Stock assignment allows stock to be given to field staff so that they can promote, sell and fulfill products, and provides managers with visibility of where their stock is.
Stock assignment outline
Configuring who can hold stock
Assigning and un-assigning stock from field staff
Completing actions and related stock movements
What’s not included in stock assignment
Stock assignment outline
The stock assignment features that have been released today:
Immediate, single-stage stock move (origin > destination)
Negative stock is not allowed
Stock assignments managed in Pulse Web
Move stock shop<>field staff, field staff<>field staff
Assign stock to/from technicians (agents coming soon)
Out of scope: stock assignment in apps, confirm receipt step
Configuring who can hold stock
By default - all users with the role of Field Technician can hold stock
Coming soon – configure sales agents as allowed to hold stock
Further instructions on how to configure which users can hold stock will be added here once that functionality is released (in the coming weeks)
Assigning and un-assigning stock from field staff
Navigate to the inventory module
Click the Move stock button in the top-right-hand corner
Choose Move type = Send stock
Select the stock move origin and destination from the drop-downs
Add products to the stock move:
Product name
Quantity
Type (for sale, replacement, returned)
Add a comment to describe the purpose of the stock move (optional)
Click save to submit the stock move
A confirmation message will be shown if the move is successful
Stock move type | Origin | Destination |
Assign stock | Shop | Field staff |
Un-assign stock | Field staff | Shop |
Transfer stock | Field staff | Field staff |
Transfer stock | Shop | Shop |
Viewing stock levels
In the inventory module, all fulfillment centres and field staff can be viewed
When viewing stock levels at a fulfillment centre, two values are shown:
Stock at the shop
Stock at all field staff locations beneath the parent fulfillment centre
When viewing stock levels for a field staff location, only one value shown
Completing actions and related stock movements
Fulfilments now pick stock from Technician who completed the action
If they do not have enough stock for the fulfillment, the fulfillment will fail
In this case, you will need to assign sufficient stock and try again
For replacements and repossessions, you can choose:
By default, use the fulfillment center for stock moves. This option should be used if the action is recorded when stock is already at the shop
If desired, use the field staff location for stock moves. This option should be used if the action is recorded before the stock is returned to the shop
The table below explains changes in the actions forms and related stock movements:
Action type | Changes to the form | Stock moves |
Fulfilment (delivery) | None | From field staff location |
Fulfilment (collection) | None | From fulfilment centre |
Repossession | You can now choose whether to move returned stock to fulfilment centre or field staff locations | By default returns stock fulfilment centre, but can be returned to field staff location if the repossession is recorded before stock reaches the shop |
Replacement | You can choose whether to use the fulfilment centre or field staff locations for stock moves (replacement out, returned in) | By default fulfilment centre, but can pick and return stock to/from the field staff location the replacement happened at the customers house (stock needs to be assigned before the swap and returned stock will go to the field staff location) |
Contract cancellation | None | Returns to fulfilment centre |
What’s not included in the stock assignment (out of scope)
The following items are not included in the current stock assignment release, as communicated during the research and design sessions with OpCos in May:
Item | Description | Planned? |
Assign stock to Agents & RS | We will be releasing stock assignment for sales agents and retails supervisors in the coming weeks | Q3 |
History of stock assignments | We will be releasing a stock move history list that includes all completed stock moves by type, date, origin, destination that will allow users to filter for relevant moves | Q3 |
View stock levels in-app | We plan to add visibility of current stock levels to the Agent and Tech Apps in the near future (e.g. Q4 2023) | Yes |
Send stock from in-app | For now, all stock assignment and un-assignment, or movements between field staff, should be recorded by management staff in Pulse Web. We plan to add this functionality to the Agent and Tech App | Yes |
Accept/receive stock in-app | We have heard requests to add the ability to accept stock assignments in the tech app to ensure accountability. We will look at this but not in the short-term due | Later |
Activate device on assignment | No credit will be issued to control units/metered devices when they are assigned to field staff. There is no plan to add this functionality | No |
Limits on products/qtys | How much stock should be assigned to field staff is an operational decision. We do not plan to add limits to Pulse. OpCos are free to set limits outside of Pulse and can easily run regular checks on stock levels to check compliance | No |
Time product assigned | We do not have plans to show how long each product has been assigned as without universal serial number tracking, this would require a first-in, first-out calculation and we don not see the complexity as worthwhile considering other priorities | No |
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