StreamV Product Structure
The Product Management System (PM) is primarily used to set up and maintain the product structure in StreamV. The StreamV System has a multi-level product structure. The primary files that make up this product structure are listed below. Each of the primary files are also described in more detail in the following sections. The files are listed in sequence from the highest level to the lowest level file.
• Product Catalog File – The Product Catalog is the master list of the inventory items that are available in the system. All items must first be created in the Catalog file. Once a Catalog record has been created for an item, Inventory or Warehouse records can be created from the Catalog information for the item. The Inventory records can be created automatically when a new catalog item is saved or manually using an option available in the Catalog Manager program. As inventory records are created from Catalog information many fields from the Catalog record are copied or “normalized” into the Inventory record. The fields which are normalized or synchronized from the Catalog to the Inventory records for an item are determined by a system control file which can be customized as required.
• Inventory Master File – The Inventory Master file contains a record for each inventory item in each warehouse location. Inventory Master records contain both basic information and warehouse specific information about each item. The Inventory Master or warehouse record stores quantity and cost information and an inventory master record must exist for an item before transactions can be processed for the item on the system. Much of the basic information in each Inventory Item is synchronized automatically based on the Catalog information for the item.
• Bin Master File –Bin Master or Bin records are used to track the physical locations or “bins” in which a specific item is stored in a specific warehouse location. One or more Bin records can be maintained for each stocking inventory item in each warehouse location. Bin records are automatically created and updated by the system as transactions are processed for each item. Bin records are used to commit on hand stock when pick and pull tickets are generated for a specific item, and they are also used during other activities such as inventory count processing, receiving, invoicing, etc.
• QVL File – The QVL file allows you to store vendor specific purchasing information. QVL records can be used to store local or foreign currency pricing and other purchasing information for each item and vendor combination. Multiple QVL records can be created for each item to handle situations where you may buy a single item from multiple different vendors. QVL records can also be used to process purchases that are processed in foreign currency. QVL records are optional. If they are present they are used by the Purchasing system, but they are not required.
• Broker File – The Broker file is an optional file that is used to store detailed information about vendor stock balances. The broker file can be loaded with the items and quantities that are available for each inventory item at each vendor location. The broker detail information for each vendor/item combination can also be summarized and used to update the QVL records for the vendor. The system also allows broker records to be used during Sales Order Entry (allowing the operator to select an item at a specific vendor location).
Note: The files described above and in the following sections contain many fields that are “required” - meaning that they must be loaded with valid data before a new record can be saved. The valid entries for many of these required fields are determined by information that has been loaded into other database files in the system.
Examples of the fields that are required during item setup include the Product Line, the Product Group, the Vendor and the Manufacturer fields. The valid entries for these fields are determined by the information that has been entered into the appropriate table files. You should generally enter the appropriate information into these files before creating any Catalog or Inventory items. This allows you to load the appropriate information into each new record during the item setup process.
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Product Catalog File