8 Working with inventory management

The inventory process is as follows:

Determine the types of stock you want to manage.

For example, you may want to manage facility access cards separately from USB tokens, so you create the following card stocks:
- Facility Access Cards
- USB Tokens
These card stocks can have more than one type of device; for example, your facility access cards may come from more than one manufacturer, or your USB tokens may have different form factors.

Use the List Editor to add values to the Stock Code list for each type of stock. See section 8.2, Editing inventory lists.
Determine the types of location you want to manage.

For example, you may have offices and warehouses, so you create the following kinds of location:
- Office
- Warehouse
Use the List Editor to add values to the Kind list for each type of location. See section 8.2, Editing inventory lists.
If required, determine the names of the couriers you want to use for transferring devices from one location to another.

For example, you may want to be able to use internal mail or a commercial courier service.

Use the List Editor to add values to the Courier list for each type of courier. See section 8.2, Editing inventory lists.
Set up the locations in your organization.

For example, you may have a headquarters, two regional offices, and a warehouse.

Use the Locations category to add your locations. See section 9, Working with locations.
For each location, set up stock limits.

For each stock code, you can set a minimum quantity for that location, and a quantity of devices to reorder when the stock drops below that level.

Use the Stock Limits category to add your stock limits. See section 10, Working with stock limits.
Import batches of devices.

When you receive a box of devices, you can import the serial numbers from the devices, either as a sequential range or from a manifest file, specify them as a particular stock code, and assign the devices to a particular location.

Use the Import facility in the Devices category to import your devices. See section 5.23, Importing a range of devices.
Monitor the stock levels in each of your locations.

Use the Stock Per Location report to view how many unallocated devices are in each location, along with details of their stock limits. When a device is imported and assigned to a location, it appears as an unallocated device. When it is issued to a person, the number of unallocated devices in that location for that stock code is reduced by one.

You can run the Stock Per Location report within the MyID Operator Client or through the MyID Core API. See section 10.5, Checking stock limits.
If a location requires more devices, you can either order more, and import them once they have arrived, or transfer devices from a different location.

To transfer devices from one location to another:
1. Create a stock transfer.
  
  You can specify the source and destination locations, the stock code for the devices to be transferred, the number of devices to be transferred, and the courier and tracking code. You can edit the stock transfer to add the tracking code later, once you have dispatched the stock transfer, if required.
  
  Use the Stock Transfers category to create or edit a stock transfer. See section 11, Working with stock transfers.
2. Allocate the required number of devices to the stock transfer.
  
  You are recommended to use the Available Device Stock report, specifying the source Location and the Stock Code for the devices you want to transfer, then from the results select the appropriate number of devices, and use the batch Transfer option from the Tools menu to assign these devices to the stock transfer. See section 11.4.1, Adding a batch of devices to a stock transfer.
  
  Alternatively, you can use the Transfer option on the View Device screen to allocate a single device to the transfer. See section 11.4.2, Adding a single device to a stock transfer.
3. Dispatch the stock transfer.
  
  Use the Dispatch Stock Transfer option on the View Transfer screen. See section 11.7, Dispatching a stock transfer.
  
  The devices are removed from the source location. At this point you may want to add a tracking code for the courier you are using to transfer the devices to their new location.
4. Once the stock transfer has arrived at its destination, receive the stock transfer.
  
  Use the Receive Stock Transfer option on the View Transfer screen. See section 11.9, Receiving a stock transfer.
  
  The devices are added to the destination location.
Important: MyID ensures that you do not select devices that have been issued, or that have already been assigned to a stock transfer. However, the transfer process does not validate that you have selected devices from the correct location or of the correct stock code, or that you have selected the correct number of devices. You can dispatch an empty stock transfer, a stock transfer filled with devices from the wrong location, or a stock transfer that has the wrong types of devices. Make sure that you allocate the devices to the stock transfer carefully.