WHAT CAN IT DO FOR ME?

The goal of inventory control is to make sure that you always have a given item on the shelf (so you never miss a sale) without having excess inventory on the shelf that doesn't turn quickly. Excess inventory is wasted cash not earning you any profits, and inventory items that are not turning quickly should be eliminated. Controlling your inventory is a daunting task, but our Inventory system makes it much easier. It will tell you what to order and what to get rid of. It will tell you how much to order. It will tell you the profit, margin, and margin percentage for each item. It will give you the information necessary to apply the "just in time" method to your inventory.

Our Inventory system will save you money: you won't be wasting money on excess inventory or inventory items that don't turn. Our Inventory system will also save you time: keeping manual inventory records (or manually computing figures from your computer reports) is very time consuming and is never up to date; it simply isn't practical.

When you change from a manual to a computer inventory system there is one very important area that is often overlooked. It is "Now that we have all of this data in the computer how to we keep the prices and reorder levels current?". In Starr Accounting we have a program that imports vendor price changes (either via modem or floppy disk) into the Inventory Master records; we then have a powerful re-pricing program that computes all the pricing levels according to your specified profit margins. We also have a program that computes reorder levels based upon past sales history and your specified multipliers.

Although our Inventory system will stand alone, it works best when linked to the Purchase Order system for purchases and the Order Entry system for customer orders. Our reorder program will automatically generate purchase orders for needed items. Our Order Entry system relieves inventory when the items are sold. Our Quotation system will automatically generate both the purchase order and the customer order from the customer quote.

With our Inventory system, you always have up to the minute information on your inventory. You will be able to replenish your inventory items "just in time". You won't have money tied up in inventory items that don't turn.

FEATURES OF THE SYSTEM

Inventory is probably the most speculative of all of a company's assets. A true measure of the effectiveness of management is the ability with which it supervises the inventory control function.

• The Starr Computer Systems Inc. Inventory Management system is designed to:

• Give you better merchandise control,

• Allow you to lower your dollar investment in inventory, and

• Improve customer service and response.

The System maintains detailed information on each inventory item including the part number, description, unit of measure, vendor and reorder data, item activity, and complete information on current item costs, pricing, and sales. The system also offers the choice between the three different costing methods: Average, LIFO, and FIFO. Transactions affecting inventory (sales, returns, purchases, transfers) may be applied at any time to insure the inventory data is always up to date and accurate. The inventory records may also be updated by the Starr Order Entry system.

Each program contains a complete set of prompts and other helpful messages that allow even an inexperienced operator to make full use of the system with minimal instruction time.

Particular features of the Starr Computer Systems Inc. Inventory Management system include:

• Stand alone or interface with other systems

• Interactive, menu-driven programs

• Self-instructing user documentation

• Multiple warehouse locations

• Multiple pricing levels

• Extremely powerful and flexible re-pricing program

• Automatic computation of reorder levels

• Reorder program that automatically generates Purchase Orders

• Kits (a part made up of other parts)

• Multiple pricing levels

• Alternate (substitute) items

• On-line item query at any time

• Comprehensive management reporting

• Serial number tracking

• Interfaces to Job Costing

• Sample data for training

HOW THE SYSTEM IS DESIGNED

The Inventory Management System is controlled by the Inventory Control File. In the control file the costing method is selected, and the transaction type ranges are defined. The price markups (for re-pricing), as well as other information are also defined here.

The Inventory Management system operates with an Inventory Master file which allows for the creation of each inventory item. This file contains the part number, description, and various other data on item costs, prices, reorder levels, and activity.

The Inventory Transaction file records transactions posted to each inventory item. Purchase, sale, returns, and transfer transactions are processed. Transactions are normally created by other Starr Accounting subsystems, but may also be entered manually.

The Item Vendor file associates a vendor/vendor item number with a Inventory Master record. The Alternate Item file is used to substitute a different part when another part is out of stock. The kits file is used to group a set of parts that can be ordered under a single part number.

Inventory Master records and their associated transactions may displayed on the terminal screen via the "Item inquiry display" program. Master records may be displayed in either "location/item#" or "item#/location" order; thus you have the ability to search multiple locations (warehouses) for a particular part.

Transactions may be applied at any time to the Master file through the "Transaction file maintenance" program. The transactions may be listed by using the "Transaction file" report program.

Several reports are available for the maintaining of stock, analysis, and forecasting. These reports include the "Inventory worksheet", "Price list", "Departmental summary", "Inventory status", "Profit by catalog/page", and the "Year-to-date" reports.

Reorder quantities are printed by the "Reorder levels" report. New reorder quantities are automatically computed via the "Compute reorder levels" program. The "Reorder items" program will reorder items that are below their reorder quantity, and will optionally automatically generate purchase order for the items to be ordered.

At the end of an account period, the "G/L distribution" report is run, then the "End-of-period processing" program is run to update current balances, and provide G/L distributions. The "End-of-year" program resets balances for a new year, and automatically runs the "Purge transactions" program.

BRIEF DESCRIPTIONS OF THE MAIN PROGRAMS

The Inventory System contains forty-five programs which collectively perform the creating, maintaining, updating, and report generating functions of the system. Each main program is briefly described below.

• Control file maintenance - This program is run one time only, and allows the user to set up the costing method, transaction type ranges, and other control information.

• Item master maintenance - This program maintains inventory item master records.

• Item vendor maintenance - This program maintains vendor/vendor part number records, that are associated with an Item Master file record.

• Alternate item maintenance - This program maintains substitute items, that can be sold when another item is out of stock.

• Kits maintenance - This program maintains inventory kits, which are sets of inventory item part numbers that can be sold as a single part number.

• Transaction file maintenance - This program maintains purchase, sale, return, and transfer transactions. This program automatically posts these transactions to their corresponding Item Master records.

• Item inquiry display - This program is used to display Item Master information and associated transactions on the terminal screen in a condensed format.

• Change prices - This program changes the Item Master prices in a variety of methods. It can work in either automatic or manual mode.

• End-of-period processing - This program summarizes all activity for this period. It provides G/L distribution totals, which are automatically posted to the General Ledger.

• End-of-year processing - This program updates the Item Master file balance forward amounts, and zeros certain balances to zero in preparation for a new year. It also automatically runs the "Purge transaction file" program.

• Reset Transaction File - This program resets the transaction file entry numbers, batch numbers, and accounting periods, in preparation for a new year.

• Generate item vendor records - This program automatically generates item vendor records from item master records with the same item number. It is very helpful during your initial data entry of Inventory Master records, as it eliminates the need to manually enter item vendor records. It prints an audit trail of all generated item vendor records.

• Generate adjustments - This program automatically generates adjustment transactions for items. If you enter the item key and actual item counts (from the Work Sheet report), this program does the adjustment arithmetic, creates the adjustment transactions, and prints an audit trail of the generated transactions.

• Generate new location masters - This program automatically generates new Inventory Master records from existing Inventory Master in a different location. That is, it will create a new Inventory Master record which is a duplicate of the old Inventory Master record, except the new Inventory Master record will have a different location. It prints an audit trail of all generated new location masters.

• Item master report (long form) - A complete listing of the Item Master file, with all information on all items, is produced by this program. Has sort and record selection options.

• Item master report (short form) - A listing of selected Item Master file fields is produced by this program. Has sort and record selection options.

• Item sequence report - Prints the inventory items in optional key sort sequence. Has sort and record selection options.

• Item vendor report - A complete listing of the Item Vendor file is produced by this program. Has sort and record selection options.

• Alternate item report - A complete listing of the Alternate Item file is produced by this program. Has sort and record selection options.

• Kits file report - A complete listing of the Kit Master file is produced by this program. Has sort and record selection options.

• Transaction file report - A complete listing of the Transaction file is produced by this program. Has sort and record selection options.

• Inventory status report - This program shows basic item information plus the activity of each item. Has sort and record selection options.

• Inventory price list report - Prints item information and selected prices. Has sort and record selection options.

• Inventory worksheet report - Prints inventory worksheet in bin number order. This program is used for comparison when doing a physical count of inventory. Has record selection options.

• Departmental summary report - This program provides a one line summary for each department, showing total inventory investment, year-to-date sales, cost of sales, and other useful management information. Has record selection options.

• Year-to-date summary report - This program shows the activity each item has had since the beginning of the year, plus the dollar revenue and margin for each item this year. Has record selection options.

• Print reorder levels report - Prints item reorder levels information. Has record selection options.

• Compute reorder levels - This program computes, prints, and optionally sets new reorder levels. Computes new reorder levels using the A/R Sales History database. Has record selection options.

• Reorder items - All items whose in-stock quantity is below the reorder level will appear on this report. Has record selection options. Optionally will automatically generate purchase orders for items to be reordered.

• G/L distribution report - This program is provided so that the G/L account distribution can be verified to be in balance, before the "End-of-period processing" program is run. It produces a detailed G/L distribution of all transactions. All accounts are summed and balanced. Any accounts that do not exist within the G/L Master file are flagged.

• Print bin labels - This program prints bin labels in bin number order. Has record selection options.

• Profit by catalog/page - This program prints profit by catalog/page. Used to determine which pages of your catalog are most profitable; thus helps you design more profitable catalogs.

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