Stock Transfers

Customers who use the old Receipts By P.O. Menu

Requesting Transfers From Within Customer Orders

Recording Stock Transfers Directly to Inventory

Overview

Transfers of stock from one warehouse to another can be handled in many distinct ways. Management should choose the method(s) applicable to your operation and consistently use those methods. The three basic methods of performing transfers are:

Create a separate stock transfer order, using the Order Entry Program. This method issues picking documents, and the transfers are received similarly to receipts from suppliers.
Issue a request for stock transfer within a customer order using the Order Entry program. This is referred to as the quick transfer method because the customer order automatically creates the transfer.
Record a stock transfer by using the Inventory Transfers Program on the Inventory Control Menu or on the Additional Order Desk Functions Menu. No formal paperwork is issued.

Stock Transfer Order

A stock transfer order (also referred to as a stock to stock order) is used to move stock from one warehouse to another, unrelated to a specific customer order. Creating a stock transfer order is nearly identical to entering a customer order. Use the Order Entry Program. Use customer account number 00002 within each company; account number 200002 is the stock transfers account for Company 2, and so on. Next, complete the fields on the Header Screen just as for a regular customer order, but be aware of the following:

Date Required should be the date to transfer. Header Warehouse must be the warehouse that is to receive the material.
Customer Price Class will be AC, for average cost. This code must be left as AC for costs to be handled correctly.
ETA Date should be the date that the material is expected at the receiving warehouse. This field is not mandatory.
Customer P.O.# and Job Name fields should be used to enter any descriptive information pertaining to the transfer, such as your name, a customer's name, related order numbers.

When ordering items on the detail lines of Order Entry Program, you will be ordering for your warehouse, from other warehouses. Order items exactly as you would for a customer order, except:

Change the detail line Ware field to the warehouse from which you are ordering, or select serial numbers from the warehouse from where you are ordering.
T is entered automatically into the Receive? field. The T labels the transaction as a transfer order.

Most other functions of the Order Entry system can be used, including functions such as item search, review, notes, and comments. When you are finished entering the stock transfer order:

Press F7 to display Print Select Screen.
Press F1 from Print Select Screen to print transfer pick list.

The pick list that prints at the warehouse ordering the material is actually a Transfer Order/To Be Received and is labeled as such. This document can be used to verify the material being received when the transfer arrives. It is similar to a purchase order and will have a unique order number just like any other order. The document will list all items to be transferred, and which warehouses the material is coming from and going to. It will also show all available packaging information, such as cartons and pieces. The warehouse you ordered from is issued picking documents that instruct it on what to pick and ship to your warehouse. All functions that are available for customer orders and purchase orders are also available for stock transfers. These include Cancel and Reinstate, Change Open Orders, Open Order Search, and Open Order reports. Remember to use account number 2.

Stock transfers do not affect sales, customer order, or purchasing statistics; they affect only physical inventory and transfer statistics.

On the Inventory Inquiry screens, a stock transfer shows as an allocation in the warehouse that will ship the material (code CT on the Stock Card Screen), and as a scheduled incoming purchase in the warehouse that will receive the material (code T on the Stock Card Screen). The T in PT and CT indicates a transfer.

Printing Transfer Pick Lists

At any point during the day or following morning, master transfer pick lists are printed at each warehouse that needs to transfer material. These pick lists are requested using option 18, Print Transfer Pick Lists, on the Inventory Menu or using option 7 on the Warehouse Menu. Each warehouse can request their own transfer pick lists, or they can be requested at one central location. These transfer pick lists will print on the printers designated in the Warehouse File for each warehouse. Each warehouse can be assigned a printer on which to print transfer pick lists. Use the field labelled Designated Transfer Printer ID in the Warehouse File. If they are run during the day, these documents list all items requested for transfer during the day. If they are run on the following morning, they list all items requested for transfer during the previous day. They print on regular pick list forms. You can run transfers multiple times daily, including only the transfers created since the last transfers were printed.

You can set the system to run transfer pick lists automatically and on specified hours of the day. To accomplish this, use the Auto-Timer found on page 2 of the System Settings Menu.

These transfer pick lists include both stock-to-stock transfers, which are designated by using account number 2, and customer transfers, which are designated in Order Entry when a customer order uses stock from another warehouse. This means the master transfer pick lists include all types of transfers.

Transfer pick lists are split based on the destination warehouse. For example, if warehouse AAA needs to transfer ten items to warehouse BBB, and five items to warehouse CCC, two pick lists print at warehouse AAA; one for items to ship to warehouse BBB and one for the items to ship to warehouse CCC. Each pick list can include items from multiple transfer orders. The transfer orders can be entered by all users, as needed. All the orders are sorted by warehouse and put on these master transfer pick lists. The transfer pick list shows each item, packaging information, the order number to which each item relates, the initials of the person who entered the order, F6 comments, the customer purchase order number and job name, and the warehouse to which it will be transferred. The warehouse uses the transfer pick list like any other pick list, and it should additionally be used as a packing list and sent with the material to the receiving warehouse. All bar coding, order pooling, and other advanced warehouse functions are available for transfer processing.

Receiving Stock Transfers

Stock transfer orders, entered using account number 2 (example x00002), are received almost identically to purchase orders. Use the Receipts Menu that you normally use. Enter the transfer order number in the Purchase Order Number field. From then on, the procedure is the same as receiving other orders.

Customers who use the old Receipts By P.O. Menu

The warehouse number on the Header Screen is always the receiving warehouse.
The warehouse number on the Line Item Screen is always the sending warehouse.
This program cannot be used with serial number items or rolled goods. If you use the serial number or rolled goods features, only receive using the new Pre-Receipts And Back Order Fill Menu.

Don't worry about costs, because stock transfers will automatically use the correct costs. You can use all functions available in the Receipts Program. You can partially receive a stock transfer order, just like a purchase order. Enter only the quantity received in the Qty field and use the applicable back order code to leave an open back order for the portion unshipped. After the receipt is processed, inventory is updated at both warehouses. The transfer appears on the inventory screens as a receipt in the receiving warehouse, and as a shipment in the sending warehouse. Code T appears on the Stock Card screens. These receipts do not interfere with statistics concerning receipts from purchases. The Inventory Transfers Report, on the Inventory Reports Menu, can list transfers, for example, for specified warehouses, manufacturers, and date spans. The Inventory Registers Report can also be used to list transfers.

Requesting Transfers From Within Customer Orders

When you require a transfer to be made on behalf of a customer for a specific order, you can do one of the following:

Place a back order for the quantity you want, and then enter a separate Stock Transfer Order which requests that material be transferred from another warehouse to your warehouse. You would enter the stock transfer order as described above. The customer back order is filled when the transfer is received. This method is not as affective as the Quick Transfer method described below.
Optionally, you can place the customer order against stock at the warehouse that has the material. The Order Entry Program codes the order with a status code T, causing the line item to be included on the daily transfer pick list at the warehouse that has the material.

Read the above instructions for details about Transfer Pick Lists. This is done within the customer order. On the line that needs to be transferred in, the user can select inventory from the warehouse containing the material. This shortcut is referred to as the Quick Transfer method because you do not have to enter a separate order for the stock transfer nor do you have to enter any additional transaction to adjust inventory. Because the material is allocated out of the warehouse that has it, when the order is invoiced, the stock will be reduced in that warehouse.

When using this short cut, you should be aware of the following situation: If after using this method, the transfer is made but the customer then cancels the order, the material will physically be at the destination warehouse, but the system shows it as being at the original warehouse. In this case, an immediate transfer should be entered into the system using option 9, Inventory Transfers, on the Inventory Control Menu. You can also automatically receive quick transfers at the destination warehouse by scanning or entering certain order status codes.

A customer order can include items stocked at the local warehouse and items that require a transfer. The pick list clearly states which items should be picked at the local warehouse and which are transfers. The transfer items list the warehouse from which they are coming. If your Control Panel includes Y for the Auto Transfer option, then the system automatically designates an order line as a transfer whenever stock from another warehouse is selected. This option automatically enters the T in the Receive? field and is the recommended way to set the system.

When you designate transfers within a customer order, you do not need to receive them (via the Receiving System), but we recommend that you designate them as received by updating their status codes. You can use the A status code (arrived or assembled) or a user-defined order status code. Status codes clearly mark orders on all screens and reports. Using the System-Wide Settings Program on the System Settings Menu, you can activate the auto-transfer feature. The auto-transfer feature causes the inventory on hand balances to be updated by the transferred quantity when transfers are updated to a designated status code.

If you activate the Inventory Selection Optimizer (ISO), then ISO automatically creates transfers for you when stock from another warehouse is the best available source of the material. ISO sets all required transfer fields as described above.

Recording Stock Transfers Directly to Inventory

Using this method, you can record the transfer without issuing any formal paperwork to assist in the picking, shipping, and receiving processes. The Inventory Transfers Program, option 9 on the Inventory Control Menu, immediately adjusts the stock out of one warehouse and into the other. It leaves an audit trail on the Stock Card Screen and on many inventory reports. This method is most often used to correct transfer errors and to adjust inventory when a transfer order is cancelled after the stock arrived at the destination warehouse.