Topic overview

The application Cockpit: Inventories application is primarily used to query inventories at the current time. This application provides you with an overview of the inventory characteristics of your inventories.

The essential general description of a cockpit, which includes the usual handling of a query and work pane, can be found in the Cockpits article.

Application description

You can use the Cockpit: Inventories query application to get an overview of the item and identifier inventories. All inventory characteristics are available as query criteria, e.g. inventory owner, identifier and QA status. For example, you can query in which logistics units a particular item is available or which identifiers of an item are stored in a particular warehouse.

You can also open the Edit logistical units application from within the application to pack or unpack the item inventory into storable units.

The application consists of a query pane and a work pane.

Query pane

Query fields are stored in the query pane. As a rule, the most important query fields are already provided. However, the number of query fields and their placement can vary.

The query pane is saved per view. You can determine which query fields are displayed. To do this, select the desired query fields from a list of fields. The description of the query fields can usually be found in the direct help.

General descriptions of a query pane can be found in the Cockpits article.

The special features are described below:

Packaging structure unit – if you want to query the inventory in a specific packaging unit, enter the desired packaging unit in this field. The inventory can only be displayed in those units that are stored in the item master data in the Packaging table.

Kind of quantity unit – use this field to specify which units of the item you want to query. Choose from the following values:

• Inventory management unit – select this entry if you want to query the inventory quantities only, without any packaging units. The inventory is queried in the item unit that is the first of the Commercial category in the sequence of item units. If none of the item units is of the Commercial category, the inventory in the 1st item unit is queried.
• Firm-inventoried packaging – the inventory is queried in the units that are defined for the item as firm-inventoried packaging units and for which inventory postings have already been made.
  A separate line is displayed in the work pane for each packaging unit. The quantities in the lines below each other are not to be regarded as summands.
  Note

  The field is available if the Manage inventory in logistics units function is active in the Customizing application.

Total quantity – if required, enter the total quantity and the unit in this two-part field as search criteria for the inventories you wish to query. The corresponding search characteristic (“<> 0.00”) is entered as a default value so that no zero inventories are displayed.

Search details

In addition to the main search with the query criteria in the query pane, detailed searches can also be used. Detailed searches can be combined with the main search so that both the query criteria from the query pane and the query criteria of the detailed search are evaluated as an AND link. A checkbox is available in the section line of the detailed search for combining. A separate button is available for each detailed search so that corresponding results can also be displayed in the work pane. If this button is activated, an additional heading line appears in the work pane with the corresponding detailed information.

The following detailed searches are available:

• Additional item units
• Supplier identifiers
• Last transaction date

Work pane

A table is available in the work pane in which the queried inventories are displayed. You can determine which information on inventories to present. To view inventories in different ways with different information, several views can be created.
If you have also activated a detailed search button, the table contains an additional heading line and detailed information.
General descriptions of a work pane can be found in the Cockpits article.
The special features are described below.

Item – this column displays the identification of the item for which the inventory was queried. The query for a reference item provides the identifications of the associated variant item for which inventory exists in this column.

Quantity – this column shows how much item inventory is stored in the displayed unit and is not contained in higher-level packaging. The packaging structure is displayed in the tooltip for inventory in a packaging unit.

Packaged quantity – this column shows how much of the item inventory is stored in packaging of the specified packaging unit. The packaging structure is displayed in the tooltip.

Total quantity – the total quantity of inventory is displayed in this column. This includes packed and unpacked or reserved and unreserved quantities.
The packaging structure is displayed in the tooltip for stock in a packaging unit.

Packaging structure presentation

In the tooltip for inventory quantity in a packaging unit, the packaging structure is displayed as it is stored in the item master data in the Packaging table.

[Edit logistic units] button

This button is used to open the application of the same name in a dockable window at the edge of the application pane. You can use the Edit logistic units application to pack items whose packaging units are inventoried into the packaging units provided or to unpack the packed items.

To do this, use the checkboxes in the work pane to select the line with the item or identifier whose logistical units you want to edit and select the [Edit logistic units] button. The required information is transferred to the dockable window.

A description of the Edit logistic units application can be found in the Edit logistic units article.

The button is only available if the Manage inventory in logistics units function is activated in the Customizing application, main function Inventory management, sub-function Inventories.

Application-related actions

In the application Cockpit: Inventories application provides you with application-related actions that are described in the following sections:

• [Generate inventory requisitions] action
• [Generate inventory count list] action

[Generate inventory requisitions] action

This action is used to create inventory requisitions for withdrawals or relocations. To do this, you need an inventory requisition type whose usage is set to Manual inventory movement and for which one of the categories Withdrawal or Relocation is defined.

A warehouse requisition is generated for each combination of warehouse and inventory owner.

Further information on the action can be found in the article Action: [Generate inventory requisitions].

[Generate inventory count list] action

This action to create inventory selection lists for selected objects.

Inventory count lists can only be generated for a non-completed inventory. Objects that do not match the characteristics of the physical inventory are ignored.

If there is an open inventory count list item with the same characteristics as a selected inventory, for example, an information item is created if you have activated the corresponding function.

The generated inventory selection list includes inventories of a selected item or storage location according to the other characteristics for generating the inventory selection list. If, for example, you have only selected one of several item inventories in a storage location, then items for all item inventories in the storage location are generated in the inventory selection list.

Further information on the action can be found in the article Action: Create inventory count list.

Customizing

For the application Cockpit: Inventories application, no settings need to be defined in the Customizing application.

Business entities

For the Cockpit: Inventories application, the following business entity is relevant, which you use, for example, to

• assign authorizations,
• set up activity definitions or
• import or export data.

Inventory of a logistic unit: com.cisag.app.inventory.stock.obj.WarehouseStock

The business entity belongs to the following business entity group:

Inventory voucher data: com.cisag.app.inventory.OrderData

Authorizations

Authorizations can be assigned using the authorization roles as well as by assigning an organization. The authorization concept can be found in the technical article Authorizations.

Special capabilities

There are no special capabilities for the application Cockpit: Inventories application.

Organization assignments

Organizational structures are used to control which data is visible, usable or editable. To do this, the Content-related authorizations function must be activated in the Customizing application.

To enable a person to use the Cockpit: Inventories application is displayed to a person in the user menu, they must be assigned to an organization that is integrated into one of the following organizational structures:

• Inventory management

In order for a person to request inventory data for a warehouse, one of the organizations assigned to that person must be entered in the Authorizations table in the Warehouses application.

Further information on the Authorizations table and a comprehensive overview of content-related authorizations can be found in the Content-related authorizations article.

Special features

There are no special features for the Cockpit: Inventories application.

Authorizations for business partners

The Cockpit: Inventories application is released for the following types of business partners:

• Customers
• Suppliers
• Sales representative

If a user is logged in as an external partner, the following restrictions apply to the visibility of inventoried for the Cockpit: Inventories application. An external partner is only shown the inventories that are stored in warehouses for which the external partner has authorization.

Authorizations for an external customer or sales representative are assigned by the responsible sales organization. Authorizations for an external supplier or supplier are assigned by the responsible purchasing organization. The responsible sales or purchasing organization is assigned via the applications Customer logon authorizations, Supplier logon authorizations and Sales representative logon authorizations.

The actual authorization assignment, which enables an external partner to display the inventory for one or more warehouse, takes place in the Warehouses application. The sales or purchasing organization responsible for the external partner must be entered as the authorized organization for the warehouse.

If a field for selecting an organization is displayed in the title toolbar and you are logged into the system as an external partner, the Cockpit: Inventories application, all external organizations assigned to the external partner are displayed in this field.

The following article explains how you can assign the responsible sales or purchasing organization to an external partner in the corresponding application and what you need to bear in mind:

• Customer logon authorizations
• Supplier logon authorizations
• Sales representative logon authorizations