Inventory Levels

Part inventory levels are affected by entries posted throughout the RTA system.

• Parts posted to work orders through the Work Order and Paperless Shop modules.
• Parts posted with fuel transactions through the Fuel Inventory module.
• Tires mounted through the Work Order, Paperless Shop, and Tire Inventory modules.
• TriCoder inventory adjustments, manual inventory adjustments, part transfers to other facilities, manual charge outs transactions, and purchase orders processed through the Part Inventory module.

Some topics are covered in this chapter; others are explained in other sections of the manual (i.e., posting parts and tires to work orders is discussed in "Work Orders" and posting parts with fuel transactions is explained in 'Fuel Inventory").

Manual Inventory Adjustments

There are times when part inventory levels need to be adjusted. This may be due to a miscount, a manual PO that didn't get processed, loss and/or theft, or the most common reason-physical inventory. Inventory adjustments can be done directly in the part record or through the inventory adjustment program. The screen appearance will vary slightly depending on how the program was accessed. To adjust the inventory level(s) for a part record, do the following:

1. Select Parts > Adjustments > Inventory from the RTA main menu (PAI) and go to step 2. OR

Select Master > Part > File Maintenance (MPM), bring up a part record, and then select Utilities > Adjust Parts from the menu or click on the Adjust Quantity icon in the toolbar. Skip step 2 and go to step 3.

1. Select a radio button indicating the sort order. If Part number is selected, you'll be prompted to enter the starting part number; after doing so, the specified part number is brought up. If Bin number is selected, you'll be prompted to enter the starting bin number; after doing so, the first part record in the specified bin is brought up. If you are making inventory adjustments from the Inventory Count Sheet, select Bin number since that report is sorted in bin order.
2. Make adjustments to the quantities in applicable stocking areas as needed. Each time you change the current quantity, you'll be prompted to enter a reason for the adjustment and who authorized the change. When additional quantity changes are made, the previous reason and authorization is used for the default values. This is handy when doing physical inventory adjustments because you'll only need to type in CYCLE COUNT/A1 for the reason and BRENT N. for the authorization just once. This information is printed on the Parts Adjustment report should questions later arise.

You'll also be prompted to enter a credit price, per part, when increasing stock quantities; this is the cost of the part. The part's current average price displays as the default. Be sure to enter the cost per part in this field, not the total adjustment cost, and always enter a positive price.

1. Make adjustments to the on order and/or on backorder quantities as needed. Both of these fields represent the quantities on order and on backorder on open PO lines. Changing the values here does not change POs in any way.
2. The buttons available here vary depending on your choice in step 1. Choose Next Record to proceed to the next part record; choose OK to save the changes and "start fresh"; choose Cancel to reset the values; choose Exit to return to the RTA main menu without saving the current record displayed.

Moving Stock from One Area to Another

When making manual inventory adjustments, you can move quantities from one stocking area to another by doing the following:

1. Call up the part record to adjust (see steps 1 and 2 in the previous section if necessary).
2. Choose Move Stock.
3. Select the stock area where the parts are located.
4. Change the quantity to move or accept the default of moving all quantities.
5. Select the stock area where the parts will be moved. The quantity moved is added to the current inventory in this stock area.

Part Transfers

Part inventories can be shared among various facilities by using the Facility Transfer option. In order for this option to work, the part records must exist in both facilities, but they don't have to have the same part number. The inventory level is reduced from the "giving" facility and increased in the "receiving" facility. If the transfer causes the stock to fall below the reorder point and the part is flagged as a stocked part, a requisition will be generated in the giving facility (unless the part is already on requisition or on order). If there is not enough stock in the giving facility to make the transfer, and the "Allow Qty Overrides" switch is set to YES (SSM, Parts Parameters tab, switch 13), a warning message is displayed and you'll be given the opportunity to continue. If you choose to continue, the inventory in the giving facility will be reduced to a negative value. For example, if you attempt to transfer a quantity of 10, but only 7 are currently on hand and you choose to continue with the transfer because you know the PO processor has been out, the inventory will end up showing a quantity of -3. If the "Allow Qty Overrides" switch is set to NO and there is not enough inventory in the giving facility to make the transfer, the transfer will be rejected until an acceptable quantity is input.
To transfer parts from one facility to another, do the following:

1. Select Parts > Facility Transfer from the RTA main menu (PF).
2. Enter the facility and part number to be transferred or press F1 to make a selection from the lookup list.
3. Enter the quantity to transfer and the stock area the part is removed from.
4. Enter the facility and part number to receive the transferred quantity or press F1 to make a selection from the lookup list.
5. If the receiving facility has the same part number on file as the one being transferred, that part number is displayed as the default; verify that it is actually the same part before accepting it. The part number in the receiving facility doesn't have to use the same part number, however. If the receiving facility uses a different part number, enter that part number instead.
6. Select the stock area which will be receiving the transferred parts.

Manual Part Charge Outs

Parts are normally charged directly to vehicles via entries posted through work orders or fuel transactions. However, if you sell parts directly to customers or employees, you need a way to account for the part usage without charging vehicles. The manual part charge out option allows you to account for those types of transactions, providing an audit trail and keeping your inventory counts and usage accurate and up-to-date. To manually charge out a part sold, do the following:

1. Select Parts > Adjustments > Charge Out from the RTA main menu (PAC).
2. Record the transaction. Many of the entry fields are optional but the more detail you provide, the better the audit trail you'll have.

For convenience and to speed up data entry when charging out multiple parts, all data from the previous entry remain in the data fields except the part number, quantity, and price. The information for the previous entry is displayed at the bottom of the screen as a reference in case you are interrupted.
Part Charge Out Field Descriptions

• Clerk: Enter the name of the clerk who issued the part (optional).
• Requisition Number: Enter the requisition number for the purchase or usage (optional).
• Mechanic: Enter the name of the mechanic, employee, customer, etc. who purchased, picked up, or requested the part (optional).
• Date: Enter the transaction date or press F1 to select a date from the calendar.
• Authorization: Enter the name of the person who authorized this transaction.
• Part Number: Enter the part number or press F1 to select a part from the lookup list.
• Quantity: Enter the quantity issued. The available quantity is displayed in the help line shown at the bottom of the screen.
• Price: Accept the price shown as the default or enter a different price.
• Account Number: Enter an account number to charge or press F1 to select an account number from the lookup list. Only account numbers added through the Update Account # option are displayed on the lookup list (STPA).

To override the default from a previous entry, type in a new account number, press F1 to select one from the lookup list, or press F2 to use the account number from the part record.

Printing Manual Part Charge Out Transactions

To review a list of manual charge out transactions, do the following:

1. Select Parts > Adjustments > Print Charge Out from the RTA main menu (PAP).
2. Select a radio button to specify whether to sort the output by account number or transaction date. When sorted by account number, a total will be provided for each account.
3. Enter the starting and ending account number range.
4. Enter the starting and ending transaction date(s) or press F1 to select the date(s) from the calendar.

Editing a Part Charge Out Transaction

If, after printing a Manual Part Charge Out Transactions report, you notice an erroneous entry or need to add something to an entry, you can make changes to all fields in a transaction except the part number and part price. If the wrong part number or price was posted, simply zero out the quantity and reenter the transaction using the Charge Out option (PAC).
In order to edit a manual charge out transaction, you will need the transaction number provided on the report. Once you have the transaction number, you can edit a manual charge out transaction by doing the following:

1. Select Parts > Adjustments > Edit Charge Out from the RTA main menu (PAE).
2. Enter the manual charge out transaction number.
3. Make changes to the transaction as needed.