Advanced Inventory: Item Groups

Definition

Item Groups are a pattern for a bundle of Inventory Items, set at specific quantities. Set up Item Groups for two basic uses:

• "Boxes" on Visit Distributions. Staff can distribute an Item Group like 1 Lunch Box Group to a pantry client. This saves them from laboriously adding an identical batch of items during a Visit (e.g. 1 Apple, 2 Granola Bar, 1 Juice Box, 1 Lunchable).
  
• "Cases" on Receives/ Transfers/ Source Distributions. Staff can receive Cases of a single item at a set quantity. This saves them from laboriously receiving 12 individual Can of Soda Items; instead they can receive a single "Case of 12 Sodas". 
  
  
  

Establishing Item Groups

There are two methods for establishing Item Groups; manually and as "Quick-Add" on the item itself:

• Method A: Manual Item Group. Add one or more unique items to a group, specifying quantities.
• Method B: "Item Case" / Quick-Add. While building an Inventory Item, quickly auto-create a "case" version of that single item; for instance while building a Pasta Box item, auto-build an item Group for "Case of (12) Pasta Boxes".

Method A: Establishing an Item Group Manually

Navigate to Item Groups by going to Inventory → Item Groups.

You can add groups directly from the Item Groups page by clicking on in the upper right corner of the page and then selecting the individual items and quantities that belong in the group (ie. case, bag, box, etc.):

Method B: Quick-Add a "Case" inside Item Creation.

When adding a new item you can also create a case (group) for that item by entering a case and the quantity of the item within the case. On the New Inventory Item screen you will see this just below item limits one you have Item Groups enabled:

Once you have added a new item and a case for that item, you will now be able to receive that item individually or, as a case and you can do the same with distributions. 

Item Group Distribution Setting

PantrySoft manages a setting that determines how your account handles Item Group distributions:

The default setting is that when you add an Item Group to a visit or distribution record, it will pull the individual contents from Available Inventory Items. For example, distributing an Item Group that is a "Case of Black Beans" (24 Black Bean cans) will pull 24 individual cans from Available Inventory Items.

If this setting is changed to No, your account will distribute Item Groups from your Available Inventory Groups. Using the same example, distributing a "Case of Black Beans" (24 Black Bean cans) will pull 1 group from Available Inventory Groups.

For more details, watch the Items Groups Setting video. Please contact support@pantrysoft.com if you have questions about your account's current setting.

How Item Groups are Received into Available Inventory 

Item Groups are received into inventory as Groups, not as individual items. This means the contents of the group are not automatically broken down. Instead, your Available Inventory displays a separate tab for the Item Groups in your inventory:

You can also view the total items in your Available Inventory with the "Total Items" tab. This tab shows the stock of individual items (yellow box) + items in groups (purple box) for a total item quantity (blue box):

Receiving Item Groups into inventory follows the same steps as receiving individual items. For a refresher, check out our article on Inventory Receives. When Item Groups are enabled on your account, you will have the option to select an Item Group to add on a new receive record:

Groups Breaker & Group Builder 

Group Breaker

To distribute the individual items within a received Group, use the Group Breaker action. This will 'break' an Item Group into the individual items that make up the group.

1. Go to Inventory → Inventory Management

2. Under Transaction Type (red box), select "Group Breaker".

3. Then, you will have the option to select which type of group you want to break (yellow box).

4. Next, type in the number of groups from your current group inventory that you want to break into individual items (purple box).

5. Finally, click the orange "Break Groups" button in the upper right-hand corner of the screen.  

Group Builder

To add to your Item Group inventory from your current inventory, use the Group Builder action. This will 'build' a group from individual items in your Available Inventory. 

1. Go to Inventory → Inventory Management

2. Under Transaction Type (red box), select "Group Builder".

3. For Group Builder Method (green box), select "Existing Group". You can also establish and build a new Item Group from this screen by selecting "New Group". 

4. Then, you will have the option to select which type of group you want to build (yellow box).

5. Next, type in the number of groups that you want to build from available individual items (purple box). If you are trying to build more groups than are possible with your available inventory, this action will only build the "Maximum Buildable Groups". 

6. Finally, click the orange "Build Groups" button in the upper right-hand corner of the screen.  

Viewing Item Groups in Reports

Item Groups are a "record" in PantrySoft in and of themselves. But so are the items they represent. This means that on Inventory Reports (Reports → Inventory Reports ), you can choose which "fact" you care about: the outgoing or incoming Group... or the incoming/ outgoing Items the Group(s) represented. You can see reports showing Inventory Group activity in two different views:

• By Item. Monitor counts of incoming or outgoing Inventory Items created/ added via Inventory Groups (i.e. the actual items in the Lunchbox Group, or the 12 actual Can of Soup Items in the Case of (12) Soup Group. 
  (Most Inventory Reports are Item-based; to see these reports, just use any Item-based reports you're already using, for instance Visit Distributions by Item.)
  
  
• By Group. Monitor counts of incoming or outgoing Inventory Groups that were attached to various (Client) Visits as well as (bulk item) Movements.
  (To see Group-based reports, run Visit Distribution by Item Group or Movements by Item Group.)