Inventory

The Inventory Module lets you set up and manage the merchandise, both tangible and intangible, that your organization sells to its customers. Everything that is sold in NetForum is considered a product. Products include physical items such as mugs, hats, or books and non-physical items or services such as memberships, event registrations, or subscriptions. Intangible items that are also considered products in NetForum are those items that can be applied to products such as taxes, discounts, and shipping carriers.

Some of the more common products and functions that can be managed in the Inventory Module are:

Inventory Management Warehousing Product Taxes Vendors

Product Fulfillment Shipping Pricing Controls Publications Product Packaging

The Group Items contained within the Inventory Module are:

Merchandise	Purchase Order	Vendor	Warehouse
Fulfillment	Publication	Product Type	Price
Kits	Miscellaneous Product	Tax Product	Shipping Product
Discount Product	Package	Product Category	Bundles

The primary Profile Pages in the Inventory Module include:

• Merchandise Profile
• Vendor Profile
• Warehouse Profile
• Purchase Order Profile
• Price Profile
• Bundle Profile
• Kit Profile
• Package Profile
• Publication Profile

If you are new to the Inventory Module and inventory management, it is recommended that you review the Getting Started and Inventory Workflow sections first.

Inventory Setup

Customizing Inventory Options for Your Organization

NetForum uses drop-down lists for easy data entry when you are setting up and adding to your inventory. Some drop-down lists allow you to customize them to make them more organization-specific if desired. For example, you can organize your merchandise into categories designated for members only, bookstore items, and office items. This makes it easier to filter items later. You can also specify pricing terms on your products and the shipping carriers you will use (if any).

You can add, edit, or delete data from the Inventory Setup pages just as you would from any NetForum child form. However, once a data element is used on a profile page or form, it can be disabled or hidden but not deleted.

You can access the Set-up links from the Overview Group Item.

Inventory Workflow

For successful inventory management within NetForum , there is a definitive set of steps that must be performed each time you enter a new product within NetForum . Those steps will now be covered and outlined below. Where appropriate, links will be provided to the corresponding sections for more detailed information and set-up.

1. Add a Product - Before you can track and manage your inventory, you must begin by adding the products your organization will sell. Poducts can be tangible or intangible items as already discussed. For example, a coffee mug, a membership, or the tax you will apply. For detailed information on how to add products, visit its corresponding topic such as the Merchandise, Publication or Tax Product topics.
2. Assign Product to Vendor - Once you have created your product in NetForum , you must assign it to a vendor in the system either for creation or to distribute for you. The Vendor topic has detailed steps on how to accomplish this step.
3. Store Product in a Warehouse - After you have identified the vendor that will create or distribute your product, you need to determine where your product will be stored before distribution. You should note that 'warehouse' is simply the term that NetForum uses to designate 'storage'. Meaning, in this case, warehouse could also mean office storage space within your organization's facility, a basement, or an actual warehouse depending upon the size of your organization. It is up to you to define your own storage space. The Warehouse topic details how to specify where your products are stored in which particular Warehouse.
4. Create a Product-to-Warehouse Purchase Order - Once you have specified a product, vendor, and warehouse, you now need a 'Product-to-Warehouse' Purchase Order so that your vendor will create and distribute the amount of product you specify to your warehouse.
5. Receive your Inventory - When your warehouse confirms that the inventory from your vendor has arrived, receive your inventory through your NetForum Vendor-to-Warehouse Purchase Order created so that you begin to track your inventory correctly and also so that you can create a fulfillment reports quickly and easily.

If you complete the steps detailed above, you will be able to track all of your inventory easily within NetForum as well as create detailed fulfillment reports for your organization and warehouse. Ordering through Centralized Order Entry (COE) as opposed to when your members order off of your organization's website is also easily accomplished.