Once warehouses are established and stocked with items, warehouse managers must ensure that adequate inventory levels are maintained to meet customer demand. Warehouse managers must evaluate item balance data provided by the NCAS and use it to determine appropriate times to issue replenishment orders.
Once warehouse managers evaluate system-maintained item balances and determine that additional stock items must be ordered, replenishment can be accomplished either externally or internally.
External replenishment occurs when items are ordered from an outside vendor. The process of external replenishment begins with the creation of an inventory requisition in the Purchasing module. The inventory requisition is then converted into a purchase order and sent to a vendor. When ordering items externally, funds must be available to cover the cost of the items ordered.
Internal replenishment, on the other hand, occurs when items are ordered from another warehouse within your agency. Internal replenishment orders are created and processed in the Inventory module. Because items ordered internally are already owned by the agency, funds are not needed to complete the transaction.
Both external and internal replenishment orders affect item balances that are maintained in the Inventory module by the NCAS. Throughout this section, you will be exposed to item balances and learn how they are affected by different replenishment transactions.
Replenishing Inventory is divided into four subsections:
This subsection tells about the different item balances maintained in the Inventory module. You will learn where to locate these balances in the NCAS and how they can be used to determine replenishment needs. This section will also recommend screens and reports that can assist with the evaluation process.
This subsection tells how to create external replenishment orders, or inventory requisitions, in the Purchasing module to request items from outside vendors. You will learn how to handle quantity and funds exceptions that interrupt the external replenishment process in the NCAS. You will also learn how to change, delete or inquire about an inventory requisition at any time. Finally, you will learn how to process the receipt of items from an outside vendor so that the quantity of stock received is accurately recorded in the NCAS.
This subsection tells you how to create an internal replenishment order in the Inventory module to order stock items from another warehouse within your agency. You will learn how to handle quantity exceptions that interrupt the internal replenishment process. You will also learn how the NCAS allocates inventory to internal replenishment orders. Finally, you will learn how to maintain orders and how to inquire about the internal replenishment process.
Approving Replenishment Orders
This subsection tells you how internal and external replenishment orders are approved in the NCAS. Even though internal replenishment orders are created in the Inventory module, they are approved in the Purchasing module just like external replenishment orders. You will learn how to approve both normal replenishment orders and replenishment orders with exceptions.