V9 - Bins

Bins are a means of managing the storage of items within a specific bin-tracked location. The Bins list (Operations > Inventory > Bins) contains the records of all bins that you have created.

Its list columns allow you to view the bin number, location, description, and contents. All items in the bin, along with their respective quantities, will be displayed. The contents of a selected bin, as well as the quantities of each item, can also be viewed by enabling the Contents column or by clicking the Actions dropdown arrow and selecting Contents. If you have multiple bin-tracked locations, use the Filter feature to display the bins at all locations or a specific location. 

The PDF action of a bin record is used to produce its barcode label with the template you choose. You can then print the labels 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 is explained in further detail below.

Creating a bin-tracked location

To enable bin tracking for a location, go to the Locations list (Tools & settings > Configuration > Lists > Locations) and select +Add. 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 Inventory section of the Operations menu (Operations > Inventory > Bins).

Adding bins to a location

To add bins at a bin-tracked location:

1. Go to the Bins list (Operations > Inventory > Bins).
2. Select the +Add 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. Enter a description (optional) for this bin in the Description field.
   3. Select the location of the bin from the Location field dropdown list.
   4. Enter a number between 0 and 9999 in the Sequence # field to indicate the order of this bin. The Sequence # reorders items according to their bin sequence on a PDF generated from a pick ticket. Typically, the reordered items would reflect the order of the bins in the warehouse. for more information on how sequence numbers are used on pick ticket PDFs, see Ordering bin-tracked items sequentially on pick ticket PDFs.
   5. Select Save and new (under the More dropdown) if you wish to add another bin—or Save and close if finished. The bins created will appear on the Bins list.

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 > 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 items at multiple locations. If you have an item housed at multiple locations, you can make its bin assignment using the Location settings table. For more information on this feature, refer to Using Location settings.

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 the item's Location settings) to a location, the bin will display below the item name on an item receipt, adjustment, transfer, pick ticket, return to vendor, return, and shipment. When a bin-tracked item is entered on a transaction, SOS Inventory shows the bin number for that item, as well as the quantity available (in parentheses) for that item only in the selected bin.

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, as shown in the screenshot below.

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.

Moving to or from bin-tracking

Once a location has been saved in SOS Inventory, that location's bin-tracking status (whether bin tracking is enabled or disabled), cannot be changed. To accommodate a change in the bin-tracking status of a location, you must move existing inventory into a new location.

Perform the following steps:

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. 
3. Delete the old location—or change its name to denote that it is old and should not be used.