In this task you will import or enter your Stock Items.
Inventory quantities will not be entered until Startup Day
You will not be entering inventory quantities in DBA until your Startup Day cutover. It is essential that you have clean cut over from your current system to DBA on the system startup day. We will therefore block inventory transaction in advance of the Startup Day import of your initial stock quantities. Do not attempt to overwrite this important rule and run test transactions in your Main Company. Any test transactions should be done in the Sample Company data or in the Training Company Installation.
Links:
Bill of Manufacturing Guide - Stock Items
NOTE: When you enter a stock item, confine entries to the Detail tab for now. The Locations, Sources, Lot/Serial and Additional tabs will be addressed in later tasks.
Data Import Guide - Stock Items (New)
NOTE: Do not import the Primary Location, Receipt Location, and Location Group fields at this time. They will be populated in a later task.
Video - Stock Items Tax Settings
Make a manual backup prior to data import
Prior to any data import process, always use the Backup Manager utility to make a manual backup. Should you encounter any anomalies in the data after they are imported, you can immediately restore from backup, make changes to your spreadsheet, and then run the import once again.
Make the backup to your restore points folder
In task 3-7 you created a restore points folder for the purpose of storing manual backups made at the end of each implementation phase and prior to each data import. Make this backup to your restore points folder to preserve your progress prior to this data import process.
If you do not have a restore points folder, refer back to task 3-7 in the Installation phase of implementation for guidance.
Making a manual backup
Use the Backup Manager to make a manual backup, which is accessed from the server by clicking Windows Start - DBA Manufacturing - Utilities - Backup Manager.
Select the Manual Backup option. Select your company database in the From registered databases option. Select the Use Custom Backup path. Click Find and navigate to your restore points folder.
When you are prompted to save the file, give it a file name such as Backup_Pre-Stock_Items_Import to clearly identify the contents of this backup.
Click Create Backup to initiate the backup process.
Link:
Installation / Update Guide – Manual Backup
Stock Item Guidelines
Always use a unique Item ID to represent any variation in an item
It is vitally important that any variation in any item must be represented by a unique item ID. This is an absolute requirement in order for product costing, inventory control, MRP, and job release to work properly.
Never use descriptors as substitutes for stock items
Never use descriptors as substitutes for stock items. Descriptors are not compatible with manufacturing costing, MRP generation, and job release, all of which are inventory-based.
Common Question
Can we continue using non-inventory parts for costing and expensing?
Non-inventory parts should never be used in a WIP accounting system for any purpose. All physical items must be set up as stock items.
Non-inventory parts are commonly used in non-WIP systems for direct costing and expensing and as a means for bypassing inventory costing. Using a non-inventory part (referred to as a “descriptor” in DBA) to represent a stock item compromises the manufacturing workflow.
The fundamental basis for WIP accounting is to absorb all production costs, including material, into the inventory cost of manufactured items. It is the inventory cost that provides an accurate cost of goods sold that reflects an approximation of each item’s actual manufactured cost. Any substitution of descriptors for stock items anywhere in the manufacturing workflow compromises the integrity of absorption costing.
Absolutely under no circumstances should a stock item ever be represented by a descriptor.
