Inventory > Transaction Processing > Minimum Quantity Calculation

Minimum Quantity Calculation

You use this program to establish the minimum quantity of a stock item that is required to be stocked in a warehouse. It can also be used to update the Minimum quantity field held against the warehouse if lead time is configured for the item.

Toolbar Options

Field Description
Start Processing

Commences processing according to your selections.

Change Criteria Changes the criteria in the Information pane.
Print Prints the information currently displayed in the Report output pane.
Save Form Values This option is only enabled in Design mode (see Automation Design). Your selections are saved and applied when the program is run in automated mode.

Information

Field Description
Stock code  
Stock code selection Indicate the stock code(s) you want to include in the minimum quantity calculation.
Warehouse  
Warehouse selection Indicate the warehouse(s) for which you want to include stock codes in the minimum quantity calculation.
Product class  
Product class selection Indicate the product class(es) for which you want to include stock codes in the minimum quantity calculation.
Cycle count  
Cycle count selection Indicate the cycle count(s) for which you want to include stock codes in the minimum quantity calculation.
Action where min > max  
Select action
Field Description
Update

Calculates the minimum quantity of a stock item required and updates the Minimum quantity field against the warehouse if lead time is defined against the stock item (Stock Code Maintenance).

Update and Report Calculates the minimum quantity of a stock item required and updates the Minimum quantity field against the warehouse. It also produces a report indicating those items where the minimum quantity exceeds the maximum quantity for the warehouse.
Report only Calculates the minimum quantity of a stock item required and updates the Minimum quantity field against the warehouse providing this will not make the minimum quantity more than the maximum quantity (i.e. if the minimum quantity is not greater than the maximum quantity, then the update takes place).

A report is produced which lists those items where the minimum quantity would exceed the maximum quantity for the warehouse.

After processing completed These options are displayed within programs that can be automated. They enable you to indicate the action you want to perform once processing is complete (see Automation Design).

Report

The results of the processing function you selected are displayed in this pane once processing is complete (unless you enabled the option to close the application from the After processing completed section). You use this section to print or email this information.

Calculation details

The calculation establishes the average quantity of a stock item sold over the last 12 months. It then multiplies this figure by the number of months required for an order of the stock item to be supplied.

The minimum quantity calculation is performed as follows:

((annual usage value / unit cost) / number of months' history) x (lead time / 30)

  • The annual usage value is divided by the unit cost to obtain the annual usage quantity (i.e. usage quantity = annual usage value / unit cost).
  • The annual usage quantity is divided by the number of months' history to establish an average monthly usage (i.e. average monthly usage = usage quantity / number of months' history).

    [Note]

    The number of months' history is stored against the warehouse in which the item is stocked. From the time of capturing the item, this number is incremented by 1 after each inventory month end, until it reaches a value of 12. This enables the calculation to cater for items that have been stocked for less than 12 months.

  • The lead time held against the stock item is divided by 30 and multiplied by the average monthly usage (i.e. inventory minimum quantity = (lead time / 30) x average monthly usage).

Notes and warnings

Restrictions and limits

  • The calculation is only applicable to stock codes with a usage history of two or more months.
  • The calculation is not performed for stock items where the current inventory cost is zero.
  • The results produced by this program will be inaccurate if there have been fluctuations in the costing of your stock items over the year.

Inserting Application Help

You would typically follow this procedure to display help for the current program in a customized pane that can be pinned to the program window.

Information includes step-by-step instructions for the various functions available within the program, including a brief overview of what the program does, what setup options are required and how to personalize the program.

  1. Open the program for which you want to insert application help into a customized pane.

    This functionality is only available for a program that has panes.

  2. Right-click any form field.

    You can also click the triangle menu icon that appears in the title area of a pane.

  3. Select Insert Application Help from the context-sensitive menu.

    The application help appears in a pane within your program. You can reposition the pane using the docking stickers or pin it to the program window.

Removing the Application Help pane

If you no longer want to display application help in a pane for your current program, you can simply remove it.

  1. Select the Close icon in the right-hand corner of the application help pane.

  2. Confirm that you want to delete the pane.