Not all products being purchased or sold are treated as stocked products. There are many variation of these items. It could be that these items are additional activities to be performed, free of charge consumables, labor hours, logistic activities or services or product linked costs like deposits and disposal charges. These products could have a price and cost, and have different accounting requirements as stocked products.
To differentiate if an item is stocked ParagonERP uses the attribute Stock type.
- When a product is stocked (Stock type S), its behavior regarding inventory and availability is as-is.
- When a product is Not stocked (Stock type N), the product has the same functions as a stocked product (e.g. price, location), but does not do any inventory validation, nor create inventory transactions. It does create finance transactions.
A product which is Not stocked will not be picked. It must however be packed and shipped to ensure it is being processed onto the invoice.
Not stocked products in a Warehouse
Not stocked product may be stored in a warehouse and therefore can have a location. It is required that locations for Not stocked items are being flagged for Not stocked items only. Examples for Not stocked items might be office equipment like toilet paper, pens and paper. These products are being purchased and often stored in the warehouse. However these items are not inventory managed (taken into costs immediately) and not sold.
Non stock order process
Non stock product may be time registered for services or installation. These products will have a different process than stocked products. Where stock products are being picked, packed and shipped, non stock items will not be picked. Non stock items also cannot be back ordered. These are the only 2 differences in behavior of a non stock compared to a stock product. You will find a non stock item on a pick, but you can't pick it (see image below). The order process exists of the following steps:
- Order
- Pick: non stock item is shown, but with quantity to pick = 0
- Pack
- Ship
- invoice.
