Advanced Inventory: Item Bins

Definition

Item Bins are a feature for segregating Available Inventory (Item quantities at a single Location) into temporary containers for the purpose of long term storage. Various reporting screens let you track quantities by a Bin's properties, like rack and shelf location, expiration date, and of course their contents.

Bin movements are a source or destination option inside the Inventory Management screen's "Transfer" mode, where Bin objects are purpose-built for a single transfer out of a standard Location. As with all inventory, you can utilize barcode scanning to expedite moving Items to and from their intended bins.

Bins are essentially disposable, and can only thereafter be emptied in their entirety back into a chosen Location. (This deliberately mirrors the way a larger warehouse operation segregates items away from more immediate "retail" areas and onto pallets or bins which are stored on a physically-distant rack in a Warehouse.) Because binned quantities are outside the Location system, they are not available for Visit distribution or even Location-based movements like Location-to-Location Transfers or Source Distributions. 

Bins in Inventory Menu

Bins are created as an option in the Inventory Management screen (first option in the screencap below). Once you have created a bin by transferring items in the Management screen, you can see them in the Item Bins screen (second option in the screencap below).

Basic Bin-Transfer Procedure

Creating a Bin as a Transfer

From the Inventory Management screen, select the transaction type of Transfer and then (optionally) filter by "Item Type".

Choose a specific source Location under "Source Location" from which you'll pull the Item quantities, and a specific Bin to receive them under "Recipient Bin":

The Next, select the Items and their respective quantities for transfer.

Finally, select the "Move Quantities" button in the upper right corner. This will bring up the "Add Inventory Bin" window where you can enter Bin details for the new Bin before finalizing the transfer:

"Add Inventory Bin" Fields

• Name: The name should resemble the contents of the bin.

• Number: A bin number is required but can be customized.

• Rack/Shelf: Add information about the location of a bin in your facility. 

• Weight: If the items in the bin already had a weight associated the weight would be automatically calculated or, you can enter the weight. 

• Expiration Date: Enter the date that the items may expire.

• Comments: Add any additional comments about the bin. 

Returning Items to a Location. When you are ready to make the bin contents available again to a Location (e.g. available again for potential Visit distribution) go to Inventory -> Management and select the transaction type of Transfer. Choose the Source Bin from which you would like to transfer to a Recipient Location

NOTE: Binned Item Quantities Unavailable for Visits. Items in a Bin are not available for Visit distribution. Once a bin has been created and Item quantities stored there, those quantities will no longer be available for distribution until the bin has been transferred in its entirety to the Recipient Location. However, the contents and quantities of each bin will be listed on the current inventory screen.

NOTE: Bin Quantities Only Transferrable In Total. Bins can only be "liquidated" rather than edited— you can only transfer the entirety of their contents to a single Location once they are built. Their contents cannot be partially depleted, nor added to.

NOTE: You can Transfer quantities you don't have. Like standard Transfer operations, it is possible to transfer quantities out of a Location that the Location doesn't have, sending its Available Inventory totals into the negative.