

Using bin-tracked items on transactions

When a location has bin tracking enabled, you can receive, ship, and otherwise use items from that location on transactions as you normally would.

If an item has been assigned a default bin (either in the item definition or in that item's Location settings) for a location, the bin will display below the item name on an item receipt, adjustment, transfer, pick ticket, and shipment. 

Transferring bin-tracked inventory

You can use an inventory transfer to move contents to or from a bin-tracked location, as well as to make bin-to-bin transfers within the same location.

On the transfer form:

• If inventory is being transferred from one bin-tracked location to a different bin-tracked location, the system will prompt you to enter the From bin (for the originating location) and To bin fields (for the gaining location) under the name of the item being transferred.
• If the transfer is from one bin to another bin within the same location, the From location and To location fields for an item will be the same.
• If inventory from a bin-tracked location is being transferred to a location that is not bin tracked, only the From bin field will be displayed for items.
• If the transfer is from a non-tracked location to a bin-tracked location, only the To bin field will be displayed.

Enter other fields on the transfer form as usual, then save when finished.

Enabling or disabling bin tracking at an existing location

Once a location has been saved in SOS Inventory, that location's status with regard to bin tracking (whether enabled or disabled), cannot be changed. 

If you want to convert a location to bin tracked or turn off bin tracking for a location, do the following:

1. Create a new location that reflects the desired bin tracking status (either enabled or disabled).
2. Use a transfer form to move the inventory from the old location to the new one. A bulk edit can be used as long as the items are not serial or lot tracked.
3. Delete the old location—or change its name to denote that it is old and should not be used.