The Material Management window consists of:
- A field for entering a date to specify the starting point for transactions (only transactions occurring on or after the entered date will be displayed)
- Admin. Units pane (upper left)
- Material Class Codes pane (lower left)
- Stock List pane (upper right)
- Transactions pane (lower right)
Admin. Units Pane
The Admin. Units pane provides a tree view of all administrative units in your agency. Use this pane to select the administrative units that possess the materials you wish to view in the Stock List pane. When this pane is displayed, it shows the selections that you made the last time you used this window. A check mark in a square indicates selected administrative units, while an empty square indicates those that can be selected.
To change what is selected, right-click an administrative unit, select the desired command, retrieve data, and save. Now the system will remember what you selected and will show the same selections the next time the pane is opened.
When you right-click an administrative unit, a shortcut menu is displayed. This menu provides the common commands along with the following command:
- Transfer From Selected Stock to This Admin. Unit: This command is only enabled when the stock selected in the Stock List pane is assigned to your administrative unit. When enabled, this command initiates a transfer-out transaction for the stock selected in the Stock List pane from your yard to the selected administrative unit. After selecting this command, a transfer-out transaction will appear in the Transactions pane with the destination and material columns already completed. See Transfer Materials Between Warehouses for information on transferring or accepting materials from another unit.
Material Class Codes Pane
The Material Class Codes pane shows a tree view of the material classification codes, which are created and maintained in the Setup [Materials] Classification Codes window. You use this pane to select the classification codes of the materials you wish to view in the Materials List pane. When this pane is displayed, it shows the selection(s) that you made the last time you used this window. A check mark in a square indicates selected codes, while an empty square indicates those that can be selected.
To change what is selected, right-click an administrative unit, select the desired command, retrieve data, and save. Now the system will remember what you selected and will show the same selections the next time the pane is opened.
When you right-click a particular material classification code, the system displays a shortcut menu. This menu contains the common commands along with the following command:
- Receive This Material: This command is used to create a purchase-receipt transaction for the material. See Receive Materials for information on using this command.
Stock List Pane
The Stock List pane shows the materials that match the criteria set in the Admin. Units and Class Codes panes. These materials can be located in a central repository (such as a maintenance yard or warehouse) and/or in a stockpile out in the field. You can tell whether a stock item is in a warehouse or in a stockpile by looking at the Route, Direction, and Start MP columns: only stockpiles have information in these columns. (In other words, a stockpile is identified by route, lane direction, and mile point: and this information must be supplied when you create a stockpile. Also, once created, a stockpile cannot be deleted. This allows a historical record of all stockpiles to be maintained.)
Note: Both material warehouses and stockpiles can have an ID number in the Stock Name column. You should use a naming scheme for ID numbers in the Stock Name column that clearly differentiates the two storage locations. For example, the Stock Name column could use the format WH123456 to identify materials in your warehouse and SP123456 for materials stored in a stockpile. The beginning two letters indicate the location: WH for warehouse and SP for stockpile.
The Buy column shows various colors depending on the level of the stock:
- No color: The current amount of stock on hand is above the threshold to purchase, but less than the full amount.
- Yellow: The amount of stock on hand is close to (but still above) the threshold to purchase.
- Orange: The amount of stock on hand is equal to or below the threshold to purchase.
- Red: The amount of stock on hand is zero.
- Green: The amount of stock on hand is greater than the full amount.
- Blue: The value for "Capacity" or "Threshold to Purchase" is zero.
Note: For customers using the new UI, there is an updated set of color options in the Buy column with the addition of letters in the color boxes to assist with any color blindness.
| FS | Full stock |
| LS | Low stock | |
| OS | Out of stock | |
| NA | Not available | |
| RO | Reorder | |
| FC | Full capacity |
When you right-click a material, a shortcut menu is displayed. This menu provides the common commands along with the following commands:
- Ask for Transfer From This Stock: This command is used to initiate a transfer-in transaction to your central warehouse (not a stockpile) by requesting an amount of a stock item from another administrative unit. See Transfer Materials Between Warehouses for information on requesting materials from another administrative unit.
Create New Stockpile: This command is only available for stock items that belong to your administrative unit and that are located in your central warehouse. After selecting this command, the system displays a new dialog box. This dialog box requests the route, lane direction, and mile point where the stockpile is located. After entering this information, the system checks that the specified location is within a maintenance section. If so, the system adds a new record to the pane that shows the new stockpile. (If not, an error message is displayed.)
Note: After creating a stockpile, the quantity of stock in the stockpile is zero: and so you must transfer stock to the stock pile using the Transfer to Stockpile command.- Make Correction: This command is only available for stock items that belong to your administrative unit. You use it to adjust the displayed inventory amount and unit cost for the selected stock item. After selecting this command, the system displays a new window so you can enter the new quantity and unit cost of the stock item. Once the correct information is entered, a new transaction appears in the Transactions pane. This transaction shows the difference between the previous quantity and unit cost and the new quantity and unit cost. (The difference values cannot be edited.)
- Receive Into This Stock: This command is only available for stock items that belong to your administrative unit. You use this command to create a purchase-receipt transaction for a stock item. See Receive Materials for an example of using this command.
- Sell From This Stock: This command is only available for stock items that belong to your administrative unit. You use it to create a sales transaction for a stock item. See Sell Materials for an example of using this command.
- Transfer from Stockpile: This command is only available for stock items that belong to your administrative unit and that are located in a stockpile. Furthermore, the destination (which is either your central warehouse or another stockpile) must be configured to contain the selected stock item. After selecting this command, the system displays a dialog box for you to select the destination. After selecting the destination, a transaction record is added to the Transactions pane. You must specify the amount of stock to be transferred in this new transaction record and then approve the transfer to complete the transfer of stock.
- Transfer to Stockpile: This command is only available for stock items that belong to your administrative unit and that are located in your central warehouse. Furthermore, the destination stockpile must already exist and must be configured to contain the selected stock item. After selecting this command, the system displays a dialog box for you to select the destination. After selecting the destination, a transaction record is added to the Transactions pane. You must specify the amount of stock to be transferred in this new transaction record and then approve the transfer to complete the transfer of stock to the stockpile.
Transactions Pane
The Transactions pane shows all unapproved material transactions (transfer in, transfer out, receipt, and sale) as well as all approved material transactions that were approved after the date shown at the top of the window.
- A red background in the Accepted or Fulfilled columns means that you cannot select these check boxes because the other administrative unit must first complete their part of the transaction.
- When a transaction is created, the default unit is that associated with the material in the Master Codes window. You can change this if desired. However, the system will attempt to convert the non-default unit to the default unit after approving and saving the Day Card: and if no conversion is provided between the units, then an error will result. You must change the unit you selected to the default unit (or one that converts to the default unit) to approve and save the Day Card. (The default unit is shown in parentheses in the Material Stock column.)
