Storage & Stock Counts
Storage areas
A storage area describes where equipment physically lives at the depot: Site → Room → Zone → Cabinet → Shelf → Bin. It is a free-form tree — an organization can skip levels depending on the size of its depot. Each storage area has a name, a unique code (handy for a scannable label), a type, and an active or hidden status.
A location is a delivery zone on the ground, specific to an edition. A storage area is at the depot, global to the organization — like the catalogue, it isn't duplicated from one edition to the next.
Each catalogue product can indicate a usual storage area (owned equipment only, never rented): this is what links the Storage reference data to the Catalogue, and forms the basis for stock count campaigns.
Managing storage areas
- Create a storage area, with an optional parent — a storage area created under a hidden parent is itself born hidden.
- Moving a storage area in the tree recalculates its entire subtree; no stock movement is generated, it's a plain reclassification. A storage area cannot be moved under itself or one of its descendants.
- Transferring equipment from one storage area to another writes two matched stock movements (out / in) — never a plain rewrite. Rented equipment is never stored.
- Hiding a storage area (rather than deleting it) removes its entire subtree from selection lists; reactivating a child first requires reactivating the parent. Permanent deletion is only possible if the storage area is empty (no children, no movement history).
Stock counts
A stock count is a dated counting campaign, on a chosen scope (a storage area and its subtree, and/or a product category) — independent of the edition, since the depot is global to the organization.
Once closed, a campaign is terminal — it can't be reopened. An error found afterward is corrected with a new campaign, not by editing the old one.
Running a campaign
- Create a draft: name, scope (a storage area and its category, or the whole depot), blind count (checked by default — the theoretical quantity is shown neither on web nor mobile while the campaign is blind), and an optional recount threshold.
- Open the campaign: generates the lines to count and freezes the theoretical stock at that exact moment. Receipts and distributions carry on normally during the count, without skewing the final result.
- Count: enter a quantity, or scan serial numbers for equipment tracked individually. A discrepancy beyond the recount threshold flags the line as "to recount" — it blocks closure until it is revalidated.
- Close (reserved for the coordinator): each discrepancy becomes a stock movement, with a reason to choose (Damage, Loss, Entry error, Equipment found, Other). A zero discrepancy writes nothing. This step is final.
A draft or an in-progress campaign can also be cancelled (free-text reason): no movement is written, but the counts already entered are kept in history.
"Storage area never counted" (equipment not counted for 12 months) and "Stock count open too long" (campaign in progress for more than 14 days) appear in Alerts & Reminders.
Who can do what
| Action | Logistics coordinator | Logistics assistant |
|---|---|---|
| View storage areas and stock counts | Yes | Yes |
| Create, edit, delete, move a storage area | Yes | No |
| Transfer equipment between storage areas | Yes | Yes |
| Create, open, and count a stock count | Yes | Yes |
| Close a stock count | Yes | No |
Where to find it
From the Logistics space, Storage areas section (reference data) and Stock counts section (preparation).
Full step-by-step guide: see the tutorial →